Would you pay someone to do internet geneaology research at $20.00 per generation discovered?

Question

The going rate for "professional" geneaologist appears to be $60.00 an hour. the rates I have seen for "experienced" but not "professional" researchers has been over $20.00 per hour of research regardless of what is found. Wouldn't it be better to pay only for results? How many people would rather pay to let someone with experience do the research rather than simply doing the on line looking themselves?

Answer 1

Hey Thomas W,

Paying depends one what I get. I do most of my own research, but when someone does go into an archive for me, I pay them for their time. If each generation that someone discovered cost $20.00, and it included proof that would be worth doing, since records do cost money even if you do it yourself.

You should not just take someone's word that some line of ancestors is correct either. It is easy to give someone a Lineage that is incorrect. In one case, a published book was proven wrong for some of my ancestors by one birth record. The author of the book said, well maybe you would fit nicely over here... You should do as much as you can yourself. That is afterall the fun of it. If you get stuck, nothing wrong with some help.

Answer 2

First of all, I agree with most of the sentiment about doing it yourself. You will immerse yourself in a lot of personal history that the paid researcher would overlook. I like doing my own legwork. And there are a LOT of resources out there and more coming every day!

If you DO go the paid researcher route, though, what results would you expect from a lawyer, for example. His time is his money. Same with a paid researcher. If it costs $20 in gas and copying costs, shouldn't it be expected to be reimbursed at least that much? Then add some for time. From personal experience, I'd say $20 an hour is a bargain.

Answer 3

You can spend the day driving to the mountains, hiking in a couple of miles and casting for trout in a clear brook, or you can go to the fishmongers and buy a couple of fillets in 10 minutes. Most of us enjoy the hunt.

There are two things wrong with your scheme.

First, paying only for results gives the researcher a HUGE motive to make questionable judgments; if she is your ggg grandmother, he eats lunch; if not, he goes hungry. Sounds like "Martha" and "Miranda" are just variations on the same name, the fact she said she was born in Ohio on three different census entries was a mistake and ka-ching! pay up, Jack, I just found another generation.

Honest genealogists charge by the hour, with no guarantee.

Second flaw - at $20 a generation, your two parents are easy, unless you are adopted. Your 4 grandparents are a little harder. 8 great grandparents, 15 or 16 ggg depending on who married a cousin harder still, 30 - 32 gggg's, very hard. $20 for asking who your parents are is a couple of hundred bucks an hour. $20 for finding all 120 of your 5th great grandparents (Lots of cousins marrying each other then, so you don't have anywhere close to 128) works out to three cents an hour.

It sounds like you plan to get rich by searching through the LDS site, leaping to conclusions and presenting people who are not net-savvy with "Family History" that may or may not be accurate.

Answer 4

No, I would get all my known family into the computer. Try to get it back to when there are census. The last one was in 1930. They go back to 1850 with family member' names. If you can get back that far, there is a good chance someone else has already done part of it. THEN, when you have done all you can, go to ancestry.com, which has the largest resources. They will allow you to find names free for a period of time. They have all those census ready for you to use when you get stumped. O the LDS website familysearch.org . You can use that website free forever.

Then when you do all the easy stuff pay them the price for the hard ones.

I get so much out of ancestry, that I pay their annual rate. I am still getting info from them on my famly. I would have paid $thousands if I had paid $60 per hour.

Answer 5

I think a set amount for a preliminary search (to determine if information is available) would be a good start. Then negotiate a rate for additional documented results. Anyone can claim hours of research and can claim to have found your relatives, but without proof you have nothing. If you can't do the research yourself, don't give someone a blank check to do it for you. Your local genealogical society should be able to help you find an honest and qualified researcher.

Answer 6

As a genealogist I would recommend leaving the professionals as a last resort. There is nothing they can do that you, yourself, cannot do. Here are sources for free information:

Try the following sites:

http://cyndislist.com
http://rootsweb.com
http://www.usgenweb.com/
http://www.libraryspot.com/features/genealogyhelp.htm
http://feefhs.org/webm/webtools.html
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/
http://www.familysearch.org/


Cyndi's List is simply the most comprehensive set of genealogy links on the internet. Exceptional resource.

Rootsweb has message boards organized by location and by name. Browse, post a message to or sign up for or sign up for any of the mailing lists.

GenWeb is hosted by Rootsweb but has information organized differently. USGenWeb has sites for every state, and there is a WorldGenWeb, too.

The Library Spot is an association of online libraries.

FEEFHS is the Federation of Eastern European Family History Societies.

Archives.gov is the website for the US National Archives and Records Administation (NARA). You can view many databases online and even request copies of military records.

Family Search is probably the largest and most comprehensive genealogy database anywhere. It is absolutely free, online or in person, and chances are you have a facility in your hometown..or closeby. It is maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints.

There are other resources, like the reference section of your library and your local historical and genealogical societies. Many genealogists have databases online at sites like FamilyTreeMaker.

Save your money...it's more fun and more rewarding to do the research yourself!

Answer 7

I've been doing my own research for about 5 years. I wouldn't trade the experience for anything! What a paid researcher would gloss over as a meaningless fact is something fascinating about one of my ancestors to me.

I would not pay anyone to do this for me. It means so much to find that "missing" link, and I would have missed out on meeting so many cousins I didn't know I had when I started this journey.

Answer 8

Creationism is a mythological tale invented by quasi-historic tribes of illiterate Semitic sheep herders. There are 2 forms of Creationists: (a million) the scientifically illiterate; and (2) the intellectually cheating.

Answer 9

It's free by Church of the Latter Day Saints of Jesus Christ.

Answer 10

No. you can do it yourself for almost nothing