 Top 5 African American Genealogy WebsitesDo you have African American ancestry and looking for records, tools, and resources that can help in your African American genealogy research? African Amercian research is not that easy once you need to go further back than the 1870 U.S. Census, but here are my top 5 websites for African American genealogy to help you climb your family tree! 1. FamilySearch/FamilySearch Research Wiki African American Genealogy (FREE)  FamilySearch.org for African American Genealogy Research  FamilySearch Research Wiki- African American Genealogy  FamilySearch Research Wiki- African American Online Genealogy Records  FamilySearch Research Wiki- Quick Guide to African American Records
2. Ancestry ($ & Free)  Ancestry.com for African American Genealogy research
3. National Archives- African American Research (Free)  National Archives- African American Heritage for African American Genealogy Research  The Freedmen's Bureau Online for African American Genealogy Research
5. AfriGeneas (Free)  AfriGeneas for African Amercian Genealogy Research
More African Amercian Genealogy: Find more of the Irish genealogy under the African Amercian Genealogy category. More Genealogy Resources: Learn about more family history and genealogy resources under the Genealogy Resources category and on my dedicated Genealogy Resources page. More Top Genealogy: Find more of the best of family history and genealogy under the The Best of Genealogy category. #AfricanAmericanGenealogy,#AfricanAmericanAncestry,#Genealogy
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 Join RootsTech 2023, the World’s Largest Family History Event!RootsTech, by Family Search, is just a month away! Have you registered yet? Sign up for RootsTech 2023, online for FREE or in-person for just $98, now at rootstech.org for the world's largest family history and genealogy event! If you don’t already know, this year’s event will be hybrid! Always held in Salt Lake City, the 2021 event was their first virtual conference, due to Covid, and boy, did their first virtual event churn out more than imagined, so they did it again in 2022! Their virtual conferences were such a hit, toppling over the 1,000,000 mark in 2021, that as things are starting to get back to normal and events are once again being offered in-person, they have decided to have both for 2023! So, you can choose to attend either way, 3 days in-person for just $98 or 100% virtual and 100% FREE online! Connect with your family, learn about family and cultural traditions, learn from experts in the field with over 1,500 sessions/classes, listen to super inspiring keynote speakers (I’m anxious to see how they top last year’s speakers!), join the Expo Hall that showcases companies from around the world (they also offer freebies and discounts!), participate in activities for all (such as cooking and activities for the kiddos!), chat with experts, get 1-on-1 help, find your relatives that are also attending and chat with them, and so much more! You also get to save and access your classes for an entire year, by saving them in your RootsTech Playlist and on YouTube! Are you ready to join the world’s largest family history event in the world in Salt Lake City or from the comfort of your own home and for FREE?! Connect with your family, explore your heritage, and meet your relatives out there, by signing up for this in-person or FREE online March 2-4 family history event now! I hope to see you there! More on RootsTech and other Genealogy Events:
Follow more on the RootsTech 2023 Genealogy Conference below and under the Genealogy Events category, along with under the Genealogy Resources category and on my dedicated Genealogy Resources page! Interactive Questions: What do you think about this fantastic hybrid opportunity? Are you already signed up or are going to? Let me know in the comments below. I can’t wait to see how many of you have already signed up! See you there!  Top 5 Irish Genealogy WebsitesDo you have Irish ancestors and looking for records, tools, and resources that can help in your Irish genealogy research? Here are my top 5 Irish genealogy websites to help you climb your family tree! 1. IrishGenealogy.ie (Free)  IrishGenealogy.ie for Irish Genealogy Research
2. FamilySearch/FamilySearch Ireland Genealogy Wiki (Free) FamilySearch for Irish Genealogy Research  FamilySearch Ireland Genealogy Wiki for Irish Genealogy Research  RootsIreland.ie for Irish Genealogy Research
4. National Archives of Ireland (Free)  National Archives of Ireland for Irish Genealogy Research  National Library of Ireland for Irish Genealogy Research
More Irish Genealogy: Find more of the Irish genealogy under the Irish Genealogy category. More Genealogy Resources: Learn about more family history and genealogy resources under the Genealogy Resources category and on my dedicated Genealogy Resources page. More Top Genealogy: Find more of the best of family history and genealogy under the The Best of Genealogy category. ©Diane Henriks  My 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge; Week #3: Out of Place My 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge; Week #3: Out of PlaceI joined the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge this year, put on by Amy Johnson Crow, and for week #3's challenge, "Out of Place", I immediately thought of my mom. When the 1950 Census came out in April of last year, I, just as many, was on a crazed hunt searching through the 1950 Census digital images for 2 straight days! I had made a list of everyone I had wanted to find in the 1950 U.S. Census, but it was my mom, my dad, my biological father, and my paternal grandmother who I wanted to find the most, especially my mom! Searching the digital images was not that easy, especially if you didn't have an address or your ancestors weren't where they should have been. It took me just 2 days to find everyone on my list, basically ALL of my ancestors to be found on the 1950 Census, with the help of different tools that I had mentioned in "A Whirlwind of Searching the 1950 Census Digital Images!", including Ancestry's 1950 Census helps, such as the Enumeration District Maps tool they had out to help search the digital images one by one. I was really surprised that I could find everyone from that long list in just 2 days! Well, not everyone; I wasn't able to find my mom. My mom had just passed away, unexpectedly, the year before, and it was extremely important to me to be able to find her on the census for the first time, as maybe it might have helped the healing process in some way. She was the first person that I wanted to find, and her and her mom wound up being the only ones I did not find. I gave up and thought, even though I knew the chance was slim that it would help, I would wait until the 1950 Census became searchable, even though I knew I checked the entire area and surrounding areas thoroughly and painstakingly, image by image/page by page. My Mom and the 1950 Census:
My mom was born in 1948 in Massillon, Ohio, according to her and her birth certificate. I knew where she and her mom should have been, so it should have been easy right? Not at all. Her mom was an unwed teenager who had my mom at the age of 17. My mom didn't speak much about her life with her family nor her childhood. Most of the family information, I got when I started my genealogy research over a decade ago. I had to start from square 1 with my mom's lines. As I did the research, of course I was able to find relatives, that were never spoken about, during the process, and I was able to get tons of family stories through them. Let's just say, I understand why my mom wanted to keep mum. I was told by an uncle of my mom, her mother's brother, that he had taken his sister and my mom in and helped raise my mom, before her mom married. That wasn't until just a month or so shy of my mom's 2nd birthday. She was not with her uncle as told, nor any other family member. She was nowhere to be found. I pride myself on being a diligent genealogist and researcher, and I can usually find needles in a haystack, but not this time. I am convinced that they just aren't on it. Definitely out of place.
Follow more of my #52ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge here, and let's see if I can accomplish it this year! *Note: These photos are copyright protected and may not be downloaded, screenshot, etc. Are you interested in getting prompts to help you to begin jotting down more about your ancestors than just names and dates? Give it a whirl! You can sign up for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks here! This post is a participant in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks and Sepia Saturday 
My 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge; Week #2: Favorite Photo
My 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge; Week #2: Favorite PhotoAbout 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks
So, I joined the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge this year, put on by Amy Johnson Crow, for the first time. The 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge is a series of prompts that you get each week that gets you thinking about an ancestor and sharing about them, which also helps with you writing about them to preserve for future generations, one of the stressed objectives of Know Who Wears the Genes in Your Family. I have wanted to attempt it many times over the years, but I am flooded with work, and it seemed too overwhelming, so we'll see how it goes and if I can complete it or not. I had always thought that the challenge had to be done in blog form, but since I found out that it can be done in any form, even just a post on social media, I was in! They also modify the challenge to those that will find it overwhelming, to 12 Ancestors in 12 Months, which is what I may have to revert to if I can't find the time each week to continue with it. I will try to blog about some through the year, but many will be just a quick post on my Facebook Page, like the first one that I have already done, I'm sure. I am also not a very elaborate memoir writer, and more of a technical writer, so I apologize in advance.
#52Ancestors Challenge Week #2: Favorite Photo
I don't really have a favorite family history photo, but I do have many that stand out to me for various reasons, and this is one of them. This is a photo of one set of my maternal 2nd great grandparents and 7 of their children, including my great grandmother to the far right. They had a total of 9 children. One is not pictured because he's already off working in the coal mines at a very young age, and the last child wasn't born until a year and a half later.
My 2nd Great Grandparents and their Children, including My Great Grandmother, ca. 1901; ©Diane Henriks
Reasons This Family History Photo Stands Out to Me
*Note: Photo is copyright protected and may not be downloaded, screenshot, etc. You can check out my first week's challenge on my Facebook Page and below:
Are you intereseted in getting prompts to help you to begin jotting down more about your ancestors than just names and dates? Give it a whirl! You can sign up for Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks here!
Follow my #52ancestors in 52 Weeks challenge here, and let's see if I can accomplish it this year!  Genealogy Events: January Is the Month Conference Schedules Are Out!The new year is finally here! What does that mean for the genealogy world? January is a huge month for genealogy and family history beginnings! This is the month that most genealogy events are announced, and schedules are put up! Stay on the lookout for them! One of the places that you can find these events at is Conference Keeper.
Some of the 2023 genealogy event schedules that are out:
A lot of other events for the year have been announced, but schedules haven't been put up yet. Stay on the lookout for them at Conference Keeper or social media! Learn about more fantastic genealogy events, classes and presentations in Genealogy Events.  MyHeritage 2022 in Review: What a Year!What a great year MyHeritage had! They released DeepStory, Family Tree Timeline, Photo Tagger, and AI Time Machine! They added billions of new records, launched their Blast From My Past Podcast, and updated so many of their features! Some great 2022 highlights! Did you know that MyHeritage's core values are innovation, compassion, and the desire to have a positive impact on the world? With all they do for others, they definitely accomplish this! I looking forward to 2023 with MyHeritage! I can't wait to see what they come up with and do next! Read about some of their 2022 highlights below! DeepStory In March, MyHeritage came out with their innovative DeepStory, which was original called LiveStory, that brings your ancestor's photos to life by making them talk! You can have your ancestor give their life story in this state of the art photo tool! You can read more about it in MyHeritage DeepStory: Make Your Ancestor's photos talk and Tell Their Story, that I wrote about back in April of this year. Family Tree Timeline MyHeritage also came out with Family Tree Timeline back in March. This feature shows a timeline of an ancestor in a colorful, visual way. Timelines are very useful in genealogy and can quickly give you insights! Census Helper At the end of March, MyHeritage announced their new feature, Census Helper. The Census Helper scans your family tree and lets you know exactly who can be found in each Census! They launched this just in time for the release of the 1950 U.S. Census! This came in extremely handy when it was time to look for my family manually in the digital images that were released, that I wrote about in A Whirlwind of Searching the 1950 Census Digital Images! Photo Tagger In August, MyHeritage came out with their new mobile feature, Photo Tagger, where you can tag multiple photos of the same person, all at one time! This is suppose to make organizing your photos way easier! Unfortunately, I do not use any genealogy apps on my phone, so was not able to test it out, but I hear from many that it's a lifesaver! Later, in September, they came out with the web version, I have yet to test it out, as I've been swamped and the majority of my photos have already been tagged, but when I add more photos, I will definitely use this organize my photos and save time! Family Statistics on MyHeritage In October, MyHeritage announced a major upgrade to their Family Statistics feature, that to be honest, I never really noticed before until this major upgrade. This upgrade definitely made it pop and certainly had my attention! This feature lets you see your family tree in a fun and engaging way! Not only can you see stats quickly, but you may get insights on things you may never even thought about knowing, let alone making it interesting enough that even family will want to get involved! You can read about it more in MyHeritage: Updated Family Statistics Feature for Your Family Tree! I'll also be giving a talk on it this coming year at Legacy Family Tree Webinars, part of the MyHeritage Webinars series, so don't forget to register for See Your Family in a Whole New Light! Come learn about this feature and how family analytics, statistics and visuals can enhance your family tree, while giving you tons of new insights, making it easy see your family stats quickly, and making your family tree more interesting to want to get others involved! See the full 2023 Webinars schedule at Legacy Family Tree Webinars here: Upcoming Webinars Sorting for DNA Matches In October, they also announced Sorting for DNA Matches, an invaluable DNA tool where you can view shared DNA matches based on the total shared amount of DNA with you or the amount they share with a particular match! A revolutionary, must have, DNA tool! AI Time Machine Just in November, MyHeritage announced the biggest innovation whopper yet, their AI Time Machine photo feature that went viral all over the world! This fun photo tool lets you see yourelf throughout history, while giving you an idea of how you may have looked during your ancestors' lifetime! It's also a great way to compare yourself to a certain ancestor for any uncanny resemblances! You can read more about it and see some of the outstanding results of this amazing feature in MyHeritage AI Time Machine: See Yourself or Your Ancestors Travel through Time! They have since added tons of new themes and a gallery for all your images! Blast from My Past Podcast In March, they announced their new podcast, Blast From My Past, where incredible, true stories of lives being forever changed through MyHeritage! You can follow or subscribe to MyHeritage's podcast here: Blast From My Past MyHeritage Core Values
Even though MyHeritage is a business, and a business' s primary goal is to make money, MyHeritage stands out for being more than just a business. They are constantly stiving to keep the customer, their team, and the world in their forefront, above all else. MyHeritage is a business, but they also believe everyone should have access to their family history, so they also provide many of their features, tools, records, webinars, their new podcast, and their new Introduction to Genealogy course for FREE, along with FREE heirloom family tree charts and family tree storage database (up to 250 people). They also help adoptees and their birth families reunite through genetic testing, offering them DNA test kits for FREE! You can read more about it at MyHeritage DNA Quest. They also just recently connected with Connecting Roots, a U.S.-based nonprofit that helps Chilean adoptees reunite with their families in Chile, and Nos Buscamos, a Chilean nonprofit that helps families affected by coerced adoption and kidnapping and helped them reunite with familes by providing them with FREE DNA test kits! They have shown tremendous compassion in helping their employees in their Ukraine office relocate with their families right before the war broke out, bringing them to safety, while still continuing to help them. Their employees are remarkable in the way they go out and volunteer in their communities, which highlights what MyHeritage is all about! I have much admiration for the compassion that MyHeritage shows and continues to show, while having a positive imapact on the world! They definitely hold true to to their core values! Way to go MyHeritage! You keep inspiring us with all you do! Read more about this year at MyHeritage in their blog post!  2023 Legacy Family Tree Webinars Series Registration is Open!MyHeritage's Legacy Family Tree Webinars, the leading genealogy and DNA testing webinar series in the world, has just announced the line up for the year and is open for registration! And, what a line up it is!
I'm honored to be a part of this fantastic line up this year of genealogy education at it's best! Come view the schedule and register for FREE now! Register for one or all!  2022 Genealogy Wish Grants Winner!The 2022 Genealogy Wish Grants Winner has just been announced! Congratulations to Connie Dexter Spicer of Ohio, who won this year for her decades long brick wall story! About This Year's WinnerConnie Dexter Spicer has been researching her family history and genealogy since she was 17 years of age, 45 years ago! She has been following Know Who Wears the Genes in Your Family for close to a year, while being an active participant. A Tough ChoiceThere were many entries for this year's first Genealogy Wish Grants! It was down to two compelling stories that made it a tough choice. The most compelling story was that of an unknown parentage, but a decades old brick wall story was chosen for all other criteria being met. This Year's Story Entry"So, my backstory is simple enough. I’ve been researching my family since I was 17 – a scant 45 years ago. I had my DNA done within a year or so after it was offered by Ancestry.com. I have it uploaded at FamilyTreeDNA.com, MyHeritage, maybe others. My brick wall is the parents of my paternal great-grandmother, Josephine Johanna Swan: namely, her father, Joe Swan and (especially) his mother and father. Great grandma was a lovely lady – quiet but strong-willed, according to my dad. He felt as if Grandma Josie and his Grandpa Ed raised him, but he never really knew anything about her because, while she was an amazing cook, she wasn’t much for talking! Grandma Josie’s father Joe, who I later identified as Lawrence Joseph Swan, was the only son of one Arabella Swan. I have no other name for Arabella, other than she is listed in documents and directories as the “widow of Joseph Swan”. But I have no proof of any marriage, so she may have 1-taken the name of her son’s father, 2- made it up completely or 3-I just haven’t found the record yet. 1880 Census records from Tippecanoe County, Indiana, show her as born in 1827 in Canada to Irish parents. Not Canadians, not English or American. I have not found her in any other census in the US or Canada, thus, I suspect she was not a Swan when she immigrated from Canada. Her son, Joe Swan, was listed as a clerk in a railroad office in 1880 Lafayette, Indiana. Arabella was listed as 53 years old, which makes her born about 1827. I found them (earlier) in Fort Wayne, Indiana where his career began, and hers in taking care of him was keeping house. Later records show him in Tippecanoe, Indiana working the Wabash line and then after he married my 2 times great grandmother, to Detroit working the railroad there. My goal is twofold: Priority 1 - to try to locate additional clues for finding out the truth of who Arabella is or to confirm or refute my own hypothesis, and in locating some type of death or burial record or marriage record (or both) for her, should those exist…to try to determine her true lineage. I have a strong hypothesis based upon a name-only search as to who she “could be” or “should be”. There are tons of coincidences, but nothing that flags it down and says “yeah, here’s the end-go here next”. Priority 2 - I would also like to try to locate a death or burial record or something for Joseph, who apparently fell off the earth some years after the birth of his son, Joseph – aka Bud Swan. It’s possible he left the family by rail, abandoning them. It’s possible he died on the rail lines or elsewhere, effects unknown. He could have been in jail, though I never found any stories like that. Maybe he was a cad who ran off and started another family elsewhere? Or maybe he got caught in a compromising position by a jealous husband? Or maybe he did something brave and heroic on a train and was injured or killed? I know it would be quite difficult to break down these brick walls in a scant few hours of research, but I would offer all the documentation and results that I currently have to try to break it and build on my Swan family background. Isn’t it interesting, that like the story of the ugly duckling, the cygnet is born “ugly” and becomes beautiful with time? We might have that here in my Swans. And, regardless of the good, bad or ugly, I’m ready to know the truth. I hope you’ll agree and curiosity will get you involved! Thank you for considering my Grandma Swan's family."- Connie Dexter Spicer Thank YouThank you to all of this year's first Genealogy Wish Grants applicants! I hope you all continue to follow and participate! Don't forget to apply to Genealogy Wish Grants 2023, details coming soon! The entry start date will be posted on my Facebook Page, my Facebook Group, my blog, and on the Genealogy Wish Grants page, so stay tuned!
 Top 5 Family History Gifts for GenealogistsWhat could you possibly give to the genealogist that seems to have it all already?! Genealogy is expensive, to say the least! Just because one is a genealogist, it doesn’t mean they have all they need nor can afford to keep up with what they currently have. Here are my picks for the Top 5 family history gifts to give the genealogist in your family, even though you may think they have it all! Hint, hint!
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