Ancestory Web Sites Good/Bad ?

Question

I was thinking of joining one of those sites where it'll find your ancestors. I went to ancestory.com to view a few samples of family trees, prices, etc. My questions for those who are members of sites like this are:

1 - Is it worth the price to become a member of these sites

2 - Can non members of the site view a "family tree" that I create

3 - Does being a paying member of the site actually enhance the capabilities of my "family tree"

4 - What if I don't know the names / places / birth years of anyone past my grandparents?

These are just some of the questions I have before paying money to these sites. I viewed some free samples of the ancestory.com family trees, and they go really deep into the family tree, but I don't know the names of people past my grandparents. But is that the whole idea of joining a website like this? Does the website search for people I don't know and their birth information for me

Any information, suggestions would be greatly appreciate

Wow !! I know I just posted this question a few hours ago, but after reading the few answers from you all, I think I"m going to change my mind and not pay to be a member of these. I don't know much about my family past my grandparents, and to me it wouldn't be worth it. I thought it was a lot easier than this, but that's why I posted the question here. Thanks to all for saving me some $$$.

Answer 1

These sites are only as good as the people using them. You need to know what you're looking for, specifically. Some of them do have a facility for posting your tree on the web. Ancestry.com is one of them.
If you're just starting your research, you should begin with yourself and work your way back. If you know your grandparent's names and ages, and it's great if you have your grandmother maiden names, you're off to a good start.
Because the records are recent, for reasons of privacy, you'll need to obtain all the initial information yourself, i.e. copies of your parents marriage certificate, and their birth certificates, then your grandparents - same certificates. This will be a great help, and worth the expense, as the certificates will give you all sorts of information about the previous generation - you'll be surprised at what's recorded. Names, places, dates, parents's names, including the maiden names of your two most recent generations. When you get to the stage of getting into the records available to the public, you can work your way back to the generations before them in the same way and you're in clover because you've done all the background work.

Answer 2

4. If you don't know the names/places/birth years of anyone past your grandparents, if your grandparents are listed on these sites, there is a good chance it will tell you who their parents are, their "ahnentafel".

3. Being a paying member is the only way to fully utilize sites such as www.ancestry.com.

2. They have features whereby you invite people to view your ancestry web page; they do not have to pay, but you have to invite them and they have to accept.

1. Is it worth the price? Figure about a dollar a day for the full thing. Is is worth that much to you? I reckon that depends on how much you presently know, how much you can learn and how "badly" you wish to learn it.

The thing is, not even Wikipedia is completely accurate. I can't find some of my great-grandparents at all; on my Dad's side, I have gotten back 5 generations ago and the only reference is made by my uncle and cousins. On my Mom's side (her dad, his dad, etc.) I have gotten back only 4 generations, again with only one reference, meaning, in both cases, it is dubious at best. I have found genealogies (in ancestry.com) that claimed my ancestors were born in New York in 1584; another had his first child in England, the second in the Colonies, the third in England.
In other words, there are many mistakes. When I find stuff like these last two, I disregard it; sometimes that means no new information. It is too unreliable.
You have to make your own decision; if your "guest" trial afforded what looks like good info, you might give it a try.

Answer 3

Dave Pack gave you some great information.

Now information found in family trees on any website must be taken as clues where to look not as fact as most is not documented. Even if you see the same information over and over by different submitters, a lot of copying is being done which is poor quality research. There are errors in those trees.

I like Ancestry.Com because of the records it has and it is obtaining more all the time.
They have all the censuses through 1930.
The 1940 is not available for the public yet.
It is possible your public library has a subscription to Ancestry.Com that you can utilize. You should check on the genealogy section of your public library any way.

Answer 4

This isn't very specific because I don't build my family tree on-line. I do subscribe to Ancestry.

Most of us have a genealogy program on our PC's. Family Tree Maker and Roots Magic are examples. FTM is the most popular. RM is my favorite. They are about $US 30. The Mormons will let you download PAF for free.

Ancestry is worth it if you are interested. You wouldn't subscribe to HBO if you only watched 3 - 4 movies a year, and you shouldn't subscribe to Ancestry if you are not going to spend a couple of hours a week researching. Ancestry is aimed at people in the USA with European roots. While they have other data bases, if both of your grandmothers were Chinese and both of your grandfathers came over from Europe in 1931 (just after the last census which is open to the public), you would not find much.

All of the web sites that accept family tree data make efforts to hide details on living people. A really determined, clever hacker could probably ferret out your data if it was on-line, either by pretending to be you or by other means. I "privitize" my data before I upload it.

Subscribing gives you access to a wealth of information that you would otherwise have to get by going to a library, in your home or across the country. You can visit the Ancestry "Library" at home, barefoot, at 6 am with a cup of coffee and a jelly donut. You can't go into a real library like that.

Your grandparents' SSN applications ($27 each) or several other records (free to $25, depending) would probably tell you your GGP's names, at least; maybe their ages and birthplaces as well. You might be able to find your GP's in the census.

> But is that the whole idea of joining a website like this?
Yes

Does the website search for people I don't know and their birth information for me?
> Sort of a little bit. It isn't magic. For instance:

If your grandmother's married name was Evangeline Jablonski
You searched for her name,
You found an obituary for John Smith, died in 1932,
It said he was survived by his daughter, Evangeline Jablonski, of Pocatello, Idaho

You might have found your great grandfather and your grandmother's maiden name.

I hope this helps.

Answer 5

No one knows anything past their grand parents when they first get started. Start with what you know and go back from there. You will get so excited when you find your great grand parents listed on a census.
( I found my husbands Grand mother and My grand mother lived in the Same county in West Texas in the 1930census. They both moved from there and lived all over before settling in our local area. I find that a very odd coincidence)

Go to Cyndislist.com this is a wonderful free list of genealogy sites. You can also try genweb & roots web. or go to your local public library and see if they have the library edition of ancestory that you can use for free.