#wikitree — Public Fediverse posts

❓#QuestionOfTheWeek — Do you have Appalachian roots?🌄
▶️ https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Tu-J5US-1Vc

The misty hollows and ridge-top farms of Appalachia sheltered families for generations — and their stories are woven into one of America's most distinctive regional cultures. Whether your ancestors came through the Great Wagon Road, settled the Blue Ridge, or farmed the coal country of West Virginia and Kentucky, those mountain connections run deep.

Do you have Appalachian roots? Where from — and any surprising connections you've uncovered?

Share your story and join the conversation on WikiTree's G2G community forum. You might even find cousins you never knew you had! 🌿

Also, be sure to check out the WikiTree Appalachia Project, and join a live chat this Thursday or Saturday for Appalachian Research Get-to-Know parties.

👉 https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/2031660

#CollaborativeGenealogy #Genealogy #Appalachia #FamilyHistory #AppalachianRoots #WikiTree #AncestryResearch #FamilyTree

❓#QuestionOfTheWeek — Tell us about your mother (or another mother in your family tree)! 🤶

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gn1OxHv_zk4&list=PLEqK4ICkQWXQXODTRG6UGGZ4

This week, WikiTree's G2G community is celebrating Mothers Week by inviting genealogists and family historians to share the stories of the mothers in their trees.

Every family tree is shaped by the women whose names are sometimes the hardest to find in the historical record. This is a chance to honor them — and to connect with a global community of researchers who understand just how meaningful that work is.
https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/2029348

WikiTree is a free, collaborative family tree platform that has been growing for 16 years. Join the conversation and be part of something that will last for generations.

#CollaborativeGenealogy #Genealogy #FamilyHistory #MothersWeek #WikiTree #FamilyTree

❓#QuestionOfTheWeek — Do you have twins, or other sets of multiples, in your family tree?
Twins in the family tree are both a delight and a puzzle for genealogists! From identical ancestors who stumped the census taker to triplets who all emigrated to different countries — multiples make for some of the most fascinating family stories. 👯‍♀️👯‍♂️
Do you have a twin story hiding in your family history? Maybe a set of twins who lived to remarkable ages, or multiples separated by circumstance? We'd love to hear about them!
Join the conversation in the WikiTree G2G community forum — where genealogists help genealogists for free, forever. 🌳
▶️ https://youtube.com/shorts/OaDuQZ33qXo
🔗 https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/2026359
#WikiTree #Genealogy #FamilyTree #CollaborativeGenealogy #FamilyHistory #Twins #AncestryResearch

After creating 110 profiles during #April2026ConnectAThon, out of which probably 100 carried the surname #Pfefferle, out of which the majority lived in #Münstertal, I was finally able to triangulate the parents of Philippina Pfefferle, who first lived with one cousin in #Burbank, #California, for a few years, before she moved to another cousin in #Orange, #NewJersey, whom she eventually married 30 years later. It also turned out, that the cousin she married, actually was adopted into the family.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pfefferle-216

#genealogy #WikiTree

❓#QuestionOfTheWeek — Do you have any connections to India in your family tree? 🌏

Share your story with the WikiTree community!

▶️ https://youtube.com/shorts/oAlNekv88Mo
💬 https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/2021533

#CollaborativeGenealogy #WikiTree #Genealogy

❓#QuestionOfTheWeek: How do you share the WikiTree love?🧡

Do you share finds on social media? Chat with fellow genealogists at your local society? Show off your family connections at reunions?

WikiTree is where advanced genealogists and casual family historians collaborate on one global family tree — free for everyone, forever. 🌳

Tell us how YOU spread the love! Leave your answer on the forum, or consider becoming a WikiTree Ambassador.

▶️ https://youtu.be/m000Qq-HSgM
💬 https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/2019115

#CollaborativeGenealogy #Genealogy #FamilyHistory #WikiTree

Day Two of #RootsTech2026:

What do you want to see? #NotAtRootsTech

I am going to try to sneak around and get some #swag & videos, maybe go live on my YT Channel to answer questions.

If you are at #RootsTech, come say hi at the #WikiTree booth. Join me at the Expo Stage, 2:30pm MT, as I present for WikiTree.

#RootsTech2026

🤔 ***My observations***

This year, the majority of questions from attendees (while I was working at the #WikiTree booth) and, in general chatter before presentations:

AI presentations were PACKED! Standing room only.

* AI - can I use it (lots of ethics questions)
* AI - is it farming my work
* Photos (huge topic this year in presentations). Can I upload to WikiTree ... And how much does it cost (spoiler alert... It's free!)
* People are so incredibly happy! Sometimes, conventions bring cranky travelers but not at #RootsTech so far.
* I only saw 2 people out of thousands wearing a mask.

The most requested information on projects at WikiTree (asked to me): Nordic Countries & Poland

This doesn't look like #Appalachia.

Good Morning from Salt Lake City and #RootsTech.

If you are at RootsTech, come say hi at the #WikiTree booth (next to #FTDNA & Media Center).

If you are #NotAtRootsTech - what are you watching online today? And what pictures or information can I get for you?

Calling all Texas researchers! 🤠 Join the #WikiTree Texas Project Discord Party TODAY, Feb 27, at 12 PM EDT (5 PM UTC).

Share discoveries, tackle brick walls, or just hang out! 🧱🔨

Join the live chat here: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/2001931

#CollaborativeGenealogy #TexasHistory #Genealogy

Calling all Texas researchers! 🤠 Join the #WikiTree Texas Project Discord Party TODAY, Feb 27, at 12 PM EDT (5 PM UTC).

Share discoveries, tackle brick walls, or just hang out! 🧱🔨

Join the live chat here: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/2001931

#CollaborativeGenealogy #TexasHistory #Genealogy

Calling all Texas researchers! 🤠 Join the #WikiTree Texas Project Discord Party TODAY, Feb 27, at 12 PM EDT (5 PM UTC).

Share discoveries, tackle brick walls, or just hang out! 🧱🔨

Join the live chat here: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/2001931

#CollaborativeGenealogy #TexasHistory #Genealogy

Calling all Texas researchers! 🤠 Join the #WikiTree Texas Project Discord Party TODAY, Feb 27, at 12 PM EDT (5 PM UTC).

Share discoveries, tackle brick walls, or just hang out! 🧱🔨

Join the live chat here: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/2001931

#CollaborativeGenealogy #TexasHistory #Genealogy

Calling all Texas researchers! 🤠 Join the #WikiTree Texas Project Discord Party TODAY, Feb 27, at 12 PM EDT (5 PM UTC).

Share discoveries, tackle brick walls, or just hang out! 🧱🔨

Join the live chat here: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/2001931

#CollaborativeGenealogy #TexasHistory #Genealogy

@my_millennium Auf #FamilySearch gibt es zumindest Profile für Erdmann/Jeske https://www.familysearch.org/de/tree/person/details/GNWB-YCR und Witt/Kazmin https://www.familysearch.org/de/tree/person/details/G7N8-GZ5 . Vielleicht lohnt es sich, dort die Bearbeiter anzuschreiben und die Bearbeitungshistorie anzuschauen (falls die Profile nicht alle bereits von dir sind). Abgesehen davon, könnte es sich lohnen bei #WikiTree Profile zu diesen Personen anzulegen und alles reinzupacken, was du weißt, sodass der geneigte Amerikaner dich vielleicht zufällig beim Suchen findet.

It seems that I've spent the last two hours researching the administrative history of #Hungary (in order to be able to maybe create the Hungarian #Steurenthaler branch during #January2026ConnectAThon) and how to add the results to #Wikidata (in order to be able to have the locations generated by the #WikiTree browser extension #WikiTreeBEE then). At least, I've found a Hungarian Wikidata user and three German gazetteers from 1780 until 1845 in the process (see https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Hungary_resources#Gazetteers_and_Directories ) #Nerdkram

🎅 Merry Christmas from the WikiTree Secret Santa Elves around the globe!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phi0_FsxPkU&list=PLEqK4ICkQWXQSlVu_n0Hmb-F7eqgW2ztZ
Our genealogy community is celebrating the 5th anniversary of surprising each other with research gifts. Watch their holiday wishes! 🎄🌍
https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1978031

#WikiTree #SecretSanta #Genealogy

🎉 WikiTree Disco(rd) Research Party!
Join the Mayflower, Massachusetts & Profile Improvement Projects
📅 Tue, Dec 2 | 8-10 PM EST (1-3 AM UTC)
Questions? Need research help? Just want to chat genealogy? Come say hello!
Details: WikiTree.com/g2g/1966261
#WikiTree #Genealogy #Mayflower

Couldn't sleep anymore and took the chance to document one of the Polish forced laborers, who used to work for my great-grandfathers brother Joseph #Steurenthaler. Meet Marianna Pióro:
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Pióro-7

I really like, how one can link people on #WikiTree with each other, regardless of their relationship. That's a big advantage in comparison to the collaborative trees on #FamilySearch and #Geni

#Genealogy #Poland #Świętokrzyskie #Opatów

I spent the bigger part of this morning trying to make sense of the contradicting sources around the origin of the family of priest Heinrich #Bank, who at one point simply called himself #Von_Bank. The origin of his ancestors either was from the #Vorarlberg area or from the #Breslau area (less likely). For the moment, an additional paragraph in his profile has to be sufficient: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Bank-220#Noble_Ancestors.3F

#WikiTree #Genealogy #Nobility

**Genealogy tools and migrating data from FamilySearch to WikiTree**

(link to post)

TL;DR

– Just start with WikiTree as a main tool for building your family tree, but also check other platforms to find your ancestors.

– Moving ancestry data between platforms is possible, but far from from trivial

– A combination of several online tools (presented below) and offline research is needed to progress in genealogy research

– Dealing with long dead has very real impact on living.

Intro

I have a strange urge to research my roots and store the information to some system. I started entering my ancestors 10yrs ago in FamilySearch portal. I choose this one because it looked the least suspicious. Now I’m moving to WikiTree.

FamilySearch

FamilySearch uses the principle ‘collaborate on one big tree’. It’s free to use and it has some nice functions, like search old scanned church archives. In all these years I didn’t found any downsides, except … it’s a closed system. And they’re entering AI train heads-on. I accept the usefulness of ML for handwriting recognition, but chatbots and similar … no, thank you.

One of the most positive sides was I found my wife’s relatives in the US . One day I was checking the log of edits of her ancestors and found someone was editing her part of the tree and adding ancestors back to 1660. I contacted her and established a contact that was missing for almost a 100 years, from their migration to US around 1900. She told me about some other relatives from other parts from Slovenia, that I wasn’t aware of. We meet with them and received a thick genealogy book of forgotten branch of the family.
Interesting, dealing with long dead has a very real impacts on living 🙂

Some stats of my edits:

Ancestry

I also tried out Ancestry briefly, but I quickly dropped the idea because I don’t like the principle of private ancestral trees. Also, it’s a closed system, behind a paywall.

WikiTree

This year, as a part of my broader de-centralisation and de-corporatisation efforts, I choose to move my ancestors from FamilySearch to WikiTree.

WikiTree also uses ‘collaborative one big tree’ approach, but it is open and governed by a community.

For the purpose of data migration, I had to get the data out of FamilySearch first.

I installed Ancestral Quest Basic under Wine under Linux Mint, connected it with my FamilySearch account and exported the data in GED format to a local database. It took a little gymnastics, because if I exported only all my ancestors, it left out the parts of the family tree that are not my direct ancestors. I had to click on all my ancestors and export their descendants. This way I built a local database and hoped it contains all the data I inserted in FamilySearch.

Then imported GED archive to WikiTree. I assumed it will automatically merge the data, but no. It’s GEDCompare tool takes a smarter approach. Firstly it check the WikiTree data and compares with the imported data. Then it offered a table with all the persons I imported and their existing records in WikiTree. I have 2 options: 1. to compare and merge each person or 2. add it if it doesn’t exist.

Currently I’m halfway of my 460 records, but I’m progressing.

During my migration activities I found what I like and dislike about WikiTree:

Like:

• Collaborative type of building a shared family tree.
• The community is welcoming.
• I can invite other people to help me with editing. I can add email address to living persons and they’re invited to the WikiTree.
• I can set privacy for each record in details.
• 20+ various tree visualization tools, for example timelime tree:

Dislike:

• some data is not imported well. For example, some birth/death dates are interpreted wrongly (esp. from … to) and meta data like ‘burial site’ is just dropped to ‘bio’ section
• group photos can be tagged with names, but faces related to names can not be selected (as in FamilySearch)

Geneanet

During the research I recently found out about Geneanet portal. The nice thing about it it has a database of cemeteries, tombstones and their photograps. Some of them are even indexed and searchable. It’s a collaborative community effort: people photograph and index tombstones.

I found some my distant relatives using this tool I didn’t know about them before.

Matricula Online

Matricula Online includes scanned old(1600-1900) church documents (baptism, marriage, death) for some European countries: Slovenia, Germany, Austria, Poland, Serbia, Luxembourg, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Italy. This is the best source for my research. The script gives me headaches, especially Kurrant (Gothic).

Additionally, local archive has a ‘status animarum’ books that are not available online. This books include a list of addresses and all the people that lived at the specific address. Useful to research whole families.

Arcanum maps

Arcanum maps help me to research old place names. It includes scanned Austro-hungary military and catastre maps.

Old place list – Seznam krajev

Seznam krajev is also a good resource to research how names of the places changed through the history.

Conclusion

My overall impression is I will stick with WikiTree as a main database for my family tree with the help of other tools. I hope I will pass the information to my children or other relatives to continue the work. The work of ancestry research is never done.

Interesting blogs

Genealogy research has a lot of traps: https://ancestryroads.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-magic-is-gone.html

https://blog.rozman.info/genealogy-and-migrating-data-from-familysearch-to-wikitree/

#ancestralquest #familysearch #ged #geneanet #wikitree #wine

Belated #3GoodThings:
- I got rid of two huge items the previous house owners left us (a candle and a vase, each about 50 cm). I used online classified ads (#Kleinanzeigen) to offer them for free. A very warm woman picked them up with a bike (!) and gave me a package of #Raffaello in return.
- I was forced to a slightly longer walk, since I had to buy eggs.
- I added a memory to #grandma's #WikiTree page, about how good tea at her house tasted because of the hard water.

#ThreeGoodThings

Caused by disturbing events on #WikiTree, I didn't manage to transcribe a #grandma recording last week, so in need of catching up this week. Today's contained the story of my dad visiting grandma in her room and asking her to clean the baby (guess who?) because he simply couldn't (probably, because of the smell, oopsie). Another story mentioned the closet which grandma's grandma Marie #Schindler had received for her wedding, see
https://www.wikitree.com/photo/jpg/Schindler-1412-3

#genealogy #antique #furniture

... But, Oxygen does cost money (they have an "educational" license and a 30-day free trial that can often be extended).

I'm working on #WikiTree and #GEDCOM to DITA converters. These can help getting the bulk of the content into DITA. I'll soon put together a video that demos these tools so you can get an overview of the process.

I'm hoping to repurpose my technical publishing expertise to something more meaningful than "tech" publishing.

Meet Elly #Mommer, a pediatrician from #Rostock, who was born in #Barmen (now #Wuppertal). I spent (consumed? wasted?) the last few hours researching her. Why I did that? Because she's in one (sic!) photograph, that also shows my #grandma, her mother, her grandma and her father. Since she's in a Rostock city directory in 1943, but missing in 1949, I wonder, if she died during WW2?
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Mommer-147

#genealogy #WikiTree #Nerdkram

@saprentice I agree with you. I stopped within my first 20 profiles to use GEDCOMs, I think.
There is a #GEDCOM cleanup feature in WBE: https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:WikiTree_Browser_Extension#Automatic_GEDCOM_Cleanup_.28AGC.29

#WikiTree

I just gotta say .. I hate it when I run into a WikiTree profile that was the result of a GEDCOM import. It reads like a raw data dump, and the references/sources are a rat’s nest, usually with very little meaningful content. They are typically orphaned, and take ages to clean up. Bah.

#wikitree #gedcom #genealogy

Wie MyHeritage und FamilySearch lebende Verwandte verbinden

https://www.compgen.de/2025/05/wie-myheritage-und-familysearch-lebende-verwandte-verbinden/

Belated #3GoodThings:
- had a burger and fries for lunch
- bathed #Gelbi in the morning and cuddled with him in the evening
- fixed some things in #WikiTree BEE as well as for @grabsteine and @OnlineOFBs

#ThreeGoodThings #CompGen

- #Digicert has a well documented way of resetting passwords on certificate tokens
- our wood oven has been removed (we're not allowed to operate starting April) and the pipe hole is closed
- did some coding for the #WikiTree Browser Extension
- Bonus: cuddled with Gelbi
#3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings

- after brushing teeth together and him bathing, there was a long cuddle with #Gelbi, where he sat on my knee and leaned on my hand while drying
- did some coding to improve #WikiTreeBEE's handling of #Wikipedia redirects when searching locations at #Wikidata
- managed to cut off some annoying branches from a plant near our outside stairs
#WikiTree #3GoodThings #ThreeGoodThings #Birb #BirdsOfMastodon #QuakerParrot #MonkParakeet #Parrot

It started out as "an interesting dude from our area", followed by "did they really sneak his name into #Wikipedia articles?", just to end with "right, two ships with same name with carrying two brothers".

I would love to hear your feedback: Did I make any obvious mistakes? Does the boat thing make any sense? Do you find him in the other censuses?
https://www.wikitree.com/index.php?title=Trefzger-3
#genealogy #WikiTree #Wehr #Baden

Ski athlete Eduard #Kaltenbach from #Hinterzarten was killed in World War II in the Caucasian Mountains a few days after climbing a mountain together with his friend Linus #Jehle from #Saig. The newspaper notice about his death he shares with Paul #Birkenberger, a fellow skiing colleague, who was killed a few weeks before.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Kaltenbach-243
#genealogy #WikiTree

@wikitree #WikiTree Sourcer v2.6.6 is out with some #Ancestry and #GRO updates. It's a browser extension for using WikiTree.

https://genealogysoftware.net/browser-extension/wikitree-sourcer-2-6-6/

#genealogysoftware
#genealogy

Yesterday's #grandma recording didn't contain anything I considered worth posting. Based on an older story, I created the profile of Wilhelm #Ruth, who passed away during the wedding party of his son Wilhelm.
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Ruth-1806
#WikiTree #Genealogy

Es ist vollbracht: Die Kategorie "Imperial German Army, World War I" hat endlich eine einheitliche Benennung der Einheiten erhalten. Wir bedanken uns beim @LandesarchivBW für die Erklärungen und beim @GenWiki für die ganzen Artikel über Einheiten des Ersten Weltkriegs, die wir jetzt einfach mal zum Standard erhoben haben. #WikiTree #WorldWar1 #GreatWar
https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Imperial_German_Army%2C_World_War_I

After learning about him only yesterday, I created another profile from the category "significant relationships to our family". This time it's pharmacist Heinrich Siever from #Lüdenscheid aka "the guy with whom the brother of my great-grandmother broke out from a French prison during World War I":

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Siever-55
#genealogy #wikitree #greatwar #worldwar1 #worldwarI

When I was told that I will receive a student at work, I already got a bit suspicious of that surname he had. Now I asked him, where he's from. Turns out he was from a place in Baden from which some people of that particular name emigrated to #Clarion, Pennsylvania in the 19th century. People for which I created #WikiTree profiles some years ago. He was interested at least ... wish me luck.
#genealogy

@bethroots @asawusch #wikitree currently makes 15,162 DNA test connections to my paternal surname. Try it for surnames of interest to you ! https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Help:DNA This is the place i will leave my #genealogy research legacy for future generations. The volunteer collaboration and community here is amazing. I encourage those in the #Atkinson #FTDNA Surname project,to use WikiTree. #GeneticGenealogy @WikiTreeHowTo

@wikitree

#Appalachia is my home and heart.

Join me and two members as we discuss how we are doing #Genealogy for #Appalachians.

We aren't selling anything. We aren't giving away prizes.

We might share some #Biscuits, #SweetTea, #FamilyHistory, a few #laughs and some #tears over our #Ancestors.

We are a #Community. We love Genealogy.
We tear down #BrickWalls. We #care.

#WikiTree allows us to do that for free so it's available to all.

Spend 45 minutes with us. See our passion.

Asking me questions about my research is a good way to guarantee that I will continue working on the families that you’d like to learn about, so comment early, comment often, and subscribe to keep up with future posts!
https://open.substack.com/pub/mightieracorns/p/family-reunion-a-line-of-mothers?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=nvpzo
#geneadon #familyhistory #wikitree

Last evening I tried to improve the #WikiTree profile of this potential Hessian soldier who fought in the US. Unfortunately a lot of profiles from this era barely contain primary sources but a lot of family lore and data copied from other trees instead. Maybe now those are separated from each other at least?

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Linger-19
#Linger #Genealogy

Brickwall Weise (12/52/2023):
Only one photo found to show Robert Weise (1860-1933) https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Weise-526 Believe him to be No. 1 at photo. I was polishing his profile at #Wikitree this week. One of many #Brickwalls in my #Genealogy are his parents Friedrich August Weise https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Weise-527 and Christiane Juliane Liebscher https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Liebscher-37 The trace goes to the #Oberlausitz. Looking on some discussions ongoing, it seems like you get to there and get stuck.

Und jetzt bin ich natürlich schon wieder total abgelenkt, weil ich versuche, die in diesem Beitrag genannte Persönlichkeit an den Weltbaum bei #WikiTree anzudocken. #AFStunde @afstunde

Und dann habe ich wegen diesem #RootsTech-Blogpost jede Menge Leute auf FamilySearch angeschrieben und dabei tatsächlich ein paar Registrierungen entfernter Cousins bei #WikiTree erreicht.
#AFStunde @afstunde

@sven
I guess it highly depends on your area. For "my" Black Forest, all the Catholic records are indexed at FS, no scans. In rare occasions, usually for unrelated profiles on #WikiTree, I find some files on #ancestry or #newspapers.com, which I then ask people with a subscription, if they might take a peek for me. Sometimes I lack searching ancestry trees for "inspiration", but then I use #geneanet, #geni or the genealogies at FS instead.

#genealogy #geneadons @genealogy @geneadons

@Rheinlandfranke der Daniel Bamberger hat letztes Jahr ausgiebig auf #WikiTree zu diesem Elberfelder geforscht:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Thonen #AFStunde @afstunde