FHF

Every year, you take photos by the thousands and rarely do anything more than storing them on the computer. For decades, scrapbooking has been the solution to the picture accumulation problem, but it has also been a curse. Scrapbooking is too crafty or too time-consuming. It doesn’t have to be that way. During the Power Scrapbooking Boot Camp, you can turn your memories into printed treasures. During 3 hours of recorded webinars, Devon Noel Lee shares how you can create beautiful photo books that capture your memories and preserves your family history.  The Power Scrapbooking Boot Camp is perfect for those who have tried scrapbooking and lost their fire. Also ideal for beginning scrapbookers who know how to drag and drop using any computer service! Topic I:   I Feel the Need for Speed: Power Scrapbooking Principles Before you learned to type, you needed to learn your alphabet and how to make words. In Power Scrapbooking, you have to prepare to assemble your pages b...

RootsMagic is a desktop software program that helps you organize your family tree. I have used the program since the announcement that Personal Ancestral File would no longer be supported by product developers. RootsMagic has been a useful tool for my genealogical research, and I have five reasons why: Keep Track of Living I do not like putting the information of living relatives online. I do not want to be responsible for anything happening to my relations because of what I share. I know that is not something millennials care about so much. Moreover, there are plenty of individuals who will add my children and me to their family trees. Thankfully they will keep their trees private because they have curate information about living relatives. However, I still won't do that. RootsMagic is where I will put information about living family members. Timeline Rock! When I write my family histories, I add the distinctive flavoring of putting a family in context. What else was happening in...

A family legend and an interment record point to the origin of my Townley ancestor who settled in Cincinnati in the early 1800s. When I was a young genealogist, I would accept the family legend and the name on the burial card as substantial evidence that the information people write their family trees are accurate. In so doing, I would fall victim to some rookie mistakes.  But no more, let's talk about the rookie mistakes and how avoiding them helps me tackle a mystery on my Townley family. 1. Believing all Family Legends are Accurate Family legends are fun stories, and some of them are factual. However, many of them have alterations that introduce errors or complete falsehoods. We also do not know how family stories start or understand the purpose of misleading legends. In my Geiszler line, a handwritten paragraph details the demise of my German immigrant ancestor. Upon closer scrutiny, many of the specifics are inaccurate or not plausible. Why would my relatives pass along a fals...

Following the success of Andy's DNA After the Test eWorkshop, we're pleased to release five on-demand lectures from Family History Fanatics. Follow the links (that are the webinar titles) to the Vimeo store. 1.   Blogging Your Family History Blogs are a great way to share your family legends and discoveries with your extended family. You might even make some new cousin connections in the process! We’ll discuss the steps to set up a blog, what to write about, and pitfalls to avoid.  Regular Price: $9.99 2.   Heritage Scrapbooking Simplified Scrapbooks can be a visually appealing way to share your family legacy with children and those who ‘aren’t interested’ in family history. We’ll discuss what goes into a heritage scrapbook and two sources that can help you complete your project. This workshop is based on the book Family History Scrapbooking Simplified . The workshop is influenced heavily by digital scrapbooking, but paper scrapbooking will also be mentioned. Re...

Did you ancestor have a legal name change, was tried for misdemeanors, work as an indenture, break the Sabbath or marry outside of a church? If so, you should be investigating Justice of the Peace records. Wait. What? Yes. Justice of the Peace records handle many small transactions in the lives of our ancestors, but few people know how to access this information. Thankfully, Michael L Strauss of the Genealogy Research Network is available to help us discover the many records the JPs kept and how we can access the files. Your ancestor's case might be ready to crack open with a review of this record set. Micahel says that Justice of the Peace records, " are long overlooked by genealogists. These records are a wonderful source of genealogical information that will prove to be a treasure of information for any researcher." His webinar is part of the  Lake Havasu Genealogical Society spring eConference " Moments of their Lives ." The   Moments of Their Lives   eConfe...

In 2016, I attended RootsTech and found that finding my favorite genealogists in the massive Salt Palace Conference center was so difficult. The genealogy rock stars were teaching, networking, dashing in different directions, and I had trouble finding one particular blogging icon. Having had this experience, I wanted to make it possible to lock down an hour with some of my favorite genealogy folks for you if you'll stop by my booth #1952 at RootsTech! To kick off the Meet & Greet, each genealogy rock star will have a 10-minute interview for the Family History Fanatics YouTube channel. Once that's over, you get to take over meeting Thomas MacEntee   Elizabeth O'Neal   Randy Seaver Amy Johnson Crow Lisa Alzo Michael L Strauss Jill Ball Family Locket - Nicole Dyer and Diane Elder If you have a topic you'd like me to ask of any of these folks, let me know in the comments section below. Otherwise, Andy, Caleb, and I will ask about topics we know these folks enjoy sharin...

Reader Question : I have a family story that I want to include following the A Recipe for Writing Family History method. However, the story involves a person of questionable character. My relative received medical assistance from a General in General during World War II. Without that support, the relative would have died. Years later, the general was captured and executed for war crimes. How do I share the human side of a war criminal without offending people and making it sound like anything other than history? Answer : Write the story as it happened. Your job is not to pass judgment on everyone in your writing. Your task is to present the facts you discover in as objective a fashion as possible. Then let your reader decide for themselves. Many of criminals in history did positive things. I remember visiting the Saratoga Battlefield in upstate New York. There is a monument of Benedict Arnold. Actually, it does not mention his name and is only of his boot to honor his heroic deeds du...