RootsTech 2025 My Virtual Summary/ The good and disappointing announcements

 RootsTech 2025

 I did enjoy attending RootsTech virtually, however, there were aspects I didn't like. RootsTech 2025 revealed a clear trend: genealogy is becoming increasingly pay-to-play. The relentless push for premium subscriptions and upgrades to access basic tree and DNA tools is deeply concerning. While innovation is essential, it shouldn't come at the expense of accessibility.

FamilySearch remains a vital resource, offering free access to a wealth of original records and tools for building and sharing family trees. Their dedication to providing digitized microfilms, not just transcriptions, is a testament to their commitment to accessible genealogy.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many other major genealogy platforms. The constant barrage of requests for subscription upgrades and DNA kit add-ons feels exploitative. It raises serious questions about the future of genealogy research, especially for those who cannot afford these escalating costs.

Is genealogy becoming a hobby reserved for the financially privileged? 

The main topics and announcements covered at RootsTech 2025:

1. AI was featured in many presentations. Using AI to do research and transcribe records. 
2. MyHeritage and 23andMe had presentations about their new Ancient Origins features available to subscribers. 
3. Ancestry.com announced the rollout of a new tree feature allowing users to add FAN club members to be added to their trees. You can build networks of people your ancestors were associated with in some way. You have to have a subscription, and also subscribe to Pro Tools. 
4. One of the best announcements was that AncestryDNA will be adding a cluster chart feature. It's like the clusters at MyHeritage grouping matches who likely relate through common ancestors
5. Ancestry also introduced a tool to allow you to attach DNA matches' family lines to your tree.  
6. MyHeritage announced a Cousin Finder search feature, which uses trees to find cousins. You can find it under discoveries. I found 196 cousins using this search. 

My favorite presentations: 

1. FamilySearch Full Text Search Is Even Better by Robert Raymond. Full Text search is my favorite feature at FamilySearch. I hadn't searched there lately. When I heard many additional records have been added I searched there again and found some new information. Really wonderful!   
2. Learn Genealogy Faster and Easier with Artificial Intelligence Mark Thompson. I'm interested in learning more about AI for genealogy so I watched several of these kinds of presentations. This one was very good! 
3. How Just One Match Can Help You Find Missing Ancestors in 2025 Diahan Southard. All of her presentations are excellent!
4. How Does DNA Fit into Your Family Story? Identity. Connection. Answers. Diahan Southard 
5. Combine Multiple DNA Test Types (How atDNA+YDNA+mtDNA+atDNA=More Answers!) Diahan Southard
6. Telling Stories with DNA: Case Studies from PBS' Finding Your Roots CeCe Moore 
7. Ethical Standards in the Genealogy Community: Town Hall Discussion CeCe Moore, Lynn Broderick, Dr. Amy Harris
8. On the Record: An Introduction to Civil Registration in Ireland Daniel Loftus
9. Funeral Traditions in the Victorian Era Cathy Wallace
   
10. What the Heck is a Centimorgan?  Kelli Bergheimer
11. AI Genealogy: Year Two: The 2025 Outlook: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re At, Where We’re Headed Steve Little

Court Records Find Beaver County, Pennsylvania

One of the discoveries I made with the full text search was sad, but I'm glad to confirm some family information. It also helps with a timeline for when my ancestor Mary Kurta-Kappel returned to Austria. 

My father Robert Kapple told me his paternal grandfather, Frank Kappel, had a bad temper. My father's family lived with his paternal grandparents until his parents bought their own house. My father remembered Mary Kurta-Kappel was hysterical when she heard my grandparents, and their children, were moving out of the house. She said her husband, Frank, would kill her. (My father was born in 1933, and I believe the family moved out about 1940.) 

I found two court records, for Beaver County, Pennsylvania, using FamilySearch full text search, after listening to the presentation, which confirmed Mary was right to be frightened. 

This court record from 1908 states Frank had hit Mary with his fist and drove her out of their house. She dropped the charges likely because she had a number of children by 1908 and needed financial support. 

At the same time Frank drove his wife Mary out of the house he also drove his children out. There were 6 children under the age of 10 as this record states. They were thrown out of the house at night. The Humane Agent brought charges against Frank on behalf of the children. 

Frank was fined hundreds of dollars. I'm surprised that, working as a laborer, he had enough money to pay the fines. 

Soon after these incidents Mary took her children back to Austria, where her sister was living. She was likely pregnant at the time of the assault. My grandfather Rudolph Kapple was born 9 months later while the family was in Austria. 

Mary returned with her children to America in August 1910, two years after the abuse incidents in August of 1908 (however Joseph Kappel was left in Austria with family and didn't join the family in Chicago until 1923). Why she decided to come back I don't know? She probably couldn't afford to support 7 children herself. 

Here is Mary, with some of her children, in Austria probably in 1909. 

I also found a few other family deeds using the full text search at FamilySearch. I'm very happy with the additions to this Labs project. You can find the full text search under FamilySearch Labs. 

Personally I'm sticking with searching free records and only buying anything if I need it to solve a brickwall.

Rootstech 2025 has been productive for me!