Many challenging research problems involve understanding where our ancestors lived, their land, neighbors, jurisdictions, and landmarks. While historical maps can sometimes be found for the geography of our research problem, they often don’t cover the timeframe or include specific data that our research has uncovered. Genealogists frequently need to edit or create maps to communicate their findings and conclusions. This presentation will focus on leveraging existing maps, using online tools to annotate and edit, and/or create new maps that can be utilized for individual analysis, as well as in research reports and articles. With over 40 years of experience as a professional graphic designer, the lecturer will illustrate techniques using free and paid tools that can be used to produce effective maps.

Research on formerly enslaved people is difficult by its very nature because enslaved people were classed as property prior to the Civil War and faced the challenges of marginalization in the segregated society that developed after the War. Crucial to uncovering information on enslaved people prior to emancipation is studying their lives as freedpeople after for clues as to who their families were and who their former owners might have been. As with any family, clues regarding identity, relationships, and ownership during slavery, are often uncovered as the result of applying the FAN principle and piecing together potential family groups.

When records are scarce—or names are all too common—cluster research can be the key to unlocking your genealogical puzzles. By examining the people who surrounded your ancestor—the friends, associates, and neighbors—you can separate individuals with the same name, untangle multiple families in one place, and uncover biographical details you might otherwise miss. Join us to explore practical strategies and real-world examples that show how powerful the FAN principle can be.

What happens when all evidence cannot possibly be correct? The process of assembling evidence may reveal inconsistencies and the Genealogical Proof Standard emphasizes that resolving conflict is essential for credible conclusions. Through case examples, this lecture will help genealogists recognize conflicts and provide strategies to resolve them in order to build family stories that are authentic and accurate.

This webinar explores the different types of information to be found in post office directories. It looks at how families and individuals can be traced using the directories. Some pitfalls are also highlighted.

La búsqueda de texto completo es una nueva y emocionante forma de encontrar información en más de 100 millones de registros históricos que no han sido indexados, utilizando tecnología que lee el texto de las imágenes. ¡Sácale todo el partido!

Sarah Elizabeth Grant, also known as Betsy, was born enslaved in 1837 in Greene County, Georgia. In 2022, a tweet from the Smithsonian Transcription Center shed light on a letter she wrote to the Freedmen’s Bureau, showing up on the timeline of one of her great-nephews: Orice Jenkins. Further research by Orice revealed Betsy’s complex story, as the daughter of an enslaved woman and a free man of color, who sued her enslaver after emancipation. Various resources were used to determine the identity of her parents, including DNA results, court records, Freedmen’s Bureau records, newspapers, and the new Full-Text Search feature on FamilySearch, leading to the uncovering of a historical phenomenon in the Grant family.

Brick walls stymy our research when we can go no further. The video presents a methodology for organizing all the evidence you have acquired, re-reading it as if you have never seen it before, and creating a written biographical profile based on what you know. You’ll identify important gaps that must be researched, conflicting evidence, and begin to think like your ancestor. You will add other people’s information, events at the local, national, and international levels, and personal details. You will learn how to effectively build a biographical context and then identify information to develop an expanded research plan. Say farewell to many brick walls and hello to completely new insights. This webinar was first released 14 November 2019 on the Genealogy Guys Learn website.

If you’re just starting out, German genealogy can seem incredibly overwhelming. Records in a foreign language, which are written in old-fashioned handwriting, are enough to make finding German ancestors seem near impossible to researchers looking to cross the pond. Luckily, there’s help! In this session, learn the top seven tips to get you started – and confidently embark on – your German genealogy journey.