Palatines to America German Genealogical Society

Recently, I discovered when my 5th great-grandfather, Freiderich Zearfoss arrived in Pennsylvania! Even with an unusual name, researching this ancestor isn't as easy as you might think. His surname isn't one you see all the time, but I'm finding it spelled almost a dozen different ways. Born around 1724 in the Palatinate region of Germany (a historical region in south-western Germany), he arrived on the ship Edinburgh on September 15, 1749 at the age of 25. The ship sailed from Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and since I don't see any others with the same surname in the record of immigrants, it's quite possible he may have come alone on the voyage. He married after he arrived in America. His information is a springboard for another quest I've been on.

I've been looking for where my Shelly line came to America. There have been some confusing (uncited) details in many trees claiming the Shelly's were of English descent but moved to Holland, ultimately coming to America to avoid religious persecution. But once here, the Shelly's settled and lived in the German communities in Pennsylvania. My Ancestry ethnicity results show I have 21% Germanic Europe from my paternal side, likely an area of French & German Switzerland. Switzerland was directly adjacent to the historical Palatinate area of Germany. It seems possible the Shelly's may have originated in much the same area.

I'm hopeful finding where Freiderich was from will help me find more details on the Shelly family origins. While I was doing some preliminary research, I stumbled on a website called Palatines to America German Genealogical Society. While full access to the site does require membership, there are plenty of resources available for free. I've already been able to find Zerfass (one of the many surname spellings), Shelly and Snavely (another branch of my tree from Pennsylvania) surnames in the Ancestor Chart Project. It remains to be seen if any of the ancestors listed are my ancestors. They also have a robust list of links to external resources, but be prepared, some of them will require translation to English (your browser should prompt you to translate). Membership is $40 per year for US members, and their membership year starts in October. If you're interested in joining, it may be wise to take this into account to maximize your membership (especially if you're only interested in a one time membership.) 

For now, I'm going to take advantage of the free resources the site offers and do additional research on sites where I already have subscriptions. I haven't yet started pursing this Palatinate angle on Ancestry, and MyHeritage certainly has a wealth of European records. But I've added Palatines to America German Genealogical Society to my Genealogy Toolbox under Historical Societies so I'll have it handy when I need it. If you have ancestors from the Palatinate region, I'd be interested to hear if this site helps you in your own research.

30 Free Genealogy Glossaries, Dictionaries and Abbreviation Resources

Image created using DALL-E and ChatGPT

If you're just starting your genealogy journey, you'll likely encounter many terms you aren't familiar with. Even those of us who've been researching a decade (or many decades) run into words we aren't familiar with, especially as we move into using genetic genealogy in our research. I run into new terms all the time!

New words can pop up anywhere. It can be basic terms, genetic genealogy terms, abbreviations, occupations, diseases, military ranks, archaic terms....anything really. In order to make sure you're researching accurately, it's important to take a moment to look up new terminology. I'm not saying you have to memorize every single term you come across...it's simply not feasible and you can always look words again...but take a beat to be sure you're interpreting whatever you're working on correctly.

When you encounter these new and unfamiliar genealogical terms, where do you turn? Google is certainly usually my first step...but it doesn't always answer all my questions. In fact, sometimes I have more questions after a Google search than I had before! So for me, it's important to have a handy list of additional resources I can turn to.

Below are some sites where you can find great genealogical dictionaries, glossaries, information on abbreviations and much, much more! I've included Cyndi's List since there are even more references to be found there.

1. Ancestry's Glossary of DNA Terms
2. Ancestry’s Glossary of Genealogical Terms
3. Berks County Genealogical Society - Helpful Tips Genealogy Terms
4. Cyndi's List Genealogy Dictionaries & Glossaries
5. Family History Daily 300 Historical Abbreviations Explained
6. FamilySearch Research Wiki - A Glossary of Genealogical Terms
7. FamilySearch Research Wiki: Genealogical Terms
8. FamiyTreeDNA Glossary Terms
9. Family Tree Magazine Genealogy Terms Glossary
10. Family Tree Magazine Ultimate List of DNA and Genetic Genealogy Terms (+ Free Download)
11. Genealogy in Time First Name Abbreviations
12. Genealogy in Time Genealogy Word Dictionary
13. Genealogy in Time Latin Dictionary
14. Genealogy.com Genealogy Glossary
15. Genealogy Quest Glossary of Terms
16. Genealogy Trails – Genealogy Terms Encountered While Family Researching
17. Gramps Project Genealogy Glossary
18. International Society of Genetic Genealogy Wiki Genetics Glossary
19. MyHeritage Genealogy Glossary: Common Genealogy Terms Explained
20. MyHeritage Genealogy Glossary: Common DNA Terms Explained
21. MyHeritage Guide to abbreviations and key genealogy terms
22. National Cemetery Administration Headstone and Marker Inscriptions
23. PBS History Detectives Genealogy Glossary
24. Root To Branches Genealogy Terms Explained
25. Roots Dictionary of Genealogy & Archaic Terms
26. RootsWeb Genealogy Abbreviations
27. RootsWeb Genealogy Terms
28. The DNA Geek – A Genetic Genealogy Glossary
29. Thomber.net Glossary of Old Medical Terms
30. Treemily Comprehensive Glossary of Genealogical Terms

For convenience, I've included all these links on my Genealogy Toolbox page (and noted my go-to favorites). This is by no means an exhaustive list. These are just the ones I've accumulated in my own research. Doing a Google search on unfamiliar words may lead you to other sites better suited to answer your specific questions. You may find resources in varied and unexpected places! Just like genealogical research, we all think we'll remember where we found a particular detail, hint or website... only to find it eluding us when we later realize we need it. Don't forget to bookmark reference sites you may want to return to in the future.

Do you have favorite sites for terminology? Leave a comment and share them with me!

Finding Resources in Unexpected Places

Many years ago, I stumbled across the "Journalist's Toolbox". Since then, the site has rebranded as SPJ Toolbox, presented by the Society for Professional Journalists. While this site is geared toward journalists, there are some potential resources genealogists can tap into. 

I don't know about you, but I can get in a rut. I check the various big genealogy sites (sometimes endlessly) hoping a new record will appear for an elusive ancestor. Sometimes I stumble across something new, but sometimes I need a fresh approach. So I'll trek over to some of the smaller genealogy sites, hoping for a breakthrough in smaller databases. And every once in awhile, I'm reminded to try a site where genealogy isn't the staple. You never know what you might find buried in a list of seeming unrelated links.

The Journalist's Toolbox is one of these non-genealogy sites. First, let me point out it appears there hasn't been a lot of really recent updating on the site. I can find pages last updated early 2023, but I also find some dead links. The easiest way to navigate is to search for something specific, or browse all topics. Many of the genealogy-ish links are to sites you'll probably find elsewhere (like the National Archives) or you're already familiar with (like the link to Ellis Island records), but there could be something hiding in there you might find useful. Below are some of the potentially useful links for genealogists:

AI for Journalists
Biography Sites
Copyright issues
FOIA and Finding Data
History
Miscellaneous Tools
Public Records
Reference Books
Search Tools
Translation Tools

By no means is this a site where you're going to find link lists dedicated to genealogy. It's simply an "off the beaten path" site with some limited potential. For content creators, there are also links to digital tools, social media tools, writing tools and various productivity tools. So if you're into sharing your genealogy journey, you may very well find some additional items of use on this site.

Image by Peter Middleton from Pixabay

Ancestors At Rest: Potentially Some Unique Documents

Certainly, when you're looking to place those DNA matches in your tree, you're most likely working with the challenge of placing living people. But to find where those people fit, you have to look at those who came before. As uncomfortable as the idea of death is for many, much of our research focuses on people who have passed away. Ancestors At Rest is a site dedicated to records and information about deaths.

The site contains links to all kinds of various resources, from the expected death and cemetery records, to unique resources on items like coffin plates. Many of the resources are organized by state (but the list and areas are far from all-inclusive). They also have articles and tutorials on tombstone inscriptions, causes of death, funeral customs and more! According to the site, there are some databases not found elsewhere...but they don't actually detail the specifics on these databases. But some items are clearly not on other sites....items collected and scanned (presumably) personally by the site owner.

I was particularly interested to check out the ledger books, journals and diaries. It appeared to be a pet project the site owner was working on to scan and provide free PDFs of these original sources he had collected. I wasn't sure of the contents of these sources, and unfortunately, I still don't know. The link doesn't actually take me to any PDFs. I'd like to think it's still a project in process, but the site hasn't posted any updates.

Interestingly though, when I Googled "Ancestors At Rest", in addition to bringing up the current site, there was also a link to an older version (through 2017) when it was a Blogspot blog. The blog has a brief bio of Brian, the site creator. More interesting, some of the ledger book links on the blog DO work and take you to documents on the current site. If you're willing to do a little work to get to them, it's possible you might find some interesting tidbits! I noticed there was one ledger from Bucks County, Pennsylvania where my paternal line is from. A quick look shows it would take some time and determination to read the documents, but it's possible they may be worth the effort at some point. I actually prefer the old blog to the new site. 

Ancestors At Rest has been around since 2004, and somehow seems to be tied to Olive Tree Genealogy. Clicking on the privacy policy of the site takes you to the privacy policy for Olive Tree Genealogy. However, the sites don't actually appear to be run by the same person. Many of the links simply drive you from one site to the other. There's no information on when the site was last updated, but in and of itself, this isn't really important. Our ancestors died long ago, and if any site happens to have information on them, the details won't change with the passage of time.

By no means is this a "one stop shop" for everything death record related - far from it! But, if you're curious to learn more about our ancestors funeral customs you may find some of the articles interesting. And if you have an elusive ancestor (and who doesn't?!) it could be worth a quick peek to see if anything turns up. Sadly, I didn't find anything on the ancestor who launched my genealogy journey, but I'll keep looking whenever I find a site with potentially new information!

Image by Michael Kauer from Pixabay

Who Has Your Family Members In Their Family Tree?

Image created using DALL-E and ChatGPT 4

Researching your family history is a lot like searching for lost treasure. It's easier if you have a treasure map. If you're like me, you probably have a go-to site for researching. For me, it's Ancestry.com. But I'm also keenly aware many other sites have information I may be interested in finding (hence why I have so many subscriptions). Some of those details might be very important to me. 

There are many different sites to search, and it's impossible to keep up with all of them. Utilizing family trees of others has the potential to point the way to information we may not know. I readily admit, not all family trees are well sourced and they should always be viewed as a tool, not a source in and of themselves. I choose not to discount other user trees as a whole. I look at them carefully to see if they're sourced and whether they might point me toward new details. Many (if not most) aren't of any use, but sometimes, I find a gem with enough detail to send me scurrying off to look at hints I wasn't aware existed. In the last few weeks, I've identified 3 previously unknown children, born between census enumerations, this way (with headstone images on FindAGrave showing son or daughter of and listing the parents). So other family trees are not lock, stock and barrel of no use whatsoever. You simply have to comb through them to find the diamond in the rough. 

If, like me, you do look at other trees, I'd like to introduce you to a site I haven't seen much about - a site making searching across multiple family tree sites super simple - FamilyTreeSearcher.com. In the vast sea of genealogy research sites, finding a really useful reference point can be daunting. This innovative platform streamlines the search process by allowing users to input ancestor information once and then "almost" automatically searches through multiple genealogy websites. Please keep in mind, this site is searching for other family trees, not displaying a list of actual hints/records. The plus side is you typically don't have to have subscriptions to see user trees at most sites. The drawback is you still have to review the trees to see if any new useful information is available. But, as genealogists, we're always assessing and reassessing information we find, so this isn't really a huge drawback in my mind. If a tree does contain new sources, you may very well need a subscription to see the actual records. Following are the sites used in the "almost" automatic searching (notably FindMyPast is unfortunately NOT one of them):

• Ancestry.com
• Computerized Ancestor
• FamilySearch
• FamilyTreeNow
• GeneaNet
• Geni Search
• MyHeritage
• MyTrees.com
• WikiTree
• WorldConnnect (currently offline as it's migrated to Ancestry)

Each ancestor added is saved in an active search section. To start a search, simply input the basic information about your ancestor and then click the search button next to each site. This is why it's "almost" automatic. I wish there was a single button to search all, but currently, it does require a few quick clicks of the mouse. Each search result opens in a new window for convenience Each search also includes links to other additional resources you may want to search manually including:

• DNA sites such as AncestryDNA®, MyHeritage DNA, FamilyTreeDNA and23andMe
• Research options such as: FindMyPast and Google
• And more

The benefit of FamilyTreeSearcher.com is its simplicity and efficiency. By quickly searching across multiple family tree databases, the site saves invaluable time and effort. Whether you’re taking your first steps into family history or you're a seasoned genealogist, this tool offers a straightforward way to navigate through many of the family tree sites available to us online. By offering the quick searches as well as options for those who prefer a hands-on approach, using more detailed search hints and suggestions provided, it empowers users to easily explore each family tree website it covers. Many of the searches have customizable check boxes, but I find using the default options works quite well.

In testing the site, I added the information for my father, who is deceased. Some results provided accurate information and some sites didn't return anything useful. But it was absolutely quick and easy to use. Overall, I found it was a very pleasant search experience and I have no doubt it will be extremely useful for those times I really want to get a wider view of others who have my family members in their trees. I really like how it saves my previous searches so I can go back and check them again at any time without the need to reinput details. With more people testing their DNA and the popularity of genealogy as a hobby, invariably more people will add my family members in their trees at some point. Being able to quickly "re"search to see if anyone else has added someone I'm monitoring is extremely handy.

Rooted in the journey of its creator, Douglas K Barry, FamilyTreeSearcher adds a personal touch, a layer of authenticity to the site, demonstrating the creator's commitment to helping others in their own quest for the treasure of their ancestors. Over its two decades of operation, FamilyTreeSearcher.com has established itself as a reliable and secure platform. Searches are saved via a cookie on your computer and are not uploaded and saved on a server, so you can feel comfortable when using the site.

For those embarking on their journey of uncovering their family's past, FamilyTreeSearcher stands out as a somewhat unique resource. By merging convenience with comprehensive tools to search other family trees, it paves the way for discoveries to bridge the past to the present. Please remember to verify, verify and verify! Just because someone puts information in their tree doesn't make it true. It's on each of us to decide for ourselves if new information is useful, not useful, or requires more research. Give the site a try and see if it leads you to any treasures you may not yet have discovered through more traditional hinting. Let me know if you discover a great find!

Bloggers and Vloggers and Podcasters - Oh My!

Bloggers and vloggers and podcasters, oh my!...and social media creators too! I love to write and I love genealogy, so I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered GeneaBloggers. Established in 2007, it's a warm and constantly growing community of genealogy and family history content creators, spanning pretty much every media type As soon as I made the decision to launch A Tree With No Name last year, joining GeneaBloggers was at the top of my to-do list.

Let's face it, being a content creator isn't always easy. Sometimes the creative juices flow, and sometimes they don't. It takes time, effort and dedication. Have you ever wished you could network with other successful genealogy content creators? You can! Do you want to find more quality genealogy content to follow? It's there! Do you have a specific genealogical topic of interest? You'll probably find likeminded creators. Do you want to be motivated and motivate others to continue to share about genealogy? GeneaBloggers is for you! It doesn't matter if you're just starting out or you've been sharing content for years, every creator who loves genealogy and family history can benefit. 

Basic membership is free, It allows you to register your site in their member directory, so other GeneaBloggers can find you. Your site will be included in the monthly Blogiversary (blog anniversary) post. They also provide daily prompts and a calendar of ideas, because we can all use a little help coming up with content from time to time. Premium membership, is a bargain - (regularly $30US per year) currently only $20US! This membership level, in addition to the basic membership benefits, entitles you to include a description of your blog, a Blogiversary post about your site, as well as discounts from partner sites and other benefits.

If you're a genealogy or family history content creator and you've never visited GeneaBloggers, I encourage you to pop on and take a look. You literally have nothing to lose! The genealogy community, as a whole, is a robust, friendly and welcoming community. GeneaBloggers is another way to connect you to this community, bringing genealogy content creators together to share experiences, expertise and resources. I have absolutely no doubt, Geneabloggers has been instrumental in the growth of my readership this past year and I'm looking forward to being a member for....well, forever! 

I'd also like to say THANK YOU! I'm so very grateful to everyone who likes, comments, shares and interacts with me about my posts. You're all the reason why I keep writing!

Image by inspirexpressmiami from Pixabay

Dead Fred Genealogy Photo Archive

DeadFred.com is one of those rabbit hole sites for me. It's a genealogy photo archive allowing users to search for, upload, and research historical photographs. It's a FREE resource for those interested in genealogy and family history, particularly identifying and preserving old family photos. Users can browse through a vast collection of photographs, including those submitted by other users from around the world. Photographs often include detailed information such as names, dates, and locations. The hope is to reconnect individuals with their past. While I've not found any confirmed photos of my family on the site (yet), I do so enjoy poking around and browsing aimlessly through their collections. I find it fascinating...especially period clothing!

Here are some of the features of the site:

Search Functionality: Users can search the archive for specific names, locations, or keywords to find photographs potentially related to their family. Currently, the site boasts 159,354 records!

Surname Search: There's an extensive surname list for photos where a surname has been provided. 23,354 surnames to be exact! Note: It may be difficult to figure out if the person is "the person" you're looking for. Don't assume just because the name is right, it's the relative you're seeking. Try to find corroborating evidence and keep in mind, the oldest surviving photo is from 1826. Photography really didn't take off until the mid 1800's. So if you find a photo of someone who lived before those dates, it's not the person you're looking for.

Photo Submission: Users are encouraged to upload their own old family photos to the archive, along with any known information about the photographs, to assist others in their research. You can even mail them old photos you don't want any longer and they'll add them to the archive.

Vintage Yearbooks: Yearbook photos from pre-1935 vintage yearbooks submitted to the site. (I'd imagine there's a potential for overlap with collections already available on some of the big sites, but you never know!)

Mystery Photos: Photos submitted without surnames are posted in a special section. These photos may be even harder to identify. But you might be lucky enough to spot one of someone you already know from existing photos and can give the person a full name. Or maybe you recognize grandma's house in the picture and can help establish a location.

Potential to Reunite Photos with Families: If you find you're related to someone in a photo posted on the site, and the photo is owned by DeadFred.com, you can request the original photo be sent to you. So far, they've reunited 3,347 photos! However, if the photo was posted by another user, it will be up to them if they want to reunite the photo. Either way, you can easily download a copy of any photos (for your personal use).

The only major site I'm aware of where Dead Fred photos are included in their searchable collections is MyHeritage.com. As of today, they show the collection having 65,976 items, less than half the total records on the site. Even if you're familiar with the database from MyHeritage, it never hurts to go direct to the source!

Dead Fred is a totally FREE site. They do not charge users to upload photos. Nor do they charge for reuniting photos. But since there are tangible costs associated with maintaining the site, they do take donations by check or PayPal if you want to support the project. Unlike many sites who reunite photos by doing extensive research themselves and contacting potential family members directly - an act of kindness many greatly appreciate - this site emphasizes collaboration, relying on its users to contribute content and providing any known details to help others in their research. The site aims to assist in the discovery of lost family connections and the preservation of historical photographs for future generations of genealogists. If you've never visited before, head on over to DeadFred.com and check it out.

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Those Famous Relatives?

The most "not quite famous" person I've been able to prove I'm related to is someone who handles snakes and alligators and was a contestant on one of those national TV talent searches. I know he's related because he visited my father years ago (and talked about himself a lot). The relationship was corroborated by a cousin who provided enough smaller details for me to confirm the relationship. To date, I've not found anyone else remotely close to "truly famous" in my tree. Now let's be honest, we're all related to someone famous in some way....but more likely than not, it's a very distant relationship and we're unlikely to share any significant DNA (if any at all). Sure, there are some folks who'll have more closely related famous matches...it's just how it works...but for many of us, sites promising to tell us our famous ancestors are only going to show very distant cousins.

Several years ago, Ancestry had an app called "We're Related". It was retired some time ago, but I always enjoyed looking at it. In fact, the app helped clarify the name of a great grandmother I was having a tough time with back then. It didn't necessarily "break down" a brick wall, just helped me get around an obstacle in my path. Still, I was grateful to have found a clue in an unexpected place. Despite the questionable accuracy of sites of this nature, it was still fun to poke around on. Alas...it is no more.

Recently, I was tempted by Geneanet's sister site, Geneastar. As far as the standard features, Geneanet (acquired by Ancestry in 2021) isn't terribly impressive. But Geneastar held a bit of allure for me. I thought it might be slightly better than the famous relatives you find on FamilySearch.org just because of the questionable accuracy of the one-world shared tree. We all know it has errors, and those errors will subsequently trickle down to the famous ancestors they say we might be related to. Geneastar is only available with a premium membership ($55US per year) and I decided to join, just for the entertainment value (not because I really expected to find anything amazing).

I tried several times to do a search, but each time, I was presented with a message saying the search would take a bit of time and I could leave the page and I'd be notified when it was done. Returning to the page always resulted in a banner saying a search was already in progress. I never received a single notification saying my search was complete and the banner never went away (unless I cancelled the search). To me, this indicated the search might never be finishing (perhaps something in the GEDCOM I uploaded was causing a problem?) 

I reached out on Facebook and was told premium members should submit a support ticket. I did this and was very pleased with the response time. However the representative simply said "we're sorry you don't have any matches with the Geneastar database". I wasn't really expecting much as far as famous relatives, but I did want an explanation why my search wasn't completing. After a little back and forth, I was asked to provide some screenshots. I did. The response was "This message shows up when you have a search for hints in process...We are sincerely sorry that you don't have any matches with the Geneastar database." They never did explain why the banner never went away. I already knew it was displayed because a search was in progress - the banner made it very clear. It doesn't matter to me if there were matches or not, I just wanted to know the site was actually doing the search at all and to verify it wasn't hung up in a never ending loop. I finally gave up and will most definitely not renew this subscription again! Lesson learned. I'm sure it works just fine for many people, but it certainly didn't for me.

The frustration led me to look for other entertainment value options and I landed on Relative Finder. It's still based on the FamilySearch tree (with all it's potential errors) but at least it's FREE and gave me a ton of possibilities. This begs the question, does Geneastar not have a decent size database of famous people if I'm not matching to any at all? FamilySearch matches me to over 50 potential famous people people, and Relative Finder to thousands (albeit mostly VERY distantly and a lot were LDS related. Still, with LDS filtered out, I had over 1000 matches). I have to assume either Geneastar is not nearly the site they hype it up be, or it simply doesn't work for me for some reason. In any case, I enjoyed checking out Relative Finder. They even allow you to export your results so you can open and manipulate them in a spreadsheet. They also include the common ancestor, theorized relationship and clicking on a match clearly presents the potential connection generation by generation. They include filters for everything from royalty to the Salem witch trials, providing a lot of room to narrow down potential results to areas of interest.

Though I won't spend any real time trying to prove any of these connections, I use these sites as a potential way to identify names or even parents of some of my more difficult to find ancestors. I never ever take the information at face value - everything MUST be proven! I just enjoy seeing the possibilities and if appropriate, maybe poking a little further into a name I haven't seen before just to see if it's viable. For me, it's not about saying I'm related to someone famous, it's about maybe finding a tiny clue to help me past a brick wall.

The moral of this post? Don't waste your money on Geneanet Premium (unless, perhaps, you're looking for information related to French ancestors). Stick with the free site Relative Finder or just use the activities tab on FamilySearch.org and choose the Famous Relatives option. I totally get I may not match with anyone in Geneastar's database, and it's ok.....but given the disparity between the results, it just seems awfully strange not to have even a single match. Have you found any famous relatives? If so, how did you discover them? Connect with me on social media and let me know! 

Image by Denys Vitali from Pixabay

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Many (if not most) of the people in our trees are "everyday people". Folks who were born, lived their lives, likely worked very hard, perhaps raised a family and ultimately died. I must admit, the vast majority of people in my tree are a bit...non-descript...perhaps even boring. 

Don't get me wrong! There are exceptions and they're usually the ones destined for a biographical sketch. Some of my ancestors led very interesting lives. A few made great contributions to their community. Several were savvy business owners. Many served their country bravely in the military. A smattering died in unusual or unexpected ways. I do my best to bring each and every person in my tree back to life as much as I can with the information available to me. But sometimes, there just isn't a whole lot to tell.

Now wouldn't it be interesting to find someone with a slightly checkered past? Perhaps something long hidden no one in the family talked about? Maybe an ancestor who was in prison or an insane asylum? Go back far enough and one might even find a pirate, an outlaw, a witch or an execution. But where do you look for records of this type?

Blacksheep Ancestors could potentially be the site to help unlock long hidden secrets! You'll find links for the United States, Canada and the UK. By far, the United States seems to have the largest number of links on the site. You'll find the following types of records:

• Prison and convict records
• Court records
• Executions
• Insane asylum records
• Bios of famous outlaws, criminals & pirates 
• And more!

You're not going to find all the secrets of your ancestors by using this site...but you might find a hidden gem you didn't expect! Especially if you hit a brick wall where a person seems to disappear, consider whether they might have run afoul of the law or been sent away to a hospital. Blacksheep Ancestors might just give you a nudge towards a record you hadn't considered or perhaps to a website you've not contemplated searching before.

This is one of those "down the rabbit hole" sites for me. Sometimes it's fun to simply poke around, even if it isn't about my specific ancestors. It makes me wonder, are any of my family members somewhere in these records? Some of the biographical stories are fascinating to read. If you have an ancestor who just disappeared, do a quick search at Blacksheep Ancestors. You might just uncover something unexpected.

Image by Hans from Pixabay

Unlocking Our History: The Triumphs of Reclaim the Records

Sometimes, we hit the proverbial brick wall. Especially for those of use who primarily research online, it's the point where records seem to evaporate. Maybe it's a record for an ancestor from long ago. Or maybe it's for someone closer in time. The reasons we're looking for various records are numerous and sometimes very personal. We may begin to question if these records ever existed at all. Some may have been lost to time...others destroyed. But there are also genealogical gold mines, archives we simply aren't allowed to access and many of us may not even know they exist. Despite being called public, some are anything but.

Enter Reclaim the Records, a non-profit organization with the mission of making historical and genealogical records accessible to the public. As an advocacy group, they fight for transparency and access to records using Freedom of Information requests, and lawsuits if it becomes necessary. Once "reclaimed", they make the records they obtain freely available to all. 

Their approach is nothing short of inspired legal wrangling. By studying the laws surrounding specific record sets in a given area, they utilize legal maneuvers to demonstrate the public's right to access governmental records. Reclaim the Records has successfully liberated many millions of documents. These range from birth, death, marriage and naturalizations records to other genealogically important archives. They've targeted additional new record sets on their "to-do" list, not only in the categories above, but divorce, educational, probate, military and more.

Recently, in my home state of Maryland, they freed the Maryland Motherlode. This massive record set is estimated at over 5 million records and includes birth, death, marriage and naturalizations. The collection includes indexes as well as images. In this case, they researched the law and were successful with a Freedom of Information request. They did not have to sue the state. If you're interested in viewing the Maryland archives Reclaim the Records has made available for free, they can be viewed here.

The positive impact of Reclaim the Records can be felt by all genealogists and family historians. Even if you've not had a reason to visit the records they've made available, their work underscores the importance of unlocking public records. They continue to remind us these documents belong to the public, not locked away in some vault or storage area. They should be shared, explored and preserved for future generations of researchers. I encourage you to visit Reclaim the Records. Read about their latest successes. Sign up for their newsletter. As a non-profit run by volunteers, donor support helps ensure they can continue to fight for records. If you want to support the cause, you can donate on their site.

As genealogists, the work of Reclaim the Records offers us invaluable resources on our journey piecing together our family histories and stories. For those of us who've faced the frustration of "brick walls" in our research, Reclaim the Records demonstrates how determination can bring about positive and productive change. Their efforts remind us with the right research and approach, the records of the past are often within reach. It's a lesson we can apply to many of our brick walls. With patience, a well designed plan and perseverance...it can sometimes be possible to break down brick walls, bringing records we need into the light. 

Image by Mariann Szőke from Pixabay

Double Vision: RootsFinder and American AncesTREES

By now you probably know I have a bit of a subscription addiction. This weekend, I was really tempted to subscribe to RootsFinder. I've had the free plan for some time, but never really took it for much of a spin. The site is owned by FindMyPast, a bit odd considering they have their own GEDCOM import and tree building capabilities on their site (and I'm already using them). But still, on the surface, at only $34.95 per year for the Pro Plan, it seemed like a well priced addition...and there were a few features I thought I liked the sound of.

After comparing the free vs. paid Pro Plan, it seemed like the biggest differences were the ability to set trees as private and the DNA tools. To be clear, it's tools....not additional DNA matches. I have plenty of other sites with DNA tools I'm not fully utilizing, so it wasn't much of a stretch (this time) to kick the tires on the free version before upgrading.

One of the draws for me was aggregating hints from multiple sites together in one location. While I do most of my research on Ancestry, I do like to pop over to other sites to see additional hints from time to time, especially about direct ancestors. Who doesn't want to move another generation back?! Per their site, RootFinder pulls hints from "FamilySearch, BillionGraves, FindAGrave, OpenArch, GenealogieOnline, and paid subscription sites Findmypast, AmericanAncestors, RootsPoint, Ancestry and MyHeritage." Subscriptions are required to actually view the hints from the paid sites.

After uploading my GEDCOM, I immediately noticed the tree building and hinting system looked identical to American AncesTREES from American Ancestors. For a moment there I thought I was seeing double! The selections for hinting are the same: Direct Ancestors, End of Line (people with no parents) and Everyone (though a pop up warns hinting is limited to 2000 people.) The checkboxes to pull hints from various sites are the same. The one-time sign in to FamilySearch so it can "mirror" your tree is the same and the warning if you delete your tree it will no longer be on FamilySearch or RootsFinder are the same. (Don't worry, if you have a tree on FamilySearch already, it will NOT delete it. It only deletes the "mirror" tree.) Editing a person is the same as well.

With a quick search I found American AncesTREES pulls hints from "American Ancestors, FamilySearch, FindmyPast, Newspaper Archive, Billion Graves, Find a Grave and more." They say search hints are available for Ancestry.com, but offered up as collections to search, not actual hints. Just like RootsFinder, subscriptions are required to actually view the hints from the paid sites. American Ancestors, where I already have a subscription, was $99.95 per year, but comes with a whole host of other third party databases and research tools (a big draw for me).  

For all intents and purposes, these two sites appear to be using the same technology for their tree building interface and hinting. After consideration, I decided not to use RootsFinder after all. Being limited in how many people can receive hints for is a big deal to me. I'm already doing direct ancestors only on American AncesTREES and a duplication of this information isn't helpful. Since I didn't upgrade, I couldn't compare the DNA features, but I'd be surprised if they weren't the same too. Given FindMyPast has it's own tree building capabilities (and they aren't the same as RootsFinder), I wonder if they aren't simply licensing out the RootsFinder technology to any genealogical society who wants to use it on their own sites. (American Ancestors, also known as the New England Historic Genealogical Society, founded back in 1845, is a tremendous resource for those with family heralding from New England.) If FindMyPast was serious about development of RootsFinder (or American AncesTREES...or whatever you want to call it...) they'd have kept the algorithms and interface proprietary. It seems more of an attempt to create a return on their 2019 investment in RootsFinder.

If you're concerned about the cost of genealogy and/or have a smaller tree where the person limit on hints isn't a drawback, you can certainly try the free version at either site. I joined American Ancestors primarily for the collection of third party databases. American AncesTREES was just a bonus extra for me. If you're going to spend money on either site, supporting a genealogical society is probably a better choice. A subscription to AmericanAncestors includes access to all their databases (including third party databases not included in tree hints), discounts on books and courses, free admission to the research center, a 10% discount on GEDmatch Tier 1, and more. Quite honestly, I probably wouldn't select either site as the host for my tree. The user interface at Ancestry is far superior. The only plus to either RootsFinder or American AncesTREES is the multiple hinting, and you can always use this feature (with the free plans) alongside any site or software you may choose as the home for your tree. 

Image by PayPal.me/FelixMittermeier from Pixabay

Don't Waste Your Money on this AI for Family History Course

In general, I've been a big fan of the Family History Daily courses. They're designed for the casual or amateur genealogist and usually offer lots of practical and useful information. I purchased the Complete Access package a few years ago when I was restarting my tree. This package grants me free access to any new courses as they're added. I was really excited to see they added an "AI for Family History" course recently, and a few nights ago I settled in to work thru it. 

I'll start on a positive note. If you have no familiarity with AI and using these new tools, the information is presented simply and in a way most people can probably understand. Several AI tools are compared, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of each. By using the same set of prompts for each tool, they clearly illustrate (with plenty of images) where different tools do well, and where they run into challenges. The course covers a basic introduction to AI, privacy and security concerns, tasks AI can and cannot do, and a presentation on creating simplistic prompts. It also illustrates how refining prompts assists in better responses. After showing examples from the various AI tools, they round it out with a few genealogy tasks AI is currently reasonably well suited for such as transcribing, translating, visualizing data and a couple others.

Now for the huge negative - the price. The course is regularly priced at $129, but could be less if they're running a special. I would NOT pay for this course under any circumstances! Certainly not at $129...and not at any reduced price either. It only took me a little over an hour to work thru the whole course (admittedly, this did not include any time spent practicing, as I already have a basic familiarity with AI). If you happen to have a Complete Access package (allowing free access to new course materials), it may be worth an hour or so if you haven't spent any time at all trying out AI. But, most of the information provided can be easily gleaned from reading posts written by those currently using AI as a genealogy tool. The comparison of various AI sites really didn't add much substance, though I did learn the names of a few tools I'll probably never bother to access. This is truly a bare bones introduction If you have any hands on time at all with AI, you're unlikely to gain much in the way of new insights.

Are you interested in an introductions to this new technology but don't know where to begin? I can definitely point you toward some free options to get you started! I recently came across AI Genealogy Insights. This is a blog dedicated to exploring AI as it relates to use in genealogy. While written at a slightly higher level than absolute beginner, it's more in depth and gives better insights into using AI alongside your traditional research. Best of all, it's completely FREE! There's an entire section dedicated to Use Cases where clear information is presented on creating and using extremely well structured prompts to achieve usable results. The prompts illustrated in this blog are head and shoulders above what's presented in the Family History Daily course. I'd urge you to spend an hour reading this blog over spending even a dime for the course. ChatGPT also offers the OpenAI Help Center. Here you have access to considerable information about this popular tool and how to best use it.

As you probably know from my other posts, I'm not at all opposed to paying for subscriptions, courses, or anything else to help further my knowledge and research. Some materials and tools are absolutely worth the investment (both time and money). This course is not one of them. You'd be far better off spending $20 a month for ChatGPT Plus for 6 months than paying for this course. AI is simply a tool. I don't mean to burst the bubble, but it's not going to replace traditional research any time soon. It can definitely assist with many mundane tasks such as transcribing and translating (though you still need to double check what it provides as it does make errors and sometimes fabricates information.) At this point in time, my personal suggestion if you're interested in using this technology is to read some of the posts on AI Genealogy Insights and go hands on with ChatGPT. You'll be surprised how quickly you can learn to use this new tech to help you in your genealogy journey.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Palaeography: Deciphering Old Handwriting

palaeography: The study of ancient writing and inscriptions; the science or art of deciphering and determining the date of ancient writings or systems of writing.

Deciphering old handwriting can be really challenging! I'm getting better (albeit slowly), but some of the mid-18th century and earlier really stumps me at times. Practice is definitely key. I've dabbled with using ChatGPT to transcribe portions of old documents...with mixed success. Sometimes it gives me a relatively good transcription and I'm like "Oh! That's what it says". Other times, it simply informs me old handwriting can be hard to read and I might need to investigate further and use other documents to compare writing samples. 

Recently, I saw a post where someone shared a cheat sheet of sorts. I've been using it the last week or so, and it's been helpful. It's been posted on multiple sites (with no original source noted). If you haven't seen it and would like to save a copy, just click the image and save it to your computer.

I've also come across couple of free online courses/tutorials. I'm planning to work through these courses in the coming months as a part of my "continuing genealogy education". I'm starting to get back to the late 1700's and early 1800's on my paternal line, and it's becoming very apparent I need to improve my skills in this area. 

The National Archives (UK) offers Palaeography: reading old handriting 1500-1800 A practical online tutorial with 10 lessons and tips for further practice.

CERES COPIA (University of Cambridge, England) has a course comprised of 28 lessons: English Handwriting 1500-1700: An Online Course.

If you're researching other countries and languages the challenge can be even greater. Not only do you need to know styles of writing, but the language at the time. I'd encourage  you to search out some resources before you jump in. The FamilySearch Wiki currently has over 9600 entries on handwriting, covering lots of countries. It also includes word lists you may require in your endeavors. Simply use the search box to narrow the results for the country or language you need. Thus far, I've been lucky enough not to encounter other languages, but given a portion of my paternal line is German, I don't think I'm going to dodge it forever. My DNA shows some other European countries and if I'm lucky enough to find where the ancestors I carry with me came from, I definitely want to be prepared.

While brushing up on skills is important, it's unlikely to solve all the challenges of reading old handwriting. The writer may have been in a hurry, ink may be faded and let's face it...some people just have chicken scratch! Only with time and practice will deciphering old writing become easier. AI may one day be sophisticated enough to transcribe consistently, but it's still no substitute for learning how to read documents yourself. Even if you are successful with an AI transcription, you still need to compare the AI result with the original and verify it's correct. As you continue your journey back in time, take time to learn to read old script (no matter what language it may be).

 (Links to referenced resources have been added to my Genealogy Toolbox page for easy reference.) 

Image by Petra from Pixabay

Cyndi's List: Links for Everything Genealogy

Cyndi's List is the absolute BEST compilation of links to everything Genealogy. No matter what you're searching for, Cyndi's List is likely to have links to resources to assist you. Best of all, you can search this site for FREE! While seasoned researchers are certainly already familiar with the site, those new to genealogy may not be, so I felt it was worth mentioning. Even if you're been to Cyndi's List many times before, it's worth remembering approximately 1500 new links are added each month (as well as updating of current links, and deletion of outdated links) so there's always something new to find. Visit the "What's New" page to see weekly updates.

Created in 1996 and boasting an impressive 250,000 unique visitors to the site each month, this well maintained and constantly updated site is something to behold. With 231 categories and 319,514 links (as of the date of this post), you're sure to be blown away by how comprehensive this compendium is. The user interface is simple and intuitive so you'll have no trouble locating what you need. If you're new to the site, start with the welcome on the home page and read the FAQs to learn more about how links are recorded and indexed. Then dive right into the alphabetical category listing or use the search box to find exactly what you're looking for. Don't take my word for how incredible this site is - search for yourself and prepare to be amazed!

It's hard to imagine the amount of hard work and dedication it takes to keep Cyndi's List up to date. The site is run by a single dedicated woman (Cyndi Ingle) who clearly has a passion for genealogy. The site is supported by affiliate links, advertisements, and donations. If you find the site helpful in your research, please consider using the affiliate links or making a donation to show your thanks. It's not often you'll find a gem such as this - make sure it's a staple in your genealogy toolbox.

Review: DNA Academy: Genetic Genealogy for Beginner's and Intermediate

Over the weekend, I completed the DNA Academy: Genetic Genealogy for Beginner's and Intermediate course at learn.trace.com, My goal was simple: learn more about DNA and how to better utilize it in my own research. This course did not disappoint!

I prefer to learn in an organized format. While there are certainly plenty of free online resources about DNA and working with it, I wanted something a little more structured. The self-paced course included 29 modules and covered everything I needed. From the basics necessary to understand DNA and how it's inherited, to ethnicity, endogamy and ethics, and how to best use DNA matches to further your research (including special situations) - all the major concepts were addressed. You also learn about phasing, clustering, and triangulation (both pedigree and segment). They highlight potential limitations and suggest where various additional types of DNA testing may (or may not) prove useful. There are also modules on using specific sites, tools and resources for working with DNA results and matches. Some modules also include case studies. Many handouts and forms are provided for download to assist with future research. For the most utilized research forms, video tutorials are presented on how to use them properly and efficiently. At completion, you'll retain access to review the course whenever you need to brush up on your skills, or to review any newly added content to the course.

While they estimated 5 weeks to complete the program, it took me about 8 (oh the convenience of self-paced!) According to the tracker on the site, I spent about 15 hours of dedicated time on the course (not including the time I scurried off to practice the skills as I learned, and fell down the occasional research rabbit hole along the way). Given the price tag of $250 for the course, it's a fairly cost efficient option. It's certainly far more economical than hiring a professional to assist. And if using your DNA results (or the results of those you're helping) more effectively can save you countless hours of spinning your wheels, it's a win in my book.

There are skills assessments in many of the modules to ensure you're understanding the material as you're working through the course. At completion, there's a final (slightly longer) skills assessment and if you get a passing score, you'll receive a certificate of completion. I finished with 90% and I'm eagerly awaiting an email with my certificate attached. Does the certificate actually get you anything? No, not really... just the satisfaction of knowing you passed the course. I suppose you could list it as a continuing education course, but I personally don't have a genealogy "resume", so for me it's strictly personal gratification.

Was there anything missing from the course? Not really. Though it's a genetic genealogy course, I'd still have liked to see a module addressing using DNA for forensic genealogy, including ethics and practices. I know I have family and friends who won't take a DNA test because they're worried about their DNA being used nefariously by law enforcement or forensic genealogy companies. I readily admit, forensic genealogy is a totally separate branch of the genealogy tree, but some basic knowledge as a part of this program might help course takers spread more accurate information as they converse with others. This is just my opinion - the course is very well rounded as far as genetic genealogy goes. Not having this topic in no way diminishes the value of the course.

If you're not ready to invest in a course to learn more about working with DNA, below are some great free resources**:

• AncestryDNA® Learning Hub
• MyHeritage Knowledge Base - DNA 
• GEDmatch Education 
• DNAeXplained 
• The DNA Geek
• segment-ology

So, did I break down any brick walls? No, not yet. For my biggest brick wall, I may need to wait for more DNA test takers to appear and/or investigate matches more thoroughly on some of the other sites where I've uploaded my DNA. Do I feel more confident about using my DNA matches? Yes, 100% I do! Do I recommend the course? If you have a desire to know more about DNA and working with results and matches (and you don't mind paying for a course)  then yes, I absolutely recommend it wholeheartedly! 

**Links to useful resources and sites mentioned in my posts can always be found on my Toolbox and Blogs To Follow pages.

Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

Effortlessly Working with PDFs

PDFs have been around since 1993. It's a format we all know. You may find you occasionally need to edit these files and sorting through the hundreds (if not thousands) of websites and programs to find a decent one may feel overwhelming. I've found PDFCandy.com (offering an amazing 47 online PDF tools) is a great free option! 

I prefer the PDF Candy Chrome Extension but you can also go directly to the website at PDFCandy.com. This site allows you to convert 20+ file formats to and from PDF, compress, edit in numerous ways, merge, split, even extract text and/or images. The only drawback is the tools are all individual and not in any particular order, so you may have to scroll to find the one you need, but the site interface is simple and straightforward. Resulting files in the free version are available to download for 120 minutes with no login/signup required. The one caveat is you can only perform 1 task per hour for free. If you need to do more than one task, to keep it free, you'll have to return to the site a few times or use multiple browsers to get around the limit. But if you're like me, the need is occasional (such as combining multiple PDFs into a single file, or converting a PDF to JPG) and one task may be all you need to accomplish your goal.

If you're a power user, there are pricing plans as low as $6/month cancel anytime, $4/month if you sign up for a full year, or $99 for a lifetime license. If you find you need to do a lot of editing at once, but only for a limited time, $6 is a bargain and then you can cancel. If you work with files on the regular, the lifetime price is less than just a few months at other sites.

Next time you need to work with PDF files, give PDFCandy.com a try!

Image by Ulrike Leone from Pixabay

Liking Linkclump

Linkclump is a browser extension for Chrome. (Firefox users can download it here). It's one of the handiest tools in my Genealogy Toolbox, Developed by Benjamin Black, it's a free extension with over 300,000 users. The developer does not collect or use your data. It makes opening, copying or bookmarking multiple links at once a snap! For genealogists it's a huge time saver.

When you open a record on Ancestry.com, you've undoubtedly noticed the additional Suggested Records on the right hand side of the page. Sometimes it's just a few, and sometimes the list is quite lengthy. How many times have you wanted to look thru them all to see what might be new, check for what's not included in your New Hints (not all of them are!) or find out if you've already saved a particular record, but the thought of all that clicking is just plain annoying? Enter Linkclump! 

Simply drag and draw a box (shown in red in the image) using the left mouse key + Z around the links you want to open and Linkclump does all the clicky work, opening them all at once in new windows or tabs (depending on how you set it up). I changed my action key to be "Ctrl" instead of "Z" because I can remember it easier. Customizing is super simple. 

I use it to open all the Ancestry.com Suggested Records (and I haven't encountered any issues no matter how many links I've selected), then I click thru them and close the ones I already have saved. Anything remaining I either review on the spot or copy the URL for future research. I've learned from experience, just because something shows in your new hints today doesn't mean it will be there tomorrow. It's best to save any URLs you may want to research later using whatever system works best for you. I use iDailyDiary by Splinterware as detailed in my previous post.

I personally haven't used the copying or bookmarking features, but they're easy enough to set up right in the extension if you want to give them a try. Once you use Linkclump, you'll wonder how you ever survived without it! Because this is a free extension, there is no support per se, but there is extensive information on GitHub if you encounter any issues. I know not everyone is a fan of browser extensions, but this is one you should definitely give a time saving try. It truly makes opening bunches of links at once a breeze!

For a quick tutorial check out this YouTube video.

Family History Daily Course Center

I'm not a professional genealogist (far from it) - I'd call myself an intermediate amateur (and when it comes to analyzing DNA, a definite beginner). When I first started building my family tree, I made a LOT of mistakes. Even after restarting my tree several times over the years, I continued to fall into the same bad habits and patterns. I can't count number of blogs and articles I've read cautioning not to blindly trust other people's trees. Do the research yourself! Don't just accept hints, make sure they make sense for the person you're working on. Nonetheless, I barreled through dozens of hints a night, hundreds in a weekend, measuring my progress by the drop in hint count and increase in number of people in my tree. And I realized - my tree was a MESS! How could I ever fix it? The thought of trying to "clean it up" was beyond daunting. I finally accepted, I needed to start over, from scratch.

Before I jumped into my do-over, I spent time researching affordable genealogy courses. I knew I needed to reframe my thinking and improve my skills. I didn't want to spend thousands of dollars or years in classes. I didn't have time for scheduled online classes. I wasn't after a certificate or degree. I didn't want to be a professional genealogist. I wanted a decent, easy to understand, useful course, at a reasonable price and to study at my own pace. Enter Family History Daily Course Center.

Family History Daily has tons of articles, tips/tricks and guides anyone can access for free. There's quite a lot of valuable information to be had in the free resources. But for those who crave more, they also offer the Family History Daily Course Center with several courses to choose from to fit almost any budget and goal. Courses are online, easy to understand, self paced, created by experts. Prices range from $89 (for the Ancestry.com Crash Course) to $339 (for the Complete Access Package, including access to any new courses offered in the future). I decided the Complete Access Package was the right choice for me. After registration and payment, access to the courses is immediate. 

Courses include lessons, hands-on activities, quizzes, forms, charts, worksheets and links to valuable research resources. I completed all the courses in my package, and felt much more confident as I set out to restart my tree (for what I've pledged is the final time). While the number of little green leaf hints still makes me anxious sometimes, I now take my time adding people to my tree. I've learned to verify and cross-check information before adding facts and saving records. My organization and search skills have improved dramatically. I scrounge every little scrap of information (no matter how small) from each record because you never know how important one little detail might be or what door it might open when researching in the future. I no longer wonder how/why I added someone to my tree. In short, I'm proud and confident in my tree.

If you're considering taking a course to improve your research skills and genealogy knowledge, I highly recommend the Family History Daily Course Center. Genealogy is a big investment in time and effort (and for some, money). Continually improving your skills and bolstering your knowledge will help you make the most of your genealogy journey. 

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay