MyHeritage DNA Updates 2019

MyHeritage made some exciting DNA announcements at RootsTech 2019! We’ve got the recap here about all of the new tools that will help genealogists find their ancestors and living relatives: The Theory of Family Relativity™ and AutoClusters. These groundbreaking new premium features will provide solid leads on your genetic matches and their relationships to you, with clear and intuitive displays to help you visualize your data like never before. 

The Theory of Family Relativity™

MyHeritage has recently announced and launched what they’re calling the “holy grail” of genetic genealogy – and I’m inclined to agree! The Theory of Family Relativity™ finally bridges the gap between DNA matches and historical records by providing you with leads that explain the relationship between your matches based on both their DNA database AND their entire collection of family trees and historical records. MyHeritage replicates both the Geni and FamilySearch trees into their “Big Tree,” so the amount of time you’ll save on guesswork and cross-referencing is incalculable. You’ll still want to examine the theories that are presented and practice good genealogical methods to verify the correctness. But for the first time, historical records are now being factored into your match results automatically. Time for the genealogy happy dance!”

“Through this new feature, we provide you with leads explaining the relationship between your matches based on our entire collection of family trees and historical records, removing the guesswork, and saving you hours of research time. You can then examine the theories and the information associated with them and verify their correctness.

The Theory of Family Relativity™ is based on a big data graph that connects billions of data points drawn from thousands of databases on MyHeritage, in real time. We call it internally the “Big Tree”. Every node on this graph represents a person, and every edge depicts a blood relationship between two individuals that is described in a family tree or a historical record; or a match between two tree profiles that are likely to be the same person; or two records that are likely to be about the same person.”

Here are the key takeaways from this new feature:

  1. The family trees and records used to develop the theory are fully integrated and accessible. From their blog: “Click “View full theory” to see a more detailed view that shows which family trees and historical records were used to establish the theory.”
  2. You may receive multiple theories about one match, and multiple paths showing how the algorithm came to that theory. Or you may receive none. The bigger your tree is, the better, and as more data is uploaded over time, the more information is available for the algorithm to find these theories.
  3. These are just theories, similar to hints. You still need to view and verify the sources yourself.

Theory of Family Relativity™ is a premium feature that requires a site subscription on MyHeritage (Premium or PremiumPlus or Complete). Users without a subscription will still see all theories that we found for them, but when they click to see the full theory details, some of the information will be hidden. For full details and explanations of how to access and use this feature, visit the MyHeritage blog

Autoclusters

From the blog: “We’re excited to introduce AutoClusters — a new genetic genealogy tool that groups together DNA Matches that likely descend from common ancestors in a compelling visual chart. This easy-to-use tool helps you explore your DNA Matches more efficiently in groups rather than as numerous individuals, and gain insights about branches in your family tree.”

One of the limitations of DNA testing for genealogy is that testing companies can often only predict your match’s relationship to you, and genetically speaking, there are a lot of possibilities. For a family historian, estimated relationships can be a good lead, but often cause more frustration than assistance in their research. MyHeritage’s new AutoClusters tool aims to alleviate that frustration and provide helpful insights when a concrete relationship cannot be confirmed. 

“AutoClusters organizes your MyHeritage DNA Matches into shared match clusters that likely descended from common ancestors. By grouping together DNA Matches who likely belong to the same branch and have a common ancestor, AutoClusters can be very helpful in shedding light on the relationship paths that connect you and your matches. By reviewing family trees of clustered matches, users can piece together the entire branch. Clusters are color-coded for convenience and are presented in a powerful visual chart, as well as in list format.”

AutoClusters is a premium feature that requires a website subscription on MyHeritage (Premium, PremiumPlus or Complete). Learn more about accessing and using the new AutoClusters tool on the MyHeritage Blog

 

Get started with MyHeritage DNA today!

You can order a MyHeritage DNA kit right now for just $59 during their St. Patrick’s Day sale! As a bonus, get free shipping when you order 2 or more kits. This sale price is valid through March 18, 2019. If you’ve already tested with another testing company, you can also upload your results to MyHeritage for FREE! You’ll get unlimited free matching as well as the ability to contact your matches. To access these new features and other tools like the ethnicity estimate, shared ancestral places, chromosome browser, etc., it’s a simple one-time charge of $29. Click here to get started with MyHeritage DNA today!

Listen to Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 227

Featuring the full length interview with Ran Snir, MyHeritage DNA Product Manager
(Click player on the right to unmute sound)

Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode 227

Genealogy Gems Episode 227

This episode is all about the biggest announcements coming out of RootsTech 2019. Highlights include:

  • All the major announcements from MyHeritage and Ancestry at RootsTech 2019
  • Exclusive interview with MyHeritage DNA Product Manager Ran Snir about their newest genetic genealogy tools The Theory of Family Relativity  and AutoClusters.

Download the Show Notes PDF in the Genealogy Gems Podcast app

 

Download the episode (mp3)

Please take our quick PODCAST SURVEY which will take less than 1 minute.  Thank you!

News: Major Announcements Made at RootsTech 2019

Ancestry Announcements:

Historical records:

Ancestry just released over 5 million Mexico Catholic records and 1 million new France Census and Birth, Marriage, Death records and have several U.S. statewide projects underway, from New York to Hawaii. They also released US WWII Draft Cards from seven states. By early next year, the full set of WWII Draft Cards – all 33 million — will be exclusively available on Ancestry and Fold3.

DNA Tools:

MyTreeTags™:
“MyTreeTags™ allows you to add tags to people in your family tree to indicate whether your research on them is confirmed or verified, or to record personal details, like “never married.” You can also create your own custom tags to note that a person immigrated from Denmark or worked as a blacksmith. You can even use filters as you search your tree to see everyone with the same tag.  MyTreeTags™ is one way we can help you save time and enrich your ancestor profile.” You can join the MyTreeTags™ and New & Improved DNA Matches beta at https://www.ancestry.com/BETA

New & Improved DNA Matches:
“We have redesigned the DNA Matches experience to help you make more discoveries, faster. Now you can easily sort, group and view your DNA Matches any way you’d like.  New features include color coding and custom labeling offering you more control over how you group and view the matches, quicker identification of your newest matches and new ways to filter your matches.

ThruLines™
“ThruLines™ shows you the common ancestors who likely connect you to your DNA Matches—and gives you a clear and simple view of how you’re all related.  When you link your public or private searchable family tree to your AncestryDNA results, new chapters of your family story may be revealed. ThruLines™ will roll out gradually to all customers who qualify beginning today.”

Source: https://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2019/02/28/ancestry-announces-coveted-content-releases-and-new-game-changing-family-history-research-tools-at-rootstech-2019/

MyHeritage Announcements:

AutoClusters
“A new genetic genealogy tool that groups together DNA Matches that likely descend from common ancestors in a compelling visual chart. This easy-to-use tool helps you explore your DNA Matches more efficiently in groups rather than as numerous individuals, and gain insights about branches in your family tree.”

DNA Quest Now Accepting Applications
“In March 2018 we launched DNA Quest, a pro bono initiative in which we pledged to donate 15,000 DNA kits to adoptees and those seeking to reunite with family members who were placed for adoption. Within a few months, all the DNA kits we allocated for this initiative were sent out. Applicants opened up to us to share their emotional stories of searching, their hopes for future reunions, and the sense of belonging they felt thanks to their participation in DNA Quest…Following the success of the initiative, we have decided now to extend DNA Quest and donate 5,000 additional MyHeritage DNA kits, for free, to eligible participants.”

Digitizing of Israeli Cemeteries Completed 
MyHeritage has completed a 5-year project of digitizing every cemetery in Israel. It is now the first country in the world to have almost all of its gravestones preserved and searchable online, with images, locations, and fully transcribed records. They’ve put up all this content for free, too.

FamilySearch and MyHeritage Tree Sync
(LDS members only)

Geni GEDCOM Import 
“We are pleased to announce the return of the GEDCOM Import feature to Geni! This has been one of the most requested features on Geni and we’re excited to finally make it available to everyone. GEDCOM is a standard file format used to save, transfer, and transport family tree information. Long-time users may recall that Geni previously allowed users to start a tree using their GEDCOM files, however we disabled this feature in 2011 to avoid duplication of profiles in the World Family Tree. Our new and improved importer has been rewritten to import a few generations at a time, continuing only on branches where there are no matches to existing profiles on Geni.”

“You can now import a GEDCOM file as a new tree, a new branch if you already have a tree, or onto any existing profile on which you have full permissions to edit and add onto. No longer will you need to endure the slow process of adding each individual one at a time to the tree. Now anyone can quickly add trees which didn’t exist before on Geni, saving you valuable time and allowing you to focus instead on new research.”

The Theory of Family Relativity™ 
“This unprecedented feature helps you make the most of your DNA Matches by incorporating genealogical information from all our collections of nearly 10 billion historical records and family tree profiles, to offer theories on how you and your DNA Matches might be related. If you’ve taken a MyHeritage DNA test or uploaded your DNA results to MyHeritage, this revolutionary technology may offer astounding new information on your family connections.”

Thank you to our sponsors.
They help make the free Genealogy Gems Podcast possible. 

GEM: Digging Deep into the Theory of Family Relativity™ with Ran Snir

Ran Snir  is the product manager responsible for MyHeritage DNA products. He leads a really talented team of developers and engineers and designers to create and optimize DNA users entire journey. He led the development of the Chromosome browser for Shared DNA Segments feature at MyHeritage DNA, from concept to production and launch.

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Lisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer
Bill Cooke, Audio Editor
Lacey Cooke, Service Manager

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, Genealogy Gems earns from qualifying purchases you make when clicking from the links we provide. It doesn’t cost you anything extra but it helps support our free blog and podcast. Thank you!

MyHeritage LIVE 2019

Genealogists from all over the world – get ready to have some fun! MyHeritage has just announced the second annual MyHeritage Live! Conference. A brand new location, new speakers, and the hottest topics on all things family history makes this a once-in-a-lifetime experience you won’t want to miss. Read on for all the details about the event and how to register. 

Following the resounding success of MyHeritage LIVE 2018, their first-ever user conference, which took place in Oslo, they have decided to host it again in 2019! MyHeritage LIVE 2019 has just been announced and will take place on September 6-8, 2019 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands at the Hilton Amsterdam Hotel. This prime location is south of central Amsterdam, near the museum district, and MyHeritage has arranged a special rate for guests who choose to stay at the hotel.

In addition to a plenary session from MyHeritage Founder and CEO, Gilad Japhet, there will be genealogy and DNA lecture tracks, as well as hands-on workshops to walk attendees through MyHeritage tools and features step-by-step. The MyHeritage support team will be on hand throughout the conference to assist with any questions.

Special evening events and lunches will give everyone the chance to meet other MyHeritage users from around the world and mingle with MyHeritage staff and experts.

Here’s a recap of MyHeritage Live! 2018 in Oslo, Norway:

Conference tickets include access to lectures, workshops, coffee breaks, lunches on Saturday and Sunday, a Friday night drink reception, and the famous MyHeritage party on Saturday night, all of which you don’t want to miss!

Early Bird Registration is available through July 31, 2019 and spaces are limited, so book now and mark your calendar!

Click here to visit the event page for all the details and register now!

About the Author: Lisa Louise Cooke

About the Author: Lisa Louise Cooke

Lisa is the Producer and Host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, an online genealogy audio show and app. She is the author of the books The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, Mobile Genealogy, How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers, and the Google Earth for Genealogy video series, an international keynote speaker, and producer of the Family Tree Magazine Podcast.

New Genealogy Records this week feature WWI Military Records

U.S. military records and more are making headlines this week for new genealogy records online. Explore WWI and military records for free at FamilySearch.org. Then head over to Fold3 to check out their updated WWII records. Various other U.S. collections are included, so take a look and discover your ancestors all across the U.S.

Featured: WWI & Military Records for U.S.

We are delighted by these new WWI and military records now available at FamilySearch.org. This genealogy giant records website is one of our favorites, and accessing their records is always free! In order to access the records, you’ll need to create a free FamilySearch account. Click here to read about why you should go ahead and create that free account – and use it!

  • Alabama, World War I Service Cards, 1917-1919: “Index to a card roster of Alabamians who served in the United States Army, Navy, Coast Guard, or Marines during World War I from 1917 to 1919. Each soldier has one or two cards giving information on his/her military service, such as name, serial number, residence, place and date of birth, and more.”
  • Georgia, Reconstruction Registration Oath Books, 1867-1868: “Registers typically contain each voters name, county of residence, date of registration, race, and an oath of allegiance to the United States. The oath of allegiance was required in order to register. Registered voters would then elect delegates to the state’s constitutional convention.”
  • Indiana, World War I, Enrollment Cards, 1919: “Index to a card roster of Indianans who served in the United States Army, Navy, Coast Guard, or Marines during World War I. Each soldier has one or two cards giving information on his/her military service, such as name, serial number, residence, place, and date of birth, and more.”
  • WWI at familysearchMississippi, World War I Army Veterans, Master alphabetical index, 1917-1918: “Index and images of original typescript located at the State Archives in Jackson, Mississippi of ex-servicemen of Mississippi. The index lists name of veteran, race, serial no., address, and county.”
  • Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917-1940: This updated collection contains “an index to veterans who served at any time during World War I and who made (or whose heirs made) pension or benefits claims of the Veterans Administration between 1917 and 1940. Each card contains the name of the veteran as well as other personal identifying information such as home address at the time of enlistment, date of birth, and date of death.”
  • Washington, World War I Veteran’s Compensation Fund Application Records, 1921-1925: Department of Veterans Affairs bonus records. They may contain the soldier’s name and rank, company, discharge date, occupation, date and place of birth, nearest relatives, and more.

WWII Records Updated at Fold3

More U.S. military records are available in Fold3’s newly updated WWII Draft Registration Cards collection. The collection now contains cards from Montana, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Oregon. The cards in this collection are registration cards for the draft and do not necessarily indicate that the individual served in the military.

From the update description: “Information on the WWII Draft Registration Cards may include the man’s name, address, telephone number, age, place of birth, country of citizenship, name and address of the person who will always know the registrant’s address, employer’s name, place of employment, and a physical description of the registrant.”

Click here to browse the WWII Draft Registration Cards at Fold3. 

More U.S. Records Now Online

Additional new collections for U.S. records are now online at MyHeritage.com. First is the U.S. Naturalization Records, Northern California, 1852-1989. This collection of over half a million records features an index of naturalization records in Northern California district and circuit courts for the years 1852 to 1989. In records prior to 1906, a limited amount of information is available, often only the name of the petitioner, the name of the court, record number, the petitioner’s country of origin, and the date of naturalization. After 1906, you may see additional information such as the petitioner’s address, names and addresses of any witnesses, birth date, as well as date and place of arrival in the United States.

MyHeritage’s new collection of Massachusetts Newspapers, 1704-1974 contains a whopping 6 million pages in 239 titles from various cities and towns in throughout the state. You’ll see a particular emphasis on papers from Boston and surrounding locales. Produced by MyHeritage in partnership with the Boston Public Library, this extensive collection includes papers from the colonial era through the late 20th century.

More to learn military records

If you’ve got military ancestors, you’ll want a copy of The Genealogist’s Military Records Field Manual from the editors of Family Tree Magazine. This book guide will show you how to research military ancestors using records from the Civil War, World War I, the Vietnam War and other significant conflicts throughout US history. Inside, you’ll find tips for using genealogy websites to find and use draft registration records, service records and more. Click here to order yours today. 

Lacey Cooke

Lacey Cooke

Lacey has been working with Genealogy Gems since the company’s inception in 2007. Now, as the full-time manager of Genealogy Gems, she creates the free weekly newsletter, writes blogs, coordinates live events, and collaborates on new product development. No stranger to working with dead people, Lacey holds a degree in Forensic Anthropology, and is passionate about criminal justice and investigative techniques. She is the proud dog mom of Renly the corgi. 

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!

Discover Your Dutch Ancestors & More in New Online Genealogy Records

Featured this week is a fantastic resource for anyone searching for Dutch ancestors! Open Archives recently celebrated reaching 200 million historical person entries and collaborates with dozens of libraries and genealogical societies to make them all available online in one place. Also featured this week is the Ireland 1911 Census, online access to the New York Death Index, and major new additions to records for Hampshire, England. 

Featured: Dutch Records at OpenArchives

Recently, we received an email from a Genealogy Gems Podcast listener about a huge milestone achieved by the Open Archives website. This free site is home to the largest collection of references to persons in Dutch historical records, and they just reached 200 million historical person entries! If you are researching your ancestors in the Netherlands, this is a one-stop-shop to access the records you need, since Open Archives currently offers data from 86 organizations. 

From the press release: “…dive into records of the civil registry, baptism, marriage and burial registers, notarial deeds, militia registers and personnel administrations. Prayer cards, family messages and funeral cards are also very useful for genealogical research. Archive institutions and also local history and genealogical societies manage these sources, which are increasingly being made available in digital form. Open Archives has made the person entries in these sources searchable in one place.”

Ireland 1911 Census

Following the recent addition of the 1901 Census, FamilySearch has now made available the Ireland 1911 Census. This new collection is comprised of over 4 million indexed records. Search for your Irish ancestors and this collection might reveal their name, age, occupation, relationship to the head of household, marital status, education/literacy, religion, birth country, and other information. The index is free on FamilySearch and was created by the National Archives of Ireland.

New York Death Index

At MyHeritage, you can now browse 4.7 million records in the New York State Death Index, 1880-1956. You’ll find information on place and date of death, gender, age at death and the State file number. The images in this collection have been obtained through the outstanding work and efforts of Reclaim the Records. Due to the poor original documents these images are low-quality. For deaths referenced in this index copies of original death certificates can be obtained from the New York State Department of Health for a fee.

Hampshire, England Records

British genealogy giant Findmypast has over 2 million new records now available to search online, with the majority relating to Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. These unique collections come from a wide variety of resources beyond standard vital records and could shed valuable light on your ancestors’ lives. 

  • Hampshire, Portsmouth, Portsea Island Rate Books: Over a million pages of poor rate books from as early as 1700 through to 1921. The books recorded the amount of rates paid at each property, ownership of the property, and its location in the parishes of Portsea and Portsmouth. With each record, you will find a transcript of the vital facts and an image of the original rate poor.
  • Hampshire, Portsmouth Hospital Records: Assorted hospital records and medical journals from St James Hospital between 1878 and 1918. At that time, the hospital was known as the Portsmouth Lunatic Asylum. Includes civil registers, deaths, indexes to admissions and discharges, maintenance ledgers, patient notes, registers of discharge and transfers.
  • Hampshire, Portsmouth Police Staff Records, 1908-1924: The Portsmouth Police Service was formed in January 1836 and the city had its own police force until 1967. The city’s fire brigade was also a branch of the police force when it was first formed. Review this collection for years of service, birthplace, physical descriptions, photograph portraits, and more.
  • Hampshire, Portsmouth Quarter Sessions Browse: Thousands of criminal records from court Quarter Sessions. The browse search allows you to search each Session register from beginning to end. As well as the accused’s age, aliases and home parish, the records will provide you with a wide variety of details relating to their offense, trail and sentencing.
  • Hampshire, Portsmouth Burials: Over 129,000 additional Portsmouth parish records. The new additions cover Portsea, Highland Road and Kingston cemeteries between the years 1831 and 1902. Transcripts will reveal a combination of the deceased’s birth year, death year, age at death, burial date, burial location, denomination, occupation, residence and relatives names. 

Discover your British and Irish ancestors at Findmypast

Findmypast ranks as one of the Genealogy Giants: one of the world’s biggest and best genealogy websites. It’s a must-use site for tracing your roots in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Findmypast also offers unique resources for finding your family history in the United States, Canada, and Australia. And their expansive archive of newspapers, Catholic Heritage Archive, and access to the Periodical Source Index mean that Findmypast is well worth a visit. Explore now with a free 14-day trial!

Lacey Cooke

Lacey Cooke

Lacey has been working with Genealogy Gems since the company’s inception in 2007. Now, as the full-time manager of Genealogy Gems, she creates the free weekly newsletter, writes blogs, coordinates live events, and collaborates on new product development. No stranger to working with dead people, Lacey holds a degree in Forensic Anthropology, and is passionate about criminal justice and investigative techniques. She is the proud dog mom of Renly the corgi. 

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!

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