Northwest Indiana Genealogical Society - NWIGS

10/13/2026

The Growing Threat to Genealogy and Historical Accuracy

10/13/2026

The Ancestor Hunt Mega Offer — Our Biggest Deal Yet!

Get $133.98 Worth of Genealogy Research Resources for Just $69!

When you purchase the All States Research Library at its regular price of $69, you'll receive the Quicksheet Vault and the Field Guide Bundle I absolutely FREE!

Get all the details here at https://theancestorhunt.com/blog/the-ancestor-hunt-mega-offer-our-biggest-deal-yet/

10/13/2026

ARTICLE LINK IN COMMENTS! 🇩🇪🥨🪗 PROST! German-American Heritage Day is October 6, so cue the oompah band and straighten the lederhosen. I’ll be over here doing what every wild party animal does.

Reading passenger lists.

If your family story ends with “Grandma came from Germany,” we have work to do. German genealogy gets much more useful once you identify the actual town or village connected to your ancestor.

One place to start at Ancestry is the Hamburg Passenger Lists, 1850-1934. Look carefully at the recorded last residence. Copy that place name exactly as it appears, then identify the correct locality before charging into church records like a genealogist doing the chicken dance. 💃🇩🇪

And PLEASE open the original manifest image. The index helps you find the record. The image lets you examine the handwriting yourself and compare your ancestor with nearby passengers who may have traveled from the same area.

Then check the other side of the trip. Look for the U.S. arrival manifest and compare details such as the passenger’s name and age with the Hamburg departure record.

That is serious German genealogy research, and it may finally move your family story from “Germany” to an actual dot on the map. 🎺

👉 Start researching German genealogy records at Ancestry:
https://genealogybargains.com/ancestry-germany-resources

Where did YOUR German ancestors come from? If you know the town or village, put it in the comments. If you’re still stuck with just “Germany,” tell me that too!

10/13/2026

👉 Explore the offer now: https://genealogybargains.com/ancestry-us-fall-sale-2026-general 🧰 Already an Ancestry family history member? Here’s a sale worth pulling over for.

The Ancestry Pro Tools offer is 30% off the introductory month: $7 instead of $10. That’s $3 saved on the first monthly charge, not a permanent discount. Pro Tools requires an active Ancestry family history membership and then automatically renews monthly at list price, shown as $10.

Affiliate disclosure: Genealogy Bargains may earn a commission from purchases through this link.

👉 Explore the offer now: https://genealogybargains.com/ancestry-us-fall-sale-2026-general

On the general sale page, scroll down to Pro Tools. Computer users can search with Ctrl + F on Windows or Command + F on Mac.

At our St. Louis Service Station stop, I explain how this research add-on helps you sort and visualize your tree and double-check your work. I also cover the membership requirement, renewal terms, and a simple tree tune-up you can begin with one ancestor.

The tools help you inspect your research. They do not replace the evidence. And buying another genealogy tool is not the same as actually opening the toolbox. 🔧

📖 Read the article before you decide: https://genealogybargains.com/ancestry-pro-tools-sale-2026-st-louis/

Already paying for Pro Tools? Check your account’s eligibility rather than assuming the discount applies automatically.

⏰ Ends Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. EDT / 9:00 a.m. CDT.

💬 What would you tackle first during a dedicated tree tune-up: conflicting dates, possible duplicates, or an unexplained move? Tell me why.

10/13/2026

10/13/2026

https://genealogybargains.com/lftwebinars-upcoming 🍯🐻 OH, BOTHER! YOUR ANCESTORS HAVE STORIES TO TELL, AND YOU'RE RUNNING OUT OF EXCUSES! 📖🌳

This week, we're celebrating the 100th anniversary of A.A. Milne's Winnie-the-Pooh, first published October 14, 1926. And what better way to celebrate a century of storytelling than by discovering a few new chapters in your OWN family history?

🎈 THREE FREE GENEALOGY WEBINARS! ONE WONDERFUL WEEK!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14
Scottish Genealogy: Finding and Understanding Civil Registration Records
🎙️ Alison Spring
⏰ 2:00 pm EDT / 1:00 pm CDT
🔍 Learn how Scottish birth, marriage, and death records can help solve family tree mysteries.

🤖 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14
From Data to Dialogue with AI 1 of 5: Turning Data into Stories
🎙️ Andrew Redfern and Fiona Brooker
⏰ 8:00 pm EDT / 7:00 pm CDT
📖 Turn genealogy research into compelling family stories using AI. The first chapter of a five-part series!

💍 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16
Fleet Marriages: Tracing Clandestine Weddings in the UK
🎙️ Sarah Pettyfer, QG
⏰ 2:00 pm EDT / 1:00 pm CDT
🔍 Discover how to trace secretive historical weddings and uncover overlooked UK marriage records.

🍯 ALL THREE ARE FREE!

✅ SIGN UP TODAY for ALL THREE webinars!
✅ Attend live and learn new genealogy research techniques!
✅ Watch the recordings FREE for the first 7 days after each webinar!

Your ancestors left the clues. These webinars will help you find the stories.

🎈 DON'T LET THESE FREE GENEALOGY WEBINARS FLOAT AWAY! REGISTER NOW!

👉 https://genealogybargains.com/lftwebinars-upcoming

Legacy Family Tree MyHeritage

10/13/2026

10/13/2026

Speaking on "Tips and Tricks of Deciphering German Handwriting" for Pennsylvania Chapter of Palatines to America on October 20. Register at the link in comments - all are welcome!

10/13/2026

Don't miss our class Nov. 21, 2026 10 AM PCPL Valparaiso. In person training on using the Internet Archive.

Using The Internet Archive for Genealogy Research

The Internet Archive has been around since 1996 and has a magnificent assortment of genealogical materials in many different categories of interest to genealogy researchers. Over 3 million items!

It is a major free resource; not to be missed. Here are 17 categories of genealogy records that are abundant and available for you to use in the Archive.

Get the Quicksheet PDF at https://theancestorhunt.com/blog/using-the-internet-archive-for-genealogy-research/

10/13/2026

LINK IN COMMENTS 📬 ARE YOU READING ALL THOSE TERMS OF SERVICE and PRIVACY POLICY UPDATE EMAILS?

You know the ones. "We've updated our Terms of Service." "Please review our new Privacy Policy."

They've been arriving since early October, and I've got a little genealogy detective assignment for everyone!

🔎 How do you find out what actually changed? Sometimes the company tells you. Other times, you need to find the OLD policy and compare it with the NEW version.

That's where Microsoft Word comes in handy. Its Compare feature can identify inserted and deleted wording. And you already know how much genealogists love comparing documents!

Here's why that matters. MyHeritage has a published Terms of Service version dated October 5, 2026. That document includes provisions addressing DNA services and AI restrictions. Seeing those provisions in the October 5 version doesn't establish when they were added. You need the earlier version to determine that.

I've put together an article explaining why these emails are arriving and how to examine the changes yourself.