If you have a question for us, please email [email protected].

Genealogy News & Resources

CeCe Moore’s primetime ABC television series “The Genetic Detective” premiered on May 26th at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The series will run for six weeks and each episode will feature a new case. Series description: All-new series “The Genetic Detective” follows investigative genetic genealogist CeCe Moore as she uses her unique research skills to transform the face of crime solving. By working with police departments and crime scene DNA, Moore is able to trace the path of a violent criminal’s family tree to reveal their identity and help bring them to justice.

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If you have time to devote to genealogy volunteer activities, check out: https://conferencekeeper.org/volunteer/?fbclid=IwAR2P51oYqH_bQ46h_nWdfz9Oaylz2AuUMgiuWM7uwpnrnbW953zt3zO-zOs

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The Ancestor Hunt website is highlighting state genealogy resources. Check them out at https://www.theancestorhunt.com/

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Finding United States Military Service Records are at: https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/united-states-military-records/?fbclid=IwAR1UZNL_cw6eWFleJDXRy5V1f-7oLPKH7riZiBAoeS4kPhWaekkWluGt1dM#__prclt=bvOmn8kS

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Dick Eastman has a good article on “Genealogy Myths” at https://blog.eogn.com/2020/05/21/genealogy-myths/?fbclid=IwAR1Z4pcMIVvZZFtRvzipYdaAnC6K5eVjEdX431b_9irp3NbQ4N4pjbAUDVE

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The Ancestral Findings website has a good article on “Federal Homestead Records and What you Might Find in Them” at https://ancestralfindings.com/federal-homestead-records-and-what-you-might-find-in-them/?fbclid=IwAR0gbcMIsh4qb3Q2G18fCYvWu4ZWq9LfLdnYXBepZfKi_eEymoowt-uzLos

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Genealogical.com has an article “89 Places for Finding a Woman’s Maiden Name: A Checklist of Sources” at https://genealogical.com/2020/05/18/places-for-finding-a-womans-maiden-name/?fbclid=IwAR1mdhryQ953cOPb5jhXHyp1pixBKk9TYz1rvDDlyOvWbs82UabjT_fBZ9Y

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The 5 best DNA tests as of May 2020

https://www.genealogyexplained.com/dna-testing/best-dna-test/

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Library of Virginia free Webinars

https://www.youtube.com/user/LibraryofVa

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JSTOR — Open-Access Materials Accessible to the Public

http://www.universitytimes.ie/2020/03/jstor-makes-database-accessible-to-the-public/?fbclid=IwAR2elRHepPKVTjKgqBLbks2QJw59aN8si0URZOoQUcW0W7DPRk76bamhf_k

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North Carolina 1800-1840 Census Records – Free

https://accessgenealogy.com/north-carolina/north-carolina-1800-1840-census-records.htm?fbclid=IwAR0Wm64S0Hxiy8mqvFnUvPTQWWiDUDow9HAEkHW4El84VovOzkoTCd2v5a4

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Groups.io

It hasn’t been that long since Rootsweb mailing lists were discontinued. Many of those groups have been replaced with Group.io. Why not search for a group — either a surname group or a county group. Just click on the top link to search.

https://groups.io/groups

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Legacy Family Tree Webinars — Genealogy Education Wherever you Are!

Sign up for future webinars or view past webinars. Many are FREE!

https://familytreewebinars.com/

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Through the Time Machine: the Oldest Documents on Ancestry.com

https://blogs.ancestry.com/cm/through-the-time-machine-the-oldest-documents-on-ancestry-amu/?fbclid=IwAR13fC9KpW2lyKzSVYcKmw8J_ybnoEthm90svfSNaPPWSsrxZn60zE7DJJY

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Free Access to UK Digital Records during the lockdown

https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/about/news/digital-downloads/?fbclid=IwAR0_LYAm8QPNeUm4ARu00OKZ17eIJhH5GjI1BU3KIf1SUZYIGaofHrSN794

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North Carolina Ancestors?

Searchable data plus 160,000 images for 216,000 land grants issued by the State of North Carolina from 1663 to 1960. http://www.nclandgrants.com/

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 Brown University archaeologists preserve a crucial piece of African American history

God’s Little Acre in Newport, Rhode Island, is one of the oldest burial grounds for Africans and African Americans in the U.S. and the final resting place of untold numbers of individuals. https://www.brown.edu/news/2020-03-23/acre

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RootsMagic 8 Preview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ri-TSh0Fg0w&feature=youtu.be&mc_cid=65cdad0841&mc_eid=4167f278e7&fbclid=IwAR1Go35lJKF7ZeyIZ9uWHfIMFMZmP-AeYiH3cbkesOTBgvep4gGlfeIorIc

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Tracing Your Ancestors – PDF Editions: (May, 2020)

https://your-genealogy-history-store-usa.myshopify.com/collections/tracing-your-ancestors-series-pdf-editions/products/tracing-your-ancestors-pdf-editions?fbclid=IwAR28JeP5h-EHkm9XvNYUVsXFvtp3m9Zx76w37PuXqFv2tzP11IdJaBnE1FA

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Get Your Personalized Ancestor Infographic Here: (May, 2020)

https://www.familysearch.org/campaign/infographic?fbclid=IwAR1DiDgempuGWyQuv33VmWO-QTGbZCF3f6fi_OsZ11ZkNNmcQtANfPxXn10

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Free Genealogy Websites – posted May 2, 2020

https://www.genealogyexplained.com/basics/free-genealogy-websites/?fbclid=IwAR061Dc4V-kjoSkHLVRCEhHBnYwIvCxNNOrbKUrwLVkvBkHRTXGvSR__nWA

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Checklist of Sources to Search by Lori Castro

Ramp Up Your Genealogy Research Using YouTube, Blogs, and Podcasts by Lori Castro November, 2019

New DNA Tools Everywhere! Exploring the New Tools at MyHeritage and AncestryDNA

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For those that have Scottish ancestors, you may find information on Scottish research on our Genealogy 101 page. 

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There is a product called Charting Companion 7, which is a plug-in to be used with Family Tree Maker 2017.

Q: What are the new features of Charting Companion 7?

A: Here’s a quick list – you can click on the names of the new charts below to open a page with more detail:

  • DNA Matrix: Display your DNA tests results in a clear and easy to understand chart. See if your family tree is true!
  • DNA Simulation: Find where lost members of your family fit in the tree. Automatically place adoptees.
  • DNA Matches: Manage your DNA contacts. Group them by family tree branch to make your research easier.
  • Round rectangle corners.
  • Background images for charts.

February 10, 2018

Dear RootsWeb Mailing List Member,

We’d like to provide you with an update on the RootsWeb mailing list service.

We are on track to bring the mailing lists back online by the end of this month. The mailing list archives will be up and running with current emails in them. We are in the process of importing the old archives into the new system which will take some time.

We appreciate your patience as we continue upgrading the systems that run the RootsWeb mailing lists. We know how much value this service provides to our members.

Updates on our progress will continue to be posted on the RootsWeb homepage: http://www.rootsweb.com

Thank you for sticking with us as we work to make these systems more secure and reliable for the future.

The RootsWeb Team

All Rootsweb webpages are down for an indeterminate time.

From wikipedia: 

RootsWeb was acquired by Ancestry in June 2000. RootsWeb is a free genealogy community that uses online forums, mailing lists, and other resources to help people research their family history. Founded in 1993 by Brian Leverich and Karen Isaacson as the Roots Surname List, it is the oldest free online community genealogy research site. Users can upload GEDCOM files of their information for others to search at the WorldConnect portion of the site. Trees uploaded to WorldConnect are searchable at both the RootsWeb and Ancestry websites. RootsWeb provides resources (such as webspace, mailing list, message boards) for the WorldGenWeb project.

On December 20, 2017, a file containing 300,000 RootsWeb user names, passwords, and email addresses was exposed to the internet. The 300,000 records were from RootsWeb surname list service with 55,000 of those records were also Ancestry.com login credentials.

Currently when you go to a Rootsweb website you get this message:

RootsWeb is currently unavailable

We have been in the process of improving the site throughout 2017, and as a result of an issue we recently became aware of, we have taken the site offline while we work to resolve it. We take the security of our contributors and our viewers seriously. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but protecting our users’ personal information is our top priority.

Update: January 9, 2018

We have spent the last few weeks reviewing the functionality on RootsWeb and have created a plan to bring many of your contributions back online over the next few months. As we stated before, our first priority is security, and ensuring that every part of RootsWeb meets our stringent security standards. Our next priority is getting you, the users of RootsWeb and its services, access to your content.

Right now, the best way for us to meet both goals is to begin bringing portions of RootsWeb back online in a read-only state. This means you will have access to content, but you will not be able to load new content in these sections. While this may not be ideal, it is the best way for us to protect RootsWeb users while also providing the ability to use the content you value. This is an interim step while we continue to evaluate the potential for bringing more of the RootsWeb services back online in a more complete manner.

Here’s our current plan:

Hosted Web Sites: Soon we will begin bringing Hosted Web Sites back online. We will start with a few hundred and then add more over time, giving us a chance to scan the content.

Family Trees/WorldConnect: Family Trees or WorldConnect allows you to upload a GEDCOM file and publish it for others to see. It is currently being reviewed by our software engineers and security team and we plan on having a read-only, searchable version up in the next few weeks. The ability to upload new GEDCOM files will be available in the coming months.

Mailing Lists: Mailing Lists have been functioning as normal, but the archives have been unavailable. We plan to make the archives available to you once we have WorldConnect available to you in a readable version.

We will be making decisions about other functionality over time.

We appreciate your patience as we bring the different pieces of RootsWeb back online in a secure manner. You, our contributors and viewers, are what has made RootsWeb the vibrant free genealogy community it is.

The RootsWeb Team

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The End of FamilySearch Microfilm Lending Program

Ended on September 30, 2017

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Family Tree Maker 2019 has been released to all.

 Earlier versions of FTM software will NOT be able to sync with Ancestry.com trees.

To discuss problems or ask questions, go to the Family Tree Maker Users Group on Facebook

Check Our Facebook Group For More News

Many short term stories are posted to our Facebook Group rather than on this page. That page is a place where members can ask questions and have discussions about researching and exploring their ancestors. If you are not a member of this group may can ask to join.

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2017 FamilyTreeWebinars.com Series Announced

Legacy Family Tree Webinars has announced their 2017 live webinar schedule.In case you are not familiar with Legacy Webinars, on a regular basis they present free live webinars with know speakers and great topics. Each live webinar is free to watch when presented and...

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17 Years of Research Being Flushed Down the Toilet

From The Ancestry Insider Blog Posted: 06 Mar 2017 08:00 AM PST used by permission. You can subscribe to The Ancestry Insider Blog on his website above. One of my #RootsTech reports drew this comment from a reader: Dear Ancestry Insider The last paragraph on data...

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Updates and Changes to Our Website

You might have noticed a different look to the CFGS website. We transferred to a WordPress Content Management System (CMS). We've tried to make the website easier to find things and to "streamline" the look of it. We hope you find it easy to look at and to use. If you...

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Speaker’s Handouts from General and Daytime Meetings

We generally have speakers at both our General and Daytime Meetings. If the speakers have a handout and they allow us to put them on our website, they are made available in our Member's Only area. In order to access this area, you must be logged into the website. Once...

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