Inside MyHeritage.com

https://www.myheritage.com/about-myheritage/

What do you get when you combine a powerful social networking program with over 100 million users and an advanced technology database program and an aggressively accurate DNA testing program with over 9.5 billion records? You get MyHeritage.com. The company began in 2003 with the iconic "garage" (actually a living room) startup paradigm. Now after more than 16 years, the company has spread to 196 countries across the globe. The company's headquarters are in Or Yehuda, Israel with additional offices in Tel Aviv, Israel, Orem, Utah, Kyiv, Ukraine, and Burbank, California.

Back in 2016, the MyHeritage blog featured an article entitled, "A Sneak Peek Inside the MyHeritage HQ."  This article provides an idea of the atmosphere which engenders this rapidly growing genealogical website.

 Some of the important technologies developed by the company are outlined in the following list:

• Smart Matching™ -- Finds matching profiles in family trees, enabling users to discover new ancestors and relatives, and connect with other users
• Record Matching -- Automatic matches between people and historical records
• Instant Discoveries™-- Unique technology that allows adding a whole new branch to the family tree in one click
• SuperSearch™-- A Search Engine for exploring billions of historical records
• Record Detective™ -- Automatically extends the paper trail from a single historical record to other related records and family tree connections
• Global Name Translation™ -- Translates names found in historical records and family trees from one language into another, to facilitate matches between names in different languages
• Search Connect™ -- Enables users to easily find others who are looking for the same ancestors or relatives, and get in touch with them

Most recently, MyHeritage.com has expanded by beginning a series of international conferences held in different locations. The first conference was held in Oslo, Norway in 2018. The next conference will be held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 2019.

https://live2019.myheritage.com/

MyHeritage.com also has a free powerful desktop genealogy program called Family Tree Builder.

https://www.myheritage.com/family-tree-builder

My fascination with MyHeritage.com began as a result of the fact that I realized that they were the driving force behind genealogical technological innovation. Genealogy is a highly conservative pursuit. Little about genealogical research has changed in the last 100 years. The typical view of a genealogist is still an older person sitting in an archive or a library. MyHeritage.com's focus on innovative technology has been the impetus for changing the way millions of people around the world view researching their ancestors. Because of my interest in the program and my interest in technology, I began investigating the company early in its development. In an almost unbelievable chain of events by writing about MyHeritage developed into a friendship relationship with the company.

Perhaps there are other individuals and companies out there in the greater genealogical community that are as interested in pushing ahead with technological development in genealogy but none of them have accomplished what has been accomplished by MyHeritage.com.

Development and acceptance of the program in the United States has been slow primarily because MyHeritage has not participated in saturation advertising. But with over 100 million users it is hardly necessary for the program to advertise in the media. Word-of-mouth is sufficient.

One example will suffice in this present post. I received a request for help from one of my friends about her Swedish ancestry. The question was quite involved and on its face, would appear to take a lot of time and some serious research. However, in reading through the narrative provided by my friend, I realized that she should make sure her information was in MyHeritage.com family tree. The reason for this conclusion was the huge number of fully indexed records on MyHeritage.com from Sweden. Further, the Record Match technology would very likely provide her with a basis for resolving her questions. In any event, the additional information she would receive from MyHeritage.com would likely make the entire task much easier.

Back to the Issue of Genealogical Standardization of Place Names

Okay, we're back to the issue of standardization of place names. Standardization is exactly that, it is an attempt to establish a uniform method of doing something from manufacturing to genealogical place names. The underlying reason for working towards place name standardization is that we need to have a common way of referring to specific locations that can then be tied to GPS coordinates. This is important because of the rule that genealogically valuable records are created at or near the place that an event occurs by people who have an interest in the event or duty to report it. The duty part of the rule refers to the fact that these genealogically valuable records are created by government entities that exist at the time of the event.

This also brings up another basic rule of genealogical research that place names are recorded as they were, i.e. jurisdictionally, at the time the event occurred. So these two rules concerning the probable location of the records and the recording of the name of the place where the records may have been created are the underpinnings of all genealogical research. Ignorance of or failing to acknowledge accurate place names is the underlying cause of most of the confusion present today and the millions of online family trees. Standardization is an attempt to bring order to this confusion.

Here is a simple example. A baby born in Arizona in 1945 would have a birth certificate created pursuant to the current state statutes. If the baby was born in a hospital, the birth certificate was created by the hospital and then forwarded to the Arizona Department of Health Services which presently has the duty of preserving the record and providing copies to those who need them. Actually, the whole process is much more complicated but the summary suffices. If I wanted to look for a birth certificate for an individual born in 1945 I would have to know that he or she was born in Arizona. If I knew that the person was born in Arizona, I would need to ask the question as to which government agency might have a copy of the birth certificate. But if I did not know the person was born in Arizona where would I go to look for the birth certificate?

If I were doing genealogical research for the person born in 1945 and started looking in New York for the birth record would I find the birth record for a person born in Arizona? This may seem like an extreme example but the underlying principle is the same. Genealogical research is based on identifying a specific location of an event in a person's life. Without this geographic location which includes all of its political ramifications, it is extremely unlikely that we would be searching in the right location for the individual's records.

So why standardization? Because the identity of these political variations in the way that specific geographic locations were named generally identifies the place to start looking for records. For example, an individual farm has a specific geographic (GPS) location on the face of the earth. But over time, that same farm could have been in a number of different political entities. County boundaries could have changed and state boundaries could've changed. Those changes affect the places where records could have been created and presently could be found. So what do we do with this:

• 1284 Wales and England under the name of England
• 1536 Wales and England under the name of Kingdom of England
• 1603 Wales, England, and Scotland under the name of Great Britain
• 1707 Wales, England, and Scotland under the name of Kingdom of Great Britain
• 1801 Wales, England, Scotland, and Ireland under the name of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
• 1922 Wales, England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland under the name of United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

In this case, obviously, if a location was in either Wales or England, the name used to designate the political entity is fairly irrelevant. But if a person lived in Scotland or Ireland or Northern Ireland to name changes reflect jurisdictional changes where the records may have been kept. Unfortunately, the changes in the names as illustrated above also come with a log of political baggage. People can become offended if the wrong political designation is used.

There are a significant number of people who assume that if a person were born in Arizona then Arizona should be used as the designation even if the person was born in 1890 when Arizona did not exist as a state. They think that the distinction between Arizona and Arizona Territory is trivial and inconsequential. But here's the question. Where are the early Arizona records currently available? That may seem like a simple question but the answer is more complicated than you might think. Here is another list of dates:

• The 1700s to 1848 Arizona was part of Mexico
• 1848 to 1853 the part of Arizona north of Gila River was part of New Mexico Territory
• 1853 to 1863 the southern part of Arizona was added by the Gadsden Purchase from Mexico
• 1863 to 1912 all of Arizona was Arizona Territory
• 1912 to present all of Arizona is the State of Arizona

There are several factors. First, there is the issue of the exact geographic location. Second, there is the issue of the time period under consideration. Third, there is the issue of the governmental agency administering the geographic area during the time period involved. Fourth, there is a historical question of where any records kept during the time of the event may have been created and where they are presently located. Fifth there is the identity of the person involved in the research.

Standardization eliminates some of the confusion concerning the changes in the geographical locations designations over time. Another factor which is to some extent geographically independent is that certain governmental agencies create records throughout an entire country. For example, United States Census records are maintained by the national government regardless of the location where the census was taken. But even knowing that U.S. Census records are maintained at a national level still requires that the general location of a person be known or a search would have to be made of the entire census. Today, because we have digitized records with search engines that can search the entire country some of the issues have been resolved but how do we tell the difference between people with similar names if we have no idea where they lived? We always come back to the issue of identifying the geographic location.

The main challenge presently with standardization is coming up with accurate designations of the locations reflected by the time periods involved. For example, FamilySearch.org has made some efforts to include time periods in the standardization suggestions. Some genealogical programs, such as RootsMagic, will indicate whether or not a county designation is proper depending on the time frame of the entry. It is certain, that as time passes standardization will become more prevalent and more accurate.

Those who ignore standard place names and think that standardization is trivial or unimportant are missing the entire basis for accurate genealogical research.

Who are the holdouts to digitization?

Digitization of valuable genealogical information has been engulfing us like a gigantic wave. But it always helps to step back and think about the vast number of records still locked up in paper documents. The number of documents waiting to be digitized probably exceeds by many times the number of useful digital images that are already online. After spending time digitizing records at the Maryland State Archives and visiting both the National Archives and Library of Congress, I have an enhanced appreciation for the number of documents that remain unavailable online in digital format.

What remains to be digitized? The list could go on indefinitely. But there are some notable holdouts. I am sure that the same situation exists in most, if not all, the countries of the world, but my focus here in this post is on the United States.

First of all, we have our own U.S. National Archives. I could ask what would seem to be a valid question about the number of records presently in the U.S. National Archives, but persistent research online has shown me that apparently, no one has any idea of the actual number. Estimates begin at about 12 billion but the actual number is probably unimaginably larger. number. With very, very, few exceptions, the number of documents is entirely unknown. The documents are not cataloged individually but are classified in the number of cubic feet of documents or the number of linear feet on the shelves. Here is a screenshot of an example from the following record group:

Reports of Indian Schools, 1941 - 1949
Creator(s): Department of the Interior. Bureau of Indian Affairs. Navajo Service. 1947-1949  (Most Recent)
From: Record Group 75: Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1793 - 1999

Here is the screenshot:

This is only one small set of records. Most of the other records are measured in cubic feet of documents. If you spend even a few minutes in the National Archives Catalog you will begin to see the challenge.

Here is the statement about digitization currently on the National Archives website:

With NARA’s strategic plan, 2018-2022, NARA has committed to digitize 500 million pages of records and make them available online to the public through the National Archives Catalog by October 1, 2024. This goal will be accomplished, in part, by integrating digitization into the responsibilities of archival units nationwide and through entering into new public-private digitization partnerships.

Hmm. Let's suppose that the number of documents held by the National Archives is really about 10 billion (a really low estimate) what percentage of the documents does 500 million represent? Additionally, how many documents does the U.S. National Archives receive each year? My guess is that it is somewhere above 500 million. So really, they are getting further and further behind. By the way, 500 million is less than one half of one percent of the estimated total. 

The National Archives actually does almost no digitization of existing records. The strategy of the National Archives is set forth in a rather long discussion on a web page entitled, "Strategy for Digitizing Archival Materials." If you have ever tried to find a document in the National Archives, READ THIS PAGE. As an attorney, I am used to reading all sorts of government stuff. What this page essentially says is that the U.S. National Archives is doing essentially nothing to digitize its holdings. But what about the Partner Programs? There is a page of the "Digitization Partnerships." If you are at all interested in what is going on at the National Archives look at this page.

What is not on the page is that the actual digitization of records is mostly at a standstill. For example, what I have learned by talking to FamilySearch.org volunteers (Missionaries) who served at the National Archives digitizing documents is that because of the current administration's "budget cuts" all digitization has essentially stopped. In addition, because of bureaucratic red tape and outmoded preservation procedures, the process of digitization inside the National Archives is essentially nearly impossible for the volunteers. For example, Ancestry.com has a list of its "New and Updated" collections on its website.

The most recent records added are from October 2018. But look at the list closely and you will see that none of the recent records seem to originate from the U.S. National Archives. If you look at a few categories that likely came from the Archives, you will see that the collections are really quite old and not identified as coming from the National Archives.

This is just one example of the massive number of records that are not only unavailable in digitized copies online, but are not even in the process of being digitized. Despite everything that I do say about what is available online, we all need to remember that genealogists still need to visit these archives and libraries and do the rest of the research that cannot be done without digital copies. 

Revisiting genealogical myths

It has been some time since I wrote about genealogical myths. I even did a webinar on the topic back in 2016.

I continue to see a consistent stream of people who have asked me questions that indicate that they have "bought in" to a genealogical myth or two or three. But rather than rehash the usual list of genealogical myths, such as the Cherokee Princess and the Three Brothers myths, I decided to look at some of the less visible and obvious myths.

Many family traditions have been believed for so long by so many people that they have taken on mythic qualities. Few, if any, of those who tell and retell these traditional stories, have any idea of the origin or the veracity of the narrative, but so many people have told the story and believed the story that it can no longer be doubted as the absolute truth. How and when does a traditional story become a myth?

Traditional stories exist both in the written and oral genres. There are societies around the world who have established cultural support for oral histories. In the United States, transmission of oral histories is haphazard at best. Many traditional stories have been reduced to writing. The genealogical literature is full of instructions and suggestions concerning the preservation of family traditions and stories in particular. From a research standpoint, traditional stories may be key and understanding and discovering an individual's ancestors. But in some cases, traditional stories either block or mislead research. This is especially true when the traditional story has taken on mythic characteristics.

A traditional story becomes a myth when careful research discloses that the basic facts in the story are either unsupported by any contemporary sources or inaccurate when compared to contemporary sources. The traditional story does not need to be an extensive narrative it can merely be the identification of an individual with a particular artifact or event. For example, a family tradition may be that a remote ancestor fought in the American Revolutionary War. When subsequent genealogical research conclusively shows that the ancestor did not participate in the Revolutionary War, when the persistent tradition that the ancestor was a participant continues to be reported and believed, the traditional story has become a myth. By the way, one definition of a myth is a widely held but false belief or idea.

In my own genealogical research experience, I have encountered several extremely persistent myths in my own family lines. One example is the "photograph of John Tanner." This myth concerns and obviously old daguerreotype. Family tradition identifies the image as that of our prominent ancestor, John Tanner who was born in 1778 in Rhode Island and died in Cottonwood, Utah in 1850. I am not going to reproduce an image of the daguerreotype for the simple reason that it is being copied as an actual image of John Tanner despite careful research which shows the actual identity of the individual assumed to be John Tanner. Reproducing the image would simply add to the proliferation of the myth. For a detailed explanation of the historical analysis of the image see the following: "The Tanner Family Daguerreotype: Man at Left — Options."  This blog post contains links to a nine-part series analyzing the photograph.

Despite almost heroic efforts to publicize and debunk the mythic origin of the photograph, individuals still continue to attach the photo as an actual image of John Tanner.

Another of the Tanner family myths also revolves around the conversion of John Tanner to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The story has been published in several books and has also been represented in a movie made about the life of John Tanner. There are essentially multiple versions of the story. The most cited version is contained in the following book:

Tanner, Maurice. 1942. Descendants of John Tanner: born August 15,1778, at Hopkintown R.I., died April 15,1850, at South Cottonwood, Salt Lake County, Utah. [Place of publication not identified]: Tanner Family Association.

The account as contained in this particular book has been republished dozens of times in different books and articles. What is interesting, is that at the end of the biography of John Tanner in the book there is the following statement:

This sketch was written by Nathan Tanner, Jr., Son of Nathan Tanner, who was the son of John Tanner, the subject of this sketch.

Since there are no citations other than the statement, the facts contained in any "biography" are unsupported. The events purporting to relate to John Tanner's conversion date from 1832. At the time of the events, his son Nathan Tanner would have been approximately 17 years old. Nathan Tanner's son, also named Nathan Tanner Jr., was born in 1845 and was about five years old when John Tanner died. Unfortunately, there is no date associated with the writing of the account printed in the book but Nathan Tanner Jr. died in 1919. If someone has the original manuscript that information has not been disclosed in the book or in a subsequent publication. In short, what appears to be the only and original story was possibly written as long as 87 years after the event. However, it should be noted that Nathan Tanner Sr. died in 1910. But there is no reference in the story that Nathan Tanner Sr. witnessed or participated in the event.

Two of the individuals who could possibly provide additional details about the event have only recorded brief references to being present at the event. No details have been provided.

One of the key factors in creating a mythic tradition is that the basic facts cannot be either proven or disproven. Essentially, we have to take the word of the originator of the story as to the accuracy of the details. Notwithstanding the lack of substantiation, I am certain that there are hundreds perhaps thousands of Tanner descendants that can relate this story and others from memory. The oral recitals of the story often omit many details but also include conclusions that are not contained in the original story.

My purpose in using these two examples is not to cast any doubt or aspersions on the contributions of John Tanner but to illustrate how a historical event can become a myth. In the case of the photograph, there never was any basis in fact for the conclusion that the individual was John Tanner. In the case of the book, many of the incidents are collaborated by contemporary historical sources but those stories which have been passed down through oral history have lost some of the historical context and details.

What part do these traditional stories play? The answer to this is that they are fundamental to creating the connections between the researcher and the ancestor. The researcher can learn from the stories how the life of the ancestor affected all of his or her descendants. The damage comes when the myth competes with the reality as supported by historical records and becomes the reality to the denigration and refusal to accept the historical records.

The Family History Guide Booth at RootsTech 2019

This is a computer rendering of the booth

Yes, The Family History Guide will front and center on the Exhibit Floor of RootsTech 2019. Our booth will be located just behind the new Coaches Corner and diagonally across from the FamilySearch booth. The booth is #217. Here is a map of the exhibit floor showing the booth location.

Here is a look at the back of the tower structure in the booth. The graphics were provided by the Queen of Wraps company.

Both my wife and I will be helping to teach during the Mini-Class schedule. Here is an outline of the classes to be taught. The instructors for the classes will vary according to our availability and the number of people needing help.

Time	Thursday, 2/28	Friday, 3/1	Saturday, 3/2
9:00a	Inside The Family History Guide	Inside The Family History Guide	Inside The Family History Guide
9:30a	Research with TFHG	Come Follow Me Companion Overview	Family History Activities
10:00a	Family History Activities	TFHG for Trainers & Consultants	Online Tracker and Reporting
10:30a	TFHG for Trainers & Consultants	Research with TFHG	Family History Activities
12:00p	Online Tracker and Reporting	Family History Activities	Research with TFHG
12:30p	Research with TFHG	Online Tracker and Reporting	Come Follow Me Companion
1:00p	Family History Activities	TFHG for Trainers & Consultants	Family History Activities
1:30p	Inside The Family History Guide	Inside The Family History Guide	Online Tracker and Reporting
2:00p	Come Follow Me Companion	Research with TFHG	(no class)
2:30p	(no class)	Family History Activities
3:00p	(no class)	Online Tracker and Reporting	(no class)
3:30p		Question/Answer Session
4:00p	TFHG for Trainers & Consultants	TFHG for Trainers & Consultants	(no class)
4:30p	Family History Activities	Research with TFHG
5:00p	Inside The Family History Guide	Question/Answer Session
5:30p	Online Tracker and Reporting	Inside The Family History Guide

Remember that we have three full-length presentations this year at RootsTech. For details, see our previous blog post RootsTech Presentations from The Family History Guide.

Free MyHeritage Marriage Records for Valentine’s Day!

https://blog.myheritage.com/2019/02/free-marriage-records-for-valentines-day/

Quoting from the MyHeritage.com blog post entitled, "Free Marriage Records for Valentine’s Day!"

Do you know the love stories of your ancestors? How did your great-grandparents meet and get to know each other? In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re providing free access to love-related records in our massive historical records collection during February 10-17. No Data subscription is required so you may search all U.S. states, European and worldwide collections for your ancestors’ marriage records! 

Search free marriage records on SuperSearch™

 Marriage records are an important genealogical record as they not only include information about the bride, the groom, and their residence when the marriage occurred but often contain additional information such as birth dates, birthplaces, occupations, as well as religious affiliations. Often a marriage license will also contain information about the parents of the bride and groom including their names and birthplaces. Each state and country has different requirements for that information so different records have varying data. 

In addition, don’t forget to enter our Valentine’s Day Competition! Send in your ancestor’s love letters to stories@myheritage.com for a chance to win a MyHeritage DNA kit! 

♥ ♥ Happy Valentine’s Day! ♥ ♥

Announcing MyHeritage LIVE 2019

https://live2019.myheritage.com/

I am excited to announce MyHeritage.com's LIVE 2019 conference to be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands from September 6 through September 8, 2019. What is even more exciting for me is that I will be participating as a featured speaker at the conference.

https://live2019.myheritage.com/

Here are two more of the speakers who did not fit in my first screenshot.

Earlybird registration is already open for a special rate of €150. That works out to about $178 US at the current exchange rate which of course can change daily. Click here for registration information. Accommodations are available at the Hilton Amsterdam.

I will obviously have a lot more information about this wonderful conference once more details are available.