Send a Letter, Make Cousin Connections

by Lisa Cooke | Apr 17, 2019 | 01 What's New, Inspiration, Italian, Listeners & Readers, Travel | 2 comments

When was the last time you sent a letter or email to someone you didn’t know? Gail did, and you will be touched and inspired by her sweet story of finding a long lost cousin in Italy. Sometimes, all it takes is sending a letter to make a monumental cousin connection.

I often encourage our readers and Genealogy Gems Podcast listeners to reach out of their comfort zone. Writing letters is just one way we can expand your search for records and cousin connections.

I wanted to share with you this story of how reader Gail was rewarded by simply writing a letter. Gail shared:

The only known photo of Antonio Capetti – the ancestor who links Gail with her Italian cousins.

“It is because of listening to your podcast, that we just returned from the most amazing trip of a lifetime! My husband & I had scheduled a fabulous trip to Italy, where I’d always wanted to go. It is the home of my father’s ancestors, and I have been researching this side of the family since the early 1980s.

A couple weeks before we left, I was determined to find a living relative still in Italy. I remembered your suggestion to write to the priest in the old family village. I wrote to the priest and included a letter to any “found” family member briefly outlining the family tree and including a return envelope.

Imagine my excitement when, the week before we left, I received a letter from a long lost relative! 81-year old Mario was amazed that after over a century, the two branches of our family would get together again. We began texting and set up a meeting place. We met Mario in Venice and all cried when we met – feeling that family connection immediately.

Trip to italy

Then, at his suggestion, we hired a car to take us to our old family hometown, where he walked us through town and showed us a concrete medallion on the building where our ancestors lived, inscribed with the family name. Italy visit write a letter Gail We went to the church and saw our name also inscribed on the baptismal font, as it had been a gift from our family. We walked to the cemetery and then had lunch together. During lunch, we face-timed with my father back in the U.S. and everyone cried as we stated that “our relatives in heaven are smiling today!” Our trip was the trip of a lifetime and the highlight was meeting family we didn’t even know we had, walking together down the roads that our ancestors walked! the roads our ancestors walked Thank you, Lisa, for your suggestion. It made a wonderful trip so much more special and personal – one we will never forget.”

How absolutely fabulous! I am so happy to hear when readers and podcast listeners take a little Gem and turn it into such a once in a lifetime experience. Thank you to Gail for taking the time to write and share this with me, and all of us who seek to know our ancestors!

More Gems on Making Cousin Connections

Follow Gail’s example and put into action new ideas for cousin connections. If you’ve had your DNA tested, don’t miss Diahan Southard’s newest quick reference guides that will help you get much more value out of your results. And keep reading below for more ideas:

This article was originally published on October 22, 2016 and updated on April 12, 2019.

Episode 228: The Free Genealogy Gems Podcast

by Lisa Cooke | Apr 13, 2019 | 01 What's New, Genealogy Gems Podcast | 6 comments

Genealogy Gems Episode 228

In this episode:

More new feature enhancements announced by Ancestry.com
Listeners Trisha and Betty share their stories with Lisa in person
Lisa’s interview with Crista Cowan, The Barefoot Genealogist at Ancestry.com
The Tombstone Tourist, Joy Neighbors, share 3 intriguing discoveries that she’s made while searching cemeteries
Military Minutes Man Michael Strauss explores an underused genealogical treasure: women’s registration cards on the home front from 1917-1918 during World War I
RootsTech Film Festival semi-finalist Sydney Orton shares the touching story behind newly discovered precious audio and video tape, and how she and her sister honor their grandparent’s memories.

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IN THE NEWS: Ancestry.com Enhancements

Newest features announced on April 9, 2019 by Ancestry.com: Revamped User Profile Page and Improved Messaging system. Ancestry’s theory is that maximizing the features added to the Profile page will increase collaboration and responsiveness. According to Ancestry, if you’re using folders to organize your messages, you probably won’t be seeing the new version of the messaging system for another 6-8 weeks.

MAILBOX: Face to Face with Gems!

In this episode you’ll be hearing from the listener’s themselves. Trisha stopped by to visit with me at RootsTech 2019. Also, at the National Genealogical Society’s conference a few years ago Betty shared an exciting discovery she made by digging into one of my favorite free online resources: Google Books. (Premium Members: watch the Premium video Google Books: The Tool I Use Every Day and download the handout.)

INTERVIEW: Crista Cowan, The Barefoot Genealogist

Crista has worked at Ancestry since 2004 and is best known for her Barefoot Genealogist videos at Ancestry’s YouTube channel. In this episode she shares her own personal genealogy journey, and some of the new features announced by Ancestry.com at RootsTech 2019.

MyHeritage

MyHeritage.com is the place to make connections with relatives overseas, particularly with those who may still live in your ancestral homeland. Visit www.MyHeritage.com

GEM: Joy Neighbors, The Tombstone Tourist

If you’re a Genealogy Gems Premium Member you met author Joy Neighbors in Premium Podcast episode 169. Joy is a delightful national speaker, author, freelance writer, and avowed Tombstone Tourist.

Joy writes the weekly cemetery culture blog, A Grave Interest which you can read at http://agraveinterest.blogspot.com

Her book, The Family Tree Cemetery Field Guide, focuses on how to locate cemetery records, what to do when you get to the cemetery, and how to understand the silent language of the stones. She also shares a few stunning family secrets along the way. In the Premium podcast episode 169 Joy and I discussed cemetery research strategies that every genealogist can use to uncover family history.

In this Gem, I’ve invited Joy to share 3 very intriguing and surprising discoveries that she’s made while searching cemeteries which you can also read here.

Thanks for supporting this free podcast by using our links!

RootsMagic

Lisa Louise Cooke uses and recommends RootsMagic family history software. Visit RootsMagic and start creating your master genealogy database.

MILITARY MINUTES WITH MICHAEL STRAUSS: Women’s WWI Registration Cards

The Council of National Defense was created by an Act of Congress based on the Army Appropriation Act passed on August 29, 1916. This agency was made up of the Secretaries of War, Navy, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, and Labor along with an advisory commission that was later appointed by President Woodrow Wilson on October 11, 1916. Their purpose was to come together and coordinate the industries and resources of the United States for national security and general welfare and to be prepared for war.

Later on, April 21, 1917 a few short weeks after the United States entered World War I the Women’s Committee of the Council for National Defense under the national council was created with suffragist Anna Howard Shaw appointed the Chairman. As the women organized separate divisions and chapters were created in every state and groups that centered on the African-American community.

When the division were formed registration, cards were filled out by women all across the United States requesting personal information. The cards not only offer genealogical details, but give a unique prospective into the social history of women in the early 20th century women move one step closer to national suffrage.

Details on the registration cards included:

Name and address
Age and marital status
Color or race of applicant
Country of birth and/or citizenship status
Time applicant willing to pledge or volunteer for war effort
Occupation and where and by whom employed
Educational background
Personal references for applicant
Emergency service where volunteer willing to go and when
Work experience or training to aid in the war effort
Date and place of registration (wards or precincts in cities)
Physical description
General remarks
Signed and dated registrar and assignment for war effort.

An example from one of the registration cards from Grand Rapids is for Constance M. Rourke (1885-1941), born in Cleveland, Ohio. She was an educator, a noted author, and historian. Educated at Vassar College in New York she later moved back to Michigan after a brief teaching career, where she worked for the Board of Education in Grand Rapids. She lived in the same house in town for the rest of her life after publishing several noteworthy books.

The national headquarters of the Women’s Committee of the Council of National Defense was located at 1814 N Street NW, Washington, DC. The building was formally the Playhouse Club and theater and owned by Washington socialite Henrietta M. Halliday (widow of Edward C. Halliday) who leased the property to the women’s committee for free during World War I. After the end of World War, I in 1918 the council continued to operate until it was dissolved in 1921.

Several collections from different states are available online to research. One of the largest online databases comes from the Grand Rapid Public Library in Michigan. Their database search contains 22,836 individual registration cards that are searchable by name, address, age, and occupation. The records cover the Michigan Division of Grand Rapids for the Women’s Committee for Council of National Defense. The card indexes offer not only offer genealogical information, but provide educational background, work skills, and employment information. Online at https://cdm16055.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16055coll5.

In Midland, Michigan another set of cards are available at the Midland Center for the Arts has in their collection registration cards that cover their county. This collection consists of 2 boxes that contain 802 total cards for area women residents. The cards are not digitized, but have been indexed by name along with an excellent finding aid on how to access these records: https://mcfta.pastperfectonline.com/archive/9CE77DF7-CBEA-47E8-80C7-383294794455

Another set of cards that is available comes through the courtesy of the Indiana Genealogical Society. Less than 50,000 registration cards are known to exist in the state of Indiana. Two counties (Jasper and Miami in Indiana), have known collections of registration cards, but believe other counties in Indiana have these treasures stored away in museums, courthouses, or in other libraries that are statewide and don’t know they exist. Anyone with more information on locations of more cards should contact them. An excellent blog post explains help they seek: http://indgensoc.blogspot.com/2018/05/wanted-ww1-womens-defense-cards.html.

Some smaller collections of online registration cards are located at the Arkansas State Archives in Little Rock. It is under Arkansas Women’s History Collection and has a finding aid online. At this time four cards are scanned to give patrons an idea of what to expect when searching this record group. On their website an excellent blog posting explains their records and as part of this group in Arkansas the Colored Auxiliary Council during World War I. Both can be searched online: https://arkansascouncilofdefense.com/home and to look at the limited number of cards: http://ahc.digital-ar.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16790coll14/id/72.

Another small collection online from the University of Iowa Libraries in Iowa City, IA. There digitized images are limited in number again to offer patron the opportunity to see what potential the records hold. They also have scanned some of the correspondence relating to the women who belonged to the local Iowa Division. To access their finding aids and look at the images: http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm/ref/collection/wwid/id/3300

From this list of online sources for the registration cards it appears that most are in the Midwestern part of the United States. It is true that several states have these available online. If the geographic area of the country of your interest isn’t listed than consider looking at different state archives, libraries, museums, and other historical sites. Searches in card catalogs, finding aid, and other sources will often be the best way to locate potential collections.

One final location that genealogists should consider comes directly from the National Archives in College Park, MD. This is known as Archives II. The records of the Records of the Council of National Defense (CND) which is located in Record Group 62. Besides the registration cards the Archives has general correspondence, weekly reports of state division activity, and minutes for meeting.

The minutes are digitized on the National Archives website and offer a glimpse into the activities of women nationwide. https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=*:*&f.ancestorNaIds=391&sort=naIdSort%20asc&tabType=image

For more information and reading about the Women’s Committee for the Council of National Defense; some suggested sources:

Blair, Emily Newell. The Woman’s Committee United States Council of National Defense: An Interpretative Report. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1920. Online https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.rslgqf;view=1up;seq=5

Breen, William J. Uncle Sam at Home :Civilian Mobilization, Wartime Federalism, and the Council of National Defense, 1917-1919. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1984.

Clarke, Ida Clyde. American Woman and the World War. New York: D. Appleton & Son, 1918. Online https://archive.org/details/americanwomenwor01clar/page/n7

Van Orsdal, Anita Anthony. “There shall be no woman slackers” The Women’s Committee of the Council of National Defense and Social Welfare Activism as Home Defense, 1917-1919. 2016. Michigan State University, PhD dissertation.

Backblaze Cloud Backup

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GEM: Let Me Call You Sweetheart through the Generations

Sydney Orton fell in love with family history and started her research when she was 11 years old. Now at 19 years old, she is even more passionate about genealogy! I discovered Sydney one day on social media when I saw a short video she posted with her sister. Turns out she had entered the video in this year’s RootsTech Film Fest. While the video didn’t win, it won my heart because it featured an audio recording from long ago that her grandpa made for her Grandma. Because the audio from the film is so wonderful just on it’s own, I asked Sydney if I could share it with you here on the show, and she graciously agreed.

The Story Behind the Song
Sydney explains: “My Grandpa and my Grandma were in love when he left to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Days Saints in Australia. They were not yet engaged, but they planned to marry each other when he came back after two years. During the months he was gone, Grandpa sent Grandma gifts like a boomerang, a stuffed Koala bear toy, and photo prints.

For her birthday, Grandpa sent her audio tapes of him singing love songs, while he played the guitar. For my 14^th birthday, Grandpa gave me his guitar. It was about 50 years old and I loved it.

Grandpa passed away suddenly in the fall of 2017. A few days after, my Dad was going through Grandpa’s computer and found the audio. Grandpa must’ve converted it a few years ago. It was such a special experience to listen to him sing.

A few months later, Grandma decided to move and she hosted a garage sale. My uncle Austin looked through the items and pulled out an unmarked, dinged up, video tape. He felt like he should take it home, so he did. He searched for a VCR player for hours before he found one. Then, he discovered what the tape contained. Footage of my Grandparents and their family! No one knew it existed. The video recorder belonged to my great grandparents, but they let their son and daughter-in-law borrow it occasionally. It was colorized, but silent, and it was beautiful.

Grandma and Grandpa had a special kind of love. The kind you see in classic 1930s Hollywood movies. The kind where you never doubt that they were meant for each other.

My uncle showed the rest of our family the footage during our last reunion. My aunts and uncles saw video of themselves as children for the first time! I saw my grandparents raise my Dad. It was such a gift.

For Christmas, I wanted to give my Grandma something special. So, I worked with my sister to put together a video compiling the audio from Grandpa’s mission and the silent footage my uncle found.

My sister learned to play the chords of “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” on Grandpa’s guitar because I couldn’t figure it out. She has a knack for just hearing music and playing it right. Together, we sang a duet with the recording from Grandpa. I mixed together the audio and edited the footage into one whole video.

The video was not completed in time for Christmas, but I did finish it in time to enter the RootsTech Film Fest where it made it to the semi-finalist round. The video was imperfect, but it was just right for its purpose. And that purpose was to make my Grandma smile. I was away at college when I wanted my Grandma to see it. So my Mom went over to Grandma’s house and facetimed me while they watched it. Grandma said to me after, “I was at dinner tonight and someone was playing the piano. I listened to the music and I tried to remember what it was like to dance with Steve.”

Together, we shared tears and laughter as we remembered my Grandpa, Steve Orton. I am forever grateful for the technology that made the video possible.”

Follow Sydney on Twitter: @genealogy_gal
Visit Sydney’s website: www.teenfamilyhistory.weebly.com

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How Cloud Backup Helped One Genealogy Gem Get Closer to Living a Paper-Free Genealogy Life

by Lisa Cooke | Apr 13, 2019 | 01 What's New, Cloud Backup, Disaster Prevention, images, Organization

Every genealogist eventually finds themselves with more paper than they know what to do with. Records, photos, letters, and other ephemera inevitably begin to pile up in the pursuit of our ancestors. So how do you preserve it and protect it for future generations? One Genealogy Gems listener wrote in with the online tool that has her one step closer to living a paper-free life.

Have you dreamed of living a paper-free genealogy life? One where there are no sticky notes surrounding your computer screen and–not so much paper piling up on your desk that your actual remaining work surface is about the size of a sticky note? It happens to the best of us! And much of the reason is we haven’t felt confident about our ability to keep digitized versions of the paper truly safe.

That’s all changing, and a long time Genealogy Gem, Michelle, recently wrote in about her journey to living an almost paper-free genealogy life:

“Dear Lisa,

I wanted to let you know that I just purchased Backblaze to back up my files. I thought you might be interested in my story.

I did my first genealogy project in high school in 1971 and got an A+ on it. I’ve attached the title page for you to enjoy. Well, that project ignited my lifelong passion for family history. During the past 44 years, I’ve amassed a LOT of documents, photos, and videos as you can imagine.

This past year I retired and began the task of scanning all of these items for a couple of reasons:

I wanted them to be protected.
I wanted everyone to be able to use them and benefit from my lifetime of research.

I purchased a few external hard drives for storage but couldn’t bring myself to toss much of the physical items at all due to fear of the hard drives failing.

I tried several cloud services but none of them fully met my needs.

Then (on The Genealogy Gems Podcast) I heard your endorsement for Backblaze and tried it out. I knew immediately this was the service for me, especially because you vetted it out and I trust you completely. Now I can finally toss all that unnecessary paper and almost live a paper-free genealogy life!

Thank you for all the wonderful things you do for the genealogy community. You are a hero in my eyes.

A loyal friend and listener,
Michelle”

Thank YOU Michelle for writing in, sharing your story about how you are using cloud backup as part of your paperless strategy, and your kind words. Backblaze is the official cloud backup of Genealogy Gems and we truly appreciate their sponsorship which helps keep The Genealogy Gems Podcast available for free to all genealogists.

And Michelle is very lucky because she even has a record, in the handwriting of her youth, of when she first caught the genealogy bug. This is an original document that she will probably want to keep in paper form. But whether you scan and toss or scan and keep, having your digital files backed up keeps them safe.

Below Michelle shares the rough draft of the foreword to her paper that describes her first encounter with her Grandma on the subject of family history.

“Grandma, how do you remember all this? Do you have it written down somewhere?”

“No,” she replied, “It’s all in my head”

I couldn’t believe how she knew everyone’s extended family – names, dates, places, and a biography of each one. She had a whole family history living in her head.”

And now Michelle does too! Do you?

Your Cloud Backup Questions Answered

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It’s incredibly easy to sign up, and you can even opt for a 15-day trial to make sure Backblaze is right for you. Click here to learn more and sign up now.

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!

This article was originally published on July 2, 2015 and updated on April 12, 2019.

Amish Genealogy Revealed

by Lisa Cooke | Apr 6, 2019 | 01 What's New, Amish & Mennonite, Newspaper | 3 comments

Amish genealogy is revealed with Facebook! Well, sort of.

I made a recent visit to Amish country and I couldn’t resist talking genealogy with my new friends. I learned a lot about resources for family history and gained invaluable insight that I’m here to share with you. If you have Amish or Mennonite heritage in your family history, you won’t want to miss this amazing information!

The Amish Facebook Equivalent: The Budget

The Budget is the Amish newspaper our guide wittily referred to as “Amish Facebook.” However, this Facebook alternative has been around since 1890! The Budget covers news from all over the United States and Canada pertaining to the Amish and Mennonite communities and families. Who just got married, who had a baby, and who recently passed away…it’s all in there!

Amish Genealogy Newspaper Each weekly edition comes out on Wednesday and the cost is $1.50 per paper. However, you can save by signing up for a 6-month, 1-year, or 2-year subscription. They have local and national editions and you can check out all the subscription prices at their website here.

Local public libraries in the area may have copies of The Budget in their archives or on microfilm. Be sure to call the library and speak with someone in the history or genealogical department to determine what is available.

You may be thinking, “Wait a minute. I didn’t think the Amish liked having their pictures taken.” But you will actually find many nice pictures in The Budget. I learned not all Amish and Mennonite’s have the same rules about photography. Often, rules about photography, clothing styles, and even the types of dolls a child has are determined by the Bishop and church leadership of that district.

I was delighted to also learn The Budget has its own traditional Facebook page, too, where I could keep up with some of the local news.

The Amish Church Directory

The Amish churches are divided into districts. A district may cover more than one county. They are not necessarily based on county or town borders, but rather encompass about 50 families in a given vicinity.

Most Amish families are listed in a church directory for their area. Not all districts find a directory “important,” said my guide.

My new friend at Yoder’s Amish Farm also shared with me the genealogical value of such a directory. He said the directories came out “most every year” in his district, though not all districts publish yearly. By using the directories for any given district, you could easily piece together a very accurate family genealogy.

The directories are listed by surname of the head-of-household. Each family listing includes their home address, which is particularly helpful to the many local government agencies, my guide mentioned. Each member of the family is listed by first name and birth date.

Marriage dates and death dates, if applicable, are also included. If there has been a second marriage involved due to widowhood, the deceased spouse and the couple’s children are also listed. Maps are also found in the church directory so you can keep track of where all the cousins are living!

Directories can be purchased by anyone and are often found at local dry-goods stores within the communities.

Amish Genealogy Family History Books and Newsletters

You may be interested to know that many family history books or published newsletters exist for Amish family genealogies. You will most likely find these books and newsletters at a local library. Sometimes, they are available to purchase from local dry good stores in the area.

Even better yet, try Google! I Googled Amish Yoder Family History and learned about the Oregon Mennonite Historical and Genealogical Society newsletter. It was packed with great information!

The large bound volumes of Amish genealogy may hold thousands of names and dates. Many begin with a detailed history of who came to America, or who came to a given state or area. Then, it will map out for you the family branches.

Using a few of these wonderful sources may help you trace your genealogy farther than you ever imagined. Happy hunting, friends!

Discover even more ancestors with Google!

To learn more amazing techniques about using Google for your genealogy research, check out Lisa’s The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, available in the Genealogy Gems store.

The update includes corrected links and resources to replace any outdated or defunct information. You’ll learn more about all the Google tools you need to master to aid you in your family history. Better yet, after you learn how to use these tools for family history research, you’ll find yourself using them to find all kinds of things!

This article was originally posted on August 29, 2016 by Amie Tennant. It was updated on April 5, 2019.

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 227

by Lisa Cooke | Mar 13, 2019 | 01 What's New, Genealogy Gems Podcast

Genealogy Gems Episode 227

This episode is all about the biggest announcements coming out of RootsTech 2019. Highlights include:

All the major announcements from MyHeritage and Ancestry at RootsTech 2019
Exclusive interview with MyHeritage DNA Product Manager Ran Snir about their newest genetic genealogy tools The Theory of Family Relativity™ and AutoClusters.

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Please take our quick PODCAST SURVEY which will take less than 1 minute. Thank you!

News: Major Announcements Made at RootsTech 2019

Ancestry Announcements:

Historical records:

Ancestry just released over 5 million Mexico Catholic records and 1 million new France Census and Birth, Marriage, Death records and have several U.S. statewide projects underway, from New York to Hawaii. They also released US WWII Draft Cards from seven states. By early next year, the full set of WWII Draft Cards – all 33 million — will be exclusively available on Ancestry and Fold3.

DNA Tools:

MyTreeTags™:
“MyTreeTags™ allows you to add tags to people in your family tree to indicate whether your research on them is confirmed or verified, or to record personal details, like “never married.” You can also create your own custom tags to note that a person immigrated from Denmark or worked as a blacksmith. You can even use filters as you search your tree to see everyone with the same tag. MyTreeTags™ is one way we can help you save time and enrich your ancestor profile.” You can join the MyTreeTags™ and New & Improved DNA Matches beta at https://www.ancestry.com/BETA

New & Improved DNA Matches:
“We have redesigned the DNA Matches experience to help you make more discoveries, faster. Now you can easily sort, group and view your DNA Matches any way you’d like. New features include color coding and custom labeling offering you more control over how you group and view the matches, quicker identification of your newest matches and new ways to filter your matches.

ThruLines™:
“ThruLines™ shows you the common ancestors who likely connect you to your DNA Matches—and gives you a clear and simple view of how you’re all related. When you link your public or private searchable family tree to your AncestryDNA results, new chapters of your family story may be revealed. ThruLines™ will roll out gradually to all customers who qualify beginning today.”

Source: https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2019/02/28/ancestry-announces-coveted-content-releases-and-new-game-changing-family-history-research-tools-at-rootstech-2019/

MyHeritage Announcements:

AutoClusters
“A new genetic genealogy tool that groups together DNA Matches that likely descend from common ancestors in a compelling visual chart. This easy-to-use tool helps you explore your DNA Matches more efficiently in groups rather than as numerous individuals, and gain insights about branches in your family tree.”

DNA Quest Now Accepting Applications
“In March 2018 we launched DNA Quest, a pro bono initiative in which we pledged to donate 15,000 DNA kits to adoptees and those seeking to reunite with family members who were placed for adoption. Within a few months, all the DNA kits we allocated for this initiative were sent out. Applicants opened up to us to share their emotional stories of searching, their hopes for future reunions, and the sense of belonging they felt thanks to their participation in DNA Quest…Following the success of the initiative, we have decided now to extend DNA Quest and donate 5,000 additional MyHeritage DNA kits, for free, to eligible participants.”

Digitizing of Israeli Cemeteries Completed
MyHeritage has completed a 5-year project of digitizing every cemetery in Israel. It is now the first country in the world to have almost all of its gravestones preserved and searchable online, with images, locations, and fully transcribed records. They’ve put up all this content for free, too.

FamilySearch and MyHeritage Tree Sync
(LDS members only)

Geni GEDCOM Import
“We are pleased to announce the return of the GEDCOM Import feature to Geni! This has been one of the most requested features on Geni and we’re excited to finally make it available to everyone. GEDCOM is a standard file format used to save, transfer, and transport family tree information. Long-time users may recall that Geni previously allowed users to start a tree using their GEDCOM files, however we disabled this feature in 2011 to avoid duplication of profiles in the World Family Tree. Our new and improved importer has been rewritten to import a few generations at a time, continuing only on branches where there are no matches to existing profiles on Geni.”

“You can now import a GEDCOM file as a new tree, a new branch if you already have a tree, or onto any existing profile on which you have full permissions to edit and add onto. No longer will you need to endure the slow process of adding each individual one at a time to the tree. Now anyone can quickly add trees which didn’t exist before on Geni, saving you valuable time and allowing you to focus instead on new research.”

The Theory of Family Relativity™
“This unprecedented feature helps you make the most of your DNA Matches by incorporating genealogical information from all our collections of nearly 10 billion historical records and family tree profiles, to offer theories on how you and your DNA Matches might be related. If you’ve taken a MyHeritage DNA test or uploaded your DNA results to MyHeritage, this revolutionary technology may offer astounding new information on your family connections.”

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They help make the free Genealogy Gems Podcast possible.

GEM: Digging Deep into the Theory of Family Relativity™ with Ran Snir

Ran Snir is the product manager responsible for MyHeritage DNA products. He leads a really talented team of developers and engineers and designers to create and optimize DNA users entire journey. He led the development of the Chromosome browser for Shared DNA Segments feature at MyHeritage DNA, from concept to production and launch.