Beginners

Ready to explore the newly released 1950 U.S. Census records? MyHeritage’s free Census Helper™ tool is the perfect place to start. Uri Gonen, SVP Product Manager at MyHeritage, will introduce you to this handy tool he developed and show you how to use it to organize and focus your census research.

According to the genealogical proof standard, part of pursuing thoroughly exhaustive research is seeking the best available evidence to address a research question. In genetic genealogy research problems, the evidence we use is the test results of living descendants of a research subject, and pursuing the best evidence requires targeted testing of those whose DNA is most likely to help address the research question. In this session, learn to identify, prioritize and invite the best testing candidates to address a research question.

Quand un généalogiste se lance dans des recherches sur un combattant français de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, il est souvent amené à travailler sur un profil de prisonnier de guerre. C’est presque une affaire de statistiques, avec plus de 1,8 million de soldats capturés par les forces allemandes entre mai et juin 1940 ! La recherche prend alors une tournure particulière. Ce moment de la vie du combattant stimule la curiosité de son descendant. Et, ce qui n’est pas le moindre paradoxe, le généalogiste a parfois connu l’ancien prisonnier de guerre. Il a écouté les récits de son père, de son grand-père, il en a collecté les anecdotes. Mais une fois que le principal témoin a disparu, il se rend compte qu’il lui manque des données précises pour documenter cette histoire individuelle transmise dans l’intimité familiale. Heureusement les archives existent. Elles permettent de compléter les précieux souvenirs. Ce webinaire a pour but de recenser les sources, qui sont variées. Et, à partir de cet inventaire, il s’agira d’envisager les méthodes de recherche, et les conditions de consultation, en fonction des configurations.

Birth, Marriage and Death information provides the bones of our family history skeleton from which we hang the rest of our research about a person. Learn more about the New Zealand records that give your research structure.

Sometimes when trying to solve family mysteries using DNA, we discover that the best matches on the mystery line also have recent mysteries of their own and the connection between the two lies on their respective mystery lines. It’s exciting when there are close DNA matches on a mystery line but, equally, it can be frustrating if those matches also have recent blanks or brick walls and it’s tempting to treat these kinds of matches as dead ends. In this presentation, Michelle will outline some extraordinary case studies where multiple mysteries linked together and only by investigating them all could answers ultimately be uncovered. She will demonstrate the best techniques for navigating these tricky situations and provide her top hints and tips for working with interlinked mysteries. Often if you can solve one interlinked mystery, you can solve them all!

This lecture will discuss the institution of apprenticeship – documents, laws, and resources relating to free people of color before the Civil War.

The Gazettes were the weekly notices of Government activities meant for other government departments and some were available to the public. They are an untapped genealogical resource. The general gazette lists government appointments, various licences, Justices of the Peace, changes to legislation, deceased estates, and so much more. Police Gazettes (only available to Police departments) list police officer movements, reports of crime often listing victims, reports on entry and exit from prison, Missing Friends notices while Education Gazettes list teacher movements, school information and more. Each colony had its own Gazettes and post Federation in 1901 the Commonwealth also produced a Government Gazette.

Finding an adopted child’s biological family is especially challenging for genealogists. This presentation list the steps one can take to identify an unknown parent or grandparent and dissects a successful case to show how good methodology combined with document research and DNA matches can put a decades-old question to rest.

One of the most important keys to making breakthroughs in genetic genealogy is determining which ancestors you have in common with your DNA Matches. Discover the tools MyHeritage offers that can help you do this and learn how to make the most of them.