The Genealogy Gems Podcast with Lisa Louise Cooke - Your Family History Show

News: Major Announcements Made at RootsTech 2019 Ancestry Announcements: Historical records: Ancestry just released over 5 million Mexico Catholic records and 1 million new France Census and Birth, Marriage, Death records and have several U.S. statewide projects underway, from New York to Hawaii. They also released US WWII Draft Cards from seven states. By early next year, the full set of WWII Draft Cards – all 33 million — will be exclusively available on Ancestry and Fold3. MyTreeTags™:“MyTreeTags™ allows you to add tags to people in your family tree to indicate whether your research on them is confirmed or verified, or to record personal details, like “never married.” You can also create your own custom tags to note that a person immigrated from Denmark or worked as a blacksmith. You can even use filters as you search your tree to see everyone with the same tag.  MyTreeTags™ is one way we can help you save time and enrich your ancestor profile.” You can join the MyTreeTags™ and New & Improved DNA Matches beta at  New & Improved DNA Matches: “We have redesigned the DNA Matches experience to help you make more discoveries, faster. Now you can easily sort, group and view your DNA Matches any way you’d like.  New features include color coding and custom labeling offering you more control over how you group and view the matches, quicker identification of your newest matches and new ways to filter your matches. : “ThruLines™ shows you the common ancestors who likely connect you to your DNA Matches—and gives you a clear and simple view of how you’re all related.  When you link your public or private searchable family tree to your AncestryDNA results, new chapters of your family story may be revealed. ThruLines™ will roll out gradually to all customers who qualify beginning today.” Source:   MyHeritage Announcements: “A new genetic genealogy tool that groups together DNA Matches that likely descend from common ancestors in a compelling visual chart. This easy-to-use tool helps you explore your DNA Matches more efficiently in groups rather than as numerous individuals, and gain insights about branches in your family tree.” “In March 2018 , a pro bono initiative in which we pledged to donate 15,000 DNA kits to adoptees and those seeking to reunite with family members who were placed for adoption. Within a few months, all the DNA kits we allocated for this initiative were sent out. Applicants opened up to us to share their emotional stories of searching, their hopes for future reunions, and the sense of belonging they felt thanks to their participation in DNA Quest…Following the success of the initiative, we have decided now to extend DNA Quest and donate 5,000 additional MyHeritage DNA kits, for free, to eligible participants.” MyHeritage has completed a 5-year project of digitizing every cemetery in Israel. It is now the first country in the world to have almost all of its gravestones preserved and , with images, locations, and fully transcribed records. They’ve put up all this content for free, too. (LDS members only) “We are pleased to announce the return of the GEDCOM Import feature to Geni! This has been one of the most requested features on Geni and we’re excited to finally make it available to everyone. GEDCOM is a standard file format used to save, transfer, and transport family tree information. Long-time users may recall that Geni previously allowed users to start a tree using their GEDCOM files, however we disabled this feature in 2011 to avoid duplication of profiles in the World Family Tree. Our new and improved importer has been rewritten to import a few generations at a time, continuing only on branches where there are no matches to existing profiles on Geni.” “You can now import a GEDCOM file as a new tree, a new branch if you already have a tree, or onto any existing profile on which you have full permissions to edit and add onto. No longer will you need to endure the slow process of adding each individual one at a time to the tree. Now anyone can quickly add trees which didn’t exist before on Geni, saving you valuable time and allowing you to focus instead on new research.” “This unprecedented feature helps you make the most of your DNA Matches by incorporating genealogical information from all our collections of nearly 10 billion historical records and family tree profiles, to offer theories on how you and your DNA Matches might be related. If you’ve taken a MyHeritage DNA test or uploaded your DNA results to MyHeritage, this revolutionary technology may offer astounding new information on your family connections.”   GEM: Digging Deep into the Theory of Family Relativity™ with Ran Snir Ran Snir  is the product manager responsible for products. He leads a really talented team of developers and engineers and designers to create and optimize DNA users entire journey. He led the development of the Chromosome browser for Shared DNA Segments feature at MyHeritage DNA, from concept to production and launch.

Welcome my friend to the podcast where we take joy in the discovery of your family’s history! This is Genealogy Gems Podcast episode #226 and in today’s show we’ll cover research strategies and new resources that will help you find your way, plus I’ve got a tech tip and a fascinating bit of military genealogy for you.   GEM: They Shall Not Grow OldThere are so many things I want to cover every month, but I try really hard to sift through it all and bring you the best of the best, the genealogy gems. And I LOVE when you bring me Gems! Just like Betty did recently. Betty is taking my online course at Family Tree University this month called Google Earth for Genealogy which I told you about in our weekly newsletter. You’re all signed up for that right? Well Betty was so excited about something she found that she wrote the following on our course discussion board. She says: “My husband and I just saw the movie "They Shall Not Grow Old" about the soldiers in WWI. We saw it in 3-D, which was amazing! The whole movie is remastered, colorized video and audio from the newsreels and also the soldiers' interviews in the 1960's and 70's. The director, Peter Jackson, introduces the movie and then, the best part is after the show.” I saw her message at about 8:00 that night, and I immediately grabbed Bill and jumped in the car and for the 9:30 pm showing.  I couldn't agree more that it was spectacular. From Betty: “When I read that you went straight to the movie, I almost cried I was so happy!  I knew you would like the last 1/2 hour the best.  When Peter Jackson talked about everyone finding out about the history of their family, I was so excited!  Wasn't it amazing what they could do with old video, still shots, cartoons, and audio interviews?   It has so much potential for genealogists. The most important thing is to gather the information and digitize the videos we already have.  In the future, maybe the technology will be more accessible to us, non-professional family historians.  What a treasure that movie was!  I hope it inspires more people to do the same with other aspects of WWI or other historical subjects.”     GEM: The History of Baby Clothes Valentine’s Day brings to mind visions of cupid, a baby dressed only in a nappy shooting arrows of love at unsuspecting couples. While this little cherub celebrates the holiday au natural, let’s take some time to talk about the fashion statements the babies in our family tree have made through the centuries. To help us visualize the togs those tots wore we could turn to our grandmother’s photo albums, but there we may find a surprise: lots of photos of female ancestors and surprisingly fewer of the males. Why is that? Allison DePrey Singleton, Librarian at the unravels the mystery and stitches together a delightful history of baby clothing. from Allison on baby clothes.  Sources: Baumgarten, Linda. What clothes reveal: the language of clothing in colonial and federal America: the Colonial Williamsburg Collection. Williamsburg, VA: Colonial Williamsburg. Calvert, Karin Lee Fishbeck. Children in the house: the material culture of early childhood, 1600-1900. Boston: Northeastern University Press, 1992. F., José Blanco, Mary D. Doering, Patricia Hunt-Hurst, and Heather Vaughan Lee. Clothing and fashion: American fashion from head to toe. Vol. 1-3. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, an imprint of ABC-CLIO, LLC, 2016. Hiner, N. Ray., and Joseph M. Hawes. Growing up in America: children in historical perspective. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1985. Paoletti, Jo B. "Clothing and Gender in America: Children's Fashions, 1890-1920." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 13, no. 1 (1987): 136-43. doi:10.1086/494390. Paoletti, Jo Barraclough. Pink and blue: telling the boys from the girls in America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012. "When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink?" Smithsonian.com. Accessed January 10, 2017. .   MAILBOX:Mary Lovell Swetnam, Special Collections Librarian Virginia Beach Public wrote me to tell us all about a new online resource. “I was able to determine that hundreds of records of enslaved persons were not included in either of the two previous abstracts of the Overwharton Parish Register. They have now been abstracted and are available free on our site. Please see the link below. I have also included a .”   Dana wrote in with one purpose in mind: to share her genealogy happy dance with us. And I think that’s an awesome reason to write! Email or leave a voice mail at (925) 272-4021 and share your genealogy happy dance with me! This free podcast is sponsored by:     GEM: Scottish GenealogyAmanda Epperson PhD shares 3 strategies for finding and ancestor in Scottish records. Read Amanda's article: Amanda Epperson is the author of the book . Since completing her Ph.D. in history from the University of Glasgow in 2003, Amanda has taught history at the college level, researched and edited family histories, most recently for Genealogists.com, and written articles for a variety of publications including Family Tree Magazine and Your Genealogy Today.  Become a Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning MemberGain access to the complete Premium podcast archive of over 150 episodes and more than 50 video webinars, including Lisa Louise Cooke’s newest video The Big Picture in Little Details.     This free podcast is sponsored by:   TECH GEM: Backblaze’s Locate My ComputerBackblaze executive Yev Pusin explains a little known feature that just might get you out of a jam! Learn more about computer cloud backup and get your computer backed up today at Learn more: Premium Members can watch . (Log in required)   GEM: Military Minutes with Michael Strauss Deciphering Draft Registration CardsWe are revisiting Draft Registrations for both World War I and World War II. You will recall that this was the subject of our first "Military Minutes" together; since this aired several listeners have had questions and comments regarding the numbering on the cards, draft classifications, and how to dig deeper into other records of the Selective Service System whose office was responsible for the registering of all the men during both wars.   Click the images below to see all of the draft registration documents Michael discusses in this episode:   GEM: Profile America – America’s First Hospital Monday, February 11th. Among his very many achievements, Benjamin Franklin played a leading role in the founding of America’s first hospital. Together with Dr. Thomas Bond, he obtained a charter for a hospital to serve the poor, sick and insane in Philadelphia. The Pennsylvania Hospital opened on this date in 1752 in a converted house. Sources: Joseph Nathan Kane, Kane’s Famous First Facts, Fifth Edition, H.W. Wilson Co., New York, NY 1997, 4868     Get the free weekly Genealogy Gems

with Lisa Louise Cooke GEM: A Conversation with Kenyatta D. Berry (Genealogy Roadshow) Get ready for a fun and inspiring start to your new genealogy year. I’m not going to lecture you about how to get organized and all that – you get enough of that New Year banter other places. Today I’m going to bring you a talented lady who’s a sharp genealogist and just happens to be one of the hosts of the television series Genealogy Road show., Kenyatta Berry. I had the pleasure of working with Kenyatta Berry last summer when we filmed a webinar together at the FGS national conference. She was beaming from ear to ear about the book she was working on, and I encouraged her get in touch with me when it was done so we could talk about it here on the show. Well, the book turned out to be a beauty: it’s called The Family Tree Toolkit. It’s a great overview for those new to genealogy, and  a quick reference manual for more experienced genealogists with all of its charts and resource lists. Kenyatta asked me to moderate her Dallas book tour event. In December of 2018 we met up at the Dallas main library in downtown Dallas for An Evening with Kenyatta. This was a wonderful opportunity to not only spend the evening with her and a room full of dedicated genealogists, but also to record it all and bring it you! In today’s episode, Kenyatta Berry shares how she caught the genealogy bug, busting brick walls, her thoughts on DNA, and of course some of the most memorable experiences on the Genealogy Roadshow. Kenyatta Berry’s book If you enjoyed this episode and want to get a copy of Kenyatta’s book, we appreciate when you use our link (above). This financially supports us at no extra cost to you, helping us to bring this free podcast to you each month. Thank you! GEM: A Family History Discovery in Home Movies I made an amazing discovery this week thanks to my guest Dr. David Haas from . As you’ll recall David shared his family’s history of making home movies, and the hours of old film footage dating all the way back to the 1920s that he had restored and digitized. His story inspired me to start digging through my closets and I found the cannisters of 8mm film that I had converted to VHS back in the 1990s.  The problem with that first conversion is that 1) VHS is completely obsolete. And 2) the film which dated back to the 1960s was converted in its deteriorated state. It was washed out and grainy making it hard to see everything. So, in December I sent those original films off to the same company that David used – in Chandler, AZ. Right after the new year the fully restored and digitized files arrived on my doorstep along with the original films. The results are jaw-dropping. The film is gorgeous color just like David’s were, clear as the first day they were taken back in the ‘60s, and now finally in a digital format that I can use for all kinds of projects and sharing. But here’s the kicker, in reviewing them I made a startling discovery. About 20 minutes into the film my great grandfather came on the screen. This is the only known film of him in existence, and I was floored that I hadn’t spotted him before. But the VHS was so washed out it wasn’t obvious. Now I see him smiling and standing with his son (my grandfather) and his son (my uncle). Three generations of Burkett men, the oldest having been born in 1880 – and all there on film for me to see. Left to right: My uncle, my great grandfather, and my grandfather c. 1962. View the restored video on I love finding genealogical documents but I would take moving images of my ancestors any day of the week over a document. It just goes to prove that you can never say never, that at any given moment something can surface that you never thought possible. Thank you to Video Conversion Experts! They did a phenomenal job, but that’s not surprising because they are one of the top labs in the country. They restore video for the movie and TV industry too. They offer varying levels of restoration. It’s not cheap, but if you need professional restoration it’s an investment you won’t regret. I certainly don’t. We don’t have a promo code with Video Conversion Experts but be sure and tell them you heard about them here on the podcast and sign up for their sale emails. In fact, we received this comment on the episode from Jodi. She writes: The episode about home movies and David Haas was wonderful. I had also found some old film footage when my parents moved back in 2011. I debated about getting them transferred to digital because of the price. But my father was just diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. I am SO glad that I spent the money to get the project done. He was able to see the old films of his family and explain to me who some of the people were. What a gift! Thank you for encouraging people to do this and sharing all of your knowledge with us so graciously. Here’s a link to her old family videos:  I took a look at Jodi’s videos, and they’re wonderful. She did a tremendous job with the documentation in the video descriptions. Absolutely brilliant the way she included the linked time stamps to the various videos that she had posted to YouTube. She really took to heart our follow up conversation in about how to share the videos once you digitize them. Larsen Digital Saves Money and Handles a Variety of Media Yesterday I received a batch of VHS tapes that converted for me. I’ve known Kristen Larsen for several years. They offer an excellent affordable option that is safe, reliable and great quality. They also really stand out because they can pretty much convert anything you have. I sent them VHS, Mini DVs and even a reel of audio tape and some cassettes of family interviews. They handled all of it affordably and Kristin and her team communicate with you along the way, so you can rest easy that all your precious memories is in good hands. I have about a zillion family history projects I want to do now that I have these audio interviews in an mp3 digital format. My first plan is to create some Animoto videos where I can drag and drop the audio in with the scanned photos that they describe. You can contact Larsen Digital at   Use the promo code GENGEM so you can get 15% off your order. View My Video Find on InstagramHead to (image right) to see the restored video of my great grandfather. Instagram is my favorite social media platform and one that I post to personally nearly every day. You can download the app to your phone for free from your app store and then just search for Lisa Louise Cooke in the app and tap follow. I post genealogy tips and ideas, behind the scenes and stuff about me and my family. It’s a lot of fun!   More with Kenyatta Berry We’re going to have a lot of fun this year! In the next Genealogy Gems Premium podcast episode (#167). Premium members will hear the Q&A we did with Kenyatta after the interview was over. If you’re not a member yet, you can fix that today at

Lisa’s Recent Travels Swedish Genealogical Society in Edina, MN and a side trip to Winthrop, MN. Above: Speaking at the Swedish Genealogical Society   Above: Bill (left) with his new found Larson cousin.  Oslo Norway – MyHeritage Above: Speaking at the MyHeritage conference in Oslo, Norway T with my genealogy crew at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo, Norway Read  By Anna Swayne A Visit to Sweden  Above: Lacey in Gothenburg, Sweden Non-Genealogical Recommended Reading: U by   Mailbox High school teacher Lindsey called in to share an unexpected occurrence of genealogy serendipity. Here the original Genealogy Gems Podcast where George Ella Lyon reads her poem. I created for Tom Boyer of his Where I’m From Poem  is the place to make connections with relatives overseas, particularly with those who may still live in your ancestral homeland. : it’s free to get started. Give the gift of story with Storyworth StoryWorth gives your loved ones a reason to spend time with their favorite memories and share them with you giving you opportunities to become closer, even when you live far apart. It’s an easy and thoughtful gift even at the last minute. Get $20 off by visiting storyworth.com/gems when you subscribe. Visit Followup on GGP 223 I’m organizing and digitizing my Grandmother’s old home movies with . I told my uncle about it and now he’s sending me the rest of his old home movies! Video Conversion Experts is the company that Dr. Haas used to convert his films. They did an exceptional job in post production restoration, and are known for this work in the film industry. They are the ideal company to go with if you want to invest in the highest quality of restoration.  They are currently running a terrific 35% off sale now through 12/21/18.  I’m digitizing my family’s High 8 home movie tapes with . The list of mediums that they can digitize is one of the most extensive I've seen. They are even able to digitize the unmarked audio tape that I found among my grandmother's hoem movies. Kristin and her team are well known in the genealogy community and are based in Utah. They have graciously extended a 15% off to my listeners. Use the coupon code: GenGem Discount is valid on: video tapes, movie film, audio reels, audio tapes, slides, negatives, photos & specialty film. Your feedback on episode 223 On Instagram from Erin: "I loved this episode Lisa! Anna’s song is so beautiful too! I learned a lot and the way you shared this story was wonderful. A favorite gem for sure." From Greg in New Zealand: "I’m loving the new narrative/profile episodes and had noticed the evolving voice and style in GGP 223. You and your team are wonderful writers...David Haas’ story reminded me of my good friend Mark Holtze. An editor in Toronto, Mark has digitised all of his grandfathers’ They are brilliantly presented. Mark is very talented. I think they’re worth sharing with your listeners. I don’t know Mark’s connection to specifically but it’s an amazing one on his playlist." I couldn't agree more! Here's the description of the video: A number of 8mm film reels were purchased at a Flea Market in New York City for $10. They ended up being home movies taken in the late 40's and 50's. How they ended up at a Flea Market in Manhattan all those years later is one thing, but most importantly was getting the films reconnected with the family. ...60 years later....   Thank you to our sponsor: I've used for years and love it. You will too!   Organizing the videos you find online After listening to episode 223, Kate was inspired to head to YouTube in search of videos that illustrate her memories. She writes: “I’ve been trying to set up a collection of my memories on you tube. Do you have any thoughts on to put this together? Is it possible to add clips and not full videos?” My suggestions: YouTube: Organize with playlists You can use Playlists to group the videos you find by topic. You could create playlists for locations, timeframes, people and so on. Sign in with your free Google account which will give you access to your YouTube “channel.” When you find a video, under the title of the video click the plus sign that says “Add to”. Select a playlist from the playlists listed in the dropdown menu. These are playlists you have already created in your account. If it’s a long list, use the search box to search for a playlist title. Or create a new Playlist by clicking “Create New Playlist” at the bottom of the menu. Unfortunately, YouTube doesn't give you a way to add your own notes. And you can't create clips of videos (at least not as of this writing), but I do know that when you share a video you can mark that it start at a point in the video that you select. Which brings me to my next suggestion… Pinterest: Organize Videos into boards on Pinterest If you would like to have even more control over organizing the videos that you find, and you want to be able to add your own notes and memories, consider using Pinterest. In your free Pinterest account you can create as many boards as you want. Create a board for each topic (much like with the Playlists I suggested previously) and save YouTube videos to them. And of course, you can save any other online content "memories" that you find along with them if you want. The beauty of pinning is that you can add your own notes and memories, plus you can set the video to begin at any point within the video that you want. Simply click “Share” under the video in YouTube, and click to check the box for “Start at.” Next, click on the player timeline that runs across the bottom of the video on the spot where you want the video to begin playing. Finally, click the Pinterest icon in the Share area to pin it to your Pinterest board of choice.   Profile America: TV Tech Thursday, December 13th. The important holiday business of viewing such classics as “It's A Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Story” on home TVs owes much to a technological advance this month 80 years ago. In December 1938, Russian-American engineer Vladimir Zworykin was awarded two patents for cathode ray tubes. One was for the iconoscope to capture video images. The other was for the kinescope, which displayed television and computer monitor images for decades until the advent of flat panel screens. Whatever the ills of TV programming, obviously the American people consider it an appliance for a wonderful life. More than 98 percent of American households own at least one set, a percentage that has held steady for years and across all age groups.

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 223 November 2018 with Lisa Louise Cooke   Bit Players in Someone Else’s Show If you happen to catch an old episode of the TV Series Buffy the Vampire Slayer, you may be surprised to spot Ben Affleck dribbling down a basketball court in the not so highly acclaimed role of Basketball Player #10.     Or how about funny man Jack Black of School of Rock fame in the walk-on part of “Taxi Driver” on the iconic 1980s comedy The Golden Girls.   Yep, at some point we are ALL bit players in somebody else’s show. And that is even more true with old home movies.   Your friends, your neighbors and even perfect strangers have likely at some point captured you or someone in your family in one of their own old home movies. And the same is true for your ancestors. As long as film has been around, the chances of someone in your family tree appearing in someone else’s videos at some point in time is actually quite high.   And think about it, when film – or moving pictures - came into being right around 1895, it had the capability of capturing someone born as early as even 1800. That’s a lot of potential generations of your family!   David Haas MD knows this better than most folks. he has experienced first-hand that any one of us may find ourselves, quite by surprise, as the keeper or even the Archivist of film footage that connects to potentially hundreds if not thousands of other people and families. And there’s a very good possibility that yours is one of those families.   Your family could very well indeed be one that has been a bit player in somebody else’s film, and you didn’t even know it. But that’s OK, because thanks to technology, it’s never been easier to find the celluloid that once lay sleeping in a stranger’s attic.    A Listener's Lead The best place to start our story is how I came to know David Haas.   I’ve been encouraging you my listeners through this podcast, my book , and my in-person lectures to turn to online video, and specifically YouTube in search of your family. Long time listener Debby Warner Anderson contacted me to let me know that she had followed my suggestion with dramatic results. She wrote:   “I had interviewed my Dad to get details of his memories and found the 2 YouTube links about the 1945 Macy's Parade that my father went to and the video about W.C. Handy who my Dad remembered seeing. My Dad was so tickled to see the YouTube videos to go with his memories. It gave my family members and my son a real glimpse in to my Dad's memories.  Thank-you for the suggestions!”   I clicked the link she shared to an article that she wrote on her blog called Debby’s Family Genealogy. The article called described the find in detail and included the video, called Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade – 1945. David Haas MD had uploaded this video to YouTube, and it’s one of hundreds on his YouTube channel under his name David Haas MD. You need only click it and watch just a few moments to be mesmerized. The video, comprised of old home movies, is striking in it’s color quality, and you instantly feel yourself falling back in time, pulled there even further by the haunting music that serves as the backdrop to this silent film.   Macy's parade: I was so taken by how this video, sitting out there for free on YouTube, fit so beautifully into her family history, helping to bring it just a bit more into focus.   I sat and watched the Macy’s Day parade video all the way through. It was so clear that it was carefully and thoughtfully restored and shared, and that it must have come from someone else’s personal home movie collection.   Clicking on the name of the person who uploaded any video on YouTube will bring you to their YouTube channel. Anyone can have a free YouTube channel by simply signing in with a free Google account and uploading a video. It’s called Creators Studio, and these days it sports an impressive collection of tools that anyone can use to create, enhance and share videos.   Many channels will have only one or maybe a handful of videos. This is not the case with David’s channel. It’s difficult to scroll down the page far enough to get to the end of the impressive video list. Where did all these home movies come from? What motivated him to invest the time to make the available on YouTube?   Thank you to our sponsor: Literally hundreds of people appear in the 4 ½ minute Macy's Parade (1945) film: the folks in the parade, the people lining the streets and even the people watching from the fire escapes of the surrounding buildings.   The film was created by William G Whitman Sr. A veteran of World War I, he made his way after the war as a bit of a jack of all trades, and the path eventually got the ball rolling that led to the home movies.   William G Whitman, Sr. was David’s grandfather on his mother’s side. William, his wife Catherine,  and their 10 year old daughter Catherine who is David’s mother can be found in the 1930 census  living in Brooklyn. At that time William says he’s a manager of a store. By 1940 he has followed his passion and is proudly declaring he works in Photographic retail as a photo finisher.    (Whitman family in the 1940 US Federal Census, Brooklyn, NY) But it was as far back as the year that the Great Depression hit, 1929 that William began capturing his growing family on film. In those early movies David’s mother, Catherine, was just 9 years old. David’s collection of films span from this time period all the way through the mid-1970s.   In the earliest of the home movies which you can see on , William Whitman did what most of us do, take home movies of the people and things we love the most. In those films, David’s mom clearly relishes being in front of her father’s camera. She worshiped her father, who was a bit of a big kid himself.   David says: “My mother always remembered things in a sunny way…it’s very much like the pictures we see on the internet, where people tend to post the most rosy possible pictures.  Often times, I think it’s the same with the home movies. You really have to dig deeper to kind of get the whole story.”   This phenomenon of capturing and sharing the rosiest version of ourselves is nothing new. And as genealogists, we are in the perfect position to leverage old movies like these and dig deeper for the rest of the story. Story is a running theme through William Whitman’s films. You only need to watch a few to see what a keen eye for composition and telling stories that he had. He developed his skill while shooting weddings professionally.   William got his whole family into the act of shooting, developing and editing his films. After his daughter Catherine married David’s father, he too joined in. William passed his skills and knowledge onto his son-in-law. He soon started shooting film of his own further adding to the collection of home movies.   As with so many genealogical tales, great treasure troves like these films are often found with three part deep digging and one part luck. In David’s case, the path to the treasure starts with the family’s refrigerator. His father used to project the movies onto the white kitchen refrigerator. Many years later, after his parents passed away, he found his father’s movies. But it wasn’t until his Aunt Markie mentioned that there were much older 16mm movies in existence dating back to the 1920s that the rest of the collection was discovered in the basement. David set to work getting them digitized.   David not only discovered that these movies were a priceless find for his own family, he soon realized that they held a vast amount of treasure for many other families in a wide variety of locations. “It really was about the people…they needed to be shared!” He felt a moral obligation to do so, and it soon turned into an obsession.   The Gold Waiting to be Found And that’s the gold here! If we are all bit players in everybody else’s show, and this show was happening in so many different locations, then there are a lot of bit players out there waiting to be found by their families too, right there in David’s films. While the films of course covered Brooklyn where David’s family lived, they branch out to Queens NY, Ventner NJ, and as far away as San Francisco.   The genealogical value of old home movies is immense. If as researchers we can occasionally shift our focus from ancestors' names to locations, we could very possibly hit pay dirt and find old films online that include our family.    It was in the town of Suffern, NY that David’s father shot quite a bit of footage, but there’s plenty to be had in many different locations. Once he posted them on YouTube the response was swift.   .   (This compilation of footage was created to commemorate the 40th Reunion of the Suffern High School Class of 1975. It is 41 minutes in length and premiered on October 3, 2015 at the historic Lafayette Theatre in downtown Suffern, NY.)   The color video on David’s YouTube channel garnered dozens of comments from grateful viewers.   His father filmed elements of the game that the news didn’t which viewers appreciated. And some had been at that very game.     We’re Not Getting Any Younger David stresses that timeliness is really important when it comes to sharing old home movies like these. “People aren’t getting any younger” he says, and “Others may have insights you may miss.” One connection made through sharing the movies on YouTube, that just barely missed making a personal connection, revolved around David’s mother’s younger sister, his aunt Margaret Whitman. She lived in  Brooklyn in the 1930-1940s, and there are movies of “Markie” with her friends. One film from the 1930s included her good friend Charlie Russell. A few years ago, David received a message from a Charlie after he saw one of the videos! Sadly, he made the connection literally a week after Markie passed away at the age of 89. “If I could have made this connection 6 months earlier it would have been so wonderful for both of them. By then all their other friends had passed away.”     Another viewer who was touched by the films was a woman who saw herself walking around the Suffern swimming pool with her mother. It was priceless to her since her parents later died in an airplane crash and she had few photos of them.   David tells another story of connection: “There was a little league game that my father filmed in Suffern, and there was a young boy who struck out, and as he was walking off and one of the coaches kind of patted him on the butt, sort of saying “good try, good job”, and then the game was over and they were all kind of hugging each other because they won the game. And this young boy ended up seeing the film now, I guess 50 years later. His father had passed away not long after that little league game, and here he was seeing his father who was his coach, encouraging him after he struck out. And again, he said he couldn’t speak for hours. It was just amazing.”   Another woman even found her parents in one of the videos on Coney Island where they ran a pony ride with her grandfather!   David’s willingness to share his family’s treasure trove of home movies put him in a unique and unexpected position to touch many people’s lives in truly meaningful ways. The only difference between him and many others who have even just a few spools of film is that he took action to share them. Along the way, he learned some important lessons about what makes film so distinct in its value, and it’s those unique characteristic that told him more about his own family. He says, “What I’ve learned is that photographs are powerful, but there’s nothing like moving images”.    David’s father had captured the moments of other people’s lives while filming his own. David didn’t use to be interested in genealogy. His father, however, was obsessed with it. But now, David finds that he is grateful to be able to pull the genealogy back out and reconstruct who the people are in the movies.   It’s a word so often associated with genealogy – obsessed. David’s father became obsessed with it and now David has become obsessed with processing and making available his cache of his father’s and grandfather’s home movies. This has in turn gloriously ensnared him in the world of genealogy.   David hopes by sharing his story of how these videos have impacted and continue to impact the lives of strangers from around the world, it will inspire all of us who have a few reels of old family movies to make it a priority to get them digitized and make them available. Our families and other unknown families are counting on us.   “One thing that I’m really passionate about is that people who have home movies, if they can, they should really do their best to get them digitized” He continues, “Having gone through the experience, and it’s really been transformative, I feel very passionate about getting my wife’s movies, her family’s movies or her father when he was arrived, getting these converted and sharing these with my wife’s family. So that they can really forever see these movies and share them with their children, so that they can be passed down for generations.”  Thank you to our sponsor:  is the place to make connections with relatives overseas, particularly with those who may still live in your ancestral homeland. : it’s free to get started.   The process: Digitize, Enhance and Share We’ve all seen the commercial where they peer into the camera and aske “what’s in your wallet”. Our question today is “what’s in your closet”. I’ve looked through my closets and I have several home movies my grandmother shot on 8mm film. I also have a box full of VHS tapes from back when Bill and I got our first video camera right after we got married in the 1980s.   The process for digitizing and sharing your home movies can appear daunting at first glance. That’s why I asked David Haas MD to share some specifics about his project so that you can learn what you need to consider and some tips from somebody who’s already been through this in a big way.   Although David’s collection of film runs about 10 hours, has several hundred videos because he kept them short – about 4 minutes long each. This is a smart strategy because of the attention span of YouTube viewers. It’s also about the length of a song, which makes setting them to music easier.   David went the extra mile and created a website where he makes available indexes of all the videos which can be searched by location, year and person. David really thought about the potential value of these films and set up a system for making it easier for visitors to find what they are looking for. In a case like his where he has such a volume of these 3-5 minute videos, this is a huge help to other researchers. But don’t worry if having your own website isn’t in your wheelhouse. YouTube has a powerful search engine, and it’s called Google. You can make your videos very easily searchable by simply include the details that pertain to a particular video in the video description that appears below the video on YouTube.   Since your videos will be on your YouTube channel, researchers be able to simply go to your channel’s home page and type a name, place event or some other set of keywords in your channel’s search box. Google will search just your channel and retrieve only the videos that match the search terms. If you want to see this in action, go to my YouTube channel at   or and try a search.    Digitizing Your Home Movies The first step is to get the movies digitized. It can be a pretty scary thought to send your precious movies off to some stranger. David considers his videos his “most priceless possession.” Through a bit of trial and error, David landed with a company who could do the job. He first tried a local place but ultimately went with Video Conversion Experts in Chandler AZ. They did an excellent job and cleaned them up and optimized the film. He recommends overnighting your films so that you can control when they arrive. You can receive both hard drives and DVDs of the digitized movies.   Sharing Your Home Movies on YouTube At first, David thought he would take the movies to the local library. His daughter Anna convinced him to try editing them with iMovie and then uploading them to YouTube. The first film he edited was called .   Free video editing tools: (Mac) iMovie - (PC) Movie Maker -   Thank goodness for David’s daughter Anna Haas! Just think if these videos had only landed in one physical location like a library versus online. Now another generation of the Haas family has entered the picture to preserve the family’s legacy and touch the lives of so many others. And it’s Anna’s inspiring music that provides the backdrop for the Macy’s Day Parade and several others. on her album “Crazy Is”   Visit Anna Haas’ website: Anna’s YouTube channel: Anna Haas - "Find Your Home" - Official Music Video:   When you love people, you just can’t justify keeping old home movies to yourself. You can’t in good conscience leave them in dusty boxes stuffed away in the back of closets in risk of deteriorating to dust. For the woman who saw her parents again in the swimming pool video, to the man who felt the affection from a father long gone, and for countless unnamed others the action that David has taken to digitize, preserve and share his home movies has been valuable beyond words.   “Don’t be afraid to do it, don’t hesitate to do it. even if you don’t have the skill set to do it, there are other people who are more than happy to kind of walk you through it and help make it happen. I would be extremely encouraging of everyone to convert their old movies and share them as widely as possible.”   Resources on the topic of video at the Genealogy Gems website   Browse his phenomenal collection of home movies at You’ll find inspiration and you might just find an ancestor captured on film. Because we are all bit players in everybody else’s show.

The Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode #222 with Lisa Louise Cooke In honor of Family History Month, Lisa celebrates YOU! This episode is packed with comments, tips and questions from Genealogy Gems fans. Topics range from podcasting to metal detecting, must-use resources and inspiring genealogy discoveries. You’ll also hear from Kirsty Gray at THE Genealogy Show in the UK. NEWS: INTERNET ARCADE Internet Archive blog post: on the Internet Archive BONUS CONTENT for Genealogy Gems App Users If you’re listening through the Genealogy Gems app, your bonus content for this episode is a great tip from a fan on an essential resource for those of you with roots in Northern Ireland. The and is only $2.99 for . MAILBOX: A PODCAST SKEPTIC?   Gary recommends Get access to more than 50 Premium Videos and 160 Premium Podcast episodes. It’s the ultimate ongoing genealogy education! to read more about it. Gary mentions becoming a “happy user of” who now protects his computer with cloud back-up service, enjoys using and learning more about . Click on these links to start exploring for yourself—and to watch a Google Earth video for free. MAILBOX: CUBAN GENEALOGY PODCAST MAILBOX: METAL DETECTING FOR GENEALOGY Premium eLearning members also have access to these :   MAILBOX: LOCAL HISTORY BOOK FIND BY ROBIN Lisa Louise Cooke uses and recommends . From within RootsMagic, you can search historical records on FamilySearch, Findmypast and MyHeritage. Keep your family history research, photos, tree software files, videos and all other computer files safely backed up with Backblaze, the official cloud-based computer backup system for Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems. Learn more at .   MAILBOX: CORAL’S FRIDAY RECORD DISCOVERY The Friday record post discoveries appear weekly on the . to receive a free weekly email with links to these posts, along with tips, inspiration and money-saving deals.   MAILBOX: VEHICLE REGISTRATIONS On Florida Memory:   MAILBOX: GENI.COM QUESTION Tip: The Premium eLearning video explains the difference between individual and collaborative trees.  is the place to make connections with relatives overseas, particularly with those who may still live in your ancestral homeland. : it’s free to get started.   MAILBOX: 3 MILLION GERMAN NAMES Tim recommends the   MAILBOX: TRISHA’S INSPIRING JOURNEY Another Premium eLearning video recommendation (click to see landing page):   MAILBOX: KIRSTY GRAY Kirsty Gray has over 15 years research experience and has her foot in many genealogical doors around the world. Her first involvement in family history came at the tender age of seven years with her maternal grandfather’s tree in hand. Obsessed with her great-grandmother’s maiden name of Sillifant, Kirsty began a surname study on the name in 1999, publishing tri-annual journals on the surname for more than ten years. Founder member and Chair (now Secretary) of the Society for One-Place Studies, Kirsty has two places registered, on the Devon/Cornwall border and is considering another study of a hamlet in Cornwall. In November 2014, Kirsty founded The Surname Society with five other genealogists across the globe and the membership is already close to 500!   PROFILE AMERICA: HOME MAKING   PRODUCTION CREDITSLisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer Sunny Morton, Contributing Editor Hannah Fullerton, Production Assistant Lacey Cooke, Service Manager Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting this free podcast and blog!

The Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode #221 with Lisa Louise Cooke Live from FGS 2018! Lisa chats with a podcast listener, talks about vital records with Shannon Combs-Bennett and welcomes a drop-by guest, Daniel Horowitz of MyHeritage.com. Other episode highlights: Fantastic news from RootsTech; A great new resource from Library & Archives Canada; An update from Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard on MyHeritage DNA tools; The long-awaited conclusion of Project Lizzie. LIVE FROM FGS! Lisa records the podcast in the exhibit hall with guest Shannon Combs-Bennett and a live studio audience LIVE MAILBOX: CHATTING WITH JEANNETTE Jeannette from Niagara County Genealogical Society, shown here (left) with Lisa The FGS conference supports the missions and activities of genealogical societies. Learn more about FGS and find a genealogical society near you . Genealogy Gems supports societies, too! Society memberships and reprintable articles for your newsletters. Go to the Societies dropdown menu on GenealogyGems.com: If your society is interested in hosting Lisa Louise Cooke for a seminar, go to the Seminars tab and click Book Lisa. INTERVIEW: SHANNON COMBS-BENNETT ON VITAL RECORDS Learn more about using vital records in your research in the free INTERVIEW: DANIEL HOROWITZ FROM MYHERITAGE As MyHeritage’s Genealogy Expert, Daniel Horowitz provides key contributions in the product development, customer support and public affairs areas. He holds board level positions at the Israel Genealogy Research Association (IGRA) and the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) among others. Daniel served as teacher and study guide editor for 15 years for the family history project "Searching for My Roots" in Venezuela. Who: Daniel Horowitz, Lisa Louise Cooke and MORE great presenters! What: Where: Oslo, Norway at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia hotel When: November 2-4, 2018 It’s open to anyone who would like to learn more about MyHeritage – including subscribers, DNA customers, those with free basic accounts, and those who haven’t used MyHeritage yet but would like to find out more. Tickets include entry to the Friday night reception, keynote speeches, all conference sessions, lunch and coffee breaks on Saturday and Sunday and entry to the exclusive MyHeritage LIVE party on Saturday night. Now through September 24, register for Early Bird discount price of €75.00.  is the place to make connections with relatives overseas, particularly with those who may still live in your ancestral homeland. : it’s free to get started.     Subscribe to the free Genealogy Gems newsletter to receive a free weekly email with tips, inspiration and money-saving deals. to subscribe! LIVE MAILBOX: ADRIANNE KEEPS CONNECTED WITH PODCAST may also listen to an interview with Maureen Taylor, The Photo Detective, in . She’s the author of , a must-have resource for identifying old photographs. BONUS CONTENT for Genealogy Gems App Users Link to: If you’re listening through the Genealogy Gems app, your bonus content for this episode is a short but inspiring story from someone who came to one of my classes and then went and found something cool on YouTube relating to her family’s employment with airline TWA….Don’t miss it! The and is only $2.99 for . Lisa Louise Cooke uses and recommends . From within RootsMagic, you can search historical records on FamilySearch.org, Findmypast.com and MyHeritage.com. Keep your family history research, photos, tree software files, videos and all other computer files safely backed up with Backblaze, the official cloud-based computer backup system for Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems. Learn more at . NEWS: ROOTSTECH GOES TO LONDON RootsTech will host an event in London from 24–26 October 2019 at the ExCeL London Convention Centre. Registration opens in February 2019. Find out more about RootsTech London 2019 at . NEWS: THE “UNCONFERENCE” EXPERIENCE Lisa Louise Cooke, Diahan Southard, and Sunny Morton will share a stage on October 4-5, 2018 at the SeniorExpo in Sandy, Utah. (Psst: You don’t have to be a senior to attend!) Here’s the scoop—and a special registration discount! Who: Lisa Louise Cooke, Diahan Southard, and Sunny Morton What: Genealogy Roots: The Un-Conference Experience! at SeniorExpo Where: Mountain America Expo Center (South Towne Expo Center), 9081 S. State St., Sandy, Utah When: October 4-5, 2018, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm   THE ARCHIVE LADY: LIBRARY ARCHIVES CANADA CO LAB The Library and Archives of Canada (LAC) has introduced a brand-new crowd sourcing opportunity for genealogists or anyone interested in records transcription: . The LAC has put a call out for volunteers to be part of a collaborative project to transcribe, add keywords and image tags, translate content from an image or document and add descriptions to digitized images using “Co-Lab” and the new “Collection Search”. The more volunteers that participate in this project, the more accessible and usable the digital collection will become for everyone. You can become a contributor in two ways: Take on a “challenge” of images put together by experts at LAC Use the new Collection Search to find materials that matter most to you, then enhance them. Anyone can now contribute to digitized images that are found while doing research. The volunteer must register and create a user account so you can keep track of the records to which you have contributed. Once this free account is established, a volunteer can contribute as much or as little as they would like. The “Challenges” are content put together under a theme. For instance, under the “Challenges” tab on the website you could choose to transcribe the “Correspondence between Sir Robert Borden and Sir Sam Hughes” The theme for this challenge is listed as “military heritage.” Or another “Challenge” someone might choose could be “New France and Indigenous Relations” whose theme is listed as “Aboriginal Heritage.” There are also new “Challenges” being posted to the site, so check back often. Maybe you would like to contribute using Collection Search. The website describes how this tool works: “When you are conducting research using our new search tool and find images, you’ll see that you have the option to enable this image for Co-Lab contributions. After answering just a few short questions, you can enable an image found in Collection Search for Co-Lab use and transcribe/translate/tag/describe to your heart’s content.” There is a short tutorial to get you started and show you the ropes. The launch of Co-Lab also introduces a new image viewer, which allows you to zoom in on different parts of the image or move around the image itself. This tool is useful when transcribing or adding keywords and image tags to describe all the small details. Every image in Co-Lab is subject to review by other members. If something is found to be incorrect or if you find something that is wrong, it can be marked as “Needs Review” for others to take another look and decide what is correct. The best part about this new Library and Archives Canada tool is that every contribution by the volunteers benefits fellow genealogy researchers and improves records access. Every additional tag or translation becomes new metadata and is searchable within 24 hours of the transcriptions or tagging being done. So, if you are like me and are eager to get as much genealogical and historical records online and transcribed, check into The Library and Archives of Canada’s new DNA WITH DIAHAN SOUTHARD GEM: PROJECT LIZZIE CONCLUSION to read Ron’s blog post announcing the satisfying conclusion of Project Lizzie. To learn more about Ron, stop over at , where Ron teaches business people how to tell stories. PROFILE AMERICA: PICTURE THIS PRODUCTION CREDITS Lisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer Sunny Morton, Contributing Editor Diahan Southard, Your DNA Guide, Content Contributor Melissa Barker, The Archive Lady, Content Contributor Hannah Fullerton, Production Assistant Lacey Cooke, Service Manager Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting this free podcast and blog!

The Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode #220 with Lisa Louise Cooke   In this episode: Two major upcoming genealogy events—one with an exclusive, meaty tip; Fun travel suggestion from The Archive Lady Melissa Barker: “Archive in a backpack” DNA specificity from Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard Finding books about your ancestors’ experiences and Finding your German ancestor’s place of origin. This month’s episode includes two “Blast from the past” segments from the original Genealogy Gems Podcast episodes 19 and 20, digitally remastered with updated show notes.  NEWS: UPCOMING EVENTS Lisa Louise Cooke, Diahan Southard, and Sunny Morton will share a stage on October 4-5, 2018 at the SeniorExpo in Sandy, Utah. (Psst: You don’t have to be a senior to attend!) Here’s the scoop—and a special registration discount! Who: Lisa Louise Cooke, Diahan Southard, and Sunny Morton What: Genealogy Roots: The Un-Conference Experience! at SeniorExpo Where: Mountain America Expo Center (South Towne Expo Center), 9081 S. State St., Sandy, Utah When: October 4-5, 2018, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm   Registration is now open for — its first ever international user conference—the weekend of 2 – 4 November 2018 in Oslo, Norway at the Radisson Blu Scandinavia hotel in the center of Oslo, near the Royal Palace and its magnificent gardens.  It’s open to anyone, from anywhere in the world, who would like to learn more about MyHeritage – including subscribers, DNA customers, those with free basic accounts, and those who haven’t used MyHeritage yet but would like to find out more. Tickets include entry to the Friday night reception, keynote speeches, all conference sessions, lunch and coffee breaks on Saturday and Sunday and entry to the exclusive MyHeritage LIVE party on Saturday night. Now through September 24, you can register at their Early Bird discount price of just €75.00.  BONUS CONTENT FOR GENEALOGY GEMS APP USERS If you’re listening through the Genealogy Gems app, your bonus content for this episode is Lisa’s roundup of her favorite “Christmas in August” crafts to make. The and is only $2.99 for . Make these crafts: (2-part video series with step-by-step instructions on the Genealogy Gems YouTube channel)   MAILBOX: THANKS FOR EPISODE 219! Several listeners wrote in to thank Lisa for sharing the compelling stories of Julianne Mangin’s ancestors and her sleuthing process that led to them. Missed it? to listen. Watch all 3 seasons for free on BYUtv. MAILBOX: TECH TIP AND NEWSLETTER UPDATE Tech Tip: I cover lots of handy little tricks in this class, and I've got a great one to share with you today! Have you ever accidentally closed a browser tab too quickly? Maybe you were following a bread-crumb trail to get to a specific record or a found a great page buried deep in a website. That gut-wrenching moment when you close the browser accidentally has definitely plagued me before. But never fear! Restore that closed tab by pressing the following on your keyboard: Press Ctrl+Shift+T As you keep entering in the command, web pages will continue to open in the reverse-order that they were closed. So even if it wasn't the last page you closed, you can still restore it. You can also right-click on the new tab at the top of your screen and in the pop-up menu select Reopen Closed Tab. Additionally, in order to comply and as a show of good faith, we’ve sent an email to those of you who live in the EU and those who didn't provide a location when you signed up for the newsletter, asking you to reconfirm your newsletter subscription. Please click the opt-in button so that there is no disruption to your subscription to our free newsletter. Don’t receive our newsletter yet? to subscribe!Many of you were affected by new legislation that took effect in the EU on Friday, May 25: the General Data Protection Regulation or GDPR. Though we are a US-based company, we are proud to have followers from around the world, and I want to assure everyone that your information is safe and secure with Genealogy Gems. We have updated our Privacy Policy to reflect that we want to fully comply with these new laws, and .   BLAST FROM THE PAST: A LONG LOOK SIDEWAYS Books I’ve found that are about specific locations and experiences that apply to my ancestors: by Janice Holt Giles (Oklahoma) by Josephine Butcher (England) by Richard Cobb (England) by Maurine Walpole Liles (Texas) by Thyra Ferre Bjorn (Sweden)  and by George and Helen Papashvily –1940 (immigrant experience)  Places to find old or out of print books: Your public library Also: consult : the ultimate genealogy-inspired reading list! Lisa Louise Cooke uses and recommends . From within RootsMagic, you can search historical records on FamilySearch.org, Findmypast.com and MyHeritage.com.     Keep your family history research, photos, tree software files, videos and all other computer files safely backed up with Backblaze, the official cloud-based computer backup system for Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems. Learn more at .   THE ARCHIVE LADY: ARCHIVIST IN A BACKPACK to read her segment and find her go-to supply list (with recommended links!).   GEM: FINDING YOUR GERMAN ANCESTOR’S TOWN OF ORIGIN A little German village can seem like a needle in a haystack when you’re starting with ancestors who made it to the shores of the United States. But once you’ve found that gem, it will open up all kinds of records from their native land, and likely take you back several more generations. There are three important pieces to this ancestral puzzle: the village name, the parish it belonged to and the district or kreis it was part of. Find your relatives in the most recent census and work backwards.  Look for immigration and naturalization clues (such as the year of arrival or whether they had applied for citizenship). Look for naturalization records for ancestors who may have naturalized. The naturalization process created a lot of paperwork, and in that paper work your ancestors were asked for information about where they were born, where they immigrated from, the ship they traveled on, and when they arrived in America. (The more recent the naturalization, the more likely you will find listed the place of birth, date of emigration and the ship on which they sailed.) Most applied for citizenship at one of the nearest county courthouses. Try the free GenWeb website for the county where you think your ancestors applied for citizenship to see what resources they have available. Also, look up the county courthouse online for records and contact information. Declarations of Intent:  The first document filed for citizenship Petitions for Naturalization:  The final papers If you need a little help, read these articles on tracing your German genealogy: Brush up on your .   Most recent border changes occurred in 1945 and 1871. Consult a gazetteer at the library or online, and look up the town. This should indicate the parish and Kreis. Here are more articles to help you find German places: (on one of my favorite websites for German research, the GenWiki at Genealogy.net) On the free website :  Under Search > Records, enter the last name, and the country as Germany to see if people with the same last name are listed in the same location you have pinpointed in Germany. Also on FamilySearch.org, under Search > Catalog, search by Place to see what records exist for any locale you have pinpointed. Put the village name first and then the kreis. Timelines are a great tool for seeing the bigger picture and determining how the little bits of information fall within it.  is the place to make connections with relatives overseas, particularly with those who may still live in your ancestral homeland. : it’s free to get started.   GERMAN ANCESTRAL VILLAGES CONTINUED What if, as in Elizabeth’s case, the passenger list and naturalization records don’t state their place of origin?  Info about the “old country” can pop up in a LOT of different places: Death certificates Marriage records Church records Obituaries Tombstones & cemetery records Probate records Delayed birth certificates (these were often created when social security came into effect in the 1930s and 1940s.) The Germans to America book series should be consulted if your German ancestor arrived between 1850 and 1897. Learn more about it and search it at . If you know from which port in Germany they departed, you may be able to locate their hometown in German passenger departure lists. (See links below.) Look sideways, at brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, even friends. If you can determine where one of them was born, you will have an EXCELLENT place to look in Germany for your ancestors! In addition, determine if your ancestors had traveling companions on their way to America and look into their backgrounds. Go back to the census and check out your ancestors’ first recorded American neighborhood. Where were their neighbors from?  Folks often settled near family and friends from the old country. (free at FamilySearch) While most of the Bremen, Germany passenger departure records were destroyed -- either by German officials or during WWII -- 2,953 passenger lists for the years 1920 – 1939 have survived. The Bremen Society for Genealogical Investigation, DIE MAUS, has transcriptions of these surviving Bremen passenger records . (description, search tips and links free at FamilySearch.org)  (no longer free, there is now a fee for this service) Fill out the information as completely as possible.  Make a copy of the form for your follow up records and keep it in a pending file in your desk Mark in your calendar six months from today to follow up on the request.  Also indicate that the copy is in your pending file.   DNA SPECIFICITY FROM YOUR DNA GUIDE DIAHAN SOUTHARD to read her segment and see the accompanying images.   PROFILE AMERICA: IMMIGRATION RESTRICTION   PRODUCTION CREDITS Lisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer Sunny Morton, Contributing Editor Diahan Southard, Your DNA Guide, Content Contributor Melissa Barker, The Archive Lady, Content Contributor Hannah Fullerton, Production Assistant Lacey Cooke, Service Manager   Disclosure: This document contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting this free podcast and blog!

The Genealogy Gems PodcastEpisode #219 with Lisa Louise Cooke In this episode, Lisa shares the stories of Julianne Mangin, who has explored the tragic and twisted stories of her ancestors, Graziella and Philippe Metthe. These stories caught Lisa’s eye: “The tragic tale with its surprises along the way was tantalizing enough, but the real intrigue for me was from a genealogical point of view – the confusing records and the fascinating news accounts that help shed light on them.” Julianne Mangin is a retired librarian and web developer who took up genealogy in 2012, hoping to make sense of her mother's brief and disconnected family stories. After five years of dogged research, she has written down her family story in the form of a memoir in which she pieces together the family saga and writes about how the experience changed her. She hopes that she can find a publisher for her completed manuscript. She maintains a website at  where she posts articles about her genealogical discoveries and insights. Family Stories…we all have them. Passed around the dinner table, over the phone, and in hushed voices around the corner of a doorway. When we are children they come from the mouths of our elders, which cements them firmly as told. No deviations, because after all, they were told by grownups. And some of those stories aren’t really stories at all. Just fragments really. Juicy pieces of gossip or bottom lines that are meant to explain away the past, and firmly place a period at the end. No more discussion. Julianne Mangin had heard stories like these all of her life, mostly from her mom. The stories of how her grandmother and grandfather married in 1922, and then 2 months later Grandma left Grandpa. And then Grandma’s 10 years committed to a mental institution. Yes, they were fragments really more than complete stories. Julianne’s mother was the family historian and when pressed for details, it was a bit like pulling teeth. Oh, and yes, there was the story about Julianne’s great grandfather abandoning her great grandmother, and then she was committed to a mental institution, and then they pulled out all her teeth! Julianne’s mom was the genealogist of the family and by all appearances had all those census records, birth certificates and other dry documents firmly in hand. (And as for asking for more details on those unusual and mysterious stories, that was a bit like pulling teeth, too.) Julianne’s family history was an entangled web of lies, pain, loss and madness. On her website , she describes it “a Dickensian tale of immigration, poverty, mental illness, family betrayal and ultimately redemption.” In this episode of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, we’re going to unravel the story of how madness in a family nearly buried the truth of the family’s history. And how bringing that truth out into the light brought with it healing and created a passionate, new genealogist. Along the way, you’ll hear some of the strategies that Julianne used find that truth; methods that just may help you to flesh out the true details of one of your family’s stories. Quote-worthy statements from Julianne: “I had been a reluctant genealogist most of my life until I realized genealogy’s power to unlock family secrets and make sense of the stories Mom told me about her family.” “My grandfather left my grandmother and so she became insane, and then some doctor thought it was a good idea to pull out all her teeth. End of story! And that was it.”  “It’s just psychologically better to really know where you’re really from and what really happened before you.” “That takes me to another one of my mother’s cryptic stories which was that she said that as a child her mother grew up in a shed.” Julianne used Sanborn fire insurance maps to find the shed, and visited it personally. Resource: (requires to access)   Lisa Louise Cooke uses and recommends . From within RootsMagic, you can search historical records on FamilySearch.org, Findmypast.com and MyHeritage.com.   Keep your family history research, photos, tree software files, videos and all other computer files safely backed up with Backblaze, the official cloud-based computer backup system for Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems. Learn more at .   The Metthe family cast of characters: BEATRICE METTHE (1901-1966) was Julianne’s grandmother. She had four siblings: Leonard, Dinorah, Joseph, and Pauline. Her parents were: PHILIPPE METTHE (1877-1937) and GRAZIELLA BONNEAU (1878-1910). Both of them were born in Quebec. They married in 1899 in Danielson, Connecticut. Philippe's parents were DAVID METTHE (1851-1912) and ROSALIE LAPOINTE (Abt. 1852-1923). David was born in Quebec (Julianne’s not sure where Rosalie was born or if Lapointe is her real name). They married in Danielson in 1873. David and Rosalie had 11 children. Philippe was the second oldest. Graziella's parents were PIERRE BONNEAU (1853-1911) and AZILDA DAVIGNON (1855-1912). They were born in Quebec and married there in 1876. They immigrated to the U.S. in 1885 when Graziella was seven years old. Pierre and Azilda had 10 children. Graziella was the second oldest. The mysterious 1920 U.S. Federal Census record: Philippe says he is single Marie says she’s the wife of the head of household Family lore was that Philippe went back to Canada, but this entry is in MA Julianne’s approach: Research all the possible areas and “what ifs”. Look in Quebec church records for a marriage (not found) Look in MA vital records for a marriage (not found) Try to find Marie E and Charles D in some other family group in 1910 She searched for Marie E and Charles D and limited their location to CT, and found them with a George Metthe (Philippes brother!): Where is George? “This is why I got hooked on genealogy. There are now digitized sources out there that help you answer questions like that!” She found him in the newspapers Newspaper research resources: by Lisa Louise Cooke tutorials (Premium eLearning membership required) Must-search digitized US historical newspaper collections: (free) (search for free: subscription required to view search results) (search for free: subscription required to view search results)    is the place to make connections with relatives overseas, particularly with those who may still live in your ancestral homeland. : it’s free to get started.   French-Canadian research resources:   Julianne is thankful that: Her mom’s family was from Quebec: their records are so great and detailed. There were a lot of bad actors in her family so they showed up in the newspapers More quotes from Julianne: “My motivation for being a genealogist was to learn more about my mother’s curiously insensitive behavior.  But when I put it all together, one of my reactions was of relief. I was relieved because things made sense. And you know at that point in my life when I started genealogy I was in my mid-fifties and I just wanted a family story that made sense. As sad as it was, things were starting to make sense now.” “Well one of the things that I say repeatedly is that writing this book and writing this story of my family was a way of showing how family history is empowering and also it’s got the potential to heal old wounds by bringing up the truth.” “I would just like to say that I hope that my story helps other people, and I hope they get genealogical ideas from the little victories that I’ve had. I hope also that people who come to my blog   can see how I’ve used family history to change myself, into someone who understands more about where I’m from, and being more empathetic to people who are suffering from things like mental illness, or from trauma. I just hope that what I do helps others, even though part of me just wants to tell my story.” THE GENEALOGY GEMS TEAM TOGETHER ON ONE STAGE FOR TWO DAYS! Who: Lisa Louise Cooke, Diahan Southard and Sunny Morton What: Genealogy Roots Conference at SeniorExpo Where: South Towne Expo Center, 9081 S. State St., Sandy, Utah (just 30 minutes from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City!) When: October 4-5, 2018, 9:00 am – 5:00 pm to learn more!   PRODUCTION CREDITS Lisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer Sunny Morton, Editor Hannah Fullerton, Audio Production Lacey Cooke, Service Manager Disclosure: This document contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting this free podcast and blog!

The Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode #218 with Lisa Louise Cooke In this episode, Lisa answers your questions and shares your comments. Hot topics on your minds that are covered in this episode: discovering new records online, working with other people’s online trees, hard-to-locate military records; and getting lost in Pennsylvania research   NEWS: GOOGLE EARTH STORIES COMING Lisa’s FREE Google Earth video class: , 2nd edition and (you must use the Chrome browser to access) .      NEWS: FAMILYSEARCH REACHES 2 BILLION IMAGES (it’s free! Everyone should use it!)   GEMS NEWS: LISA’S NEW COLUMN IN FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE Purchase the May/June issue in or format Subscribe to Family Tree Magazine: format, format or ! for Father’s Day: Invite your dad to share stories with loved ones every week, and then get them all bound in a beautiful hardcover book at the end of the year. Go to for $20 off when you subscribe. This Father’s Day is actually a gift for you, too!   BONUS CONTENT for Genealogy Gems App Users If you’re listening through the Genealogy Gems app, don’t forget to check out your bonus content for this episode! The and is only $2.99 for .   MAILBOX: SARA’S FRIDAY RECORD POST DISCOVERY to subscribe to the free Genealogy Gems newsletter to receive the weekly Friday records update by email. to view several recent Friday records posts—see what new records have appeared online lately! Tell Lisa Louise Cooke about your “Friday records post” discoveries—or anything else—at or call her voicemail at 925-272-4021.   MAILBOX: ONLINE FAMILY TREE MATCHES   MAILBOX: BACK TO RESEARCH AFTER 10 YEARS! Lisa’s recommendations to a new for getting back into the swing of research: to the free Genealogy Gems newsletter. Watch the Premium video, “” (Premium eLearning membership required) Listen to the Family History: Genealogy Made Easy podcast by Lisa Louise Cooke. It's a great series for learning the research ropes and well as refreshing your skills.  Lisa Louise Cooke uses and recommends . From within RootsMagic, you can search historical records on FamilySearch.org, Findmypast.com and MyHeritage.com. Keep your family history research, photos, tree software files, videos and all other computer files safely backed up with Backblaze, the official cloud-based computer backup system for Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems. Learn more at .   MAILBOX: MILITARY DRAFT REGISTRATIONS to read about finding military draft registrations   INTERVIEW: JIM BEIDLER ON PENNSYLVANIA RESEARCH QUESTION James M. Beidler is the author of Guide and . Learn more Pennsylvania research techniques in his on-demand webinar download, . to read a summary of some of Jim’s tips AND find a collection of links we curated to help you find more Pennsylvania birth records online.  is the place to make connections with relatives overseas, particularly with those who may still live in your ancestral homeland. : it’s free to get started.     PRODUCTION CREDITS Lisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer Sunny Morton, Editor Hannah Fullerton, Audio Editor Lacey Cooke, Service Manager Disclosure: This page contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting this free podcast and blog!  FREE NEWSLETTER: Enter your email & get my Google Research e-bookas a thank you gift! to receive a free weekly e-mail newsletter, with tips, inspiration and money-saving deals.