Help! How do I separate genealogical fact from fiction?
Thu, October 12 2023: 0:00 UTC
We sit at our computer searching for information about our ancestors and … click … we find something new and intriguing. But wait: it contradicts something else we’ve found. Clearly, both pieces of information can’t be true. So which is true and which isn’t? Or are both untrue? HELP! Until recently, most researchers developed their evidence-analysis skills by a process of trial-and-error. Unfortunately, many researchers have erred more than tried and seem to be the ones most prolific in publishing the results of their “research” on the internet. Yet these errors can prove disastrous, gobbling up our precious time and money as we search in the wrong place – or worse, as we pursue the wrong ancestral line. So how do we ensure that our conclusions are accurate? This seminar will show you how to evaluate our ancestral information – that is, how to weight each piece of information to determine its accuracy – using a clear, logical, easy-to-follow system. After learning these skills you’ll easily be able to determine which information is reliable and which is like a virus that can destroy all your hard work.
We sit at our computer searching for information about our ancestors and … click … we find something new and intriguing. But wait: it contradicts something else we’ve found. Clearly, both pieces of information can’t be true. So which is true and which isn’t? Or are both untrue? HELP! Until recently, most researchers developed their evidence-analysis skills by a process of trial-and-error. Unfortunately, many researchers have erred more than tried and seem to be the ones most prolific in publishing the results of their “research” on the internet. Yet these errors can prove disastrous, gobbling up our precious time and money as we search in the wrong place – or worse, as we pursue the wrong ancestral line. So how do we ensure that our conclusions are accurate? This seminar will show you how to evaluate our ancestral information – that is, how to weight each piece of information to determine its accuracy – using a clear, logical, easy-to-follow system. After learning these skills you’ll easily be able to determine which information is reliable and which is like a virus that can destroy all your hard work.
Steamer Kate Explosion: Correlating Indirect Evidence to Identify and Correct an Error
Wed, October 18 2023: 0:00 UTC
What happens when the indirect evidence of a death occurring and a probate record don’t agree? The research begins in earnest! That’s what happened in the case of the death of Antoine/Anthony Lallament of Mobile, Alabama. Who is Antoine and what relationship is he to me? When did he actually die? Which record is correct? What would other available records reveal? How is the explosion of the Steamer Kate involved? We have more questions than answers. This case study provides the research methodology involved in solving this problem.
What happens when the indirect evidence of a death occurring and a probate record don’t agree? The research begins in earnest! That’s what happened in the case of the death of Antoine/Anthony Lallament of Mobile, Alabama. Who is Antoine and what relationship is he to me? When did he actually die? Which record is correct? What would other available records reveal? How is the explosion of the Steamer Kate involved? We have more questions than answers. This case study provides the research methodology involved in solving this problem.
Examine migration patterns from Wales to the US and Canada, looking at the push and pull factors. An understanding of the group migration and historical processes can help in determining the place of origin. We will examine all the Welsh settlements in the US and Canada.
Examine migration patterns from Wales to the US and Canada, looking at the push and pull factors. An understanding of the group migration and historical processes can help in determining the place of origin. We will examine all the Welsh settlements in the US and Canada.
Mini Case Studies Demonstrate Finding a Town of Origin
Finding your immigrant ancestor’s town of origin is an essential piece of information. With it, the family line can be extended across the ocean. Trips to visit the homeland may be planned. Have you spent years searching for this elusive piece of information? This lecture uses mini case studies to demonstrate strategies for finding a village of origin.
Finding your immigrant ancestor’s town of origin is an essential piece of information. With it, the family line can be extended across the ocean. Trips to visit the homeland may be planned. Have you spent years searching for this elusive piece of information? This lecture uses mini case studies to demonstrate strategies for finding a village of origin.
Using Negative Evidence: The Power of Silence in the Records
Can genealogists take a negative (the absence of something) and develop it into a positive (proof of something)? Yes! If we understand what we’re working with and how to develop it. Negative evidence is a tool used by many investigative fields; but its definition varies between disciplines. This session defines the concept used by genealogists and historians: contextually suggestive silence. In layman’s language, Mills clearly separates negative evidence from concepts that are often confused with it: negative searches, negative findings, negative arguments, and negative conclusions. Case studies using autosomal and Y-DNA, censuses, church records, death certificates, land deeds and grants, topo maps, and other source types to demonstrate how to recognize contextually suggestive silence and develop it into solutions for situations in which no document explicitly answers our research question.
*** This class requires a password and an active webinar membership to attend. On the day of the webinar, obtain the password (located at the top of FamilyTreeWebinars.com when logged in as a member). Then click the Join Webinar link in your confirmation/reminder email, and enter the password when prompted. ***
Can genealogists take a negative (the absence of something) and develop it into a positive (proof of something)? Yes! If we understand what we’re working with and how to develop it. Negative evidence is a tool used by many investigative fields; but its definition varies between disciplines. This session defines the concept used by genealogists and historians: contextually suggestive silence. In layman’s language, Mills clearly separates negative evidence from concepts that are often confused with it: negative searches, negative findings, negative arguments, and negative conclusions. Case studies using autosomal and Y-DNA, censuses, church records, death certificates, land deeds and grants, topo maps, and other source types to demonstrate how to recognize contextually suggestive silence and develop it into solutions for situations in which no document explicitly answers our research question.
*** This class requires a password and an active webinar membership to attend. On the day of the webinar, obtain the password (located at the top of FamilyTreeWebinars.com when logged in as a member). Then click the Join Webinar link in your confirmation/reminder email, and enter the password when prompted. ***
10 Things To Do Before Leaving a Library or Archives
Have you ever gotten home from a genealogy research trip or left a genealogy website and said to yourself “I forgot to do that!”. Learn the 10 vital things every genealogist should do before leaving a library or archives building or website to make your next research trip to an archives physical building or visit to an archive’s website successful.
Have you ever gotten home from a genealogy research trip or left a genealogy website and said to yourself “I forgot to do that!”. Learn the 10 vital things every genealogist should do before leaving a library or archives building or website to make your next research trip to an archives physical building or visit to an archive’s website successful.
Life Cycle of a Record: From Clerks and Clerics to You, The Digital User
What are you looking at? Where did it come from? Why was it created? How did it get online? Records from the past didn’t just show up digitally one day as if by magic. From record creation to storage to archiving and (hopefully) preservation, records made their way through various formats and institutions before showing up online. Understanding the history of a source, its life before the Internet, and the context in which it exists online today can help you discover more about the genealogical information it contains and the quality of that information, propelling your research forward.
What are you looking at? Where did it come from? Why was it created? How did it get online? Records from the past didn’t just show up digitally one day as if by magic. From record creation to storage to archiving and (hopefully) preservation, records made their way through various formats and institutions before showing up online. Understanding the history of a source, its life before the Internet, and the context in which it exists online today can help you discover more about the genealogical information it contains and the quality of that information, propelling your research forward.
Witnesses are not afterthoughts tacked onto the end of documents. Although they filled a routine role for our ancestors, they are significant informants for us—once we learn how to use those names to develop evidence. This session approaches the topic in two ways: theory and application. It explores record types that offer witnesses, ways in which witnesses were used, situations that affected the choice of witnesses, signals that indicate whether a witness would be important to our research, and methods to apply in our development of the clues they offer. A challenging case study presents an unmarried freedwoman, never named in any census, who died about 1817—and applies key strategies to determine her death and burial sites.
Witnesses are not afterthoughts tacked onto the end of documents. Although they filled a routine role for our ancestors, they are significant informants for us—once we learn how to use those names to develop evidence. This session approaches the topic in two ways: theory and application. It explores record types that offer witnesses, ways in which witnesses were used, situations that affected the choice of witnesses, signals that indicate whether a witness would be important to our research, and methods to apply in our development of the clues they offer. A challenging case study presents an unmarried freedwoman, never named in any census, who died about 1817—and applies key strategies to determine her death and burial sites.
What Happened to Uncle Walter? Evidence Analysis and Correlation Uncover a Man’s Dual Identities
Walter’s family lost touch with him after his 1920 arrest. Learn how collaboration, evidence correlation, and predictive research solved the mystery of Walter’s fate more than a century later.
Walter’s family lost touch with him after his 1920 arrest. Learn how collaboration, evidence correlation, and predictive research solved the mystery of Walter’s fate more than a century later.
Discover online records for German-speaking ancestors from Brandenburg, East Prussia, Pomerania, Posen, Silesia, and West Prussia. Despite some record loss for these geographic areas, hundreds of years of church and civil records can be found in archives in Poland, Germany, and the US, using the search strategies in this presentation.
Discover online records for German-speaking ancestors from Brandenburg, East Prussia, Pomerania, Posen, Silesia, and West Prussia. Despite some record loss for these geographic areas, hundreds of years of church and civil records can be found in archives in Poland, Germany, and the US, using the search strategies in this presentation.
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