Relatives in FamilySearch with multiple spouses can be easily identified.

The FamilySearch Blog this week released a list of newly certified partner products for the month of May. According to the post:

“Certified” means the product is compatible with FamilySearch.org and has features that conform to our strict standards of quality. FamilySearch works with a variety of partners to help provide you with as many ways as possible to find, add, and share about your family members.

The list of new partner products includes Familienbuch, Fast Photo Game, Match Game, Multiple Parents, Multiple Spouses, and RootsBid. Two of the apps that stood out for me are Multiple Parents and Multiple Spouses. Both apps are similar in their function. The apps search the first 32 ancestors of the person whose FamilySearch ID is entered.

The Multiple Spouses app shows those relatives who have more than one spouse. The description for the app says, "This is aimed towards patrons who are looking for 'step-ancestors' of whom they can search for their ancestors." With my Mormon heritage this app could come in handy, but I believe the bigger impact may be for those who are unaware of spouses their relatives may have.

The Multiple Parents App can come in handy finding errors in lines as well as adoptive relationships. The above Annie James has another set of parents with the Bartholomew surname. Annie James married Joseph Smith Bartholomew and somehow someone has combined another record that appears to be incorrect that shows her with an additional set of parents. I have another relative who was adopted by a family when he was left orphaned while crossing the plains. In some documents he has his birth father's surname and in others he uses his adoptive family name. This app would help highlight relatives with unique or erroneous relationships within Family Tree.

Both apps are by Debbie Holtzendorff, her linkedin profile says she is an LDS Church Tech Service Missionary for FamilySearch. Debbie, along with Harold G. Lee have developed several apps and have published them on their website woodenvillage.org. These apps include: Record Hints for Your Relatives, Relationship Finder for Family Tree, Automated Research Indicators for Your Relatives, Missing Parents, Pick an Ancestor, Descendants with No Children, Research Indicators for Descendants, Duplicate Ancestors, Ancestor Memories, and Ordinances Needed for Your Relatives.

It is exciting to see the work that is being done to help FamilySearch users parse data and use unique ways to find research opportunities for our relatives. I will review these apps and information I have found using them in later posts. Until then please try all of the above apps and let me know what you think of their functionality and how you have applied them to your research.