I’ve been a member of the RootsTech media team for quite a few years, and before the conference starts, we have a dinner to get briefed on everything happening during the event. One of the things they talk about is “Relatives at RootsTech.” Every year it was like a long-standing joke for me when we were asked how many relatives you have… my response was “ZERO.”
That was until 2023. That was the year I’d decided that my FamilySearch tree needed a little work. I had connected my tree to FamilySearch, but I lost steam when I had a person change the parents of my adopted great-grandfather, William Beaton. You know him, he’s from the Beaton Batten Mystery.
I’m not saying that person did something wrong. They were just entering the names they had seen from the 1881 Canada Census. In that record, William is listed as the son of William Beaton and Mary Jane Rasbeck. But because I’ve done more research, I know that neither of these people is correct. I know if they looked at his marriage record. They’d see that he did list William Beaton as his father. He also listed Anna Rooth as his mother. I know this because I’ve worked through my DNA results, and neither of those names is accurate. I do know there is a whole process for changing this, but at this point, I’ve not done that.
So what I did do regarding my tree is I just added a little bit more to the other sides of my tree. It was more of my mother’s Middlebrough ancestor, which helped, and my tree was like this in 2023.
Today, I checked, and that number has increased. I don’t believe I added my Jones side of the family to the tree. However, I see my great-great-grandmother, Caroline Jones, is still connected to Solomon Jones and Sarah Storey. This connection takes me quite far back in time and into Massachusetts. I find this exciting because I have traveled to where they live. I did so without knowing it, back in my career as a purchasing manager.
I will now try to make some connections to see if these people will be at RootsTech in person. Meeting someone through the app wouldn’t be cool.
I know that my numbers aren’t as impressive as some… I’m thinking of my friend Randy Seaver at Genea-musings. He’s had as many as 70,000 in past years. But I’m doing much better than zero.
If you’d like to try Relatives at RootsTech, you can sign into your account at FamilySearch. Don’t have an account? Then, just use the same button and create an account. You need to connect yourself to the tree. Once you do and add a few ancestors, you’ll be all set.
There’s still time to sign up for RootsTech 2025 in-person or online event. Class schedules are available; you can choose which classes you’d like to participate in right now.
If you plan on being in Salt Lake City, drop me a note, and we can arrange a meeting time.
Happy Hunting
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