Family Tree Maker 2014 Download (FTM 2014)

I just noticed something that has had very little, if any, publicity from Ancestry.com.

Family Tree Maker 2014 is now available as a download. There is no more waiting for the CD to arrive in the mail, although the CD option is still available.  And if you download, you can also order a CD backup.

Notice that there is a choice of  a Ship It button or a Download button on the FTM 2014 order page.

Right now, FTM 2014 is 20% off.  Enter the coupon code G5JXTRY at checkout in the box marked Redeem Coupons for double savings and receive an additional 20% discount.

Download Family Tree Maker 2014

1940 Census Image Search Success

Success! I found family on the 1940 census ... at Ancestry.com.  The National Archives server still cannot handle the load.

Ancestry has begun the task of uploading all the census images, and they happen to be starting with states where my ancestors lived.  And they seem to be getting them up at a pretty quick pace.

Images are available for these states: California, Delaware, Indiana, Maine, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Virginia.  Some of the US territories plus the District of Columbia are also completed.

Images for the Bronx, one of New York City's five boroughs, have been uploaded by Ancestry, so I thought I would look for family there.  I quickly found the Enumeration District at the ED Finder since I knew the address (found in an obituary) and went to Ancestry.com to begin my search.  The ED consisted of 44 pages that I needed to browse to find my family.  I thought it would take forever, but I was able to find the family in a few minutes - on page 42 out of 44 pages.

My browsing method was simple.  I started at page one of the ED and enlarged the image so that I could read the street name in the left column.  I was able to click through each page fairly quickly by using the arrow button until I found the street the family lived on.  Then I just went down the street numbers until I found the family.

What did I learn?  Well, coming off the Great Depression, salaries seemed rather small.  One family member, at age 22 in 1940, was a typist who made $600 in all of 1939.  That's $50 per month.   I used the Inflation Calculator to calculate her salary in today's dollars and found it was less than $10,000.   I haven't had a chance to absorb all the other information yet.

There were many first-time questions in the 1940 census.

• The first census that asked people where they lived five years before – providing the first information about the majority of Americans in mid-decade and how they kept migrating for work
• The first census to ask people detailed income questions, providing a fuller and detailed picture of depression-era work and unemployment
• The first census to ask if people worked for New Deal emergency government agencies –the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps

Be sure to check the bottom of the page for the supplemental questions.  One of my family members was selected to answer additional questions about Social Security, military service and more.

Attempting to View the 1940 Census

Like everyone else, I was looking forward to browsing the newly-released 1940 US census today.  

Because the census is not yet indexed, the only way to find your family now is by finding the census enumeration  district (ED) and then browsing all the pages of the ED.  To find the enumeration district (ED), you must first know the address - the complete address - not just the street.  At least that is the case for my family who resided in a big city.

I went to Steve Morse's excellent ED finder and followed the directions by filling in my great-grandparent's exact address.  With the ED finder, I was able to zoom in to the exact city block by adding cross streets.  It was really very simple.  However, when I clicked on the ED, I received an error message at the NARA site.  No surprise that the National Archives site is overwhelmed.  Hours later, it is still telling me that it is "preparing image".  I can see there are 34 pages of this ED for me to browse if I only I could get the images to load.  No word when this issue will be fixed.

So I went to  Ancestry.com  who is also offering the 1940 census for free.  Ancestry is in the process of uploading all of the census records and indexing them,  They have a number of states done, but not the states where my family lived.  Ancestry does have a sign-up and they let you know when the state you are interested in is completed.  The 1940 census will be free at Ancestry and  I had no problem loading the available census here. 

While at the Ancestry site, I noticed that they have their  1940 Era Records for FREE  through April 10.  This includes, surprisingly, the 1930 census, and many city directories that can help find the exact address needed to find the ED to enable browsing of the census. So, I think I will spend my time collecting exact addresses from the free 1940 Era Records at Ancestry.com until I can actually view the census images.

Blair Underwood's African Roots on WDYTYA?

"I am loving this ride"  That's what Blair Underwood exclaimed while he was learning the story of his family history during the TV show Who Do You Think You Are?.  That same sentiment pretty much sums up why so many people are delving into their own family trees and are actually finding it fun.

The professional genealogists on the TV show Who Do You Think You Are?  talked about the difficulty of African-American genealogy because a "Wall" is reached once the African-American family traces its family tree back to the time of slavery.  Since the US census is one of the foundations in building a family tree, many times the African-American genealogy trail stops in 1860 during the time of slavery.  While the census of the free population lists every family member by name in the 1860 census, the slave population is only listed by their owner's name plus the slave's gender, age and race (black or mulatto).  The slaves are not listed by name.  Because of this, many African- Americans hit  "the Wall" in 1860 when the paper trail stops.

DNA testing was able to help Blair Underwood go beyond the paper trail to find his roots in Africa.   Through Ancestry.com DNA testing, they were able to find Blair Underwood's 10th cousin (or so) living in Africa today.  A 10th cousin  means they had a common ancestor about 250 years ago - assuming 25 years per generation -  which would mean they had a common ancestor sometime around 1700 - 1750 during the time of the slave trade.

His 10th cousin,  Eric Sonjowoh, is a college student in the African nation of Cameroon.  In last night’s episode, Blair Underwood flies to the village of Babungo in Cameroon with his father.  They are met by Eric and his father and all take part in the celebration and watch the tribal dances.

I wondered how it came to be that his cousin had submitted his DNA to the Ancestry DNA database, but Eric explained that "a guy" told him that many African-Americans are looking for their African roots, so many in Africa are contributing their DNA to help them.   Because of this, there is the possibility that other African-Americans could find also find a distant cousin in Africa. 

Dr. Kenneth Chahine, general manager of Ancestry DNA, walked Blair through his DNA analysis.  DNA analysis determines ethnicity and found  Blair is 26% European and 74% African which Dr. Chahine said is typical of African-Americans today.

Not only can the DNA test tell African-Americans the country in which their ancestors originated, but also the tribe.  Blair's ancestors are associated with tribes found in the western part of Africa: 27% Bamoun, 22% Brong, 13% Yoruba and 12% Igbo.

What the TV show didn't mention is that the Ancestry.com DNA test performed on Blair Underwood has not yet been released. The new autosomal DNA test was announced at RootsTech in early February and will launch in late March or thereabouts. You can put your name on the contact list at Ancestry.com DNA, and they will notify you when the new DNA testing is released.

At the end of the episode while he is standing in the African town of Babungo, an obviously moved Blair Underwood said, "We have come full circle to reunite our family.  When we started this odyssey, who I thought I was,  is different than I know I am today."

Want to know more about your family? Start your FREE family tree online to enter what you already know about yourself and have Ancestry.com help you find your family story.

Martin Sheen on WDYTYA?

Last night's (Feb 3, 2012) episode of Who Do You Think You Are  followed the family history quest of Martin Sheen, American actor and the child of immigrants from Ireland and Spain.  I found it interesting that Martin Sheen,  also a political activist,  has ancestors on both sides of his family who also had a passion for social justice.

Martin Sheen has always been interested in his maternal uncle who was involved in the Irish Civil War, so that is where he began searching for his family history.  I had to chuckle to myself when Martin Sheen began by searching on Ancestry.com for his mother's brother, Michael Phelan,  found his death certificate showing he died in County Tipperary, and then said,  "Looks like I'm going to have to go to Ireland myself to find out more about Michael Phelan.  I'm going to go the Military Archives in Dublin (Cathal Brugha Barracks)."

Well, heading off to Ireland at the beginning of a family history search makes for interesting television, but the TV show makes it seem as traveling to your ancestral homeland is the only way to research your family tree.  If that were true, that would make genealogy a hobby out of reach for most of us.   You do not have to travel around the world to start your family history search.  Instead, if interested in an uncle's involvement in the Irish Civil War, most of us would just do additional search on the Internet.  I poked around a bit and it didn't take long to find the Irish Military Archives, which is the repository for  the Military Service Pensions Collection where Martin Sheen found his uncle's pension:

http://www.military.ie/info-centre/military-archives

I read in the Archives FAQ and found out how to do the same research by mail that Martin Sheen traveled to Ireland to do.  And note the pension records are only available to next of kin and only available by mail - definitely the type of thing to double check in advance before booking a trip to the homeland.

Your ancestors who served during the 1916 Rising or during the War of Independence may have made application for a medal or pension in respect of their service during that time. Pensions were awarded under the 1924 and subsequent Pension Acts. Due to data protection requirements, these pension records are currently available to direct next of kin only. Direct next of kin should write to the following address for information in respect of their relatives’ service during 1916 and the War of Independence:

Veterans Administration Section,
Department of Defence,
Renmore, Galway, Ireland

Please provide Veterans Administration Section with as many personal details as possible to include full name (and any variations in spelling), date of birth, the address/s resided at during the period in which they may have made the application (1924 to 1949 most likely) and the name of any next of kin at that time.

Here are some additional websites that can help you find out more about Irish Ancestors:

• Ireland GenWeb
• Genuki (UK and Ireland Genealogy)
• Ancestry.com Ireland Databases
• Irish Genealogy
• Ireland Genealogy Project

I think people are fascinated by family history because it helps them understand themselves.  We see our own selves reflected in those who came before us.  In Martin Sheen's case, the same passion for political activism was present in both his maternal and paternal ancestors.    Martin Sheen described his involvement in political activism:  "You do it because you cannot NOT do it".    He discovered his ancestors felt the same way.  It's in his DNA.  As the TV show says, "To know who you are, you have to know where your story began."

You can see the entire Martin Sheen WDYTYA episode online

Want to get started in your own family history?  You don't have to travel the globe.
 Get started in genealogy.

Google Introduces Verbatim Search

Google has just introduced Verbatim Search which can be used when you want an exact search to your query.

Doesn't Google already give exact search results?  Well, actually, Google may make the following changes to a search query:

• Make spelling corrections
• Personalize your search by using information such as sites you’ve visited before
• Include synonyms of your search terms (matching “genealogy” when you search for [family history])
• Find results that match similar terms to those in your query (finding results related to “burial” when you search [cemetery])
• Search for words with the same stem like “obituary” when you’ve typed [obit]  
• Make some of your terms optional, like “circa” in [died circa 1843]

Google call these changes to a search query "normal improvements"  and most of the time these improvements really help broaden your search and give better search results.  But for the times you want an exact search, you may want to try Verbatim Search.

How does a Verbatim Search affect your Google search results?  With Verbatim Search:

• Every search term must be included in results 
• Spelling must match exactly (even if your search term is mis-spelled) 
• No word stemming - obit and obituary will not match, cemetery and cemeteries will not match, research and researching will not match.

Verbatim Search is NOT the same as putting a phrase in quotes.  A phrase in quotes must appear on the page exactly in the same order as the search query.  The words in a Verbatim Search must appear on the page but do not have to appear consecutively.

A few weeks ago, Google announced they would replace the Google + operator used to search for exact terms with double quotes around the word.   I think Verbatim Search may be Google's answer to the many requests to bring back the + operator.  But Verbatim Search and the + Operator are not the same.  With the + operator, you could choose only one of the words in your search query to be exact.  With Verbatim Search, all the words in your query must be exact.

You can access the Verbatim Search tool under “More search tools” on the left-hand side of Google Search Results.

When Verbatim Search is enabled, the word Verbatim in the left column of your search results will be red.

Try the same search query with and without Verbatim Search and you will see the huge differences in search results.

Cached Pages in Google Search Results

Google has removed the cached page link from the search results page.  Until last week, it used to appear with every link in the search results.  In its place, if you hover your cursor over a search result, you will notice two arrows in a light gray box appear.   

Click on the arrows in the box, and you will see a preview thumbnail of the website along the new location for the link for the cached site.

I use a website cache for many reasons:

• On cached pates, each search term is highlighted instantly and in a different color making keywords easy to find especially on long pages. 
• Cached pages load faster. 
• Cached pages are available for pages that are altered, deleted, hard to load, or firewalled. 
• Cached pages are available for pages that are updated frequently such as forums, blogs, and news, many times taking me to the page that has moved on that contains the search items.

Once you try using cached pages for the above reasons, you may find them useful, also.

To me, Google's "Instant Preview" of a website is pretty much useless.  It's too slow to load and too small to read except perhaps the title.   I'm always accidently clicking on it - it gets in my way while viewing the search results page.   And with a pop-up blocker turned on or javascript disabled, you may not even be able to see the arrows.  But that is now where you have to get the link to see cached results.

I find the new method to click on the link for cached pages user-unfriendly.  Now, there are two extra steps to use the cached links.  First, you must hover over the result to make the arrows appear and then click on the instant preview arrows and wait for the "instant preview" to appear (which on my computer isn't always instant). Then click on the cached link.  Much more time consuming to get a link for something I consider very useful and necessary. 

  

I'm sorry to see Google making such user-unfriendly decisions recently - see Google Removes the + Search Operator.  The great search results and interface simplicity are what drew me to Google years ago.  Cached pages are one thing that makes Google unique - Bing and Yahoo don't have links for cached pages.

Google is always on a quest for greater search speed hence Google Instant  which shows results as you type and Google says takes 2 to 5 seconds off each search.  It surprises me that they would then make two changes  in one week that makes things slower on the user end.

Google Removes the + Search Operator

Google has just recently removed the + search operator and replaced it with quotation marks functionality.  Instead of placing the Google + operator before a single word that you want to appear in your search results as-is, you now must add quotation marks around the word.  Quotation marks have always worked to give exact results for a phrase, but they now also give exact results for a single word.

If you search using the + operator, you will get a message that says:

The + operator has been replaced.
To search for an exact word or phrase, use double quotation marks

When asked why the + functionality was removed, a Google employee replied:

 "We've made the ways you can tell Google exactly what you want more consistent by expanding the functionality of the quotation marks operator. In addition to using this operator to search for an exact phrase, you can now add quotation marks around a single word to tell Google to match that word precisely. So, if in the past you would have searched for magazine +latina, you should now search for magazine "latina".  "

I'm not sure I see this as an improvement - it will now take two keystrokes to replace one, and I have to remember not to do something that has become second nature to me during my searches.

How does this affect genealogy searches?  Well, now if  I want to search for any word, including surnames, and get exact results, I must use quotation marks.  For example to search for the surname Meyer without getting results that also show Mayer, Myers, and other spelling variations, I must now search for the surname in quotes.  "Meyer"  

It almost seems counter-intuitive to have to tell Google that you want to search for an exact word, after all, isn't that what you expect when you enter a keyword?  But if you remember that Google does synonym searches, it becomes easier to remember that you have to tell it when you want an exact search.  Sometimes getting spelling variations and synonyms in search results is a good thing as it broadens your results and helps you find things you might not otherwise find, but there are time when only exact spelling results are appropriate.

I just hope Google doesn't do away with any other operators such as the minus sign and the OR operator.  So far, they are still working.  Check out the Easy Google Genealogy Searcher for other ways to use Google.

15 Days of Free Databases

Ancestry.com 15th Anniversary Sweepstakes

Starting October 1st, Ancestry.com will celebrate its 15th Anniversary with 15 days of free databases and a sweepstakes giveaway with prizes awarded everyday!  

Each day for the next 15 days a new database will be opened for free.  And each day day a new prize is awarded.

The Sweepstakes Grand Prize will be a trip to California to go behind the scenes of an episode of Who Do You Think You Are, meet Executive Producer Lisa Kudrow, the celebrity guest, and see how the show is made.

PLUS,  Ancestry.com have a variety of daily prizes throughout the promotion!

Now this is one contest that really interests me.  I would love to go behind the scenes of an episode of Who Do You Think You Are to see how the show is made.

Enter Here to Win Daily Prizes

Family Tree Maker 2012 About to Ship

The 20% pre-sale discount for Family Tree Maker 2012 ends Wednesday, September 28, at about 10:00 AM MST and, shortly after, Ancestry will begin shipping the pre-orders.   Yes, the much anticipated FTM 2012 with TreeSnyc will start to ship tomorrow.

  

If you are planning to order FTM 2012, you can still get the pre-sale price until the morning of Sept 28.  And you can receive an additional 20% discount if you use the coupon code G5JXTRY at checkout in the box marked Redeem Coupons for additional savings.  If you miss the pre-sale discount, you can still use the coupon code for a 20% discount.

There are a number of FTM 2012 versions:

• Family Tree Maker 2012

• FTM 2012 Upgrade 
For those who already own an earlier version

• FTM 2012 Complete
Family Tree Maker 2012 program plus:
• Printed version of the The Companion Guide to Family Tree Maker 2012
• The Family History Toolkit on DVD,
• Photo Explosion Album

The FTM 2012 for Mac pre-sale will be available sometime mid to late October and the ship date is mid to late November.


FTM 2012 Blog Posts:

1. Questions and Answers About FTM 2012
2. Family Tree Maker 2012 List of Improvements
3. Differences Between the FTM 2012 Tree and Ancesty Member Tree

FTM 2012 TreeSync - Differences between Desktop and Online Trees

Ancestry.com has released the following FAQ about Family Tree Maker 2012 's TreeSync.

Differences Between Desktop and Online Trees

Most content in trees is uploaded and/or synced seamlessly between Family Tree Maker and Ancestry. However, because Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker trees are in different formats, there are a few differences you should be aware of.

• Facts
  In general fact dates, names, places, and descriptions (including custom and alternate facts) are the same in Family Tree Maker and Ancestry trees. However, you may find that some fact types are labelled differently. For example, the Physical Description fact in Family Tree Maker is the Description fact in Ancestry trees.

• Media items
• The caption of a media item in Family Tree Maker is the same as the Picture name field on Ancestry.
• Audio and video items are not transferred between Family Tree Maker and Ancestry.
• Media items attached to relationships in Family Tree Maker are not uploaded to Ancestry.com.
• Records you've found on Ancestry.com and merged into Family Tree Maker won't be re-uploaded to Ancestry.
• Documents in Family Tree Maker will be uploaded to an Ancestry tree only if they are in one of these formats: .pdf, .doc, .txt, .rtf, and .htm.
• Photos uploaded to Ancestry Member Trees cannot exceed 15MB, so a photo in your desktop tree that exceed this size limit will be resized when it is copied to Ancestry - your original file will not be affected. Images need to be in one of these formats: .jpeg, .bmp, .png, .gif, and .tiff.

• Notes
  In Family Tree Maker you can create a variety of notes: person, research, fact, relationship, media, and source citation. When you upload a tree to Ancestry only person notes will be included; they can only be viewed by people you have invited to your online tree.

• Places
  If you have entered shortened display names for locations or custom GPS coordinates in Family Tree Maker, they will not be included in your Ancestry tree.

• Publications
  Saved reports, charts, and books cannot be transferred from Family Tree Maker to Ancestry.

• Relationships
  In Family Tree Maker only you can view information you've entered for a living individual. In your Ancestry tree, anyone who is invited to your tree can view information about living individuals.

• Sources
  • Sources created in Family Tree Maker using source templates will transfer to Ancestry, but you cannot edit these sources online.
  • Media items attached to source citations in Family Tree Maker will be uploaded; media items attached to sources in Family Tree Maker will not be uploaded.

• Stories
  • A story created on Ancestry.com will become a .htm file in Family Tree Maker, which can be viewed in a Web browser. You can edit the text in a word-processing program.
  • Smart Stories created in Family Tree Maker will become .rtf text files in Ancestry. The story can't be viewed within your Ancestry tree but the document can be downloaded. (Smart Stories are uploaded only if they are attached to individuals.)

Get 20% off Family Tree Maker 2012 with pre-sale purchase

Family Tree Maker 2012 List of Improvements

Family Tree Maker 2012 List of Improvements

Family Tree Maker 2012 will be released the last week of September and the new features have been announced.  The biggie, the feature that many have been waiting for, is the new TreeSync which links the FTM desktop tree and online Ancestry Member Tree together.  But FTM 2012 is also introducing other new features.  Here is a list of all:


TreeSync™
Now you can work on your family tree anywhere with the new TreeSync feature. When you link your desktop and online trees together, you can update either tree and then synchronize those changes into the other tree — manually or automatically with your Internet connection. Syncing your Family Tree Maker tree and online Ancestry tree has many benefits:

• Access and update your tree anytime, anywhere. With an Internet connection, you can continue your research wherever you are.  This means that you could transcribe information from a book while at the library or transcribe facts from an out-of-town interview with Aunt Sally right into your online Ancestry.com Member Tree using your laptop or smart phone or ipad .  Next time you have an internet connection,  it would sync with your Family Tree Maker database on your home computer.  Or now you could take a photo at a cemetery and attach it to your online Ancestry Member tree, and with an internet connection, it will sync it to your Family Tree Maker database on your computer.  And, conversely, while you are out researching, your know your online tree will always be up to date and the same as your tree on your home computer.
• Share your tree online. Family and friends can view your tree (and even work with you) without any software or an Ancestry subscription.
• Collaborate with the largest family history community in the world. If you share your tree publicly, other Ancestry members who are researching the same family lines can find you.
• If you already have a tree in FTM 2012 and a Member Tree online at Ancestry, there is no longer a need to do double entries .

Improved Smart Stories™
When Family Tree Maker creates a Smart Story for you, the story now includes facts about the individual and his or her spouse and children. Previously a generated Smart Story included information about the individual only.

New Combined Family View
The family group view has a new “blended families” option that displays all of a couple’s children in one location. An icon next the child’s name lets you see at a glance whether he or she is the child of the father, mother, or both parents.

Simplified Interface for Upgraders
When you install Family Tree Maker 2012, the software detects whether you are upgrading from a previous version of Family Tree Maker (version 16 or earlier). If you are, Family Tree Maker displays a simplified user interface that looks more like older versions of Family Tree Maker.

Customized Fact Sentences
When you create an Ahnentafel, descendant report, or Smart Story, Family Tree Maker generates descriptive sentences for each fact or event. Now you can change the wording to customize these sentences and the data included in the sentences.

Reports

• Improved Notes Report - The Notes Report lets you display person, research, relationship, or fact notes you’ve entered for individuals in your tree. The  old Research Notes Report is changed to Notes Report with options to include other types of notes 
• New Index of Individuals Report - The Index of Individuals Report lists every individual in your tree and their birth, marriage, and death dates.

Charts

• Generation Labels - Now you can display generation labels (such as parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents) in charts to highlight the relationship between the primary person in the chart and other family members.
• Additional Options in Descendant Chart - You can create a descendant chart that shows the relationship between two people whom you select. You can limit descendant chart to the direct line between two people.
• Adding Text to a Chart - In addition to adding your own images to a chart, you can now personalize your charts even more by adding your own text—creating a chart that is completely unique.

New and Updated Tutorials
You can learn to do more - like creating trees and using Ancestry.com features - with new and improved tutorials accessible in the software.

Gedcom
You can now include media links in the GEDCOM 5.5 export.


Get 20% off Family Tree Maker 2012 with pre-sale purchase.  Enter the coupon code G5JXTRY at checkout in the box marked Redeem Coupons for double savings - an additional 20% discount.

Family Tree Maker 2012 Now Available for Pre-Sale

Family Tree Maker 2012, which is now available for pre-sale, includes a most requested and anticipated FTM feature - an automatic synchronize between your Family Tree Maker database on your computer and your Ancestry Online Family Member Tree.

Once you link your desktop and online trees together, you can update either tree and then synchronize those changes into the other tree - manually or automatically -  using your internet connection. 

Syncing your Family Tree Maker tree and online Ancestry tree has many advantages:

• You can access and update your tree anytime, anywhere. While on the Internet, you can continue your research wherever you are using your laptop, your iPhone, or iPad.
• You can share your tree online. The family and friends that you invite to your tree can view and collaborate on the tree without any software or an Ancestry subscription.  If one of your relatives makes an addition to your tree, it will automatically update in your FTM 2012 tree.
• If you already have a tree in FTM 2012 and a tree online at Ancestry, there is no longer a need to do double entries to keep both trees up to date. Now update one tree and automatically update the other with Tree Sync.

The Sync works automatically at the open or close of the program, or you can manually request a sync using the Sync Now button.

When you create your family tree at online at the ancestry site, you have 3 privacy options:

• You can make your tree public
• You can make your tree private yet still in the Ancestry search engine
• You can make your tree completely private and not included in the Ancestry search engine.

I had a chance to review FTM 2012 during the Public Beta, and can say that the sync worked beautifully for me.  I uploaded my Family Tree Maker 2012 tree to a new Ancestry Member Tree.  My tree in FTM 2012 had media files -  census and other documents downloaded from Ancestry - attached to both persons and facts and they appeared in my new Ancestry Member Tree which was now linked  to my FTM 2012 tree.   I added people and attached documents to my online Ancestry Member Tree and it synced to my desktop tree in FTM 2012.  I added people to my desktop FTM 2012 and these additions synced to my online Ancestry Member Tree.   Basically, my tree was now residing in multiple locations, and I could update either location and keep the trees synced.

I'm really looking forward to receiving my copy FTM 2012.  I can see the advantages of having my tree online for family collaboration. 

Ancestry.com is offering a  20% pre-sale discount of Family Tree Maker 2012 .

Enter the coupon code G5JXTRY at checkout in the box marked Redeem Coupons for double savings.

The release date is the last week of September 2012.

Family Tree Maker 2012


FTM 2012 Blog Posts:

• Family Tree Maker List of Improvements
• FTM 2012 TreeSync - Differences between Desktop and Online Trees

Genealogy Webinars

Webinars (WEB semINARS) are online seminars, and genealogy webinars have become incredibly popular. It's easy to see why. You can learn from some of the biggest names in Genealogy while attending in the comfort of your home.

Legacy Family Tree is one of the leading webinar providers. You can attend their FREE live events or view the archived presentations. . Some of the biggest names in genealogy have presented in the Legacy Webinars including Thomas MacEntee, Karen Clifford, Lisa Alzo, DearMYRTLE, and Maureen Taylor.

Here are some of the upcoming webinars that you can sign up for and they are all FREE

• Google Images and Beyond
• Organizing for Success
• Newspapers for Genealogists: Using GenealogyBank.com to document every day of your ancestors' lives
• Best Internet Resources for African American Genealogy.
• Watch Geoff Live: Adding a Census Record.
• Facebook for Genealogists.
• Researching Your Connecticut Ancestors.
• Uncovering your Irish Family History.

Archived Webinars are also available at Legacy Family Tree.  Scroll down to find the archived webinars

FREE Sons of American Revolution Records for July 4

In honor of Independence Day,  Ancestry.com launched the Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970, a collection of more than one million applications from men with a direct link to either a supporter or participant in the fight for United States independence during the 18th century.   This collection is FREE through July 4th.

Like its well-known sister organization, The Daughters of the American Revolution, also available through Ancestry.com, the Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications contain  handwritten historical information that can take a family back through two centuries of history.

The applications contain references to Revolutionary War pension files, documented family and local histories, family Bible records, deeds, court documents, census records and typically include a short summary of the ancestor's service.

In celebration of America's Independence, Ancestry.com invites the public to discover proof of their own link to the founders of freedom by searching in the Sons of the American Revolution Membership Applications, 1889-1970 for free during a long weekend of access, Thursday, June 30th through Monday, July 4th. To begin searching users can visit Free Sons of American Revolution.

I have one ancestor, John Fertig, who was in the Chester Co, PA militia during the Revolutionary War. Searching for him in this database, I got 725 hits and found the names of previously unknown-to-me distant cousins with their lineage on these applications.  I'm still examining the records to see what else I can find.

I also have a 5th great uncle who was denied a Revoltionary War pension, yet his descendants were accepted into the Sons of the Revolution.  Interesting.

Google's +1 Button

Google's has just introduced the new "+1"  button which is similar to Facebook's "like".   You can click on +1 buttons across the web to recommend content, blog posts,  web pages, and news articles to others.  Google says the +1 will be an element in its search results.   Clicking on the +1 when you find good genealogy content in turn could make Google search results even more helpful for all.

It's an interesting concept which could make Google ancestor searching much more personalized and relevant.

Look for the +1 button on blog posts right underneath where it says ""Posted by".  You'll find the +1 button at the end of the line of other "share buttons".  Click on the +1 the way you would a Facebook "like" to let others know what blog posts and websites you think are useful or informative.

Not every website has a +1 button, but many blogs do.  And I have also seen the  +1 in the Google search results. 

Whether or not you are interested in clicking on +1 buttons, at least when you see one now, you will know what it is. 

Using Google's Recipe View for Family History

Google has a new feature to help find recipes online called Recipe View. 
I don't like to just find names and dates of my ancestors.  I like to write about my family history and the various cultures of my ancestors.

Cooking, to me, is a big part of culture, and because of this, I've always included family recipes in the stories of my ancestors.  Unfortunately, although I know what dishes my grandmothers and great-grandmothers cooked, none of these recipes were ever written down. 

Google Recipe View can now help me find recipes close to my family recipes.  If I know my Hungarian grandmother cooked goulash with paprika and poppy seeds but without ketchup (which a lot of online recipes seem to include - ugh!), Recipe View helps me find a recipe meeting my criteria.  It not only allows me to choose the ingredients in the recipe, but it allows me to choose ingredients I know are NOT in the recipe by clicking on the "Yes" or "No" ingredient check boxes in the left column.

Google Recipe View helps me choose a recipe among the search results by showing clearly marked ingredients and pictures without having to go into each website to check out the ingredients of the recipe.

To get to Recipe View, click on the Recipes link in the left-hand panel when searching for a recipe. You can search for specific recipes such as Goulash or Schnitzel or can search for more open-ended topics that feature a holiday or event, such as German Christmas recipes or St. Patrick's Day in Ireland recipes or Easter Bread or even Bastille Day recipes.

You filter search results based on your ideal ingredients, cooking time and calorie count using the recipe tools on the left hand side of the page.  For cultural recipes, I don't use the cooking time or calorie count check boxes.  I don't think my ancestors worried about these either.

Sometimes, I have found it helps to add the word authentic to the recipe name when searching to better find a historical recipe.  You can try searching for specific recipes such as Authentic French Crepes or Authentic German Sauerbraten or Authentic New England Clam Chowder

For genealogy webmasters and bloggers: Recipe View is based on data from rich snippets markup. If you publish recipes of your ancestors, you can add markup to your web pages so that your content can appear with this improved presentation in regular Google results as well as in Recipe View. This will help those genealogists like me searching for recipes that our ancestors used to make.

How to Find Easter Dates

Easter in 2011 falls on April 24, as late in the calendar year as I ever remember.  It actually hasn't been this late in my lifetime - the last time it fell on April 24 was 1943.

It won't fall on April 24th again until the year 2095; although in the year 2038, Easter will be on April 25.

Easter Sunday can come as early as March 22 or as late as April 25.   Here are Easter dates from 1999 until 2019:

• April 4, 1999 
• April 23, 2000 
• April 15, 2001 
• March 31, 2002 
• April 20, 2003 
• April 11, 2004 
• March 27, 2005 
• April 16, 2006 
• April 8, 2007 
• March 23, 2008 
• April 12, 2009 
• April 4, 2010  
• April 24, 2011 
• April 8, 2012 
• March 31, 2013 
• April 20, 2014 
• April 5, 2015 
• March 27, 2016 
• April 16, 2017 
• April 1, 2018 
• April 21, 2019

Why is it helpful for those researching their ancestors to know the Easter date of a particular year? 

In my family, Easter always seemed to be a family picture day wearing new Easter finery.  I have a slew of old family photos marked Easter 1955 and Easter 1939, etc. and I want to add metadata with the actual date to the scans of the photos.

I also have found a newspaper article about an ancestor that printed his wedding announcement by saying "After Easter services, the wedding ceremony was performed".  The newspaper has a publication date, of course, but it didn't date the wedding date except to say it was on Easter Sunday. Newspaper wedding announcements can appear weeks after the actual service is performed, so all the newspaper told me was the year and that the wedding was on Easter.

You can find Easter dates by using the Easter Date Calculator to help date old photos and historic newspaper articles

Ashley Judd’s Civil War Ancestor–WDYTYA

Ashley Judd’s appeared on Who Do You Think You Are? Friday, April 8, the last episode of Season 2.

Part of the episode focused on her Civil War ancestor, Elijah Hensley, her great-great-grandfather. Elijah Hensley was just 15 when he joined 39th Kentucky Infantry, Company I, a Union regiment.

Ashley Judd scrolled through microfilm at the Kentucky State Archives and found his muster roll pages.  Interestingly enough, Muster Rolls  are available online at Ancestry.com and are free this week (until April 14.)

Here is Elijah Hensley’s muster roll.  It is several pages long and gives his physical description (5’ 7”, grey eyes, light hair, and fair complexion) , his capture by rebels, his leg amputation on 10/2/1864, his hospital stay, his recovery at home, and his discharge due to disability.

Ashley had tears in her eyes thinking of her ancestor as a 15 year old kid on the battlefield having his leg amputated without anesthesia and without sanitation. I had tears as well thinking of any 15 year old going though that horror especially after the amputation tools were shown.

Ashley said she wanted not just the records but also the stories behind them, and talked to Dr. Brian McKnight, a Civil War historian. After her talk with him, he sent her an envelope that contained a photo of Elijah Hensley along with a transcription of a testimonial describing him as doing Master's work in the Methodist church as well as being a farmer in Inez, Kentucky. 

The photo and testimonial were part of Elijah’s Civil War pension file available for Union soldiers at the National Archives.  Civil War pension records are well worth sending for as it is the pension files that have a lot of the stories behind the records.

If you want to find your own Civil War story, Ancestry.com has made its records free this week only for the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War.

Not sure how if you have a Civil War ancestor? Download this guide to find your Civil War ancestor or follow this guide to determine if your ancestor was in the Civil War

Order your ancestor’s Civil War pension file online from the National Archives (NARA) and include the name, state, regiment, and especially the application number and the certificate number from the Civil War Pension Index Card, as NARA will not do research.

FREE Civil War Records - including census - at Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com Civil War Records Collection FREE until April 14.

Ancestry.com is commemorating 150th Anniversary of the beginning of the U.S. Civil War and will be offering FREE Access to all Civil War records April 7th and running through the following Thursday April 14th.

This is a chance to search millions of Civil War era records, including the 1860 and 1870 U.S. censuses, FREE for one week. You just might find your own Civil War story.

Not sure how if you have a Civil War ancestor?  Download this guide to find your Civil War ancestor.