Good morning all. We are in the middle of a severe cold system here in Florida. It is getting down into the 20s and 30s at night and only in the 50s during the day. It's time to hunker down in the house and avoid going outside. I know you northerners think that is funny but we are cold! Since I won't be going out today, I figured I would try to get caught up on my blog a little.
Business has been good. OurAncestories Genealogy has picked up a couple new clients already this year and I have been preparing my presentations for RootsTech. As I mentioned previously, I will be presenting three talks during the conference. The schedule has been released and you can start looking over the classes you would like to attend either virtually or in person.
RootsTech
There will be about 500 classes in 14 languages offered during RootsTech. About half of those will be held in person in Salt Lake City and the rest will be available online for virtual attendees. Over seventy of the classes will be live streamed from the ballrooms and main stage. Additionally, there will be 4 to 5 live online webinars each class session. This means that online attendees can choose from 9 to 10 classes each class session from 8:00am-5:30pm Mountain Time. There will be 351 speakers covering a wide variety of topics suitable for all levels of genealogy enthusiasts. In person attendees will be able to choose from up to 19 presentations each class session. That is a lot of genealogy going on. But there is more. There will be over 100 exhibitors and many will have sponsored talks in the Expo Hall where you can sit in a small group and hear from the companies themselves. Imaging sitting with a group of 20 to 30 people listening to Crista Cowan talk about Ancestry or Daniel Horowitz talk about MyHeritage and being able to ask them questions directly or walking up and talking to the company representatives one-on-one.
The emcee for the Main Stage will be Kirby Heyborne again. He has done a great job in the past. Additionally, there will be 11 global emcees presenting in a variety of languages including French, Spanish, and Japanese. In person keynote speakers will include Marlee Martin, Steve Young, and Tara Roberts. Virtual keynote speakers include astronaut Jose Hernandez, the Gardiner Brothers, Jessica Soho, and Brazilian footballer Zico.
Registration is currently $129 for all three days and the virtual registration is free. So register now if you haven't already done so. I hope to see you at RootsTech on March 5-7. Come up and say hi if you see me there.
Since we are a month into 2026, in addition to the update on RootsTech, I figured I would provide some statistics on how much the genealogy world has changed during 2025.
FamilySearch
During 2025 FamilySearch added 1.9 billion searchable names from historical records. Users connected 171 million new people and 466 million sources to the collaborative tree. Personally, I was able to add 1,350 people and 5,180 sources to the tree last year. This was actually one of my lowest years for contributions on FamilySearch. In addition to these great additions, the FamilySearch labs has released several products, not the least of which is the Full Text Search which uses AI to "read" documents and make them searchable much quicker than
MyHeritage
MyHeritage introduced a treasure trove of new resources in 2025. They added 6.6 billion historical records which means they now have over 38 billion records for you to search. OldNews, their newspaper archive, now has over 400 million searchable newspaper pages from 25 countries. For DNA users, they increased the number of ethnicities from 42 to 79, added 40 DNA trait reports, and added full genome testing. MyHeritage now has over 9.6 million kits in their DNA database. LiveMemory was introduced at RootsTech. This product can produce short videos from you photographs. They also added audio recording and transcription to MyStories which helps people create stories of their lives based on weekly email prompts. you can read more about these and other MyHeritage updates on their blog.
These are just a few of the updates that we saw during 2025. Speakers at RootsTech will discuss some of these updates as well as give you a sneak peek at what we can expect to see during 2026. Keep up with the news and join me for the largest genealogy conference in the world on March 5-7. See you there.
I know it has been a while since I last posted here. I have only done three posts since we moved in June of last year. During that time we have been working on settling in, building our social network in the new area, starting a genealogy club for our community, doing research for clients, and preparing for RootsTech. This year I am doing three in-person talks at RootsTech. Unlike last year, these talks will not be available online.
Thursday, March 5 at 3:00pm MST in Room 255 BC - Discovering German Church Records
Friday, March 6 at 1:30pm MST in Room 150 - Location, Location, Location - Tracking family history through land records
Saturday, March 7 at 8:00am in Room 255 BC - Solving Family Mysteries with the FAN Method and Census Clues
I am also now a regular panel member for Dear Myrtle's Mondays with Myrt. Archived sessions can be viewed on Dear Myrtle's YouTube page. New episodes will be livestreamed on Mondays at 12:00pm Eastern.
Now, let's get to the topic of this blog post. NotebookLM is a fairly new AI website. It is part of the Google suite of products and does some unique things compared to the other AI engines. I am just now starting to explore the possibilities of how NotebookLM can be used to enhance my family history research. So, let me provide an example of how I used it today.
Back in May 2016, I wrote a biography about Leo Kohnen on my other blog site OurAncestories. This page contains biographies about ancestors I have researched. Like this blog, it isn't updated as often as it should be, but it contains some interesting stories. One of those articles is about Leo Herman Kohnen, a mystery family member. The blog post explains how I eventually discovered how he was connected to my Westerheide family through various marriages and complicated research. This story will be presented at RootsTech during my Saturday session, so if you are at RootsTech stop by and listen in for the story of how FAN research and incorrect census information led to the eventual discovery of this connection. If you won't be at RootsTech you can read the original blog post to fast forward to the ending. But if you are interested in how AI can help tell the story, just stick around till the end here and you will see what NotebookLM has to say about the subject.
How does NotebookLM work?
NotebookLM is pretty simple to use. I uploaded the text from my blog post about Leo Kohnen and NotebookLM read the information and produced a fairly short summary of the information:
"The provided text chronicles a genealogical investigation into the identity of Leo Herman Kohnen and his complex family connections. By utilizing the FAN research method and scrutinizing various census records, the author corrects historical errors regarding a "mystery person" originally misidentified as George Homan. The narrative reveals that Leo was the grandson of Elisabeth Holthaus, who married Frank Westerheide after the death of her first husband. This research clarifies that the Westerheide family tree was complicated by several marriages and frequent surname misspellings in official documents. Ultimately, the source maps out the "lost link" between the Kohnen, Langenkamp, and Westerheide lineages through a detailed analysis of 19th-century records."
After the summary, NotebookLM provided a couple prompts to build upon. In this case, the prompts were:
How did inaccurate census indexing complicate the research of Frank Westerheide's family history?
How was the identity of Leo Kohnen linked to his biological parents?
In what ways did remarriages create complex connections between the Kohnen and Westerheide families?
NotebookLM has a set of tools in its Studio which help bring stories to life. These tools are easy to use, just click on the tool and wait for it to produce the output. Some take longer than others, especially the Audio and Video tools.
Studio tools in NotebookLM.
Mind Map
One of the tools is Mind Map. Mind mapping provides a flowchart of the connections from the document that was provided. The tool was able to define family relationships, research methods, and identify the mystery in this research problem.
NotebookLM Mind Map
Each of the bubbles can be expanded by clicking on the arrows or can be further explored by clicking on the bubble itself. One example of how the Mind Map is further explained comes from the Key Records bubble. Clicking on that bubble produced the following text:
"In the provided sources, marriage records serve as a critical tool for bridging gaps and verifying relationships that are often obscured by errors or omissions in other documents. While census records and obituaries provide the initial clues, marriage records are specifically utilized to reveal parental lineages and confirm family connections that might otherwise remain "mystery" links.
Within the larger context of key genealogical records, marriage records function in the following ways:
Identifying Parental Links: When an obituary for Leo Kohnen failed to include his parents' names, the researcher turned to the marriage record of his sister, Mary Frances Kohnen. This specific record listed her parents as Ben Kohnen and Elizabeth Langenkamp, allowing the researcher to definitively link Leo to his biological parents.
Navigating Re-marriages and Blended Families: Census records often provide ambiguous data regarding how long a couple has been married or how many children a woman has had. For instance, the 1910 census for Frank and Elisabeth Westerheide used the code "M2," indicating they had both been married twice. To understand the family's "convoluted connections," the researcher sought out the marriage record for Elisabeth’s first marriage to John Heinrich Langenkamp in 1853. This record was the "lost link" needed to connect the Langenkamp and Westerheide branches of the family.
Supplementing Other Vital Records: Marriage records are often used in tandem with death certificates and cemetery records. For example, a death certificate provided the maiden name "Holthouse" for Elisabeth Westerheide, which then directed the search for a marriage record under that name to confirm her previous spouse.
Verifying Census Data: While census records are helpful, they are prone to indexing errors and misspellings, such as "Sisterhiden" or "Wisterhier". Marriage records provide a more stable secondary source to verify the identities of individuals who appear as "step-sons" or "grandsons" in census listings, such as the confusion surrounding whether Leo Kohnen was a grandson or a step-son.
Ultimately, the sources illustrate that while census records offer a "snapshot" of a household, marriage records are essential for establishing the legal and biological framework of a family across multiple generations."
This is a very detailed description of how the various records were used to explore the problem and come to a final solution.
Infographics
Infographics are a powerful tool used to illustrate complex ideas.
NotebookLM Infographic
This infographic, while esthetically pleasing and full of details, does have a couple errors that need to be highlighted. First, in the upper right corner it states that Frank marries Elizabeth 2 (1978). This is about 100 years too late. It should be 1878. Second, in the lower right corner the "tree" has Frank Westerheide marrying Margaret Langenkamp and being the father of Leo Kohnen. Frank should be married to Elisabeth Holthouse. But generally, this infographic does a good job at telling the story in a visual way.
Audio Overview
The audio overview was fantastic. It produces a podcast quality story told by two narrators in a compelling way which draws you in and makes you want to listen to the end. The podcast is about 15 minutes long and it keeps your attention throughout the entire story. You can click on this link to listen to the audio overview.
Video Overview
NotebookLM can also produce videos from your stories. The videos are narrated by AI voices and images are AI produced. The video it created from my story was a little over 7 minutes long and was very interesting. You can see it below. If this doesn't work, you can click on this link to view it on my YouTube channel.
Slide Deck
The slide deck was very impressive. I really liked the combination of images and text that it produced but it also has some small problems with spelling so you need to beware and not just use the slides as is. They may need some editing. I think I will use the slides as ideas for layout and design for future presentations.
NotebookLM Slide
Overall, I was very impressed by the capabilities of NotebookLM to provide engaging graphics and stories. These will be great ways to record your family history for future generations.
It is finally Fall here in Florida. The rainy season seems to have stopped and the temperatures have dropped into the low 70s in the morning and mid 80s in the afternoon. That means it is time to spend more time outside. Hopefully I will have opportunities to start scoping out the local cemeteries in my new hometown. However, I understand that some of our northern friends may be getting a bit colder and you might want to snuggle up by the fireplace to a good webinar. Legacy Family Tree Webinars has just announced that they will be providing a series of live genealogy webinars in French and Spanish with many of them being free!
The first three live French sessions (all free to attend) are:
Búsquedas eficaces en FamilySearch with Debbie Gurtler AG, employed by FamilySearch at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, on Tue, Nov 25, 2025 at 1 P.M. GMT / 9 A.M. EST
¿Como se deletrea tu Apellido? with Sonia Meza, Graduate in Genealogy, Heraldry and Nobility, on Tue, Dec 9, 2025 at 1 P.M. GMT / 9 A.M. EST
In addition to these live webinars, there will be more than 30 Spanish presentations on demand!
Good morning! It is the beginning of October and Fall is in the air. I was out walking this morning and it was only 72 degrees. This is probably the best time of the year in Florida. October is also Family History Month. Take some time this month to discover your ancestors, pass along stories, and preserve your memories for the future.
So, what is happening now in the genealogy world? Well, MyHeritage is celebrating German Unity Day with free access to their German record collection between October 2 and 6. MyHeritage hosts more than 280 million records across 77 German collections, including vital, church, and emigration records. MyHeritage recently updated their German newspaper collection and now have over 20 million records in that collection alone. This is a great opportunity for those of us who are of German descent to do research. I will definitely be investigating this over the next couple days.
Next up, RootsTech has opened registration for the 2026 conference which will be in Salt Lake City, Utah on March 5-7. Early bird registration is $99 for a 3-day in-person pass. Virtual attendance is free but still requires registration. What can you expect from RootsTech? There are hundreds of online and in-person classes addressing topics from beginning genealogy to advanced research. The Expo Hall will have interactive displays showcasing the latest innovations in genealogy from over one hundred vendors. The Main Stage will have celebrity guests, performances, and inspiring content. The virtual conference will have over 200 online sessions in 26 languages. This is always a great conference to attend whether it is in-person or virtually. Stay tuned for further updates as we approach the conference. I will be at RootsTech doing three presentations, participating as a media representative, and working in at least one Expo Hall booth. Come find me if you are there.
Another great piece of news is that Elephind is back online. Elephind is a newspaper search engine and was my go to place for newspaper research up until they stopped operations in 2023. But now they have returned better than ever. Their search engine currently accesses over 23 million newspaper pages and that number is growing daily (yesterday it was 19 million pages). They plan to add over 150 million pages more pages to their collection. This site is free but there are paid subscriptions for those who want to support their growth.
That is a lot happening so far this month. I'll try to be better at posting to my blogs now that I am officially retired. I hope you are able to celebrate Family History Month and take some time to be with family as we approach the holidays.
Good afternoon! It has been a while since my last post and a lot has happened during that time. I retired after over 32 years of working for the government, we had a new house built, sold our old home, and moved to the Orlando area. We are now trying to get settled in our new environment and finding out what is here for us to get involved with. I am trying to get settled back into a regular routine and hope to be able to find more time to blog in the near future.
Genealogical Society of South Brevard - September 10 - Finding Your Family in the Second Hand Store
Lake Mary Family History Fair - September 13 - Unlocking the Past: How AI Transforms Genealogy
Martin County Genealogy Fair - October 18 - Unlocking the Past: How AI Transforms Genealogy and Advanced AI Applications for Genealogy Research
And then there is the preparation for RootsTech which will be March 5-7, 2026 in Salt Lake City. I am part of the Media Team again this year and we just had our first coordination meeting earlier this week. There are a lot of things planned for the 2026 conference which I will write about once we have permission to release the information. But I can say that registration will open around September 24. If you are planning on attending RootsTech you need to know that the Plaza Hotel is being demolished beginning November 1. This is a favorite place to stay for some people because it is located on the corner between the Salt Palace and the Family History Library.
Now on to our topic of the day. I have been doing a couple client research projects in the Ontario, Canada region. This is the first time I have researched the region and I have found several websites to be very helpful. Of course I used Ancestry, FamilySearch, FindMyPast, and other well known genealogical websites, but there are more sites beyond those that should be tried.
FamilySearch Wiki - This is always my go to site when I start researching a new area or want to see what resources are available for and area. The Canada Genealogy and Ontario, Canada Genealogy pages provide lists of resources, maps, and links to many helpful resources. If you are new to Canadian research you should try the Getting Started button. If you are experienced in Canadian research, the Online Genealogy Records button provides links to many online resources.
Library and Archives Canada - As with many archives, this site has a collection of online digital content as well as physical records which are not available online. I found several record sets helpful in the project that I was working on. Record sets such as Land Petitions of Upper Canada, 1763-1865 were not available in digital format while the War of 1812 records provide digital copies of the microfilmed records. The Archives also has a searchable database of the Canadian census from 1825 to 1931. The census collection is a great tool but I have found a couple downsides while using it. First, it seems to only search for the spelling of the name as you entered it. It does not search for alternative spellings no matter how close they are. For example, I got 7,717 results when searching for Sloan and 1,211 results when searching for Sloane. Another problem is that not every part of the census is digitized. For example, the images of the 1851 census are only of the front page, leaving the information from the back page missing. The back page of this census provides important clues such as whether the person was a member of the family, was the person missing at the time of the census, were they married, single, widowed, etc. Also, not every census is fully digitized. I found myself going to Ancestry to find the missing pages.
Trent University Archives - University archives often have valuable information, some of which may be in digital format. I was able to find a substantial amount of genealogical information including photograph collections, correspondence, legal papers, bills and receipts, newspaper clippings, and scrapbooks concerning the families I was researching. However, not all of it was available in digital format.
The Canadian County Atlas Digital Project - This page is managed by McGill University's Rare Books and Special Collections Division. They recognize how important historical maps are to genealogical research and have completed a searchable database of property owners names for each township in forty-three county atlases. Many of the maps have been digitized and can be found on their site.
The United Church of Canada Archives - This archive has nearly 2,700 record sets pertaining to The United Church of Canada including Methodist, Evangelical, United Brethren, Congregational Union, and much of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. I was most interested in their collection of the Christian Guardian which was a weekly paper covering the period of 1829-1925. Parts of this collection are searchable but it is important to review the pages of interest to find missed information.
Ontario Land Registry (ONLAND) - This site provides information on land transfers in the various counties in Ontario. The site has a few quirks that you have to understand in order to use it effectively. First, you need to know the county for your land registry office before you begin searching. Second, the database has operating hours and cannot be used outside those hours. For example, on Saturdays it is only available between 9am and 6pm Eastern. You are not able to research in their databases outside the posted hours.
Ontario Ancestors - Ontario Ancestors is managed by The Ontario Genealogical Society and has a variety of resources. One of the pages I used on their site is The Ontario Name Index (TONI). TONI provides information such as location, record type, and repository for names that the OGS has indexed. They also have a listing of nearly 6,400 cemeteries with locations, whether they have been transcribed, and the condition of each.
I have been able to find some interesting information for our current client on these pages. Researching Ontario ancestors may not be the most common area of research but they do have some important resources which you can access for free if you need to.
I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend and gets some research done over the 3-day holiday. I'll chat with you all soon (I hope).
Welcome to RootsTech! I know I haven't been as good at keeping everyone up to date about RootsTech events this year, but I will try to do better as we go through this week. First of all, just a little catching up on what has been going on with me. My wife and I are in the process of building a new house and selling our house, and I have been dealing with the fallout of being a federal employee. My last day of work was February 28, so I guess I can now say that I am "retired" and this trip out to RootsTech is my first activity since I left my job of 31 years.
We arrived in Salt Lake City yesterday and worked on settling in. Today we will be doing some prep work including setting up the booths for The Family History Guide and the International Institute of Genealogical Studies. After that I will be doing a tech check for my presentation in the Expo Hall.
RootsTech Expo Hall Webinar Studio. Photo by Rhett Dabling (FamilySearch).
My presentations will be live in the Expo Hall and online and on demand about an hour later.
Make sure that you have looked at both the online schedule as well as the app since there are some online talks, such as those in the Expo Hall Webinar Studios, that are not listed on the app.
Tonight I will be attending the Speakers and Media dinner to learn more about what will be happening over the next couple days.
Now for some tips on making the most of your RootsTech experience:
Visit the FamilySearch Library to do some research. The library has extended hours during RootsTech week and will be open from 9:00am-8:00pm through Saturday. There will be a free shuttle between the Salt Palace and the library so you won't have to walk. Just look for the golf cart and hitch a ride. There will also be activities at the library where you can digitize your photos, print family charts, participate in Discovery Experiences, and solve a mystery with the Heritage Hunt. Additionally, you can pick up your RootsTech passes there and avoid the lines at the Salt Palace.
Explore the Expo Hall. The Expo Hall hosts a variety of genealogy related businesses both in person and virtually. Many of the businesses have discounts and other items that are only available during RootsTech. Additionally, there are many classes being held at the various booths where you can hear directly from the companies about their products and interact with them in a way that isn't possible in the larger RootsTech class rooms.
Visit the Heritage Theater in the Expo Hall. The Heritage Theater will host a variety of performances from around the world each day beginning at 9:00am. See performances by the Rocky Mountain Cloggers, Utah Korean Society Performers, Los Hermanos de Andes, Swiss Chorus Edelweiss, Halau Ku Pono I Kamalani, and many more.
Participate in Relatives At RootsTech. This is a great opportunity to discover your relatives attending RootsTech, either in person or virtually. I always have a very small number of relatives on this compared to others. This year I have over 250 Relatives at RootsTech while my wife has over 27,000! This is a fun way to see where you have relatives around the world and maybe begin to chat with them about family history.
Attend the Main Stage Forums. The Main Stage hosts one forum each day at 9:30am Mountain Time and these will be live and broadcast virtually. They include the FamilySearch Global Tech Forum on Thursday, RootsTech Innovation and Tech Forum on Friday, and The Impact Forum on Saturday. If you miss the live session you will be able to watch the recordings on demand.
Attend Family Discovery Day on Saturday. This is a free event designed for families with many activities for youth. Church leaders will present and there will be a performance by The Piano Guys. This program will featuring cultural performances, art exhibits, storytelling, live music, and family history activities. Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will speak at 1:30pm about the power of discovery and the blessings of temple and family history work.
There is so much to do in the limited time of RootsTech. I recommend you select the classes you want to attend, remember that the online ones will be available to view later, visit the Expo Hall, and participate in some of the entertainment while you are here. Tickets are still on sale for only $99 for the full in person conference and free for the virtual conference. So join us this week and say "hi" if you see me.
It's 2025! 2024 was an incredible year for genealogy with billions of new records being added and new technology being introduced. Let's take a look at some of the important events of 2024 and some of the things you can do in 2025.
First, let's look at a few opportunities to win some things in the new year.
CivilWarRecords.com is giving away some prizes including a complete set of Civil War records from the National Archives (pension file, compiled military service records, and any carded medical records) as well as a free Civil War pension file from the National Archives, digitized and delivered to you. You can enter the drawing here.
RootsTech 2025 media representatives are giving away tickets to RootsTech. You can enter these giveaways by visiting my blog post and clicking on each contest.
Here are some of the highlights from some of the major genealogy companies:
FamilySearch
FamilySearch celebrated their 130th year as an organization and their 25th year of the website. I remember being a beta tester in the original FamilySearch website as well as the "new" FamilySearch website and being interviewed by the developers to see what was working and what needed to be improved. Over the years I have participated on several FamilySearch focus groups to help test and improve the website.
During 2024, there were over 285 million visits to the FamilySearch website. There are now records from more than 170 countries and principalities and more than 2.5 billion new searchable records and images were added in 2024. They now have more than 20.5 billion records available online. The African Oral Genealogies continues to grow as more of the collection are added and indexed.
More than 150 million individuals and 530 million sources were added to the Family Tree in 2024. That means there are now over 1.67 billion people in the tree with over 3.4 billion sources.
More than 45,000 new books were added to the book collection which means you now have access to over 630,000 digital books from various libraries and collections.
324 new FamilySearch Centers were opened in 2024, bringing the total number to over 6,500 locations worldwide. Some of these new centers are affiliate libraries within your communities.
Several new user features were added in 2024. The Merge Analysis tool provides an enhanced ability to review and correct merges. The 3-Star Record Hints introduced a broader range of record hints for experienced researchers. The Portrait Pedigree View update made it easier to navigate and add individuals to the tree.
FamilySearch Labs added several projects including Family Group Trees, AI Search, and others. The new Full Text Search powered by AI indexing has been especially helpful. The Full Text Search provides enhanced access to a variety of new records including court, probate, land, and newspapers collections, all of which were indexed by AI. I also especially like the Data Quality Score project which provides guidance on the quality of the profile, sources, and where additional work needs to be done.
RootsTech 2024 had more than 4 million participants attending online and in person from 232 countries and territories and more than 500,000 people participated in the Relatives at RootsTech app.
Indexing has also increased with the introduction of FamilySearch's Get Involved app. The app helps people do indexing quickly and easily anywhere.
In addition to celebrating their 20th birthday in 2024, MyHeritage had some significant new developments. One of those was the release of OldNews.com. This newspaper collection has over 317 million pages with 11.9 billion individual searchable records. They also released the LiveMemory app which uses AI to animate photographs to create 5-second video clips.
MyHeritage had some cosmetic improvements with their profile pages as well as Theory of Family Relativity updates.
MyHeritage also partnered with FamilyTreeDNA and acquired MesAieux.com to provide users access to more resources in their research.
For a limited time, MyHeritage has their DNA kits on sale for $36 with free shipping when you buy 2 or more kits. Their DNA database now has over 8.9 million kits with a large number of those being European. You can order their kits at https://www.myheritage.com/dna.
In addition to an increased number of records, Ancestry had some major DNA updates during 2024. They increased the number and accuracy of their Ancestral Subregions, providing users with more precise locations based on their DNA. They also provided a more detailed parentage analysis to show which DNA came from each parent. Additionally, Pro Tools were introduced as an additional subscription. Pro Tools has enhanced tools such as enhanced DNA Shared Matches, Consistency Checker, Check Facts, and additional charts and reports. All of these tools increase your ability to improve your research.
What is coming in 2025? I am sure there will be some major news at RootsTech.
I hope you have a great 2025 and are able to break through some of your brick walls with all of the new research tools that have been released.
