Family & Parenting
Family Tree
July - August 2020Family Tree Magazine will help point the way toward the best research tools and practices to trace your family's history. Each issue includes tips on locating, collecting, and preserving photos, letters, diaries, church and government records, and other documentation, plus fun articles about creating scrapbooks, organizing family reunions, and vacation ideas that combine history with leisure!
in this issue
out on a limb
Hello from my guest room. I’m writing to you during week seven of quarantine. Life as we know it has ended thanks to COVID-19. Businesses are closed, concerts and sporting events canceled, and social gatherings limited to FaceTime calls. Genealogy societies around the world have postponed conferences, and more than 30 million Americans have filed for unemployment. I hope the situation has improved by the time you’re reading this, and that you and your loved ones remain safe and healthy. But even as quarantines are lifted, it’s fair to say we’ve entered a “new normal.” Throughout this crisis, I’ve been comforted by one irrefutable fact: Our ancestors faced their own obstacles, and overcame them. In 1918, they grappled with a deadly strain of the influenza virus. Society shut down as governments scrambled to…
tree talk
ANCESTRY BECAUSE YOUR TREE IS YOUR TREE. FamilySearch is great, just well-meaning people have really messed up my tree. So Ancestry all the way. Donna Cooke via Facebook “Whatever you use, keep paper copies!”Jean Hudson Masco via FacebookI have used FTM [Family Tree Maker] for years and it is very good and user-friendly. I have [the] 2019 version.Phyllis Lotz Haight via FacebookAncestry and Family Tree Maker 2005! I know, I know… but I hate change.Elijah Loxton via Facebook LEGACY FAMILY TREE. But those who cited only an online tree such as Ancestry, what if that online company goes out of business or closes down for some other reason? You’ve lost your tree. You should also have a standalone genealogy program on your computer. Carol Ann Poulsen via Facebook JOIN OUR COMMUNITY! SHOP Genealogy how-to downloads, videos and…
everything’s relative
“IF A CHILD KNOWS THEIR FAMILY STORIES, they know better how to recover from mistakes, how to bear through problems, how to be patient, how to plan for the future. A child armed with their history might still get stage fright, but they can see their forefathers and foremothers behind the curtain off stage, cheering them on. ‘We did it! So can you!’” Jonah and Charlotte Barnes discuss the importance of sharing ancestral stories with children in the introduction of their book, Turning Little Hearts (Cedar Fort, Inc.). The Barneses, who have six children themselves, put together more than 90 genealogy-related activities that will help kids connect with their ancestors.…
family history in color
Heirloom DIY With summer upon us, I’m reminded of days spent canning—capturing the jewels of the field in hot, clean jars. I treasure the tools of the trade that I inherited from my maternal grandmother: canning lids and rings still in their boxes, melon ballers, cherry pitters, a sieve with wooden pedestal, and (most of all) her pie safe that spent decades in her garage. Learn more about the history of canning at <www.healthycanning.com/kerr-jars>. App Obsession I’m so obsessed with the Google Photos app <www.google.com/photos> that I devoted an entire chapter to it in the newest edition of my book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, 3rd edition (self-published). This little powerhouse organizes and stores all your photos, freeing up precious space on your smartphone. Upload old family photos, too, then watch Google Photos group…
rootstech postpones london event
ROOTSTECH ORGANIZERS POSTPONED THE London conference scheduled to take place in Fall 2020 due to COVID-19 concerns. (The event will now take place in Fall 2021; follow updates at <www.rootstech.org/london>.) The event was meant to follow from the success of RootsTech London 2019, which (according to a company announcement) had nearly 10,000 in-person attendees and another 1,300 online participants. The next RootsTech event in Salt Lake City is still scheduled for February 2021. MyHeritage LIVE 2020 (originally scheduled to take place in October in Tel Aviv, Israel) was also postponed, and the National Genealogical Society (NGS) held its May 2020 conference online instead of in Salt Lake City.…
record release updates
US WWII draft cards: Ancestry.com <www.ancestry.com> has finished publishing color images of all 36 million available WWII young men’s draft registration cards. State-by-state collections are also gradually being published on FamilySearch, who partnered with Ancestry.com to digitize and publish the collection. US city directories: MyHeritage <www.myheritage.com> launched an enormous collection of 25,000 directories, ranging from 1860 to 1960. The site has consolidated 1.3 billion records into aggregate listings, making it easier to explore multiyear entries for a family. UK electoral registers: Findmypast <www.findmypast.com> added 116 million names to its collection of English and Welsh electoral registers from 1832 to 1932. This brings the size of that collection (useful for tracing ancestors during that 100-year period) to 220 million names. RECORD: COURTESY SUNNY JANE MORTON; COLORIZED PHOTO: COURTESY MYHERITAGE; GRAVEYARD: RICHARD JOHNSON/ISTOCK…
