Memorial Day: Free access to US military records
Memorial Day in the US is May 27, and millions of Americans will remember the men and women who died while serving in the US Armed Forces.
In honor of this special day, we are proud to provide free access - through May 28 - to our most popular collections of US military records.
Journey back in time to some of the most important conflicts in world history that not only impacted families in the US, but millions of families worldwide.
Continue reading "Memorial Day: Free access to US military records" »
Family History: A box of secrets
Every family historian has at least one story or event on which hours have been spent, trying to unravel the truth.
What would happen if there were a knock on the door, you opened it and a box was delivered into your hands. Inside, you would find documents, photographs (labeled!), journals and other records.
What would you like to see in that box?
For me, that's an easy answer. One of the last family members to arrive in the US from Belarus brought with him a 300-year-old family history. The few people who saw it described it as a sort of book, compiled of different kinds of papers, different calligraphies, many different languages, all bound together. Continue reading "Family History: A box of secrets" »
Competition: Oldest wedding photo results
Thank you for the overwhelming and beautiful entries to our oldest wedding photo competition.
With your help, we've narrowed the vote down to the top winner, who will receive a one-year PremiumPlus and one-year data subscription to MyHeritage’s SuperSearch, our online database with access to billions of records.
With over 30% of the votes, photo 8 is the winner!
Antonie Peeters (1885-1968) and Pieternella Adriana François (1884-1966); Rotterdam, Netherlands; October 25, 1910.
Congratulations to Rob Hoogenbos who sent in the photo from his maternal grandparents from their wedding in Rotterdam in 1910.
Continue reading "Competition: Oldest wedding photo results" »
MyHeritage: All US census records now available!
We're proud to announce that the entire collection of U.S. Federal Censuses is now available on MyHeritage.
These censuses span every decade from 1790-1930 and complement the existing 1940 U.S. Census, which you can search for free on MyHeritage.
The collection is the nation’s largest and most important set of records including a huge searchable index and all scanned images of the original census documents, covering some 520 million names.
Start searching the censuses now
Continue reading "MyHeritage: All US census records now available!" »
NGS 2013: MyHeritage heads to Las Vegas!
MyHeritage is excited to head to the 2013 National Genealogical Society (NGS) conference, taking place next week from May 8-11, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
NGS was established 110 years ago in Washington, DC, to serve and grow the genealogical community through education, training, promoting access to and preserving genealogical records.
The conference is a great opportunity for genealogists and those interested in family history research to meet and share ideas on how to advance family research.
Will you be at NGS? Come visit MyHeritage at booth #431, and meet our team.
Continue reading "NGS 2013: MyHeritage heads to Las Vegas!" »
Our Stories: Hidden families and an opera singer
We never know what our unique family histories may reveal, and MyHeritage member Kathleen Whitfield, 60, of the UK, is no exception.
Her childhood was spent in the UK with her parents and older brother, who lived some 250 miles from any blood relatives. Neither of the siblings ever met their father’s family or had any living grandparents they knew about.
Although they occasionally visited their mother’s sister and family in Lancashire and another sister in London, the only details they were told about their father’s family was that his Irish father was an opera singer, their father was born in London, that he had siblings, but he had lost contact with his family. Kathleen was told she was named for her father’s mother. Further, she discovered that her paternal grandmother was really Kate Constance, not Kathleen!
William C. Green, Kathleen’s paternal grandfather (Courtesy Photo)
Kathleen got “into” family history because her husband’s niece conducted fascinating research into his family. Continue reading "Our Stories: Hidden families and an opera singer" »
Family Heritage: Not just chicken soup!
Many of our female ancestors were healers or midwives.
In the old days, when doctors were few and far between in rural areas, women with knowledge of medicinal herbs, of healing the sick and of midwifery were important community members.
In the American Southwest, among the old Hispanic families, there are many documented curanderas (healers). The older generations still tend gardens of special medicinal herbs and are the keepers, preservers and transmitters of generations of remedies.
In some countries, foods are classified as hot or cold in nature. People with certain ailments are told to eat one and not the other or vice versa. It is something a person is brought up with and never disregarded. Those who have not been raised with this system generally find "the rules" somewhat strange.
So do these remedies really work, or do we just believe that they work because that’s what we’ve been told since we were little children? In any case, this is part of our family history, of our heritage, and the details should be preserved.
Continue reading "Family Heritage: Not just chicken soup!" »
New Release: Family Tree Builder 7.0
We're pleased to announce the release of MyHeritage Family Tree Builder 7.0 - the latest version of the world’s most popular free genealogy software - which combines innovative technologies with easy-to-use features.
Used by millions of people worldwide, Family Tree Builder lets you build your family tree and enhance it with photos, historical records and more. The latest version, 7.0, is packed with exciting new features and improvements.
Download Family Tree Builder 7.0 for free now
We've been working hard for more than a year to enhance Family Tree Builder to make documenting and sharing your family history even easier. We're taken the time to ensure this release is as robust as possible and have just completed a successful two-month beta program with some of our power users. Enthusiastic feedback from the first users to use version 7.0 indicates that this is the best version we've ever released.
The new version now syncs your entire family history in both directions between your computer and your family site on MyHeritage, as well as smart phones and tablets, and opens new channels for discovering relatives and billions of historical records with our advanced matching technologies. This means you can now access your family tree securely not just from your computer but also from your online family site, smart phone or tablet device, and even grow the tree and add more information and photos to it, any time and anywhere. All additions and changes will sync back to your Family Tree Builder software on your computer. Continue reading "New Release: Family Tree Builder 7.0" »
Surname of the Week: KELLY
This week marks the anniversary of Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier’s wedding on April 18, 1956. In honor of the couple, we'ill look at the surname KELLY and discover its origins.
KELLY is of Irish origin, and is the second most common name in Ireland, and the 69th most popular name in the United States. There are various origins.
It is an Anglicized form of the patronymic Gaelic name O’Ceallaigh, meaning "descendant of Ceallach," from the Gaelic prefix “O” meaning "descendant of" and the ancient Irish personal name, Ceallach .
Originally a byname meaning ‘"right-headed," it was later understood as "frequenting churches" from the Irish ceall. Several early Irish saints bore the name.
It may also be of English origin, from a place in Devonshire recorded as “Kelli” in the 1194 Pipe Rolls. It may also be of Scottish origin, from the lands of Kelly near Arbroath, Angus.
Along with the different Irish, English or Scottish origins, there are also variant spellings that include KELLEY, KELLIE, O’KELLY, O’KELLEY and KELLI. Continue reading "Surname of the Week: KELLY" »
Competition: The oldest wedding photo?
Springtime is here and the wedding season is near.
Wedding photos preserve your unique family legacy and document memories in your family history research.
We want to know the stories behind your ancestors' wedding photos.
In February, our colleague Justyna received a stunning 1932 wedding photograph via the MyHeritage Polish Facebook page, from a member.
Wedding Photo 1932
With that photo’s popularity, we wanted to see more of our members' family memories.
What's your oldest wedding photo of an ancestor?
Share your photos of your ancestors' weddings, a brief description of the people, and the date and place where they were married.
The oldest photos - with the most interesting stories - will be posted on our blog and our Facebook page. Readers will decide the winner.
One lucky winner will receive a one-year Premium subscription and a one-year data subscription.
Send photos by April 22 (with description, date and place) with the subject "Wedding Competition" to stories@myheritage.com.
Good luck!
Note: Do not send photos not your own or those for which you do not have permission to use. MyHeritage is not responsible for photos that may be transferred without the consent of the family. The competition is open to registered users at MyHeritage. Don’t have an account yet? Start your free digital family tree today at www.myheritage.com.
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