Beginners

Genealogy doesn’t have to be expensive—MyHeritage offers a range of free tools to get you started. This session will walk you through how to begin your family history journey without spending a dime. Discover how to build a basic family tree, explore free records, and utilize MyHeritage’s free trials and features to uncover your roots.

Learn about MyHeritage’s improved DNA ethnicity model, v2.5.

From the beginning of European settlement in North America, free and inexpensive land has been a tool for enticing settlers to migrate to new areas. The English and Spanish granted large tracts to individuals in return for bringing new people into areas with sparse European populations. Bounty land was granted to soldiers in America’s early wars. The end of the American Revolution led to a number of Federal plans to sell or grant vast acreages of public domain land. Homesteading opportunities attracted Americans and immigrants to the west after the Civil War. The availability of affordable land was a catalyst for the migration of many of our ancestors.

Although most American records do not specify immigrants’ exact places of origin, by doing a wholistic study of an entire family, it’s often possible to determine exactly from where they came. Learn about the different kinds of records that can help determine an immigrant’s exact place of birth, such as parish records, ship manifests, naturalization petitions, social security applications, alien registrations and more!

Testaments, dowry letters, land sales, cattle leasing, power of attorney letters, and many other types of documents were created by public and royal scribes all over Mexico in the last five centuries. Notarial archives are rich in detail and history. Whenever they are available, they become an essential tool for genealogical research, adding depth to the lives of ancestors, or bridging gaps when church records have been lost. This conference is a basic outline of these records and where to find them both offline and online.

Compare and collect the resources that confirm our ancestor’s presence. While adding tax records, non-population schedules, and soil surveys to predict the success while farming or understand the difficulties of adequate production, and how many pigs were really there.

Learn how to use artificial intelligence to transform written records and family stories into memorable images. Whether recreating a long-lost family homestead or visualizing your ancestors’ daily lives, discover how today’s AI technology can add a new dimension to your family history research. This webinar will show genealogists how to use the best AI image generators available today and demonstrate the methods for getting the best results from them.

Pedigree triangulation is a game-changer for tackling genealogical brick walls, especially in the challenging pre-1850 era. This presentation offers a comprehensive look at this key methodology, illustrated through a real-life case study of proving the father of a woman’s 1828 birth. Learn to create genetic networks, group DNA matches, and apply key pedigree triangulation steps to break through long-standing brick walls. Discover practical strategies for integrating DNA analysis with documentary evidence, constructing revealing family trees, and creating clear genealogical diagrams.

Have you ever wondered what your ancestors’ lives were like beyond the names, dates, and places? While these fundamental details form the backbone of genealogical research, they often fail to capture the imagination of family members who aren’t as passionate about genealogy. The key to engaging your relatives and bringing your ancestors to life lies in incorporating social and community history into your family narratives. While time travel remains the stuff of science fiction, we can carefully reconstruct the historical context in which our ancestors lived. In this session, Robyn describes approaching social history by using conventional genealogical records in new ways, and using unconventional genealogical records. This session includes multiple examples of how to incorporate our findings into our writing for more creative storytelling. By embracing social history and looking beyond traditional genealogical facts, we can create compelling narratives that bring our ancestors to life. This approach not only enriches our understanding of family history but also captivates the interest of relatives who might otherwise remain indifferent.