Join the Famicity Kickstarter Campaign and create your own family “legacy center.” It’s a private, social network designed for extended family members to tie their past, present, and future stories together into one!
Last year at the RootsTech 2016 Innovator Showdown, one of the semi-finalist entries really caught my eye. It was Famicity, a free, private website for families, where you can share pictures, videos, memories and family activities—what founder Guillaume Languereau describes as a “legacy center.” It’s for everyone, not just the few in the family who may be interested in genealogy, even though you can indeed build or import your tree and share it there.
Everyone wants to stay in touch with their family, but it can be difficult to do so on social networks sites that don’t offer the desired level of privacy, or want to take ownership of your precious photos, and other precious information. Famicity is trying to make it easier for you to share your cherished family memories–from the present to the distant past–simply and privately, with all the relatives who helped you create them.
What is Famicity?
Famicity is a social network designed for the collection of family memories, without the feed clogging ads of Facebook! It’s designed to protect, manage, and continue your family’s legacy, no matter where you are in the world. You can share photos, videos, and precious moments with your entire family with privacy and peace of mind.
Famicity is a beautiful private social network where your family can upload and share:
Your family tree;
old family photos (for free), videos, audio, and documents (requires subscription);
new photos (for free) and videos, audio, or documents of the latest family events (requires subscription);
and messages and stories.
You can even create sub-groups within your family network so family members can participate as they wish, and sensitive information can be controlled. These groups are also great for sharing daily errands, commitments, and goals. And yes, you can opt to share to Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram if you wish.
How does Famicity work?
Every person has a profile. Each person can add pictures, stories, and videos to share their stories and add to the family legacy. But the best part is, it’s all about privacy, so it’s invitation-only for your relatives, with no advertising. It can’t be searched or accessed by the public – just your family.
Each invited person can see and comment on the content that has been shared to each of the profiles. And the site is designed to be easy-to-use for all ages. By creating your family tree on Famicity, you make a map of your family’s history, choose who can see your photos and videos, and only your invited family can comment on them. It’s the perfect tool for those who want to share and enjoy their history with one another, a next-generation family photo album and history book wrapped into one!
Becoming a Famicity Member
The company has been very successful in France where it was launched, and Guillaume Languereau is now working to bring the new English platform to the United States and Canada. I’ve been watching it progress over the past year, and now they’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to support their U.S. launch. Kickstarter offers genealogists a way to become early adopters of Famicity, and help them reach their “legacy center” goals.
The Kickstarter campaign begins today, January 30, 2017
Sometimes you find yourself sorting through tons of people with the same last name to see which ones belong on your family tree. This surname research collection at FamilySearch can help you see what other researchers may have spent years compiling about thousands of family groups.
There’s a valuable free but much-overlooked online collection for surname research at FamilySearch.org. These are the family trees of nearly 3000 members of the Guild of One-Name Studies, who are studying nearly 9,000 different surnames. Their resources are strongest for the United Kingdom, where the Guild was founded, but you’ll find members all over the world.
What makes these family trees unique?
There are a couple of things that make these family trees unique:
1. These trees don’t just focus on a mostly-vertical line of ancestors for a single person. Members of the Guild collect everything they can about a particular surname and all its variants (hence the name of the organization). These efforts help organize and connect people with the same surname. Sometimes they help trace the origin of a surname. They can help people explore the variety of spellings and locations associated with different names.
2. These trees are often more fully researched and cited than your average online tree. The Guild takes pride in supporting its members in doing accurate, cited research; keeping their online databases updated; and responding to questions from others about their surname research.
Of course, always use caution when consulting others’ trees. Consider their content to be hints or suggestions until you prove them otherwise yourself. Scrutinize the sources they cite, many of which, say the Guild, aren’t available online elsewhere.
Explore the Guild Surname Research Collections
To explore this helpful free resource, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
1. Go to FamilySearch.org and click Search, then click Genealogies— not Records. (You may also click here to reach that landing page directly.)
2. Enter the surname of interest.
3. Click where it says All next to the Search button.
4. Select Guild of One-Name Studies.
5. Run the search. Click on search results to see:
A. The individual’s name, personal details and (scroll down) associated sources and citation details.
B. The individual’s place in a Guild family tree. Explore this family tree by clicking on someone’s name and seeing their information pop up to the left, where you can also click “View Tree” to see that person’s relatives.
C. Search for names within this tree.
D. This shows you what surname study the information comes from. In this case, you’re also given a link to a separate, associated website for that study.
6. Repeat to learn more about other surnames in your family.
More on Surname Research
If you are interested in learning even more about surnames research, read Social Network Your yDNA with Surname Projects by our own Diahan Southard, and learn how surname study organizations are taking their research into the 21st century with DNA surname projects.
Also, learn more about utilizing DNA in your genealogy research with these 10 DNA quick guides from Your DNA Guide, Diahan Southard. They can be purchased in a bundle in either print or digital format.
Finding marriage records doesn’t have to be difficult. Let us share with you some top tips for locating those hard-to-find marriage records using the FamilySearch marriage record collections this week. Other new and updated record collections include Leicestershire county family history records and Jersey Church of England parish records.
United States – Marriage Records
Harvey Hall and Edna Selby, 1886, Cameden County, Missouri. Photo courtesy of Sunny Morton.
The following states have had their marriage records updated at FamilySearch.org:
We know you know are familiar with how to use these marriage records, but maybe you have had trouble finding the marriage records you need. Here are 3 top tips you could try when searching for marriage records on FamilySearch.org:
1. Search first by the groom’s full name and then the bride’s full name, separately. In this way, if one of them is indexed incorrectly, you may be able to find their marriage record after all.
2. Search only by last name’s and location (county and/or state).
3. Search the states around your targeted state. Sometimes, it was easier to marry in a different state due to marriage laws. Like in the case of Ohio, it was common to go to Kentucky to marry because there was no time requirement between the time of the marriage license and the wedding.
Here is a quick video tutorial showing you exactly how to use these tips!
England – Jersey Church of England Marriage Records
Ancestry.com has also added records to their collection titled Jersey, Church of England Marriages, 1754-1940. The pre-civil registrations typically include the name of the bride and groom, the date of the marriage, and the parish of origin or residence of both parties. Sometimes the occupation of the groom is included or the parentage of the couple. After 1842, the registers of the parishes are all written in a standard format and record further details including the age, status, place of residence, place of birth, occupation, name of father, and father’s occupation.
United Kingdom – Leicestershire & Rutland County – Family History Records
Findmypast has just launched the first phase of a new landmark collection for five centuries of historic records for Leicestershire and Rutland counties. Over 3.5 million records dating back to the reign of Henry VII are now available online.
This new archive spans the years 1490 to 1991 and includes beautifully scanned images of original handwritten documents. When complete, the collection will be the largest online repository of Leicestershire family history records in the world.
There is a variety of documents, including parish records of baptisms, marriages, burials, wills, and probate records dating back to 1490. Also, millions of electoral registers spanning the years 1710 to 1974.
These records cover the ancient counties of Leicestershire and Rutland. However, as some of the collections are drawn from different jurisdictions or were subject to boundary changes, some areas now beyond today’s boundaries, such as Little Bowden and Over and Netherseal, are also included.
Some famous individuals appear in the records like:
The parents of the Elephant Man, Joseph Merrick which can be found in an 1861 marriage register from the parish of Thurmaston.
More on Finding Marriage Records
To learn even more about researching marriage records for family history, listen to Lisa’s free podcast episode titled Using Marriage Records in Family History. This episode is part of a series called Family History: Genealogy Made Easy. This specific podcast is all about marriage records and how to find and utilize them for your research.
If you have not yet taken the opportunity to engage with Genealogy Gems through our free podcast, please join us. You can find the free episodes listed here.
For further in-depth tips and techniques, subscribe as a Premium Member and enjoy the Premium Podcasts just for members! There is always something more to learn in the world of genealogy and we want to share it with you.
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!
Genealogy for adoptees can be a difficult journey. A train ticket from 1856 and one of our most popular Genealogy Gems Book Club titles helped one woman solve an adoption family mystery. Here’s her story.
Ben Brooksbank [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Adoption Mystery: Solved
I recently read an article that I just had to share! Julia Park Tracey’s two-times great grandfather, William Lozier, was adopted. She wanted to trace his family history. Her only clue was the receipt for a train fare from New York’s Home for the Friendless to Oberlin, Ohio that William had. The ticket cost $7.50 and was dated 1856.
With a little bit of easy math, Julia realized that William would have been a three-year old at the time. Can you imagine? Julia was intrigued by the finding, but didn’t think much more about it until she read Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. This piqued her curiosity about Williams’s story and she started researching. What she found was an astonishing story of family struggling to stay together during the hardships of 19th century life.
Along her research journey, Julia learned that William’s mother was widowed in upstate New York in 1848. Consequently, the woman lost the family farm and needed to give up her two oldest boys to an orphanage. She managed to hold on to her oldest daughter and baby William while she worked as a seamstress. Sadly, she still couldn’t make ends meet and ended up placing her last two children in an orphanage as well.
Julia explains in the article: “Martha was undaunted; she worked and saved, and eventually wrote to ask for her children back. The orphanage did not respond. In those days, a child’s moral and spiritual welfare were tantamount, and a single mother was seen as not fit to parent. Nevertheless, she found her way to her daughter, and at least one of her middle sons, if not both. Martha lived the rest of her life with her married daughter and her grandchildren. She died between 1900 and 1910, [but] she never saw nor heard of what had happened to Will.”
With these new pieces of information, Julia was able to trace the line back through time and generations. She even learned a little more about her unexpected DNA results! I am sure it was very satisfying to finally piece together the story of the old train ticket and William’s family story. Even the smallest clues like the old train ticket can lead to long-forgotten stories that add to our family history tapestry. Genealogy is all about persistence, and much like a detective, the smallest piece of evidence can make all the difference!
More on Genealogy for Adoptees
If you’ve been a Premium member for a while, you’ll recall Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. It was one of our first Genealogy Gems Book Club selections—and based on feedback from you, it’s been one of our most popular choices. If you haven’t listened to Premium episode 121 which includes our interview with Christina, I encourage you to go back and listen. In that conversation, you’ll learn about the history of the orphan train riders in the U.S. and Canada and how the author researched it.
Adoption and genealogy often cross paths. More and more genealogists are having to navigating between both birth family and an adopted family pedigrees. Our easy, step-by-step instructions will show you how to merge these two pedigree charts into one with FamilySearch Family Tree and Ancestry.com.
Creating a Birth and Adoption Line with FamilySearch Family Tree
Anyone can create a family tree at FamilySearch.org for free. You need to create your free account first. If you need more instruction on how to get started with a family tree on FamilySearch, click here.
For those of you who already have a FamilySearch family tree you work with, here is how to include both a birth line and adopted line.
In this example below, James Donald Woodard was raised by Robert Cole and Goldie Witt, but is the natural son of Elmer Woodard and Margaret Cole.
Step 1: From the pedigree view, click on the person you would like to have two pedigrees for. Then, choose “Person” to get to the individual’s person page.
Step 2: At James’ person page, scroll down to the “parents and siblings” section. Here, multiple sets of parents can be added by clicking on “Add Parent.” We can also indicate what type of relationship the parent has to the child (choices include: biological, adopted, guardianship, foster, and step) by clicking the little pencil icon at the right of James’ name under the parent couple. Lastly, whichever couple is marked “preferred” will be the parents that will show up in your pedigree view.
Step 3: Add a second set of parents for James by clicking on the “Add Parent” icon and follow the prompts to add the new parents by name.
Step 4: You will have James appearing as a child under each couple. Now, indicate the type of relationship James has with each couple.
Find James in the list of children under Robert and Goldie.
Click on the little pencil icon in his box. A new window will pop-up. You will click on “Add Relationship Type” and then choose the appropriate relationship from the pull-down menu. When you are finished, click “Save.” You will need to do this for both the father and the mother.
You can see that James’ name appears under Robert and Goldie with the relationship noted. (When the relationship is biological, no notation appears.)
James now has two pedigree options. We can easily switch between the pedigrees for James by clicking the preferred button on whichever couple we would like to view. You can change the preferred couple whenever and how-many-ever times you want!
Creating A Birth and Adoption Line at Ancestry.com
Step 1: First, add one set of parents for the individual. You can do this in the pedigree view. Click on “Add Father” or “Add Mother” and fill in the fields for name, date of birth, etc.
Step 2: Add a second set of parents for Jason by clicking on Jason’s name and choosing “Profile.” This takes you to a new screen that looks like this image below.
Step 3: This is Jason’s profile page. You can see his newly added parents, Mason Tennant and Megan Adams. Click the edit button at the top right of the screen and chose “Edit Relationships.”
Step 4: A pop-up window for relationships will appear. Here, you can mark the type of relationship between Jason and Mason. The choices are biological, adopted, step, related, guardian, private, and unknown. After you have chosen the appropriate relationship for the first father, click “Add Alternate Father.”
Step 5: Add the name of the second father and choose the appropriate relationship. You will then be able to choose which father you want to mark “preferred.” Do the same for the mothers.
If we want to see Jason’s birth or adopted family tree, we need only go to his profile page, click “Edit Relationships” at the top right, and mark one set of parents as “preferred.” Then, that couple will show up in the pedigree view.
Adoption genealogy certainly has it’s challenges, but creating a pedigree chart that includes both the birth and adoption lines, doesn’t have to be one of them! Let us know in the comments below how you have included both your birth and adoption lines into your family history. We love to hear from you.
To learn even more about researching marriage records for family history, listen to Lisa’s free podcast episode titled 
