Genealogy & Family Tree Video Classes

Choose from our vast catalog of free and Premium genealogy video classes and tutorials. Start by selecting a topic below. Tip: On desktop use Ctrl F (Win) or Cmd F (Mac) to search the entire list of videos by keyword. Note: The search box and Categories menu on the right (desktop) or the bottom of the page (mobile) apply to audio podcast episodes and articles.

Beginner

DNA

Elevenses

Ethnicities

Google

Maps & Geography

Methodology 

Organization & Preservation

Photos & Videos 

Records

Story & Sharing 

Technology Tools

Websites

Videos marked “Premium” require a Premium Membership. Premium Members also have access to the downloadable ad-free show notes handout for all videos. 

Beginner

Home Research – Family History at Home
15 Freebies for Genealogy
Free Genealogy
Inherited Genealogy – How to Deal with It
Data Flow for Genealogy
Getting Started with DNA Testing (Premium)
Google.com Getting Better Search Results (Premium)
Evernote for Genealogy  – Beginner
FamilySearch Strategy Essentials
FamilySearch Wiki Navigation
Take Control of Preserving Your Family History Information (Premium)
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DNA

5 Tips for Understanding DNA Results with Diahan Southard (Premium)
Autosomal DNA Results: Make the Most of Them with Diahan Southard (Premium)
DNA: Glue that Holds Families Together with Diahan Southard (Premium)
DNA Match with No Tree? No Problem! (Premium)
DNA Problem Solving
DNA Q&A with Ancestry’s Crista Cowan
DNA Painter Quick review with Blaine Bettinger
Forensic Genealogist – How to Become One with Dr. Claire Glen
Forensic Genealogy Future and Phenotyping (Premium)
Gedmatch Shared Matches Tool with Diahan Southard (Premium)
Getting Started with DNA Testing with Diahan Southard (Premium)
Organizing Your DNA Matches with Diahan Southard (Premium)
Mitochondrial DNA Quick Introduction with Diahan Southard (Premium)
Mitochondrial DNA Match Page Quick Overview with Diahan Southard (Premium)
MyHeritage DNA Genetic Groups
MyHeritage DNA Results: Get the Most Out of Them (Premium)
YDNA Quick Introduction with Diahan Southard (Premium)
YDNA Haplogroups Quick Overview with Diahan Southard (Premium)

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Elevenses with Lisa (2020: The 1st Year)

  1. Pilot (Premium)
  2. Research Plan (Premium)
  3. BSO Strategies (Premium)
  4. Mobile Organization (Premium)
  5. Online Organization
  6. Organization Paper (Premium)
  7. Organizing Data Q-A (Premium)
  8. Organize Digital (Premium)
  9. Evernote (Premium)
  10. Saving Your Genealogy from Destruction (Premium)
  11. Inspiring Ways to Captivate Non-Genealogists (Premium)
  12. Google Earth (Premium)
  13. Google Search – Get Better Results (Premium)
  14. Creating Family History Videos (Premium)
  15. Learning from History (Premium)
  16. Using Adobe Spark Video (Premium)
  17. Ancestry Top Tips (Premium)
  18. Irish Genealogy Professional Consultation (Premium)
  19. Filling Blanks in Your Research (Premium)
  20. House History
  21. Free Genealogy
  22. Your Ancestor’s Neighborhood (Premium)
  23. Google Photos
  24. Your Online Mindset (Premium)
  25. Elevenses with Lisa Viewers Voices (Premium)
  26. Newspaper Navigator and the Library of Congress
  27. Google Lens for Genealogy
  28. House Photo ID
  29. Family Bible
  30. Google Books
  31. Allen County Genealogy Center
  32. Artificial Intelligence
  33. Early American Genealogy (New England)
  34. Passenger lists
  35. Viewer Voices 2 (Premium)
  36. Rumsey Maps
  37. Provenance of Records
  38. A Cup of Christmas Tea with Tom Hegg (Dec 2020)

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Ethnicities

German Genealogy for Beginners
German Villages – How to find them
Irish Genealogy Expert Solutions Beginner Part 1 (Premium)
Irish Genealogy Filling in the Blanks Intermediate Part 2 (Premium)
Italian Genealogy
Italian Dual Citizenship
Jewish Genealogy
Native American Genealogy
Public Records Office of Ireland

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Google

The Genealogist’s Google Search Methodology (Premium)
Google: Common Surname Search Strategies (Premium)
Google – Getting Better Search Results (Premium)
Google – 5 Genealogy Search Hacks (Premium)
Google – 5 Search Secrets for Genealogy (Premium)
Google – More Search Strategies (Premium)
Google – How to Reconstruct Your Ancestor’s World (Rootstech 2023)
Google Books – Getting Started (Premium)
Google Books – 10 Surprising Finds
Google Books – New Features
Google Drive (Premium)
Google Images Best Search Strategies
Google Lens for Genealogy
Google Photos Introductory Tour
Google Scholar for Genealogy
(Premium) 

Get Lisa’s book: The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox
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Maps & Geography

5 Ways to Use Old Maps in Your Research (Premium)
Best Websites for Finding Old Maps (Premium)
Create a Historic Map Collection for Your Research (Premium)
Davidrumsey.com Free Maps and How to Find Them
Exporting MyMaps to Import into Google Earth 
Google Earth for Genealogy
(Beginner) 
Google Earth – How to Plot Land
Google Earth: Time Travel (Premium)
Google Earth – Ways to Use it for Genealogy (Premium)
House History Research (Premium)
House Photo Identification
Illuminating Locations (Premium)
Neighborhoods in Google Earth (Premium)
Paths – Create Emigration Paths in Google Earth (Premium)
Rural Address – How to Find & Map Them
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps – Beginner (Premium)
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Applying them to Research – Intermediate (Premium)
Sanborn Fire Insurance Map Collection at LOC
Towns of Origin – 16 Ways to Find Them

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Methodology

Big Picture in Little Details (Premium)
Birthdates Conflict and How to Solve It
Cold Case Strategies (Premium)
Finding Hard-to-Find Records
Free Genealogy
Home Research – Family History at Home
How Alice the Genealogist Avoids Rabbit Holes (Premium)
Living Relatives – How to Find Them (Premium)
Maiden Names 12 Strategies for Finding Them
Newspapers – How to Get the Scoop on Your Ancestors (Premium)
Productivity and BSOs (Premium)
Rate Your Readiness for Genealogy Success
Research Plans (Premium)
Restart Your Genealogy
Source Citations
Story Behind Genealogy Records
Timelines – Beginner (Premium)
Towns of Origin – 16 Ways to Find Them
Transcription and Analysis (Premium)
Witness Research

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Organization & Preservation

Archival Storage Options
Clean Up Your Genealogy Database
(Premium)
DAR – How to Join
Data Organization (Premium)
Digital Organization (Premium)
Digital Preservation Library of Congress Style
Documenting Family History with Shotbox
Evernote Organization (Premium)
Evernote: Organize Your Research (Premium)
Hard Drive Organization Part (Premium)
Heirlooms – Passing Them and Their Stories On (Premium)
How Alice the Genealogist Avoids the Rabbit Hole Parts 1 & 2
How Alice the Genealogist Avoids the Rabbit Hole Parts 3 & 4
Inherited Genealogy – How to Deal with It
Inspiring Relatives’ Interest to Protect the Family History (Premium)
Mobile Computing Organization (Premium)
Online Productivity (Premium)
Organize All this Stuff! (Premium)
Organize Your Online Life
(Premium)
Paper Organization (Premium)
Save Your Research from Destruction (Premium)
Take Control of Preserving Your Family Tree Information (Premium)
5 Family History Holiday Ideas

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Photos & Videos

5 Ways to Improve Old Home Movies
Creating Family History Story Videos (Premium)
Dead Fred – The Secret to Finding Old Family Photos
(Photo) Digital Preservation Library of Congress Style
Edit Your Home Movies
Frith Photo Collection at FindMyPast
Google Images (Photos) Best Search Strategies
Google Photos Introductory Tour
House Photo Identification
How to Make a Video with an Adobe App (Premium)
Solving Unidentified Photo Album Cases (Premium)
Video Magic (Creating Family History Videos) Part 1 (Premium)
Video Magic (Creating Family History Videos) Part 2 (Premium)
Video Magic (Creating Family History Videos) Part 3 (Premium)
Videos – 10 Ways to Add Volume to Family History with Videos (Premium)

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Records

1931 Canada Census – 4 Fast Search Strategies
1950 Census Overview
1950 Census Questions
1950 Census Enumeration District Maps
1950 Census Indexing at FamilySearch
1950 Census Search Strategies (Premium)
1890 Census & Substitute Records
15 Freebies for Genealogy
Cemetery Research & Finding the Stories
Church Record (Premium)
Comparing the Newspaper Giants (with Sunny Morton) (New)
Compiled Family Histories at Ancestry 
Compiled Family Histories & Genealogies
– Best Places to Find Them (Premium
Early American Ancestor Records with NEHGS
Ellis Island Records (Passenger, Customs & Detention LIsts)
Family Bibles (Premium)
Freedmen’s Bureau (Premium)
Institutional Records (Premium)
Marriage Records – 5 Steps for Finding Them
Marriage Records Case Study with J. Mark Lowe
Marriage Records and Gretna Green with J. Mark Lowe
Newspapers – Getting the Scoop on Your Ancestors
Newspapers – 5 Top Research Tips
Newspapers at Google Books 
Newspapers – Finding Family Recipes
Newspapers – Reconstructing Your Ancestor’s Life
Newspaper Navigator at the Library of Congress
Newspapers.com – Digging Deeper (Premium)
Obituaries at Newspapers.com
Ohio Records at Ohio Memory (Premium)
Passenger Lists (Ellis Island Records)
Passenger Lists Deciphering
PERSI Like a Pro! with Allison Singleton (Premium)
School Records
Virginia Early Records

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Story & Sharing

Airplane! Director David Zucker on Family History
Behind the Scenes with Director David Zucker (Premium)
Christmas Cup of Tea with Author Tom Hegg
Creating Family History Story Videos (Premium)
Crime Stories with Author Nathan Dylan Goodwin
Elevenses with Lisa Pilot Episode (Premium)
Emigration Paths Tours in Google Earth) (Premium)
Genealogy Gems Viewer Voices 1 (Premium)
Genealogy Gems Viewer Voices 2 (Premium)
Inspiring Non-Genealogists in Your Life (Premium)
Instagram & Pinterest for Genealogy (Premium)
Interview Questions (Premium)
Learning from History with Daniel Horowitz (Premium)
Family History Narrative Research 
Reconstructing Your Family’s Amazing Stories (Premium)
Self Publish a Book! 
Share Your Life Story in a More Meaningful Way (Premium)
World War II Fallen Stories
Writing and Publishing a Family History Book

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Technology Tools

10 Tech Tools You Can’t Live Without (Premium)
Artificial Intelligence
AI Chatbots and Genealogy – should you use them?
AI Time Machine at MyHeritage
Apps – How to Find Essential Apps for Genealogy (Premium)
Cloud Backup (Premium)
Data Flow for Genealogy
Dropbox (Premium)
Evernote for Genealogy  – Beginner
Evernote: 10 Projects to Enhance Your Genealogy (Premium)
Evernote and Collaborative Genealogy (Premium)
Evernote: Creating a Research Plan in Evernote (Premium)
Evernote Organization (Premium)
Evernote: Organize Your Research (Premium)
Evernote: Making It Effortless to Use for Genealogy (Premium)
Evernote versus Snagit
Future of Technology & Genealogy (Premium)
GEDCOMs
Google Drive (Premium)
iPad – Genealogy on the Go (Premium)
Newspaper Navigator at the Library of Congress
Online Mindset – Take Control of Your Online Activity (Premium)
RootsMagic with Founder Bruce Buzbee
Snagit (Beginner)
Snagit (Intermediate)
Tech Can Wreak Havoc on Genealogy (Premium)
Time Travel Technology (Premium)
VPNs – Why I Use One
YouTube – Find Your Family History

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Websites

Which Genealogy Website Should I Use? (Premium)
Ancestry – Compiled Family Histories 
Ancestry Top Search Tips (Premium)
Ancestry – What’s this Records Hint? Geneanet
ArchiveGrid (Premium) 
Ellis Island Passenger Search
FamilySearch Strategy Essentials
FamilySearch Wiki Navigation(Beginner)
FamilySearch Wiki Deep Dive (Premium)
Genealogy Center at Allen Co Public Library Website
Genealogy Giants – Comparing Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, Findmypast (Premium)
Google Scholar for Genealogy (Premium) 
History Hub (NARA) 
Internet Archive – 10 Records You’ll Love to Find
MyHeritage – 10 Don’t Miss Features
Newspaper Navigator at the Library of Congress
Newspapers.com – Digging Deeper (Premium)
One-Step WebPages with Steve Morse
PERSI Like a Pro! with Allison Singleton (Premium)
State Library of Pennsylvania
U.S. National Archives – In Person Access
U.S. National Archives Website
WikiTree (Beginner)
WorldCat – 5 Things You Should Do

10 Surprising Things You Can Find at Google Books

Google Books: Elevenses with Lisa Episode 30

Who doesn’t love a good genealogical surprise? Sometimes we discover something we overlooked the first time around. Other times we find gems in places we never expected. Google Books is one of those places full of unexpected surprises.  

10 surprising things to find at Google Books

with Lisa Louise Cooke

What is Google Books

Google Books is a free online catalog of over 25 million books, 10 million of which are digitized and searchable. The collection is international in scope.

You can search at the stand-alone website. You can also start your search at Google.com and then select Books results on the search results page.

While you would expect to find books at Google Books, you may be surprised to discover there it also includes many other types of published materials. Here are 10 surprising things you can find at Google Books. Watch the video and follow along in the article below.

10 Surprising Things at Google Books

1. Magazines

The final issue of Ancestry magazine was published in 2010. Though times and technology change, core genealogical methodology stays much the same. Browse or search past issues spanning 1994 through 2010 at Google Books for free. You’ll also find countless other magazine titles including Life magazine (1953-1972).

Quickly access all the issues of Ancestry magazine at Google Books.
Browse all of the magazines at Google Books.

2. City Directories

An ideal way to fill in between census enumerations is with city directories. Typically published yearly but sometimes irregularly, they are an invaluable source for information about your ancestors. You might find listed their place of employment and spouse’s name in addition to address and phone number.

Search Tip: Target city directories specifically by searching for the name of the city in quotation marks. Google interprets quotation marks to mean that you want that word exactly as written to appear in each returned result. Next add the phrase city directory, again in quotes. To ensure you don’t miss directories that include additional words between city and directory, place an asterisk between the words.

Here’s how your search will look:  “Nashville” “city * directory”

This search operator tells Google that the phrase may also include a word or two between city and directory. An example might be The Nashville City and Business Directory.

3. Almanacs

When we hear the word almanac we often automatically think of the yearly Old Farmer’s Almanac. However, almanacs of the 19th century and earlier sometimes also included information on local residents and businesses. It’s worth taking a look to see if your ancestor’s community published almanacs. Businesses and other organizations also published almanacs.

4. Governmental Publications

It’s not uncommon for every person at some point in their life to interact with the government. Those interactions create paperwork, and that paperwork may have been published. In Google books, search for probate documents, hearings and other types of government generated works in combination with the names of your ancestors, their businesses, and other organizations with which they were associated.

5. County Histories

The digitized items on Google Books are often there because they either fall within the public domain (published prior to 1924). Consequently, there is a very good chance that the county history published in your ancestor’s area is digitized and available on Google Books. These books are a wealth of historical information about families and communities.

6. Compiled Family Histories

There’s a good chance that sometime in the past someone has researched a family line that connects to your family tree. These genealogies may be published in a compiled family history. Since the phrase compiled family history will probably not be in the title of the book, try this search approach:
1. Search for the word genealogy (no quotation marks) and a surname (with quotation marks)
2. Filter to Free Google eBooks
3. Filter by time frame (for example 19th century)

7. Newspapers

The Google News Archive was a newspaper digitization project that was discontinued several years ago. The archive remains but is very difficult to search. The good news is that those digitized newspapers are now included in Google Books with its powerful search engine. Start by running a search and then on the results page filter Document Type to Newspapers. Use the Share a Clip clipping tool (found in the three stacked dots button on the digitized book page) to clip articles.

Newspapers may appear in the old Classic View of Google Books (as they do at the time of this writing.) If so, use the search box in the column on the left side of the page to search within the newspaper.

Search Tip: Save time by visiting the Google News Archive to see which newspapers are included and the years that they cover. 

8. Genealogy Journals

The oldest genealogy journal has been published quarterly by the New England Historical and Genealogical Society since 1847. Since then many other societies such as the Genealogical Society of Utah have regularly published journals. These journals often list families and sources and are an invaluable resource to genealogists today. Family Associations also often publish journals.

Try a simple search of genealogy journal to start browsing. Then try adding a surname, state, or country or combination of those. Filter down to Free Google eBooks to view only free digitized publications.

Family Journal at Google Books

The Historical Journal of the More Family. United States: John More Association, 1892.

9. Maps

Old maps can be found in  many of the surprising items we’ve found so far. County Histories in particular are a wonderful resource of old maps. Many times, they will include plat maps that even include the owners name written on the property. Many maps may be one-of-a-kind.

A quick and easy way to spot maps within a book is to use Thumbnail View. You’ll find the Thumbnail View button (which looks like a checkerboard or collection of six squares) at the top of the screen when viewing a digitized book. Once clicked, your view will change from a single page to many pages at once. This makes it very easy to scroll and spot maps. You can also try looking through the Contents menu for Maps.

Use the Share a Clip feature (mentioned in #7) to clip the map. In the pop-up box, click the Copy button next to the image link. Paste the link in a new browser tab and hit Enter on your keyboard. On a PC, right-click the image and save it to your computer by selecting Save Image As.

10. Photographs

Like old maps, there are many photographs and images in old digitized books at Google Books. These could include photos, engravings and drawings of your ancestors, their homes or other items relating to your family history. Follow the directions in #9 to find and save photos and images.

Tips for using Google Books

When reviewing a digitized book, look for the Contents menu at the top of the screen. Here you’ll find addition options to jump to different parts of the book such as topics or chapters.

In the new Google Books user interface, you will find the digitized book is overlayed over the catalog entry for the book. The search box at the top of the screen is for searching only within that book. To close the book and view the catalog entry, click the X in the upper right corner of the screen.

To remove the yellow highlighted items, you searched for from a book and start a new search, click the Clear Search button.

Translate foreign language text by using the clipping tool. While viewing a digitized page, click the three stacked dots and select Share a Clip. Using your mouse, draw a box around the text you want to translate. In the Share this Clip pop-up window click the Translate button.

How to filter your search results down to only free digitized book: On the search results page you should see that the Tools button is greyed out (if it is not, click it) and in the drop down menu click Any Books and select Free Google eBooks.

How to cite books in Google Books: Close the digitized book to reveal the book’s catalog entry page. In the About this edition click the Create Citation button. Copy the desired source citation.

Resources

  • Book: The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox by Lisa Louise Cooke. Learn everything you need to know about effective searching as well as using Google Books and the Google News Archive.
  • Premium Members: Watch my Premium video class Google books the Tool I Use Every Day for many more specific and effective strategies for using Google Books for genealogy.
  • Bonus Download exclusively for Premium Members: Download the show notes handout
  • Become a Genealogy Gems Premium Member today. 

Answers to Your Live Chat Questions

One of the advantages of tuning into the live broadcast of each Elevenses with Lisa show is participating in the Live Chat and asking your questions.

From Carolyn: ​Can you put in a year range for the city directory search
From Lisa: Yes, you can use the numrange search operator when searching Google Books. Example: “Nashville” “city * directory” 1850..1900

From Regina: What if you have a really common surname?
From Lisa:
Common names pose a challenge but you can find them too! It takes a bit more strategy, and I cover that extensively in my book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox.

From Mary: ​Could you find diaries, journals, and manuscripts? What would it be under?
From Lisa: If the items were formally published then there is definitely a possibility of finding them in Google Books. Run a search on diary and filter down to Free Google eBooks and you will see many examples. From there, you can try adding names, places, etc. 

From Kathryn: ​When you clip a map or image, how can you add the citation of the book?
From Lisa: Click the X to close the digitized book. This will reveal the book’s catalog entry page. In the About this edition click the Create Citation button. Copy the desired source citation. You can then paste it into the document where you are using the clipping, or paste it into the meta data (Properties) of the image file. 

From Georgiann: ​Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with the ALL of this good information. Lisa, are you cloned so I can have you sit next to me to calm me down as I start?
From Lisa: Well, as you heard in this episode it turns out I don’t have a twin, LOL! However, Premium Membership is the next best thing. Then you can have me “on demand” all year long. 

 

Plotting Land with Google Earth Pro

The places where your ancestors lived can tell you a lot about their lives. I’m going to show you a free and easy technique for plotting land in Google Earth. 

plotting land in google earth

episode 67

Would you like to be able to find your ancestor’s property on a map today? Keep reading and watch the video to learn how. We’re going to take U.S. government survey legal land descriptions found in sources such as Federal Land Patents and quickly and easily plot the boundaries in Google Earth Pro. I’ll also show you an easy way to do it for property in Canada too. 

 

Episode 67 Show Notes 

Genealogy Gems Premium Membership

(PREMIUM MEMBERS: Get your ad-free PDF cheat sheet for this episode in the Resources section at the bottom of this page. Not a member yet? Click here to join the Genealogy Gems family and get all the benefits.)

In the video I show you how to plot the boundaries of a piece of land in Google Earth. We’re going to take U.S. government survey legal land descriptions found in sources such as Federal Land Patents and quickly and easily plot the boundaries in Google Earth Pro. I’ll also show you an easy way to do it for property in Canada too. These strategies come from my book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox,

Download or Update the Free Google Earth Pro Software

These days there are actually three versions of Google Earth:

  • Google Earth downloadable software
  • Google Earth for Chrome Web browser
  • Google Earth app

All are free, but they are not the same. The app and web browser versions are sort of “Google Earth lite.” The software is what you want because it has all the bells and whistles that will allow you to do all the things I’m going to show you today.

Plotting legal land descriptions in Google Earth has its advantages. If you’re plotting the land of your ancestors, you’ll be able to see what the area looks like today and what the current street names are. In Google Earth you’ll also have access to additional tools that you can use in conjunction with the boundaries you’re going to create, such as historic maps, area photos, and a wide range of data sets that provide more information about the area.

The first thing to do is check to make sure you have the most current version of Google Earth on your computer. Again, we’re using the software so you need to do this on your desktop or laptop computer. You want to make sure you have Google Earth Pro – LINK – A tell tale sign that you don’t is if the Google Earth globe icon on your desktop is grey and not blue. Open it and in the menu go to Help > About Google Earth. Here it should say Google Earth Pro and you can see the version number.

Check the current version number here, and if you don’t already have the program, go ahead and download it.

Now that you have it on your computer, open it up and leave it running in the background. You’ll need a decent internet connection for it to run.

Next pull up the legal land description that you want to plot. Here’s one that I have for some property owned by George Burket. I found this at the Bureau of Land Management Government Land Office Records website. This free website is where you can search for land patent that your ancestors once held.

legal land description - plot in Google Earth

Legal land description at GLO

Even though the Bureau of Land Management places it on the map on their website, you can’t download this or add to it. The advantage of plotting this in Google Earth is that you will have access to much more geographic data, you can add many more details to the map, you can use it in conjunction with other related mapping work that you’re doing, and you can save and share it.  

This description gives us the exact coordinates of the property. Jot down the land description or keep it open in your browser tab so you can refer to it.

In a new browser tab, we’re going to type in http://www.earthpoint.us. This will take us to the Earth Point website.

Search by legal land description

Search by legal land description at Earth Point

This website is free, although some of the features are available only with a paid subscription. Thankfully, the tool for plotting your ancestor’s land patent is free. Some of the free features do require that you sign up for a free account. The feature we are going to use currently does not.

On the Township and Range – Search by Description  page you will see a field for each piece of information found in the land description. It’s important to enter this information in the order presented starting with the State. Select the state from the drop-down menu. Pause a moment to allow the fields to recalculate. This allows the appropriate data to be loaded into the next field based on your selection.

searching land description to plot in Google Earth

Entering data at Earth Point

After you have made each selection, click the Fly to on Google Earth button. This will generate a KML file which can be saved to your computer. KML stands for Keyhole Markup Language, which is the file type that Google Earth uses and understands. KMZ are zipped KML files which also are used by Google Earth.

Save the file to the desired location on your hard drive. Then click the file to open it. It will automatically open in Google Earth (which you already have open). The KML file is now located in your Temporary Places folder in the Places panel. The land is has now been automatically plotted on the map.

The orange outline is the township. In this example it is township T20N R14E. Click the orange ball in the center of the township for details. In the details you’ll find the total number of acres in the township, the latitude and longitude coordinates for the center of the township and corners.

Township in Google Earth

Township in Google Earth

The pink / magenta outline is the Section where the property is. Click the pink center dot for the details:

Land section in Google Earth

Land section in Google Earth

In this example Section 9 consists of 648 acres.

Notice that Earth Point was able to plot the land down to the Section level. However George Burket did not own the entire section. We must return to the land description for the Aliquots.

Aliquots in Legal Land Description

Aliquots in Legal Land Description

In this example, the land was the southeast quarter (SE1/4) of section 9. The land was a total of 160 acres.

We can use the Polygon tool in Google Earth to plot the 160 acres. In the toolbar, click the Polygon tool. This will open the New Polygon dialog box. Type a title, description and source citation.

As you hover your mouse over the map you will notice that the cursor is now a square shape. Click the screen on each of the four corners one at a time in order to set the four corners of the property – in this case the southeast quarter of the section. Once you have drawn the shape you can click on the handle on any corner to adjust precisely.

Click the Style / Color tab in the New Polygon dialog box to adjust the color and opacity of the acreage polygon. You can add color and thickness to the outline, and color and opacity to the fill of the shape. When you have it set the way you want it, click OK to close the New Polygon box. The Polygon is now set.

Moving Plotted Land in the Places Panel

On the left side of the Google Earth screen you will see a series of panels: Search, Places and Layers. At the bottom of the Places panel is the Temporary folder. This is where the KML file was placed when it was opened. However, like its name implies, this is a temporary location. If you want to keep it, you’ll need to move it to a filed location within the Places panel. This will not change the position of the polygon on the map, only where it is filed and saved in the Places panel.

To file a polygon, click on the file in the Places panel, drag it to the desired location, and drop it.  Next, go the main menu and click File > Save My Places. This will save your work so that when you close the program it will not be lost. Google Earth doesn’t auto-save.

Turning Google Earth Polygons On and Off

The polygon plotting the acreage will be visible on the map when the box is checked in the Places panel. If you uncheck the box for the polygon it will still be there, but it will not be visible on the map. This allows you to create and save many items of interest without always having to have them displayed and cluttering up the map in Google Earth.

How to Edit a Polygon in Google Earth

After your land polygon has been set, you may want to rename it. There are two ways to do this:

  1. On a PC right-click on the polygon, either on the map or in the Places panel, and select Rename from the pop-up menu. Type the new name and then press Enter on your keyboard.
  2. Click to select the polygon in the Places panel (highlighting it in blue) and then go to the main menu to Edit > Rename. Type the new name and then press Enter on your keyboard.

You can also restyle the polygon and edit the text. Start by going to the Places panel and click the arrow pointing at the Polygon’s globe icon. This will open it and show the nested content. Click to select the Polygon. Now you can right-click it (PC) and select Properties – OR – go to the menu under Edit > Properties. Either way it will reopen the Polygon dialog box so that you can make the desired changes. When you’re done, click the OK button to close the Polygon.

Saving and Sharing Plotted Land

Snagit is the tool I used to capture the various views of the land I plotted in Google Earth. Learn more about Snag it by watching my videos and reading the show notes for episode 61 (for beginners) and episode 66 (advanced). 

Plotting Canadian Land

Although the Earth Point website doesn’t plot Canadian land, the Legal Land Description Converter website does. It can help you find land in Western Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan & Manitoba) subdivided by the Dominion Land Survey (DLS) and the Alberta Township System (ATS).

How to Plot Canadian Land

  1. Go to Legal Land Description Converter at https://www.legallandconverter.com.
  2. Enter the Section, Township, Range and Meridian information from the land description.
  3. Click the Calc button.
  4. Click the generated KML file and save it to your computer.
  5. Click the file to open it in Google Earth. It will open in the Temporary folder.
  6. It will fly you the location on the map and outline it for you.
  7. Rename the file if desired, and add source information.
  8. Add source citation.
  9. Drag and drop it to the desired location in your Places panel.
  10. Save your work: File > Save My Places.

Resources

These show notes feature everything we cover in this episode. Premium Members: download this exclusive ad-free show notes cheat sheet PDF.  Not a member yet? Learn more and join the Genealogy Gems and Elevenses with Lisa family here

Genealogy Gems Premium Membership
 
Watch more videos about using Google Earth for genealogy in the “Geographic” section of the on-demand Premium Video classes. (membership required)

Answers to Live Chat Questions

Gwynn: ​I would like to know how to match plat with GPS coordinate/ current street address.
Answer: I cover how to overlay a plat map in Google Earth and discover the current street address in my book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox. 

Roger D​: How exact do you need to be in picking points? Does Google snap to mid-points of lines? 
Answer: Try to be as exact as you can, however as I showed in the video you can reposition them as needed. Google Earth doesn’t snap. 

Lyn: ​Can I do this with English tithe maps?
Answer: There isn’t a website converter that I know of. However I do cover how to overlay digitized maps in Google Earth in my book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox. 

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