The free Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 189 is published, with an exclusive interview with stars of Relative Race and more.
The newest episode of the Genealogy Gems Podcast is published and ready for your listening pleasure! Two stars of the new BYUtv show Relative Race join host Lisa Louise Cooke to talk about their experiences criss-crossing the U.S. to meet their AncestryDNA matches.
Here are some more highlights from Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 189:
Irish research tips–and tons of new Irish records online–in honor of St. Patrick’s Day this month;
3 reasons to test your DNA for genealogy, from Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard;
an excerpt from the new Genealogy Gems Book Club interview;
emails from several listeners offering inspiration and tips;
and news from the genealogy world, including databases on runaway slaves (in the U.S. and Britain) and an updated MyHeritage search technology.
I’m a fan of “genealogy TV,” and it’s fun to hear behind-the-scenes feedback from stars of Relative Race. This show’s approach–connecting everyday couples with genetic matches–puts faces to our DNA matches in a fresh and personal way. I’m not hoping to camp on my genetic matches’ lawns anytime soon, but I do sometimes wish I could knock on the doors of some (“please respond!”). Another favorite take-away from this episode was a tip from Matt in Missouri, who wrote in with a creative approach for connecting with relatives through Find A Grave.
Remember, this and all episodes of the Genealogy Gems podcast are FREE to listen to. Click here for FAQ on podcasts and how to listen on your computer or via your favorite mobile device. Click here for a list of past episodes you may have missed. Why not “binge out” a little and catch up during your next commute, workout or down time?
Famicity: a new free platform that allows families to gather, record and share their stories. Now in English and French.
One of the things I love about RootsTech is meeting innovators who are passionate about creating new ways to discover, preserve and share family history. While I was there I met Guillaume Languereau, CEO and co-founder of Famicity. I was impressed with his enthusiasm and dedication to his company and thought I’d share it with you.
What is Famicity?
Famicity is a free platform that helps families curate and share their pictures, videos and memories “so future generations remember who they are and where they come from,” says Guillaume. “The goal is to create a living family tree where the whole family will collaborate and share to preserve the story of each and every person.”
“It’s a legacy center,” Guillaume says, meant not just for distant family history but for recording the history that’s unfolding now. In fact, he says, “the users who share the most are young mothers with a newborn baby.”
Famicity appears to work similarly to family trees on many genealogy websites, with emphasis on family social networking and privacy. No paid subscriptions are required; relatives can be invited by email. You can build a tree from scratch or by importing a GEDCOM file. Each person in the family has a profile, with his or her information organized in timeline format. The design is meant to serve the needs of old and young. “A child just has to click on a person to discover the story of his/her life. It has never been easier to tell every family member’s story.”
The service was developed in France over the course of 5 years. It launched there and now has 150,000 users who have documented more than 3 million ancestors. Its success brought Guillaume to RootsTech 2016 to launch Famicity in English.
Famicity is a free service available on PC, MAC, tablets, and mobiles. Here’s a video teaser:
I do remind everyone, when they upload and share family history pictures, video, stories and other precious “digital artifacts,” to keep and back up their own master copies of them on their own computers. I love seeing relatives share and collaborate online–and I also love knowing they’ve secured and backed up their master files within their own reach. I use Backblaze which you can learn more about here.
Scrivener software may be just what you need to write up your family history writing. Genealogist Lisa Alzo shares 4 steps for getting started.
What is the Scrivener Software Program?
Scrivener is a software program that offers templates for screenplays, fiction, and non-fiction manuscripts. After composing a text, you can export it for final formatting to a standard word processor or desktop publishing software.
Scrivener is much more than a word processor. Thanks to the wide range of interfaces and features it offers, it is valued as a project management tool for writers.
It’s little wonder that Scrivener has grown in popularity with family historians who want to tell their ancestors’ stories. Genealogical information can become unwieldy at times. Scrivener makes it much easier to organize your material and write.
At RootsTech 2016, Lisa Alzo introduced Scrivener to fascinated audiences in the Genealogy Gems demo theater in the Exhibit Hall. I invited her to follow up by sharing Scrivener for genealogy with you, too. Here’s what she has to say.
“It is no secret that I am an avid user of Scrivener, a multifaceted word processor and project management tool. I have been using this program for all of my personal and professional writing projects since 2011.
Here are four steps to get up and running with Scrivener so you can use it to organize and write your family history:
1. Download Scrivener
Scrivener is produced by Literature and Latte and is available for purchase for use on Mac ($45) and Windows ($40). (Pricing as of the writing of this article.) There is also a 30-day free trial available.
Double click the Scrivener “S” icon on your desktop to open the program.
Before you start your first project, take a few minutes to review the Scrivener manual for your and watch the helpful interactive tutorials.
2. Start your first project
Go to File and New Project.
The New Window allows you to choose from different project templates.
I highly recommend starting with the “Blank,” which is the most basic and creates a simple project layout you can build upon and customize later.
The “Save As” box appears for you to give your project a name (e.g. Alzo Family History) and tell Scrivener where you would like to save your project (e.g. a desktop folder, or you if you are a Dropbox user you can easily save your projects there so that you can easily access them from another computer or laptop). You will not be able to continue until you save your project.
TIP:Start small!
Begin with a smaller project like an ancestor profile or blog post rather than attempting to write a 200-page family history book your first time in.
3. Plot, plan, and outline away!
Whether you are a visual writer who likes to storyboard, or if you prefer text outlines, you can use Scrivener your way. When you start a new blank project, you will be see the “Binder” (located on the left-hand side), which is the source list showing all documents in the project.
By default you’ll see three folders:
The “Draft” board (called “Manuscript” in other Scrivener templates) is the main space where you type your text (you can compile everything in that folder for printing or export as one long document later on).
The Research folder is where you can store notes, PDF files, images, etc. (not included in your final compiled document). The Trash folder holds any deleted documents until you empty. You will have one Untitled Document showing.
Simply add a title and then start typing. You can move sections around by dragging and dropping.
Click the green plus sign (+) icon to add files or folders.
Scrivener also lets you import files that you already have prepared in Microsoft Word or text based formats.
As you work, Scrivener allow to easily “toggle” between its key modes:
Corkboard (where you can summarize on “virtual index cards” the key points you want to cover—the virtual cards can easily be arranged in any order you like);
Outline (use it if you prefer to control the structure of your work; and
Scrivenings (this mode temporarily combines individual documents into a single text, allowing you to view some or all documents in a folder as though they were all part of one long text).
There is another pane called the “Inspector” that offers additional features to help you manage your project.
4. Finalize your project
The true power of Scrivener resides in its “Compile” feature. (Compile is just a fancy term for exporting your project into any number of final formats—print, eBook, Kindle, PDF, etc.). With Compile you specify what Scrivener does/does not include, and how it should look. Mastering Compile takes some practice, so you should refer to the Scrivener tutorials and forums for guidance.
In an exclusive interview with Lisa Louise Cooke, Bruce Feiler shares a family history tip from his book, The Secrets of Happy Families.
Family History Leads to Happy Families
At RootsTech 2016, Lisa Louise Cooke had a chance to sit down and chat with New York Times columnist Bruce Feiler. Their topic: how family history can actually help today’s children and families be happier.
The insight comes from Feiler’s new book, The Secrets of Happy Families. As part of his research, he interviewed successful people from all walks of life about how they ran their families. The tips he reports are sometimes surprising, but one rings particularly true for genealogists: teach kids their family history.
Watch the video interview below to see how including old family stories can build more resilient children and stronger family cultures today.
More Ways to Share Family History with Kids
Are you suddenly looking for fun, inspiring ways to share family history with kids? You may enjoy the following articles on the Genealogy Gems blog:
P.S. When Lisa posted the above video on the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel, she noticed that the channel now has 5000 subscribers and over 300,000 views. Click here to see why so many are tuning in!
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!
Check out these celebrity cousin look-alike photos! A distant cousin of Katherine Hepburn compares photos with fun results.
Last fall, I blogged about a web app that uses facial recognition software to compare how closely two faces “match.” Since then, several people have sent in their own family look-alike photos. Here’s one with a new twist: a celebrity look-alike!
Celebrity Cousin Look-Alike Photos
Lydia wrote in with this: “I’ve had fun with the Twins or Not? app and here are some of my results. A bit over a year ago I broke down a brick wall and found Katherine Hepburn on the other side as a fifth cousin. Well, I do have strong cheekbones so I plugged in some of my photos and compared them to Hepburn’s. Here’s what I got!
In the first pic [shown right] you’ll find Leman Garlinghouse, Hepburn’s great grandfather, and my great-great grandfather, Tyler McWhorter. The two men were second cousins via the Garlinghouse family line. Leman Garlinghouse’s daughter married a Houghton man in the early 1850s and their daughter was Carrie Houghton, who grew up to be Katherine Hepburn’s mother. One doesn’t need photo comparison app to tell they were related!
The next one is one of my (old!) theatrical headshots and one of Hepburn:
Pretty cool, eh?”
I agree with Lydia! That’s pretty cool. You can find mobile apps that do this in the Google Play store and in iTunes. What a great way to spark interest in the look-alikes in YOUR family history at your next family gathering! Especially great for kids. (Just have some old family photos available on your mobile device to upload and compare with shots you can snap of living relatives.)
The free Genealogy Gems Podcast episode 189 is published, with an exclusive interview with stars of Relative Race and more.
Remember, this and all episodes of the Genealogy Gems podcast are FREE to listen to. Click here for FAQ on podcasts and how to listen on your computer or via your favorite mobile device. Click here for a list of past episodes you may have missed. Why not “binge out” a little and catch up during your next commute, workout or down time?
By default you’ll see three folders: 
In the first pic [shown right] you’ll find Leman Garlinghouse, Hepburn’s great grandfather, and my great-great grandfather, Tyler McWhorter. The two men were second cousins via the Garlinghouse family line. Leman Garlinghouse’s daughter married a Houghton man in the early 1850s and their daughter was Carrie Houghton, who grew up to be Katherine Hepburn’s mother. One doesn’t need photo comparison app to tell they were related!
Remember that your mobile device can be your best go-to resource for genealogy-on-the-go. Use it to access your family tree, digitize a photo or document on the fly or share your latest find with a loved one. Learn how in my new book, 
5 Free Family History Apps You Should Have
