RootsTech 2018 in Review

The desire to discover or connect with one's family or ancestors brought together tens of thousands of family history enthusiasts from 43 countries and 50 states—and even more online—at RootsTech 2018. Celebrities Brandon Stanton, Scott Hamilton, Henry Lewis Gates, Jr., Natalia Lafourcade, and FamilySearch CEO Steve Rockwood keynoted each day of the popular 4-day event originating in Salt Lake City, Utah. Cool technology, popular consumer DNA services, and hundreds of how-to classes kept beginner to advanced attendees buzzing.

_{MISSED ROOTSTECH 2018? WATCH THE FULL KEYNOTES, AND SELECT SESSIONS ONLINE}

The 8^th annual conference continues to grow in popularity. More than 17,000 guests from every state and 47 countries gathered at the Salt Palace Convention Center, and more than 111,000 watched live using the internet. Keynote sessions were highlighted each day with special announcements from show sponsors Ancestry.com, LivingDNA.com, MyHeritage.com, and findmypast.com.

In his keynote, FamilySearch CEO Steve Rockwood suggested that when you discover you are related to someone, you treat him or her differently. Using geo fencing technology and a little engineering wizardry, FamilySearch enabled attendees to use its Family Tree mobile app feature "Relatives Around Me" to make connections with unknown cousins in attendance at the conference, showing how they were related and enabling them to communicate and rendezvous. Astonishingly, over half of the attendees (8,450 people) were connected with other conference goers. The total number of cousin connections found at the conference (from 1^st to 10^th cousins) were 2,334,110, which makes the average number of relatives discovered at the show per user 276.

_{WATCH STEVE ROCKWOOD'S ROOTSTECH 2018 TALK}

The show offered over 300 mostly packed class sessions on a vast range of family history-oriented topics, an expo hall filled with vendors’ displays and products, and enrichment events nightly filling every moment with family activity. It was energetic, lively, exciting, entertaining, inspirational, and educational.

Brandon Stanton, author of the blog and book Humans of New York, shared his story of how his dream job came true through hard work and determination. He said, "Following your dreams is nothing but hard work." He said that we shouldn't get to a place where you don't have to work, but to get to a place where you get to choose your work. His blog, and resulting books, illustrate the importance of all individuals. He says "listening is a scarce commodity" in this age of selfies. Stanton has found that everyone needs to tell someone about themselves, if they can find someone to listen long enough—a key to the success of his bestselling books that depict pictures and intimate and personal stories of people around the world. When asked why people share personal stories with them, he replied, "I ask." He says that the feeling of being validated, the feeling of being heard unlocks something in people that allows them to share.

_{WATCH BRANDON STANTON'S ROOTSTECH 2018 TALK}

Scott Hamilton, an Olympic gold medalist, is as energetic and affable today as he was during his career run of athletic medals. He shared a touching story about himself as an adopted child, his bouts with different types of cancer, and the help of “family” figures in his life. He captivated the audience with his love of family and how important families are in everyone’s lives. He told about his own family, his wife, and the miracle and blessings that are his two natural children and two adopted children from Haiti.

_{WATCH SCOTT HAMILTON'S ROOTSTECH 2018 TALK}

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., host of PBS's hit series Finding Your Roots, shared how an obituary of an "estimable" great aunt he read when he was a child planted the seed for his lifelong love for family history, and how knowing their stories can impact future generations. Gates shared how his journey through an Ivy-league education, African American roots, and a DNA test paved the way to a string of genealogy-related television shows that led to his current popular and long-running series on PBS. He introduced the DNA Detective, CeCe Moore, and explained how DNA is breaking down long held family history brick walls, dispelling myths, and blessing the lives of people young and old. He has created an initiative to introduce K-12 children to the joys and benefits of discovering their family histories in a summer camp called Finding Your Roots: The Seedlings.

_{WATCH HENRY LOUIS GATES JR., AND CECE MOORE'S ROOTSTECH 2018 TALKS}

Natalia Lafourcade, a Mexican pop-rock singer and songwriter, is one of the best known singers in the pop rock scene in Latin America. She shared the importance of family memories and quipped that family lore says she had French pirate ancestry. FamilySearch revealed a personal genealogy that confirmed her French roots, but could not validate the pirate family legends. She sang songs from her latest album, concluding with the Oscar-winning song “Remember Me” from the Oscar winning animated movie Coco.

_{WATCH NATALIA LAFOURCADE AT ROOTSTECH 2018}

The RootsTech 2018 Innovation Showcase, hosted by Extreme Genes'  Scott Fisher, addressed the state of historic records, digital memories and DNA.  Panelists included Judy Russell, legal genealogist, David Rencher, FamilySearch CGO, and Kurt Witcher, director of the Fort Wayne, Indiana, Allen County Public Library, Brewster Kale of Internet Archives, and five popular commercial DNA companies. 

_{WATCH THE INNOVATION SHOWCASE}

In concert with Brandon Stanton's keynote, RootsTech invited aspiring local photographers and writers to participate in a video-story contest. Over 200 people entered the contest, and the winners were Russell Hathaway, Karen Foster, Amberley Beck, and Cali Church. They received prizes such as a Dell laptop and Canon cameras. The pictures with their stories will be published in the future on RootsTech and social media channels.

RootsTech 2018's Family Discovery Day welcomed more than 26,000 attendees—mostly families with children. President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife, Sister Kristen M. Oaks, showed how they share their family history with their posterity. Their grandchildren and great grandchildren participated, sharing how they have been able to personally connect with ancestors through written histories, photographs, and stories.

Also participating in Family Discovery Day were Hank Smith and Jason Hewitt, and singers Evie Clair, Kenya Clark, and Alex Melecio.

_{WATCH THE FAMILY DISCOVERY DAY SESSIONS ONLINE}

About RootsTech

RootsTech, hosted by FamilySearch, is a global conference celebrating families across generations, where people of all ages are inspired to discover and share their memories and connections. This annual event has become the largest of its kind in the world, attracting tens of thousands of participants worldwide.

The following is from FamilySearch.

Quest to Find the Painting of the Ship Brooklyn

Article Summary: Discovery how genealogical research skills and the standards of art provenance guided a research physicist to find the missing painting of the ship Brooklyn that played an important role in Mormon history.

FAMILYSEARCH NEWSROOM FEATURE ARTICLE (14 March 2018)--In 1845, Mormon newspaperman Samuel Brannan was instructed by leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to charter a passenger ship that could transport approximately 240 Mormon emigrants from the eastern seaboard of the United States to the west coast (California achieved its statehood a little later in 1850).

More 160 years later, the Church engaged Dr. Lorin K. Hansen, an energy physicist and historian of early Mormons in the California territory, to help track down the location of an original painting of the ship Brooklyn in about 1995. A few black-and-white photographs of the painting existed, but the whereabouts of the original painting or its artist, remained a mystery.

At first glance, one might not make the connection between genealogical research techniques used by genealogy professionals to validate a person or familial relationship with the provenance protocol followed by curators of fine or historical art. However, very similar methods and approaches are used by the two professions.

Read the free article "Quest to find the Painting of the Ship Brooklyn" by Glen Greener to discover how Dr. Hansen used both genealogical research techniques and the discipline of tracing the art provenance to locate the current owner of the ship Brooklyn and the miracles that transpired to purchase it for the Church History Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah. 

The following is from FamilySearch.

New Historic Records on FamilySearch: Week of March 12, 2018

Find your ancestors with new historic records published on FamilySearch this week from Austria, BillionGraves, Brazil, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Idaho, Illinois, Mexico, Spain, and Texas. Search these new free records by clicking on the collection links below or search over 6 billion free records at  FamilySearch.

Collection	Indexed Records	Digital Images	Comments
Austria, Carinthia, Gurk Diocese, Catholic Church Records, 1527-1986	33,987	0	New indexed records collection
BillionGraves Index	180,735	180,735	Added indexed records and images to an existing collection
Brazil, Santa Catarina, Catholic Church Records, 1714-1977	101,059	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Brazil, São Paulo, Immigration Cards, 1902-1980	2,779	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
England, Lancashire, Oldham Cemetery Registers, 1797-2004	661	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
France, Hautes-Alpes, Census, 1856	145,696	0	New indexed records collection
France, Hautes-Alpes, Census, 1876	66,237	0	New indexed records collection
Germany, Prussia, Brandenburg and Posen, Church Book Duplicates, 1794-1874	10,819	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Germany, Schleswig-Holstein, Kreis Steinburg, Civil Registration, 1874-1983	9,386	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Guatemala Civil Registration, 1877-2008	687,375	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Idaho, Southern Counties Obituaries, 1943-2013	650,856	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Illinois, Cook County Deaths, 1878-1994	1,804	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Mexico, Distrito Federal, Civil Registration, 1832-2005	15	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Spain, Diocese of Cartagena, Catholic Church Records, 1503-1969	22,090	0	Added indexed records to an existing collection
Texas, El Paso Alien Arrivals, 1909-1924	10,346	0	New indexed records collection

Searchable historic records are made available on FamilySearch.org through the help of thousands of volunteers from around the world. These volunteers transcribe (index) information from digital copies of handwritten records to make them easily searchable online. More volunteers are needed (particularly those who can read foreign languages) to keep pace with the large number of digital images being published online at FamilySearch.org. Learn more about volunteering to help provide free access to the world's historic genealogical records online at FamilySearch.org/indexing.

About FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources for free at FamilySearch.org or through more than 5,000 family history centers in 129 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

FamilyTreeDNA St Patrick's Day Sale!

The following is from FamilyTreeDNA.

*St. Patrick's Day Limited Time Offer Ends 3/18 at 11:59 pm PST. Other promotions and offers not valid during this event.

MyHeritage's FamilySearch Tree Sync (beta) for LDS Members

The following is from MyHeritage.



New FamilySearch Tree Sync (beta) allows FamilySearch users to synchronize their family trees with MyHeritage

For the past 2.5 years, MyHeritage and FamilySearch engineers have been developing together a unique feature — FamilySearch Tree Sync — that allows members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) to easily and accurately import a portion of their tree from FamilySearch into MyHeritage, and then keep their MyHeritage and FamilySearch trees synchronized. This feature is now released in a limited beta, and volunteers who are LDS members are invited to try it out.

Learn more »

Charting Companion Announces New DNA Matrix Chart

The following is from Progeny Genealogy.

CHARTING COMPANION ANNOUNCES  NEW DNA MATRIX CHART

Charting Companion announces a new chart: the DNA Matrix (aka "McGuire Method"). Genetic research offers new ways for genealogists to build their family tree, where conventional records and sources are not available. Genealogists are submitting DNA samples to testing companies who can identify distinctive patterns in the DNA, and match the genealogist to millions of other participants. Adoptees are using DNA to search for biological parents. Distant cousins and other relatives can contribute to your tree by providing information on branches where they have more research than you do. The DNA Matrix helps you by showing an overview of DNA matches in a clear, simple chart. Charting Companion can also "validate" your tree by comparing actual DNA test results, against the number expected from the relationships. Are there surprises in your tree? Click for more detail.

DNA Matrix showing centiMorgan (cM) matches between members of a family.

Charting Companion works with all genealogy programs: Family Tree Maker, RootsMagic, Legacy, Ancestral Quest, Family Historian, GEDCOM, etc. Get Charting Companion today and make family history.

21st Annual South Davis Conference

The following is from the Utah Genealogical Association.

21st Annual South Davis Conference

"Making Ancestors Live Again"

28 Apr 2018, 9am - 5pm

Bountiful High School
695 Orchard Dr., Bountiful, UT  84010

Click here to register

Program

• Over 40 classes
• Vendor booth
• Optional print syllabus available ($20 - may not be available for walk-ins)
• Optional box lunch available ($8- not available for walk-ins)

Registration

• UGA Member: $17. (if registered and paid online by midnight April 6th)
• Non-UGA Member and Walk-in Registrations: $22.00
• Register online through midnight, April 6th
• Walk-in registrations will be accepted beginning at 7:00 am, Saturday, April 28th

Registration includes the full day of sessions and an electronic (PDF) Syllabus

Volunteer Opportunities

Please contact the UGA Conference Committee if you would like to contribute your talents and time to assist with this event.

UGA DNA Special Interest Group Webinar March 20th

The following is from the Utah Genealogical Association.

DNA Special Interest Group Webinar March 20th at 7:00pm MDT

DNA Success in---and in Spite of---Endogamy, by Lara Diamond

Description
Endogamy occurs often in genetic genealogy and is something that can be particularly challenging because what appears to be a close cousin match may be a distant cousin several times over. Lara Diamond will explain endogamy and show examples of what it looks like in genetic genealogy and how to combat effects to use genetic genealogy to help prove your ancestry.

Bio:
Lara Diamond is an Ashkenazic Jew, so she gets to have particular fun with her completely endogamous genome. She is president of the Jewish Genealogy Society of Maryland, leads JewishGen's Subcarpathian SIG, is on JewishGen's Ukraine SIG's board of directors. She also runs multiple district- and town-focused projects to collect documentation to assist all those researching ancestors from common towns. She blogs about DNA and her Eastern European research at http://larasgenealogy.blogspot.com.

Registration is open to UGA members only, to register sign in at UGAgenealogy.org. or visit UGAgenealogy.org for a list of upcoming webinars open to the public.

UGA Virtual Chapter Meeting March 15th

The following is from the Utah Genealogical Association.

UGA Virtual Chapter Meeting March 15th at 7:00pm MDT

Migration Trails Across America, by Peggy Lauritzen, AG®

Registration is free and open to the public.  Click here to register.

Description: 
America has been a nation on the move since the first landings in the colonies. From buffalo traces and Native American trails to rivers and canals, Americans found a way to keep pushing “west”. This presentation concentrates on the most common means of travel in the New World. Migration trails and patterns will be discussed, as well as the many rivers and canals that interconnected us as a nation. A case study will be demonstrated showing a “lost” ancestor”.

Bio: 
Peggy Lynn Clemens Lauritzen, AG, has been involved in genealogy since before her birth. Her parents were excellent genealogists, and instilled the same love of history and family in her and her three sisters. One of her favorite pictures is of her mother on her way to do cemetery research four days before Peggy’s birth. Her roots run deep into the South, where she is accredited. They involve the states of Kentucky, Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, and some areas of Pennsylvania, and she loves the area of Appalachia. Though not inclined to do client research, she finds great satisfaction in seeing others discover their ancestors through the classes she teaches. She and her husband are Directors of the Family History Center in Mansfield, Ohio. More information about her is on her web site and ICAPGen profile.

The following is from MyHeritage.

MyHeritage Releases New Collections with 325 Million Historical Records

Latest additions are the 1939 Register of England & Wales; a unique and innovatively structured U.S. yearbooks collection; and a collection of Canadian obituaries

TEL AVIV, Israel & LEHI, Utah--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MyHeritage, the leading global destination for family history and DNA testing, announced today the addition of three important historical records collections that provide value for family history enthusiasts worldwide.

Prepared on the eve of World War II, with 33 million searchable records, the 1939 Register is the most complete census-like collection for the population of England and Wales between 1911 and 1951. This is because the 1921 census of England and Wales is time-protected by privacy laws and will be available online only in 2022, the entire 1931 Census was destroyed by a fire, and no census was conducted in 1941. For each household member, the 1939 Register records name, gender, address, birth date, marital status, place of residence, and occupation. This collection is an extremely important resource for family historians and people with ancestors in England and Wales. The 1939 Register collection is not exclusive, but other than MyHeritage, it is currently available on only one other website. The initial collection on MyHeritage includes an index, without images.1939 Register of England & Wales

Of the 42 million records of individuals in this collection, 8.2 million records remain closed due to privacy protection requirements, and about 700,000 additional records appear without full names. Records are closed for those individuals who were born less than 100 years ago unless matched to a registered death record. These closed records will be made public and added to this online collection on a yearly basis going forward.

U.S. Yearbooks Name Index, 1890-1979

In December 2017, MyHeritage published an extensive collection of U.S. yearbooks with 36,207,173 pages in 253,429 yearbooks. This collection was a free-text collection allowing users to search by name or keyword. Not stopping there, MyHeritage engineers have been working for the past year to develop an unprecedented automated name index from this collection. The fruit of this work is now released as a separate collection named the U.S. Yearbooks Name Index, 1890–1979. The new collection is one of the largest collections of digitized U.S. yearbooks in existence, containing 289 million structured records. In the new collection, the names of the students and faculty members have been automatically extracted using name extraction technology. The personal photos in the yearbooks have been automatically detected and extracted using picture detection technology, and in many cases the names and the photos have been associated with each other using a third proprietary technology developed by MyHeritage. Finally, technology has been developed to automatically differentiate between students and faculty members, to determine the graduation class of each student and to calculate birth years.

All occurrences of the same name in each yearbook were consolidated into one record with references to the pages where the person is mentioned. The end result is a one-of-a-kind structured U.S. yearbook collection in which names can be searched accurately (with synonyms and translations, which is often not possible in free-text collections), as well as matched automatically to the family trees on MyHeritage using the company’s Record Matching technology. This makes U.S. yearbooks one of the most valuable genealogical resources for family historians today, and this treasure trove of information is available in this unique and highly accessible form only on MyHeritage. The records list the person’s name, school’s name and location, and likely residence based on the location of the school. Where possible, a personal photo is provided. For each person, full access to all applicable yearbook pages is provided. Additional work is being carried out to complete the association of names with photos, and this will be released as an update to this collection in the future.

Canadian Obituaries

A collection of 2 million records documenting obituaries and memorials from the 10 Canadian provinces, spanning mostly 1997-2017. It includes the name of the deceased, the date of death, the publication source including locality information, and the text of the obituary or memorial — in English or French depending on the source. When available, a photograph of the deceased is also included.

Summary

“The depth and diversity of these hundreds of millions of historical records is a blessing for people searching for information about their families,” said Russ Wilding, Chief Content Officer of MyHeritage. “Aside from the release of the collections themselves, we have invested much effort and demonstrated technological innovation to make it as simple as possible to glean useful genealogical information from these historical records.”

The three new collections are accessible through SuperSearch™, MyHeritage’s search engine for historical records, which now contains 8.8 billion historical records. Searching the collections is free. A subscription is required to view the records.

About MyHeritage

MyHeritage is the leading global destination for family history and DNA testing. As technology thought leaders, MyHeritage has transformed family history into an activity that is accessible and instantly rewarding. Its global user community enjoys access to a massive library of historical records, the most internationally diverse collection of family trees and groundbreaking search and matching technologies. MyHeritage DNA is a technologically advanced, affordable DNA test that reveals ethnic origins and previously unknown relatives. Launched a little more than a year ago, MyHeritage DNA has already amassed 1.25 million people in its database. Trusted by millions of families, MyHeritage provides an easy way to find new family members, discover ethnic origins, and to treasure family stories, past and present, for generations to come. MyHeritage is available in 42 languages. www.myheritage.com