Did you participate in RootsTech 2023? If so, have you looked at Relatives at RootsTech recently? I have to admit that I haven’t paid much attention to it since RootsTech ended. However, I recently received a FamilySearch email indicating that I was related to Pocahontas. Curious about that relationship, I followed the link to discover that I have over 136,000 relatives at RootsTech 2023.

And I discovered that I can still access Relatives at RootsTech until June 1, 2023!

While my relationship to Pocahontas did not load, I was curious about my ‘relatives at rootstech’. Thus, I clicked on that link to discover several close cousins including one of my dad’s first cousins on the list. Since these are potential DNA matches and research collaborators, I had started a spreadsheet during RootsTech to track this information. While my spreadsheet may not be the best designed, it has the following fields:

• Given Name (of relative)
• Surname (of relative)
• Username (of relative)
• Relationship
• Common Ancestor
• GroomSurname (of Common Ancestor)
• Spouse (of Common Ancestor)
• BrideSurname (of Common Ancestor)
• Confidence (likely, maybe, unknown)
• Gen1 (1st generation descendant of common ancestor on their line)
• Gen2 (2nd generation descendant of common ancestor on their line)
• Gen 3 — etc.

Since I now have a 1st cousin once removed, some second cousins and additional third cousins on my list of relatives, I need to update my spreadsheet! Thankfully, I have a month to get this done! Thank you RootsTech 2023!