Learn to use Family Tree Maker

Starting this past Monday, January 13, I began moderating a four-week course at Family Tree University. If you want to learn how to take Family Tree Maker to the next level as your ancestral database of choice join me! 

It is self-paced, so you can do it when you have time over the next month. I answer questions and give feedback on the assignments. All you need is a laptop or tablet! Of course, having the software is recommended.

You can still register through Friday, January 17.

From the Website:

Mastering Family Tree Maker - January 2020

Do you want a program that allows you to keep track of your family history research in one place? Whether you’re new to genealogy or you’ve been doing it for years, Family Tree Maker software* is a great way to grow and preserve your family tree, and we'll show you all the tips and tricks for making the most of it. Join us in this four-week online course to discover the tools and features that allow you to easily manage and organize your research.

Source Citations Course From Family Tree University

I am very excited that my first course for Family tree University starts on Monday February 23.   “Source Citations for Regular People” walks you through the basics of creating a source citation for genealogical research. I hope to see you in class!

Here is a teaser from the email that was sent out on Wednesday February 18^th from Tyler Moss, Online Editor of Family Tree University.  

Source Citations can strike fear into the heart of genealogists. We know we need to use source citations, and how important they are to our research and for those who come after us, yet the thought of creating one from scratch can give you cold chills.

In this course you will learn the whole source documentation process, as well as study examples for all types of sources. Soon your fears will fly away, as citing courses becomes just a part of your genealogy routine.

This course is open to anyone interested in citing sources. Shannon Combs-Bennett will be available to answer all of your questions. See syllabus here »

 What you'll learn:

•	Why source citations are important to your genealogy research
•	Key elements of a source citation
•	What the different types of source citations are and how to write them
•	How to create templates for future citations
•	And so much more!

Fall Family Tree University Virtual Conference Starts Today!

I am very excited to be attending my 6th, yes 6th, Family Tree University Virtual Conference this weekend.  In addition to participating as an attendee I will be leading a chat tomorrow, recorded 2 of the 15 webinars, and will be acting as the super moderator for the forums.  Busy is an understatement!

Once again the line up of presenters and chat leaders is excellent.  Each time the VC is bigger and better than the time before.  Plus, I get to attend in the comfort of my home (or local WiFi spot of my choice) and set the schedule of the conference to my schedule.  Which is such a great thing for me!  No need to pick between 4 lectures I want to attend because I can watch all of them in the order I want when I want.

The forums are open and I have already chatted away with some familiar usernames.  Say hi if you are attending too!  If not this time, maybe next?

Guest Post at Casa Italia Chicago

On 14 February 2013 I wrote a guest post on genealogy education and my experiences with Family Tree University for Casa Italia Chicago.  If you haven't checked it out I recommend you do. This organization is dedicated to preserving and celebrating their Italian Heritage.  Their genealogy department is in the works and according to their website will be up and running spring of 2013. I hope you enjoy the post!

There are many choices out there for genealogy education.  You can listen to webinars, take online classes, attend seminars, plus many more options.  Quite a few of these are free, however, more often than not there will be a fee associated with your continuing education opportunities.   During my time as the Family Tree Firsts Blogger at Family Tree University (FTU) I was lucky to take classes through them.

FTU has a wonderful series of webinars, two a month, that are always jammed packed full of information, but there are also many on-line courses offered too.  Personally, I enjoyed and learned a lot from all the webinars, seminars, and courses that I registered for.  Each one is led by an expert in their field who really gets the most important information across to you, the student, in the time allotted.  They are friendly, approachable, and are there to help you be a better researcher and genealogist.

What I love most about FTU is that there are many levels and several different class lengths.  There are courses for complete beginners through experienced researchers.   Some of the courses offered are a few hours and some are a few weeks allowing you to fit them into your schedule.  A wide variety of topics are also offered which cover the scope of genealogy.  Those topics include: history, country specific, state specific, techniques, organization, and problem solving to name a few.

If you choose to take a course you are not left to your own devices.  The course is led by an instructor who is there to guide you, answer any questions, give you feedback on assignments, and make sure you have the opportunity to get all you can out of the lessons.  A message board is set up so that you can also interact with your fellow students and talk about the class or your discoveries.  For some, one down side would be that these courses are not part of any accreditation or count toward any sort of genealogy certification.  However, they should not be dismissed out right as many of the courses are unique and reasonably priced for the amount of information and resources that you will come away with.

As I stated above there are courses for all skill levels.  The beginner classes at FTU are called First Steps.  These are designed with the absolute genealogy novice in mind.  They will guide you through the basic research principles and strategies you will need to be a successful family historian.  At $39.99 these courses are the least expensive with the idea that you are getting your feet wet and trying to decide if this is something you want to try your hand at.

Their shortest classes are their Power Courses which are designed to be information packed mini seminars.  When you sign up for the course you have one week of access to all the reading and webinars on that subject as an independent study session.  It is easily downloaded and completed in one afternoon, and will cost you $59.99.

A typical multi-week course is designed to be learned through weekly segments usually over the course of a month.  Each week you have a course reading assignment, supplemental reading, and a worksheet or quiz to be turned in by the end of the week.  As these courses are designed for you to take at your own pace, sticking with this schedule will make sure that you have time to complete all worksheets by the end of the session.  On average I spent 3-4 hours a week on each course.  That was for taking time to do the reading and assignments for the course, but not time on the message board.  There was more than one occasion where I spent many hours conversing with classmates on the boards about research, discoveries, or what we were going to take next!  While they are the most expensive classes, at $99.99, they would be best for people who want the human interaction along with their materials.

I would encourage you to check out FTU if you are unable to travel, have limited time, or are looking for a good value in genealogy education.  With the variety of classes offered I am confident you will find one that interests you.  The information I learned is still beneficial to me today, and I frequently reach for those resources to help me with my current research.  I hope you take some time to investigate if this would be a good option for you too.

Conference attendance in my yoga pants and slippers

This weekend was the Family Tree University Winter Virtual Conference, and I attended.  Did you?  

This was my 3^rd virtual conference I have attended.  Once again I was impressed by everything.  It seems to get bigger and better each time, and I can’t wait to “see” what is in store at the next one.

For those of you who are thinking “what in the world is she talking about” let me explain the concept of this conference.  It is all ONLINE!  The sessions, by nationally known speakers, are pre-recorded so you can download them and listen to them at your leisure, forever.  There are live chats scheduled over the 3 days on many topics and moderated by a host who guides the conversations.  Then there are the discussion boards.  Lots of topics where the attendees can interact with each other, share information, chat, laugh, and have social time.  Oh, I almost forgot!  There is a swag bag and free give ways too! 

Best of all, this is the first time I have been able to attend the conference without being double booked.  My first conference was the same weekend my mother-in-law came to visit and I took her on my first NARA trip.  Last fall I thought I was going to be able to dedicate the whole weekend but once again I found myself out of town.  Thank goodness they are virtual! 

Of course, the fact that I can spend the whole day in comfy clothes with slippers on curled up with my lap top doing all this is the cherry on top of everything.  My kids think I turned into scary research mommy again since I didn't take the robe and fuzzy PJs off until about 2 pm yesterday.  Which, I traded in on a cardigan and yoga pants. You know, a short robe and clothes you can leave the house in if you have too.

To top off my weekend of genealogical bliss, during this conference I lead a live chat on doing on-site research.  This was the first time I have done anything like this.  Well, I have participated in chats before, but the leading is new.  Even with the butterflies, I think I got the hang of it quickly and kept it going.

I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and had a great time. Not only did I learn a few things, but I hope that the participants learned a few things too.  As well as having a great time of course.

Well, there is still daylight and 2 sessions that I need to “attend” before the conference closes its doors for the weekend.  Here’s to continuing education…

Loving the Virtual Conference: Next post up at Family Tree

My next post at Family Tree Firsts is up and about the Family Tree University Virtual Conference.  Read about my experiences with all the stuff I learned from the last one here.

To be fair, and up front, I can attend this event free of charge as their Family Tree Firsts blogger.  With that being said, I still would have paid money to attend it!  In fact, and you can ask them, I have told all my friends and family who are into genealogy that they HAVE TO attend this conference.  Particularly the ones who are a bit strapped for cash right now, have to worry about child care, or a multitude of other reasons that prevent them from going to one that is live.  I had such a great experience at the one virtual conference last spring I had to spread the word around. 

I particularly love that you can participate as much, or as little, as you want.  The Saturday of the upcoming conference in September I have plans to be out in a state park all day.  I may miss a couple live chats, but that's okay.  I can pick up where I left off when I get back.

So... I hope to "see" you there and bump into you online!



photo credit: selva via photo pin cc

The next FTU Virtual Conference is right around the corner

Did you know that in a month Family Tree University will be having its next virtual conference?  I am already signed up and ready to go... so to speak. 

The last one was amazing, and I learned so much.  If you are not sure what a virtual conference is check out Kerry Scott's blog post over at Cluewagon.  She says it all!

Best of all, Family Tree is giving away a free registration.  Go check out the details and enter to win!!



*Disclosure:  Family Tree University did not ask me to write this as their Family Tree Firsts blogger, I just can't pass up sharing a great thing.  However, I do get free admittance to this event as their blogger.

Free Give Away from Family Tree University

I thought I would bring to your attention a sweepstakes by Family Tree University.  They are giving away one free registration to their 2012 Virtual Conference.  You can read more about it at the Genealogy Insider Blog by Diane Haddad.  It is as easy as pie to fill out the form and submit your name.

The other reason I am super thrilled about this conference is for one main reason: I am at home.   As a stay at home mom, this is a conference I can attend without having to worry about lining up and paying for childcare for multiple days, or trying to get my husband to take time off and then making the whole family trudge after me somewhere. Which, I have done both before, and it was an interesting experience.

In a nutshell you get:

• 15 half-hour video classes covering genealogy tech, research, and ethnic tracks
• Unlimited viewing during the conference and the ability to download for future views.
• Live chats and message board discussions with FTU staff and instructors.
• Of course, I am a sucker for the stuff, you get a “swag bag” of freebies from ShopFamilyTree.com

So you all know, as the Family Tree First Blogger I have free registration to the conference.  If I wasn't the blogger, I would have already registered, because I know this is going to be good.  What are you waiting for?

Last Chance Special FTU Conference

I just got a reminder email that this week is the last chance to register for the early bird price for the Family Tree University Virtual Conference.  Right now it is $50 off through February 13th, and you get a free gift for early registration.  Free stuff and SAVINGS what is there not to be excited about!  

The last time they did this I was unable to participate due to real life circumstances that needed my full attention.  I saw the classes later (no I didn't want to look before and get sad) and crossed my fingers that they would do another one.  I was beyond excited when I heard they were.

Only bad part... no name badges that you can stick all sorts of ribbons onto. Yes I can be a big geek at times, but I like bling.  Oh... I guess I could make my own to wear around the house.  Wow, that cold medicine is really kicking in now.

Just remember: you won't be alone, I am registered for it already.  Can't wait to see how many of you will be participating too. See you online at the conference!

*Image: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com via photopin cc

Part 2 of 4 is up on Family Tree Firsts

Hello out there, just wanted to let you know that the next post is up on Family Tree Firsts, over at Family Tree University.  Hope you enjoy!

I have to tell you that searching the census records was painful.  To make it work, and to find every possible person I was looking through I spent about 5 hours reading entire enumeration districts over multiple censuses.  However, what I learned was priceless.  I got a real feeling for where everyone was located, who their neighbors were, and how the family units formed and moved.  It also showed me where other ancestors were at the same times, many of them literally right next door.

This will be a part of my research from now on I have to admit.  Before I just trusted the indexer and actually didn't know you could scroll through the images until I learned it in one of my classes.  I have a feeling I will be going back through a lot of records!

Of course, why I just didn't go out to google to begin with I will never know...but hey, I got a great story out of it.  Just wait!

photo credit: Chris Devers via photopin cc

Civil War Research

This morning a simple search out of curiosity has turned into another marathon reading session.  How does this always happen?

I am currently enrolled in a class through Family Tree University called “Civil War Research: Find Your Ancestors in the War Between the States.”  It is two weeks into the four week class and I am quickly filling in the holes of my education on this subject.  Of course my eldest child (who is fascinated with the Civil War) is just in awe that I am taking a class on this subject.  We do homework together at the dining room table each night; I think purely so he can watch me and ask questions.

In the class we are introduced to the National Park Service site “Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System” as well as several other excellent resources.  My husband and I have five known direct ancestors that fought in the Civil War.  There are several other uncles and cousins, but I haven’t got to all of them yet.  Out of pure and simple curiosity I started to one by one enter their names into the database…and whoa!  I spent the next several hours running back and forth between the CWSS, Fold3, and Ancestry checking, double checking, and looking for various ways to prove and validate what I was seeing. 

It ended in a decision that I have to make a trip up to NARA… sooner rather than later. 

**I found out there is a problem with the CWSS links below. It will take you to the database but I can not link directly to each of the regiments histories. If you want to read about the history of these regiments, I encourage you to explore the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors site.**

Here is a summary of what I found today: 

·        Harry Coad aka Henry C Thompson (husbands 2^nd great grandfather):  His middle name is most likely Clay.  I found information on the 5^th Missouri and 66^th Illinois infantry regiments he fought in.  No information for the 14th regiment that he served in.

·        Kelley Family:

o   I found the following names at Find-a-Grave:

§  LA = Lemuel A Kelly

§  JH = James H Kelley

§  WH = William H Kelley

§  These are ½ brothers of my 2^nd great grandfather Charles Morgan Kelley

o   They were all in the 14^th Indiana Infantry Company C

o   There were several other Kelley/Kelly’s that similar names (even Lemuel) that may be related.

·        Combs Family:

o   Charles Combs Jr:  70th Indiana Infantry, Company C and possibly the 27^th regiment, company B.

o   Found the draft books for Charles’s Brothers Silas, Byrd, James (my 3^rd great-grandfather), Pleasant, and John Joseph.  (US Civil War Draft Registration Records, Ind 7^th, vols 1 and 3)

        o   Silas was in the 145^th Indiana Infantry, company I.

·        Francis Marion Bline (3^rd great grandfather) was in the Harrison Cavalry, Mounted Hoosiers 6 Regt, Indiana Legion.

      ·        I learned what the three regiments Button Gwinette Cody (husbands 3^rd great grandfather) was assigned to participated in.  8^th Indiana Cavalry (Private), 6^th Indiana Infantry (Captain), 10th Indiana Cavalry(Quartermaster Sargent). 

I would say it was a productive day yes?


*Image is that of Charles Combs Jr, provided by Cousin Debby.

FTU Spring Virtual Conference

I am so excited to see the announcement today from Family Tree University on the next virtual conference.  There was a wonderful post today on genealogy insider by Diane Haddad explaining what it is and links to look at the one held last August.  I did not get to participate last time and was so jealous reading about everyone else's experiences.

Look for me "in class" this March as I will be there this time around!



*image from Clipart Pal

Family Tree Firsts Post 3

While I was gone my third post at Family Tree was posted.  You can check it out here.  Leave me a message there, or here, and tell me what you think so far.

I did really enjoy the 2 power courses I took through Family Tree University.  They were just the right size for an evening (or afternoon) and really got you started down the correct paths.  I really enjoyed the second on on immigration with the real people examples; I am a sucker for true story things.

The iPad has been wonderful too!   If you have a favorite app, or tool, that you like to use let me know.  Slowly I am building a repritoire of items to be used with my genealogy.  In no particular order I am really enjoying:  Penultimate, Evernote, GoodReader, Ancestry, NPR, and my book readers (iBook, Kindle, and nook).  I am sure the list will grow.

*Image by Andrew Kelsall

A Productive Week

What a busy research week I have had!  No really, I am feeling quite accomplished here…

Monday I spent the time getting my car repaired by taking a quick class from Family Tree University.  Well worth it too, as I went home and started putting a lot of their advice into action.  Before I went to bed I had a game plan of how to tear down a brick wall through an adjacent family line.

Tuesday, I spent a couple hours tracing the cousins back up to a potential common ancestor and then back down through each of his children until I found my reclusive 3^rd great grandmother Berthena Cannon Morris.  Mainly through the census and marriage records, as well as taking a few hints from a well sourced family tree.  I contacted the owner to see if she would be willing to share some of her information.  By the way, Berthena’s grandfather just happened to be a Revolutionary War soldier…I found his pension files. Oh, yes I did…James Cannon from the 96^th district of South Carolina.

Yesterday I spent every free moment I had on find a grave.  I have become enamored with this site I have got to tell you.  Now, yes I do realize that not all information is accurate (I even found significant discrepancies between what the some pictures showed and what was typed) but they are good leads.  For those who can’t visit their ancestor’s burial site it is also a wonderful way for us to “see” them.  Well, I discovered yesterday how to do very specific searches on it.  In fact, I looked at ever listed internment at all the cemeteries shown for Martin County Indiana.  Go ahead, you can call me crazy.

From this systematic search I found the burial locations and transcriptions of tombstones for nearly 100 people.  Many in my direct line, but I did include a few cousins, aunts and uncles.  With it came some surprising finds, dates I didn’t have before, and family groups that I will need to return to.  This means I am now trying to carve out time to go through several other counties/states.

*Image from Find a Grave, added by Julia Young on 04/06/2011