Religious records are essential in genealogy research. Do you know all ancestors’ religions? Review the Protestant Reformation and religions in the U.S. Find your ancestor.

Traditional documentation clearly identified Fayette’s father without conflict. However, the DNA results of Fayette’s descendants told a different story. Learn how DNA evidence combined with a trail of clues and the application of the Genealogical Proof Standard revealed a secret from the summer of 1913.

Every document that is used during genealogical research must be thoroughly and accurately analyzed. Abstracting is a fundamental part of this research and analyzing process. Yet many genealogists are not confident in their ability to perform this task effectively and efficiently. This causes researchers to avoid the abstracting process resulting in research errors. An abstract is a summary of all the important details in a document. This presentation will examine the abstracting process by using examples that show how to abstract a variety of documents, general guidelines for abstracting, what to include and what to eliminate when creating an abstract, and lastly will explore some problems that might be encountered while abstracting.

Name changes, enumerator errors, and terrible informants can combine to create major inconsistencies in documentation. Records that, at first glance, appear to be major mismatches can later turn out to be correct. Researching non-English-speaking immigrant families requires a comfort level with these layered conflicts-upon-conflicts. This session demonstrates how to use logic to confirm that a wrong-name, wrong-age, wrong-everything record can actually be right, with an emphasis on immigrant families. Participants will learn how to transfer that logic to a written proof argument.

Genealogy Standards 38 and 58 strongly express a preference for using original sources. Diligent researching and a few tricks of the trade enable genealogists to find original sources that underlie authored narratives and derivative sources.

A family from Ireland emigrated in a chain migration scheme to western Pennsylvania between 1825 and 1845. See how using the standards for researching connected the siblings and their descendants and led to their origins in County Tyrone.

What if you could consult with genealogical experts each time your work slows? Together you could explore options for new paths of discovery. The right approach to a literature review allows you to do that. Other experts have encountered the same challenges that you do, and they have written about them even if not overtly. These challenges could range from beginning work in a new geography to parrying with a difficult brick wall. Learn how to conduct a targeted literature review, cull the information you need, and advance your research. A case study on use of negative evidence will highlight the methodology.

Henrietta Dixon was never enumerated with individuals identified as her parents in a federal census. Records revealing her family members, including her father, are often conflicting and open up new questions. Additionally, multiple marriages further obscure her identity. This case study uncovers Henrietta’s maiden name and emphasizes the importance of a focused research question when attempting to meet the Genealogical Proof Standard.

Tales of illegitimacy, divorce, and desertion aren’t limited to soap operas and modern reality television. Discovering trails that lead to unanticipated events can be shocking, confusing, and exciting all at the same time. This session will explore how genealogists can utilize the law, conflict resolution, and tools like date calculators and timelines to help build a clearer understanding of some potentially challenging historical situations.

Pennsylvania and Ohio records, correlated with those of a German immigrant who died in Virginia revealed Adam Cosner’s parents.

Marks and signatures can be highly effective tools when researchers are attempting to untangle the identities of our forebears. But how do you know whether the signature in front of you is original? Can you still use it as evidence in your case even if it’s not? These questions and more are answered by looking at the fundamental concepts of source and evidence analysis. Once you know how to evaluate your sources, we’ll go over a few records to look at when searching for those marks and signatures in your own research. And finally, we’ll look at some examples of published articles which incorporate the use of marks and signatures.

One of the great difficulties for people researching their French immigrant ancestors’ roots is that so little is known outside of France about when and why the French left their country. This dearth of knowledge has led many family historians of the nineteenth century to presume Huguenot, noble émigré or Alsace-Lorraine ancestry for any ancestor with a French name. The supposition became a family legend that then became a research frustration as more recent family historians attempt to prove what was never more than a misguided supposition. This webinar looks at the many waves of French migration, as well as the three mentioned in the title, from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries. The historical reasons for when, why and to where they emigrated will provide the key points to bear in mind when conducting research. The bibliography, in English and French, contains not only books and articles concerning French emigration but a list of websites to aid the researcher.