Month: May 2025

Introduction: A Memorial Day Tribute

To wrap things up for Memorial Day, I’m returning to the original objective of creating this new RootsMagic 10 database for two family cemeteries. I wanted to discover how everyone was related to my family—if not by blood, then probably by marriage. These family cemeteries are my FAN club: Family, Associates, and Neighbors. Their stories shape my story.

As a child, I found refuge and comfort among their stones. They were there for all the ebbs and flows of my youth. I could feel their love and knew I had a purpose. That feeling sparked my lifelong pursuit of family history. This project is to honor them.

The Database: A Starting Point

There are 843 people in my database, but only 346 are currently linked as family. That leaves 497 individuals needing further research. I’m taking this opportunity to record who is buried next to whom, looking for potential associations through grave neighbors.

Unfortunately, there are no sexton records for these old cemeteries, and the town’s index lacks information on lot numbers or owners. The best clues may come from proximity in burial.

Using Set Relationships and Color Coding

From the beginning, I used Set Relationships and Color Coding in RootsMagic 10 to identify those connected to my main tree. As I uncover new links, I re-run the tools to recalculate relationships and update colors.

How to Set Relationships

1. Go to the People page.
2. Highlight yourself.
3. Click Edit > Set Relationships.
4. Make sure your name appears next to the “Change” button, or click to change it.
5. Click “Set Relationship”—relationships will show in the Info box at the top of the sidebar.

Thankfully, RootsMagic 10 now includes half-relationships and spouses.

How to Apply Color Coding

1. Right-click on yourself and select Color Coding.
2. Ensure you’re on Color Set 1, with the name set to Family.
3. Choose the blue color and label it.
4. Change the selector to “People selected from a list”.
5. Click “Apply highlighted color to people selected above”.
6. Use the RootsMagic Explorer to highlight yourself, click Mark, then “Everyone in highlighted person’s tree”.
7. Click Select and Close.

Now, all 346 people in my main tree show blue color bands visible in most views, and reports.

The Challenge: Isolated Individuals

The remaining 497 individuals are spread across many unconnected trees. Set Relationships won’t help here. To manage this in my main database, I use the Reference No. fact to track and categorize people using codes—especially helpful with tools like Ancestry TreeShare and FamilySearch, where relationships might be hidden.

I realized I could use the Reference No. fact to tag individuals by which FAN club (cemetery) they belong to. Later, I’ll add RootsMagic’s Association facts once grave neighbors are identified.

Creating FAN Clubs with Groups and Rules

I’m not going to enter 497 Reference No. facts manually—nor do I need to. RootsMagic 10 offers a tool for batch processing, but first, I need to create groups.

Group 1: FAN (H) for Harrisena Cemetery

1. On the People page, select the Groups tab in the sidebar.
2. Click the Add (+) button and name the group FAN (H).
3. For Type select Rules, then Set Rules.
4. Click Add (+) rule: select All.
5. Click Add (+) rule: select Tree > enter record number to quickly jump to a person, or enter a name. Click Select. Make sure the rule is set as Unselect.
6. Add (+) final rule: Criteria – ensuring “Unselect” is checked. Under Edit Criteria, chose the following filter:
   • Burial → Place details → Does not contain → Harrisena
7. Click, OK, OK, Save.

Group 2: FAN (S) for Seelye Cemetery

Repeat the steps above but:

• Name the group FAN (S).
• Change Criteria to does not contain → Seelye.

Assigning Reference Numbers Using Fact Tools

With the groups ready, it’s time to use a fun new tool in RootsMagic 10. This time-saving feature will “Add a Fact to Everyone in a Group”.  (IMPORTANT: This will modify every person in the group. Make a backup of your file before continuing.)

Go to Tools page > Fact Tools > “Add a fact to Everyone in a Group” and fill out the fact information.

Fact 1: FAN (H)

• Group: FAN (H)
• Type: Reference No.
• Description: FAN (H)
• Run selected tool → Message: “Added fact to 55 people”.

Fact 2: FAN (S)

• Group: FAN (S)
• Type: Reference No.
• Description: FAN (S)
• Run selected tool → Message: “Added fact to 347 people”.

Displaying and Using Reference Numbers

The Reference No. fact now tags each person with their FAN club. This appears:

• On the Edit Person screen, as a fact.
• In Reports and Views (enable under Settings > General Settings > Number to Display > REFN).
• In the People List view (Customize columns to include REFN).

You can sort the People List view by the Reference No. column simply by clicking on the column header.

Ready for Research

Now that my FAN clubs are defined and visible, I’m ready to dive deeper. I can sort, group, and explore data from multiple perspectives. I also plan to identify grave neighbors to add Association facts—bringing me closer to understanding the connections that shaped my family.

Closing Reflections

As I prepare for my cemetery visits this Memorial Day, I’m struck by the journey this project has taken me on. What began as a powerful desire as a child to uncover forgotten connections has come full circle as an adult. RootsMagic 10 has allowed me to bring clarity to the chaos, and through color coding, groups, reference numbers, and FAN club tracking, I’ve found a meaningful way to honor those who came before. Their stones may be weathered, and their records incomplete, but their place in my history—and in my heart—endures. This is more than data. It’s family. And I’m honored to carry their memories forward.

Have a very happy Memorial day.

In a previous Memorial day preparation article, I mentioned creating a new RootsMagic 10 database. My focus has been on researching individuals buried in two family cemeteries. I wanted to make sure I covered all bases during my visits—including resolving lingering research questions.

While entering data, I came across something curious: some individuals were listed in both cemeteries, requiring two burial facts. This oddity existed in my main database as well. I hoped to clear it up by examining the records more closely. After all, why would someone have tombstones in both cemeteries? These aren’t distant locations—they’re only 0.4 miles apart, situated on either side of my family home. I needed to step back and look at the bigger picture.

This is where a desktop program like RootsMagic 10 truly shines, especially compared to online family trees. I needed tools to manipulate and view data from different angles.

Creating Cemetery Groups in RootsMagic 10

My first step in RootsMagic 10 was to create a group for each cemetery. I have two options: Simple or Rules groups, let’s try both.

Group 1: Harrisena Cemetery (Simple Group)

1. On the People page, I clicked the Groups tab in the sidebar.
2. I clicked the Add (+) button and named the group Harrisena Cemetery.
3. For “Type”, I selected Simple, then clicked Select people.
4. In the RootsMagic Explorer, I chose:
   • Mark > By data fields
   • Filter: Burial  → place details  → contains  → Harrisena
5. After clicking OK a few times, I saved the group.

Group 2: Seelye Cemetery (Rules Group)

1. I clicked Add (+) again and named this group Seelye Cemetery.
2. This time, I selected Rules for “Type” and clicked Set rules.
3. On the Search Rules screen I clicked on Add (+) and selected Criteria.
4. Clicked on Edit criteria and added a rule using:
   • Filter: Burial  → place details  → contains  → Seelye
5. After saving, this group becomes refreshable.

A great new feature in RootsMagic 10 is the Refresh button, which appears for rules-based groups. The Refresh button will appear on the People List and the sidebar Group tab when the rules group is selected. Clicking it updates the group based on any new or changed data. The number of people in the group will display next to the group name.

Converting a Simple Group to a Rules Group

Want both groups to be rules-based? No problem:

1. Highlight the Simple group (e.g., Harrisena Cemetery) on the Group tab.
2. Click the Edit icon.
3. Choose the Rules option and set the appropriate rule.
4. Save the changes—your group now becomes refreshable.

Finding People in Both Cemeteries

With both groups created, I wanted RootsMagic to find anyone buried in both cemeteries. With this objective I went to the Tools page to create a third group:

1. Under Group Tools, I selected Combine and manipulate groups.
2. Set Group A to Harrisena Cemetery, and Group B to Seelye Cemetery.
3. For the function, I chose “in both group A and group B”.
4. I named the new group Harrisena & Seelye Cemetery and clicked Run selected tool.

To view the new group, I returned to the People page and this time selected the Index tab in the sidebar. From the dropdown list I selected the Harrisena & Seelye Cemetery group. I switched the main view to the Family view.

Using Color Coding to Spot Patterns

With the combined group of 12 individuals, I wanted to see if any patterns emerged. Color coding made this easier.

Since I’m already using Color Set 1 for my main tree, I used Color Set 2 for this project:

1. Right-click on a person and choose Color coding.
2. Switch to Color Set 2, name it Set 2: Two markers
3. Clicked next to the color orange and labeled it Two markers.
4. On the right, select Named group > Harrisena & Seelye Cemetery.
5. Click Apply highlighted color to people selected above, then Close.

Checking the Color code selector at the top of the program I confirm I’m on Color Set 2. When I hover over a person’s color bar in the main view I can also see the color set number, color and label.

Analyzing the Results

With the Family View and Index tab open, I selected the “Harrisena & Seelye Cemetery” group in the sidebar. Going through the individuals, I found the first two cases inconclusive—they need more research. But on the third person, bingo!—the Family View lit up in orange.

Everyone in the family except two children were listed in both cemeteries. Patrick appears only in Seelye, while Maria is buried elsewhere, possibly with a spouse. Then a name jumped out: John J. Harris. He was wealthy, built the Harrisena Church next to the cemetery, and placed the marker for our Revolutionary War ancestor. His funeral was the first held at that church after it was completed.

It became clear: many of these are memorial markers, not necessarily burial sites. I now want to determine which markers represent actual burials versus commemorative stones. Unfortunately, Find A Grave lacks complete images, so a physical cemetery visit—as planned—is essential.

Preparing for the Visit

Finally, I used the Individual List report to print my findings. Under “Include?”, I selected the Harrisena & Seelye Cemetery group and generated the report. I will print and save it as a PDF for my visit—just like I’ve done before“.

What’s Next

This wraps up my research questions for this phase of Memorial Day preparation. I still have a little more work to do —but we’ll save that for another day.

Memorial Day is just around the corner, and my latest project is ready to be put to use. I started a new RootsMagic 10 database where I’m researching the people buried in several nearby family cemeteries. My family has lived in this area since before the Revolution; if we aren’t blood-related, we’re probably connected by marriage. The goal is to link everyone together in one family tree.

When I checked the File Properties on the Home page, I saw that I have 843 people in this new RootsMagic database. Using the Count Trees tool under the Tools menu on the People page, I identified 346 individuals related to me in the main tree so far. My next step is to find out which direct-line ancestors are buried in each cemetery. Ideally, I want to print out a list to take with me so I can visit each grave.

Creating the Harrisena Cemetery Search

The first step is to identify which ancestors are buried in which cemetery. To do that, I navigated to the Search Page, specifically Person Search—Advanced.

One of my favorite new features in RootsMagic 10 is the ability to create, save, and reuse a set of search rules.

To do this, I clicked on Find and entered two search rules:

1. Ancestors – starting with myself, going back 10 generations, and including only direct ancestors.
2. Criteria – ensuring “Unselect” is checked. Under Edit Criteria, I chose the following filter:
   • Burial → Place details → Does not contain → Harrisena

Clicked OK once all rules have been added and RootsMagic displays a list of people who match the sequence of rules I entered.

This search removes all ancestors not buried in Harrisena Cemetery, leaving me with a list of just those who are. Surprisingly, I only have two direct-line ancestors buried there, including my Revolutionary War ancestor who first settled the area.

Before moving on to the next search, I saved this one. This allows me to run it anytime without re-entering the search rules. I clicked Saved Searches, chose New, and saw the search filter still intact. I named it Harrisena Cemetery – Ancestors, clicked Do Search, and it re-ran successfully. Now I could safely click Clear Criteria and Clear Results to start fresh.

Creating the Seelye Cemetery Search

This time, knowing I’d want to save the search again, I clicked Saved Searches first, selected New, and named it Seelye Cemetery – Ancestors. I entered two similar search rules:

1. Ancestors – starting with myself, going back 10 generations, and including only direct ancestors.
2. Criteria – ensuring “Unselect” is checked. Under Edit Criteria, I chose:
   • Burial → Place details → Does not contain → Seelye

Clicked OK once all rules have been added.

This search generated 10 direct-line ancestors in the results, including the son of my Revolutionary War ancestor and his descendants. Interesting—why the split between cemeteries? More questions to explore another day. With the search saved, I could now focus on generating reports.

Generating Cemetery Reports

To create the reports, I used an existing report called Individual List. I generated two separate reports from each of the Saved Searches. Under Report Settings, Include?, I chose “Select from list.” Next, I clicked Mark and selected Saved Searches. First, I selected Harrisena Cemetery – Ancestors, clicked Do Search, then Select, and OK. Once I ensured the report options were set correctly, I clicked Generate Report.

I could have printed the report directly using the print icon, but I decided to save it as a PDF instead. I’m sure I won’t be the only family member interested in this list. Now, I can save it to my phone and share it as needed.

I have more preparations to make for my cemetery visits, but I’ll save that for another day…