FREE! IRISH FAMILY HISTORY CHEAT SHEET $9.99 VALUE! familytreemagazine.com MARCH/APRIL 2020 MAGAZINE Comparison Guide the fab fourWEBSITES Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, Findmypast and MyHeritage Roundup: Free Online Records Collections DNA: I’ve Taken My Test. Now What? . " ..t ' ' )!�tti.:i ' Presifvatio'nWorkshops D/2 ilogicalSolution Quality S�rayef& Brushes ArcheglogyT ools & Supplies MetalConservation, I // Waxes & Polishes Italian Tn>wels rnamental Tools Lifting8i Ri�· Equipmentg Akemi,Ben· · zoni, Tenex, Pratley Graffiti�em val Products P!" ' Before and after photographs of a historic marble ' monument cleaned with D/2 Biological Solution contents MARCH / APRIL 2020 56 Look for the green arrow throughout this issue branchingout 17 • for hints to expanded versions, free downloads The Fab Four Free Agents and related products at 18 41 It was a hard day’s night before rock- Save time and money with these 50 familytreemagazine.com! stars Ancestry.com, FamilySearch, free records collections living “under- Findmypast and MyHeritage stepped cover” on subscription websites. onto the stage. Here’s how the “Fab by Dana McCullough Four” genealogy websites compare. by Sunny Jane Morton 48 Going Dutch With millions of free online records, 28 Fan Favorites you won’t have to pay your way to Rock out by following these chart- Dutch ancestors. These five websites topping genealogy and history will get you started. accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Pin- by John Boeren terest and YouTube. by Rachel Fountain 56 Counting Up Discover your ancestors in online ON THE COVER: 33 State Research Guides census collections with these 26 Comparison: The Fab Four Tips and resources for tracing your practical search tips. Websites 18 ancestors in US states. by Rick Crume Free Online Records 41 WASHINGTON, DC 33 DNA Test: Now What? 71 by Lauren Gamber WISCONSIN 37 COVER ILLUSTRATION BY MATTHEW HANCOCK ABOVE: ASBE/ISTOCK by Rick Crume familytreemagazine.com 1 MARCH / APRIL 2020 everything’srelative 5 6 Lisa’s Picks Family history faves from the founder of Genealogy Gems, LLC. by Lisa Louise Cooke 8 Tech News New health offerings from DNA companies, key upgrades to 23andMe and Geni, and other updates from the world of genealogy tech. by Sunny Jane Morton 10 Timeline 6 Study up for your English final with this history of punctuation. by David A. Fryxell 12 Family History Home 10 Save your family’s slides with these expert tips. by Denise May Levenick 14 Stories to Tell A young genealogist reveals his family’s long-forgotten legal woes. by Sunny Jane Morton 15 Your Turn Avoid repeating searches with our Online Search Tracker. treetips 63 64 Now What? Expert tips on WWI German “enemy aliens” and WWII US service records. 12 by David A. Fryxell 66 Document Detective Share in your ancestor’s “big day” using marriage bonds and licenses. by George G. Morgan Tech Toolkit 68 IN EVERY ISSUE: How to View Ancestry ThruLines 68 Out on a Limb 3 Roundup: Health add-ons for Tree Talk 4 DNA tests 69 The Rest is History 72 Website: U.S. Newspaper Directory 70 DNA Q&A by Diahan Southard 71 Family Tree Magazine (ISSN 1529-0298) is published six times per year: January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October and November/December by Yankee Publishing Inc., 4445 Lake Forest Drive, Suite 470, Blue Ash OH 45242. Copyright ©2020 Yankee Publishing Inc., Vol. 21, No. 2, March/April 2020. Subscription rates: one year, $36. Canadian subscriptions add $8 per year, other foreign subscriptions add $10 per year for surface mail or $35 per year for air mail and remit in US funds. Postmaster: Send all address changes to Family Tree Magazine, Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32141. Periodicals postage paid at Cincinnati, Ohio and additional mailing offices. Produced and printed in the USA. MEMORABILIA: COURTESY LISA LOUISE COOKE; AMPERSAND: YURIZ/ISTOCK; SLIDES: BGWALKER/ISTOCK SLIDES: YURIZ/ISTOCK; AMPERSAND: COOKE; LOUISE LISA COURTESY MEMORABILIA: 2 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 MARCH/APRIL 2020 / VOLUME 21, ISSUE 2 out on a limb Editor Andrew Koch Art Director Lori Pedrick Photo Editor Heather Marcus Digital Editor Courtney Henderson Bright lights. Mobs of New Media Editor Rachel Fountain screaming fans. The hottest celebrities. Contributing Editors Lisa A. Alzo, Rick Crume, No, it’s not Woodstock or Lollapalooza— David A. Fryxell, Nancy Hendrickson, it’s RootsTech! Sunny Jane Morton, Maureen A. Taylor Alright, so genealogy conferences VP Production and New Media Paul Belliveau, Jr. aren’t quite as rowdy as rock concerts. Production Director Dave Ziarnowski But family historians are no less pas- Production Manager Brian Johnson sionate than music fans. And genealogy’s Senior Production Artists Jenn Freeman, Susan Shute “headliners” are just as influential and Senior Ad Production Coordinator Janet Selle talented in their own world as rock stars New Media Designer Amy O’Brien are in theirs. Digital Marketing Specialist Holly Sanderson In the Beatles-themed “The Fab Four” eCommerce Manager Alan Henning (page 18), Sunny Morton compares the records, family trees, DNA tests and EDITORIAL OFFICES: other key features of the big four geneal- 4445 Lake Forest Drive, Suite 470, Blue Ash, OH 45242 [email protected] ogy websites: Ancestry.com, FamilySe- ADVERTISING: arch, Findmypast and MyHeritage. Their Tim Baldwin, (248) 837-9293, “setlists” might be different, but each [email protected] site hits its own high notes that make it SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION: U.S.: (888) 403-9002; international: (386) 246-3364; worthy of an encore. [email protected] With Sunny’s comparison guide, Rick Crume’s tips on searching digitized cen- Visit FamilyTreeMagazine.com for more genealogy informa- tion and products. suses at each of the “Fab Four” websites (page 56), and our online search tracker Family Tree Magazine, published in the United States, is not affiliated with the British Family Tree Magazine, (page 15), you’ll be ready to hit the stage. with Family Tree Maker software or with Family Tree DNA. Subscriptions to genealogy websites— like ticket prices—can add up quickly. FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE IS A DIVISION OF If you’re looking for something a little YANKEE PUBLISHING, INC: President and CEO Jamie Trowbridge easier on your wallet, you’ll love Dana VP Finance Sandy Lepple McCullough’s list of 50 free records col- VP Human Resources Jody Bugbee lections at for-profit genealogy websites VP Production and New Media Paul Belliveau, Jr. (page 41). And on page 28, Rachel Foun- VP Consumer Marketing Brook Holmberg tain (our New Media Editor who man- VP Single Copy Sales Sherin Pierce ages the Family Tree Magazine Facebook, VP Sales JD Hale, Jr. Twitter and Pinterest pages) shares <www.ypi.com> her favorite chart-topping social media accounts that are free to follow and per- Copyright © 2020 Yankee Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved. fect for genealogists. Family Tree Magazine is a registered trademark of Yankee Publishing, Inc. So sing your hearts out, and dance like no one’s watching. For those about to rock (and find your ancestors): We salute you. familytreemagazine.com 3 TREE TALK We asked for your Have your closest friends best online research subscribe to different sites, tips. Here’s how you then get together and have responded. genealogy research parties. Wendy Wanoyomus via Facebook Keep track of where you’ve researched. Carla Meier via Facebook If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. What you seek may not have been digitized yet. Beth Hanson via Facebook KEEP AN OPEN MIND to all the information you find on docu- ments, because you might find something that will change the validity of some of it. Mary Tyler via Facebook JOIN OUR COMMUNITY! Our members-only online library <www.facebook.com/ of genealogy instruction <www. familytreemagazine> SHOP familytreemagazine.com/ Genealogy how-to downloads, videos and online product/website-vip> @FamilyTreeMag classes <www.familytreemagazine.com/shop> Family Tree Magazine Free genealogy advice from host Lisa Louise Cooke and expert @familytreemag guests iTunes / <www. familytreemagazine.com/ PODCAST podcasts> Correction: The New York state research guide in our December 2019 issue (page 33) had the incorrect phone number for the New York State Department of Health, Vital Records Section. The correct number is 855-322-1022. CJP/ISTOCK PHOTO; VINTAGE MOZZCAN/ISTOCK; PHONE: CELL 4 FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE MARCH/APRIL 2020 ’ everything srelative “THE INTERNET HAS BEEN a wonderful boon to Irish genealogy, but it increases rather than decreases the need for skepticism…Saying ‘I found it on the internet’ is the equiva- lent of saying ‘I don’t know where I found it.’ And if you don’t know where you found information, you don’t know what it means.” Genealogist John Grenham <www.johngrenham.com> writes about the importance of sourcing data and records in online research in the fifth edition of Tracing Your Irish Ancestors (Genealogical Publishing Co.). The book, first published in 1992 and updated in 2019, has become a standard for Irish genealogists, CGLADE /ISTOCK CGLADE covering the major record groups useful to studying ancestors from the Emerald Isle. familytreemagazine.com 5 everything’srelative LISA’S PICKS Spring Fever • Family History on Display Spring is in the air, and that means spring-cleaning time. Spruce up your walls with this clever picture frame, featuring clotheslines filled with family photos. A quick online search of clothesline photo display will bring up several affordable Lisa Louise Cooke options. I hung mine in my laundry room, then topped it off with an upcycled old is the founder of the Genealogy shelf filled with vintage household memorabilia. I don’t know if I like ironing any Gems website and podcast more now than I did before, but the display does put a smile on my face every day! <lisalouisecooke.com>, and host of the Family Tree Podcast <familytree magazine.com/podcasts>.