Is It True? How Published Genealogies Can Lead You Astray

Hello everyone, it has been a couple months since my last post and I have been very busy. Our client projects have taken off for our company, OurAncestories Genealogy and I have been actively involved with The Family History Guide and the Association of Professional Genealogists Southeast Chapter.

Last night I was preparing for a NGSQ Study Group where we are discussing a recent article by Thomas W. Jones titled "History of a Genealogical Error: The Misattributed Parentage of Atlanta Pioneers, Meredith and Merrell Collier." (1) This article focused on how a published genealogy has mislead genealogists for nearly 140 years. In 1887, George Brown Goode published his original work in a volume titled Virginia Cousins which included 6 pages on the Collier family. (2) This book tentatively identified the parents of Meredith and Merrell Collier as Joseph Collier of South Carolina. In 1911, Stella Picket Hardy published Colonial Families of the Southern States of America. (3) Hardy's book used information from Goode's book but stated more definitively that Joseph was the father of Meredith and Merrell. Now we have two sources that support this conclusion (not really since one relied on the other for the information). Hundreds of online trees and applications to DAR, SAR, and other lineage societies have used these sources to confirm their lineage, spreading the disinformation far and wide. I suggest that you read Thomas Jones' article to see how he unraveled this family and found a more likely lineage for the two men.

Now, I want to focus on how this relates to my client research. Our clients have signed contracts giving us permission to use parts of the research in educational materials including blog posts and presentations.

One of our recent projects had a research goal to find the parents of Elisabeth Franklin, married to Jacob Tomlin, Revolutionary War patriot. The Tomlin Genealogy is laid out in a book written by Charles Tomlin in 1932. (4) Page 6 of this book states that Jacob Tomlin, son of Matthew Tomlin, Jr., married Elisabeth Franklin and had two sons, James and Jacob. It also states that "Jacob is the Revolutionary patriot who is buried at Somerset, N. J., who when honorably discharged attempted to walk home after the surrender of Cornwallis. Information of him and his is desired. He was a private in the Gloucester Co. Militia and N. J. State Troops." This all seems like important information when doing genealogy research.

On page 26 it repeats an entry for Jacob Tomlin, son of Matthew Tomlin, Jr. This entry states he had two sons, James and Jacob, and that he was "A soldier in the Revolutionary War. After the surrender of Cornwallis, Jacob, receiving an honorable discharge, proceeded to walk home, but weakened from service and exposure he died on the way and was buried by his companions in the forest at Somerset, N. J. We think his wife was Elizabeth Ware."

We have two entries for the same person, only 20 pages apart, with contradictory information. One states his wife was Elizabeth Franklin, the other says Elizabeth Ware. We also have slightly differing accounts of his death. Both agree that it was after Cornwallis' surrender which occurred on 19 October 1781 and both agree that his sons were James and Jacob. Several online trees have taken this to mean that he died about 1781-1782. We need to read these entries carefully and notice several red flags. Note that one says "Information of him and his is desired" and the other states "We think his wife was Elizabeth Ware." How definitive are these statements. Similar to the statements that Thomas Jones noted in Goode's book, these statements leave room for doubt. However, many online trees have repeated this information over and over until it has become accepted truth.

A third entry occurs on page 21 of the Tomlin Genealogy. This page states that Elizabeth Franklin was the daughter of Jeremiah Franklin and _______ Zane. According to this entry, Elizabeth married Francis Tomlin and had three children; James, Jacob, and Drucilla. She then married John West and had a child James West. Then she married James Colatly. There are some significant differences in this entry for Elizabeth Franklin which raise serious concerns but it hasn't stopped people from adding this information to their online trees and combining it with Elisabeth Franklin, the wife of Jacob Tomlin.

1. Is this the same Elizabeth Franklin that was previously listed as the wife of Jacob Tomlin? 
2. What evidence is there that Jeremiah Franklin is her father?
3. Who specifically are the other husbands?

A reasonably exhaustive look at the records leads me to the conclusion that this set of entries has significant errors that need to be addressed. I will try to lay out the evidence below in a manner that hopefully explains the problems and provides solutions.

1. Who did Jacob Tomlin marry? The following records confirm that Jacob Tomlin married Elizabeth Franklin.
1. We found a marriage record from Trinity Episcopal Church dated 7 February 1771 for the marriage of Jacob Tomlin and Elizabeth Franklin of Gloucester County. (5)
2. In 1795, Elizabeth filed for her widows pension. Her application includes an affidavit signed by Jeremiah Franklin and his wife Martha Franklin which states "they saw Elizabeth Franklin married to Jacob Tomlin by the Rev. John Wicksell." (6)
2. When did Jacob Tomlin die?
1. Elizabeth's widows pension application include several affidavits to Jacob Tomlin's death. These state that he died on 4 March 1777. (6)
2. An abstract of the Will for Matthew Tomlin [Sr.], of Greenwich, Gloucester Co., New Jersey, dated 8 June 1782, identifies his great-grandson, James Tomlin, as the son of his grandson Jacob Tomlin. It also states "If great-grandson, James, dies under 21, then I give his land to his brother, Jacob." (7) This information is consistent with the family described in the Tomlin Genealogy - father Jacob, sons James and Jacob. Note that Jacob Tomlin, the grandson, didn't receive an inheritance in this Will. That is likely because he is deceased.

We now have direct evidence for the marriage of Jacob Tomlin, the death of Jacob Tomlin, and the names of his two sons.

Let's now turn our focus to Elisabeth's second husband, Jacob Collatter. There are two documents which identify Jacob Collatter or Collatta as the second husband of Elisabeth.

1. Elisabeth's widows pension application states several times that Elisabeth Franklin is the wife of Jacob Collatter and that they were married on 9 May 1780. One affidavit spells it out precisely "I do hereby certify that Jacob Collata and Elisabeth Tomlin late widow of Jacob Tomlin both of the County of Gloucester and State of New Jersey were on the Ninth day of May One thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty were lawfully married by me the Subscriber..." (6)
2. Jacob Collatter's pension application also identifies his wife as Elisabeth Franklin. It also provides us with her approximate birth and death dates. In a statement dated 10 July 1820, he states "My family consists of a wife Elisabeth aged 72...". Another document in the application, dated 19 March 1828, states "my wife has been dead about seven years..." (8)

These documents clearly identify Elisabeth Franklin as the widow of Jacob Tomlin and wife of Jacob Collatter.

We can now focus on Elisabeth's parents. Were they Jeremiah Franklin and _______ Zane?

1. Jeremiah Franklin and his wife Martha Franklin signed an affidavit stating they witnessed the marriage between Elisabeth Franklin and Jacob Tomlin. This affidavit is in Elisabeth's widows pension application. (6) 
2. A memorandum signed by Samuel F. Brink, Lt. Colonel, AF, NJANG, Adjutant General on 17 October 1957, provides background on the service record for Jacob Tomlin. In this memorandum, he states "Widow's petition shows affidavit by Jeremiah Franklin and his wife, Martha. While no relationship is indicated, it is presumed that they were her parents." (9)

It appears that this affidavit may be the source for some of the confusion about Elisabeth's parents but it doesn't completely explain why Jeremiah was thought to be her father. We still need to find out who Jeremiah's wife is with the last name Zane.

Further research leads to a different father for Elisabeth.

1. There is a Will for John Frankling (sic) dated 20 July 1774. This Will names family members including Mary Frankling (wife), John West (grandson), Elizabeth Tomlin (daughter), Ann Frankling (daughter), Joseph Frankling, James Frankling, Jeremiah Frankling, and John Frankling (sons). (10)
1. The mention of Elizabeth Tomlin as a daughter of John Frankling is an important piece of the puzzle. The timeline of 1774 fits neatly between the marriage date of 1771 and death date of 1777 for Jacob Tomlin.
2. Additionally, there is a grandson, John West, mentioned.
3. There are also some additional bits of information that will help us later. These are that John Franklin owned a gristmill and a sawmill and that his neighbor, Jacob Spicer is the Executor of his Will.
4. Another important piece of information is the value of Elizabeth's inheritance. She was provided ten pounds.
2. A Court Summons was issued to Jacob Spicer, the Executor for John Frankling's Will on 30 May 1776. The summons commanded Jacob Spicer to appear before the Court of Common Pleas to address a complaint filed by Jacob Tomlin “in case of a Debt to answer Jacob Tomlin For a Legacy Left Elizabeth Tomlin Wife to the Said Jacob Tomlin by the Last Will and Testament of John Franklin Deceased to the amount of Ten Pounds." (11)
1. This document not only links Elisabeth Franklin as the wife of Jacob Tomlin, it also firmly ties her to the ten pound inheritance as stated in John Frankling's Will.
3. There is one more set of documents that help define these relationships and provides another name that we need to address. 
1. John Franklin and Elizabeth Franklin, were plaintiffs in a legal case against John West in Gloucester County, New Jersey on 22 April 1767 for a debt of £40. (12) (13)
2. There is a court case where John West is accused of the crime of fornication with Elizabeth Franklin, a single woman on 21 July 1767 [this should be 1766]. (14) (15)
1. Documents in this file provide additional details. They state that the event occurred "in the dwelling house of John Franklin" of Greenwich Township, Gloucester County and that "John West is the only father of the said child." (16)
4. Looking back to the Will for John Frankling, we note that he has provided for his grandson, John West who is a young boy in 1774. This is likely the son of John West and Elisabeth Franklin Tomlin.

We can now go back and revisit Elizabeth Franklin, the supposed daughter of Jeremiah Franklin. As stated in the Tomlin Genealogy, Elizabeth was married three time. First, to Francis Tomlin - Could this have been Jacob Tomlin? Second, to John West with a child James West - Could this have been the affair with John West in 1766 which resulted in the birth of her son John West? Third, to James Colatly - Could this have been Jacob Collatter? Is she listed as the daughter of Jeremiah because he signed the affidavit to her marriage to Jacob Tomlin? These are all questions that need to be addressed to determine why Jeremiah is listed as the father of Elizabeth. However, the primary sources that have been gathered provide direct evidence that Elizabeth's father was actually John Franklin and that Jeremiah was most likely her brother.

Building a timeline of these events helps provide a better picture of Elisabeth's life.

1. Elisabeth was born about 1748 since her husband, Jacob Collatter, states she was 72 in 1820.
2. In 1766, she is involved with John West and he is accused of fornication.
3. In 1767, she is pregnant and the court recognizes John West as the father. A bond for £40 is posted by John West but he defaults. John Franklin and Elizabeth Franklin sue John West for default.
4. Elizabeth Franklin marries Jacob Tomlin in 1771.
5. John Franklin's Will in 1774 recognizes his daughter Elizabeth Tomlin and grandson John West.
6. Jacob joins the Gloucester Militia and fights in the Revolutionary war in 1776-1777.
7. Jacob Tomlin dies on 4 March 1777 on his way home after his military service.
8. Elizabeth marries Jacob Collatter, another Revolutionary War veteran, in 1780.
9. Elizabeth files for her widows pension as the widow of Jacob Tomlin, in 1795.
10. Elizabeth dies about 1821.

I know this has been a long read but I hope it gives you the encouragement to question published genealogies and look for the records yourself. Sometimes the actual story is better than the fiction.

RootsTech Pre-Show

Hello everyone, we are getting very close to the start of RootsTech. Are you ready? I spent the day walking around Salt Lake City and getting ready for the conference. There is a lot of activity in the Expo Hall and many of the exhibitors have started to get their booths ready. 

As I was walking around I ran into several genealogists including the following:

Connie Knox (GenealogyTV), Steve Little (Vibe Genealogy), Brian Rhinehart (Civil War Records), Pat Richley-Erikson (Dear Myrtle), Cheri Hudson Passey (Genealogy Girl), and Laura Hedgecock (Treasure Chest of Memories).

Tomorrow will be a busy day at the FamilySearch Library doing research. RootsTech badges will be ready tomorrow afternoon and we have the speaker and media dinner. I also have a tech check to make sure everything is ready for my presentations. 

I will try to post regularly during RootsTech to keep everyone informed about what happens during RootsTech.

RootsTech Final Countdown

We are approaching the final countdown to RootsTech 2026. There are only a little over 5 days until the first online events start beginning on Wednesday at 4:00pm MST. There will be a total of 510 new classes presented in several languages. The English language selections include 362 presentations with 246 in-person, 65 webinars, and 50 on demand topics. With all of these presentations available it is important to set a schedule for yourself so you can attend your favorite presentations. I will provide an example of my schedule for each day below but you will notice that some sessions I have more than one talk assigned. I won't be attending both presentations but it gives me an opportunity to see which one seems to interest me more at the time. Also, I have filled each session with at least one presentation but with everything that I need to do during RootsTech I will likely miss about half of those sessions. So, make a schedule but be flexible so you can enjoy the Expo Hall or anything else you encounter during RootsTech. 

Wednesday, March 4

The first keynote speakers, The Gardiner Brothers, world-renowned Irish dancers, will discuss their Irish roots live from Ireland at 4:30pm MST. At 7:00pm MST the second keynote speaker, José Hernández, will talk about his NASA experience and his migrant roots. And at 9:30pm the third virtual keynote speaker, Jessica Soho, will talk about her 40-year journalism career and uncovering her family history. There will also be a series of virtual talks every 30-minutes between 4:00pm and midnight. For more details on these presentations visit https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/schedule?day=2026-03-04.

For me, this day will include getting my RootsTech badge, doing some research in the FamilySearch library, running through a tech check in the rooms I will be speaking in, setting up The Family History Guide booth, helping to set up the International Institute of Genealogical Studies booth, getting a guided tour of the Expo Hall, and attending the media and speakers events in the evening. 

Thursday, March 5

The in-person events will begin on Thursday, March 5 with 136 presentations online and in-person. Virtual sessions begin at midnight and run throughout the day while in-person sessions begin at 8:00am MST. There are generally about 20 in-person sessions each class period. 

My schedule for Thursday includes the following presentations:

• 8:00am - Power Hour: The Power of Process: From Clues to Conclusions
• 9:30am - AI-Powered Transcription of Handwritten Documents: What's New in 2026
• 11:00am - RootsTech 2026 General Session 1 - Marlee Matlin and Steve Rockwood
• 1:30pm - Civil and Parish Records in Italy: From the Council of Trent to the 20th Century
• 1:30pm - What’s New at Ancestry®
• 3:00pm - I will be presenting Discovering German Church Records in room 255BC  
• 4:30pm - Genealogy, Upgraded: AI and Smart Tools on MyHeritage
• The Expo Hall closes at 6:30pm.
• I will also have breakfast with one of the Platinum Sponsors and a meetup with the Association of Professional Genealogists.
• Each day I will also be performing my media responsibilities doing interviews, preparing social media content, and assisting at The Family History Guide booth.

The full schedule for Thursday can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/schedule?day=2026-03-05.

Friday, March 6

On Friday there will be 139 sessions online and in-person.

My schedule for Friday includes the following presentations:

• 8:00am - Digging Deeper into German Records
• 8:00am - Power Hour: The Power of Proof: Mastering the Five Steps of Record Evaluation
• 9:30am - Arriving at the Port of New York, 1890-1924
• 9:30am - RootsTech Innovation and Tech Forum 2026
• 11:00am - RootsTech 2026 General Session 2 - Tara Roberts
• 1:30pm - I will be presenting Location, Location, Location - Tracking Family History Through Land Records in room 250
• 3:00pm - AI-Powered Research Logs: From Chaos to Clarity in Your Genealogy Data
• 4:30pm - Beyond the Prompt: Take Your AI To The Next Level
• The Expo Hall closes at 6:00pm.
• Additionally, I will be participating in GeneaBlogger activities and attending a dinner with one of the Platinum Sponsors.

The full schedule for Friday can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/schedule?day=2026-03-06. 

Saturday, March 7

On Saturday there will be 104 sessions online and in-person.

My schedule for Saturday includes the following presentations:

• 8:00am - I will be presenting Solving Family Mysteries with the FAN Method and Census Clues in room 255BC
• 9:30am - Find Your Relatives in NEW Ancestor Connector with 21,000 Individuals
• 9:30am - Genealogical Proof in Practice: Resolving Conflicts and Building Sound Conclusions
• 11:00am - RootsTech 2026 General Session 3 - Steve Young
• 1:30pm - Question Everything: Sharpen Evaluation, Avoid Assumptions, & Clarify Your Writing
• 3:00pm - Record-Breaking Records: MyHeritage’s Fastest-Growing Genealogy Record Collection
• This is take-down day and the Expo Hall closes at 3:00pm with the exhibitors taking down all of their displays immediately afterward.

The full schedule for Saturday can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/schedule?day=2026-03-07.

Sunday, March 8

There will be some early morning online events where RootsTech will replay some of the keynote speakers and church leadership talks. 

I will be getting some sleep, losing an hour because of the time change, and getting back to the airport to return home.

How does that sound for a few relaxing days at RootsTech? Just remember, you can set up your schedule any way you like. If you are attending in-person you could focus on the in-person only presentations and view the online presentations after you return home. Maybe you will spend more time in the Expo Hall talking to all of the exhibitors. Many of them have hourly classes at their booths along with raffles, gifts, and merchandise. Or maybe you will be networking and building friendships with the other attendees. Whatever you decide to do, be sure to make the most of your time and enjoy yourself as you attend the world's largest genealogy conference.

RootsTech Update and a Look Back on 2025

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. 

NotebookLM - a new AI tool for Genealogists?

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.

1. Thursday, March 5 at 3:00pm MST in Room 255 BC - Discovering German Church Records
2. Friday, March 6 at 1:30pm MST in Room 150 - Location, Location, Location - Tracking family history through land records
3. Saturday, March 7 at 8:00am in Room 255 BC - Solving Family Mysteries with the FAN Method and Census Clues

In addition to my presentations, I will be doing my usual media posts during the event as well as manning The Family History Guide's booth and probably helping out at the International Institute for Genealogical Studies booth. So it will be a busy couple of days.

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.

Legacy Family Tree Webinars Foreign Language Presentations

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:

• Filae : la maison des archives originales françaises with Yann Guillerm, Community Manager and Editor at Filae, Tuesday, October 7, 2025 at 2 P.M. GMT / 10 A.M. EST
• Explorer vos racines en France : méthodes et ressources en ligne avec les collections de MyHeritage with Marie Cappart, historian and professional genealogist, Tuesday, October 21, 2025 at 2 P.M. GMT / 10 A.M. EST
• Explorer vos racines au Luxembourg : archives locales et ressources MyHeritage with Liliane Hierro, professional genealogist and author, Tuesday, November 4, 2025 at 2 P.M. GMT / 10 A.M. EST
• In addition to these live webinars, there will be more than 100 French presentations on demand!
• See the full French webinar schedule and register here.

The first 5 live Spanish sessions (all free to attend) are:

• Cómo utilizar la Nueva Búsquedas de Texto en FamilySearch with Francisco Javier Gomez, employed by FamilySearch, on Tue, Oct 14, 2025 at 2 P.M. GMT / 10 A.M. EST
• ¿Qué busca un adoptado durante la búsqueda de orígenes? with Iván Gastañaga, the first Russian adopted in Spain, on Tue, Oct 28, 2025 at 1 P.M. GMT / 9 A.M. EST
• Claves para localizar a nuestro primer antepasado de España with Antonio Alfaro de Prado, Spanish genealogist and researcher specializing in Hispanic genealogy, on Tue, Nov 11, 2025 at 1 P.M. GMT / 9 A.M. EST
• 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!
• See the full Spanish webinar schedule and register here

These are great opportunities to immerse yourself in the language as you learn more about researching these areas.

October Genealogy News

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.

Ontario Canada Research Tips and other Updates

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.

I have been busy trying to work on my genealogy classes with the International Institute of Genealogical Studies, becoming more active in the Southeast Chapter of the APG, continuing my duties as the Education Director for The Family History Guide, serving as the secretary for the Second Life Genealogical Society, and working on genealogical research projects for OurAncestories Genealogy. I also have a couple presentations coming up in the next two months including the following:

• 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.

1.  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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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).

RootsTech 2025 Pre-show

 

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.

• The Ayes Have It - Discovering Your Ancestors Through Voting Records: Thursday, March 6, 1:30 Mountain Time (3:30 Eastern)
• A Deep Dive into US Census Records: Friday, March 7, 12:15 Mountain Time (2:15 Eastern)

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.
• The Archives and Records Custodians Symposium is a pre-RootsTech event on Wednesday. These presentations will be live and online.
• 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.

Welcoming 2025 and a Look Back on 2024

Welcome 2025 (Image created by CoPilot)

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. 

More information on these can be found at https://www.familysearch.org/campaign/year-in-review and https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/familysearch-year-in-review-2024. 

MyHeritage

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.

More information on what MyHeritage did in 2024 can be found on their blog https://blog.myheritage.com/2025/01/wrapping-up-2024-myheritage-year-in-review.

Ancestry

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.