Feb 12, 2019

The Genealogy Guys have returned from their working cruise in the Caribbean on the Norwegian Epic. They want to thank Pat Adams, Annette Burke Lyttle, and Dale Heins of The Villages and Anna Pellegrini of Anchors Aweigh Cruises & Tours for a fabulous trip. You’ll find more details on The Genealogy Guys Blog.

Don’t forget to get your nomination/submission form in by midnight Eastern Time on 15 February for the first quarterly Unsung Heroes Awards. The Guys and Vivid-Pix RESTORE are sponsoring these awards to sing the praises of individuals, societies, libraries and archives, and young people under age 21 who scan/digitize, index, and transcribe records to make them accessible to researchers worldwide. Nominees need not be huge, prolific producers. You can even nominate yourself. First awards will be made at RootsTech, and we’ll select winners every quarter!

The Guys will be announcing another huge revelation of a great new segment on The Genealogy Guys Podcast and can hardly wait! Stay tuned to the podcast, The Genealogy Guys Blog, and our Facebook page.

And don’t overlook The Genealogy Guys Blog for more exciting news, commentary, tips and methodologies, and some of our personal research and stories!

The News

• MyHeritage added 22.7 million new records during December 2018 and instituted a new DNA upload policy.
• MyHeritage will be demonstrating new features and making announcements at their booth at RootsTech. They’ll also be live streaming some of their presentations.
• MyHeritage has announced that their webinar arm, Legacy Family Tree Webinars, will begin presenting webinars in other languages, starting with one in Spanish, “Cómo explicar los grados de relación familiar” on Feb 13, 2019. Check https://familytreewebinars.com for the schedule as it is announced.
• Heather Yvonne McLean of New Zealand has been awarded the Queen’s Service Medal for her services to genealogy and historical research. She has invested more than 30 years’ service transcribing tombstones.
• Genealogy author Nathan Dylan Goodwin has a new short story out, a prequel to one of his characters. It is called The Asylum and is available at Amazon for $.99. However, reader can visit his website at nathandylangoodwin.com for a link where they can download the story for free.
• The New York Genealogical and Biographical Society (NYG&B) has received a wonderful collection of the records and publications from Kinship Books with more to come.
• Findmypast has released parish baptisms, marriages, and burial records for Norfolk, Kent, and Middlesex, a new version of the 1939 Register, England Roman Catholic Parish baptisms, marriages, and burial records, Mexico baptisms, marriages, and burial records, Lancashire Wills and Probates, and more newspaper records.
• FamilySearch had 5.8 billion records online at the end of 2018 and released a recap of the major additions for the year.
• Drew recaps the highlights of the January 2019 record additions and a look at what’s coming this year.

Listener Email

• Deb is considering purchasing RootsMagic Version 7 but wonders if she should wait until the forthcoming Version 8 is released. RootsMagic tells us that anyone who buys Version 7 now will get Version 8 and its registration key free. Nathan also wrote to let us know he had received the same information.
• Traci reminded The Guys that the DNA Doe Project, another non-profit volunteer group working with law enforcement, solved six John/Jane Doe cases. Learn more at http://dnadoeproject.org.
• Laura wants to know how people use Excel in genealogy. She is looking for a book on the subject as well. Drew also directed Laura to CyndisList at https://www.cyndislist.com/ where he did a search for “spreadsheet template” where there are many resources listed, including some genealogy templates. Listeners, please email us your ideas and uses to share with Laura!
• Keith shared a site called markeverygrave.com where you can purchase small, inexpensive grave markers and permanently affix markers.
• Drew had a shout-out from another member of the Florida Podcasters Association.
• Ed wrote with a question about the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) and why it should be an essential part of your research.
• Jim wrote about having read a fictional book that mentioned the deaths at the Dozier School for Boys. He recalled Drew’s involvement in the real-life research and asked if there has been any updates.
• Laura wrote how much she enjoyed the recent interview Drew conducted with Kenyatta Berry. She also explained her emotions at standing at her Revolutionary War ancestors’ homes and learning more about them, including their slave ownership.

The Guys would like to express our sincere gratitude to our Patreon supporters. Your financial contributions are an investment in our ability to provide our services to the genealogical community for free since 5 September 2005.