does anyone have any experience with the family ancestry web sites?

Question

i would like to start checking my family history tree ,so i can pass it on to my children, but i do not have a clue which of the
web sites are the best.

Answer 1

This is a long answer that I paste now and again to questions like yours.

The short answer to "How can I find my family tree?" is that if one of your great-aunts has spent 30 years researching it, AND has posted her research on the Internet, you'll find it. If not, you will have to do the research yourself. It is not difficult, but it takes time. Most young people do not want to spend a couple of hours a week doing research, because it is too much like homework. So, you may want to skip the rest of this answer. If not, read on.

If your line has been "done", chance are it is on one of these two sites. When you search, don't fill in all of the fields. Start with given name, surname and birth year. Use (+/-) 5 for the birth year. Expect to spend 15 - 45 minutes on each. Neither has any living people, so don't enter your own name.

http://www.familysearch.com
(Mormon's mega-site. Click on "Search", to start with, or "Advanced Search")

Roots Web
http://www.rootsweb.com
and in particular,
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi
(Roots Web World Connect; 460,000,000+ entries, of varying quality)

Here are a few more. The resolved questions have lots of links and tips.

http://www.cyndislist.com/
(240,000+ links, all cross-indexed. If you want Welsh or Pennsylvania Dutch or Oregon or any other region, ethnic group or surname, chances are she has links for it.)

Ancestry.com
http://www.ancestry.com/
(which has free pages and FEE pages - so watch out)
and, in particular,
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?ln=
Surname meanings and origins

http://www.tedpack.org/begingen.html
My own site: "How to Begin"

United States only:

http://www.usgenweb.net/
(Subdivided into state sites, which all have county sites.)
(The Canadians have Canadian Gen Web, by province)

http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
(Social Security Death index - click on "Advanced". You may find your grandparents.)

http://find.person.superpages.com/
(US Phone book, for looking up distant cousins)


United Kingdom Only:

http://www.genuki.org.uk/
(Biggest site for United Kingdom & Ireland)

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/
(Free Birth, Marriage & Death Records)

In the USA, some public libraries have census image subscriptions. Many Family History Centers do too.

This is a general hint: Even though you go in through YA Canada, YA Australia, YA UK or YA USA, all of the questions go into one big "pot" and get read by everyone in the world who speaks English. Most of the people here are in the UK and USA, but you sometimes get questions and answers from people who worry about kangaroos eating their roses. So, if you are asking about a specific individual, put a nation and a state / province. It will help people help you.

Answer 2

Be careful about taking as fact information seen in famiy trees on any website, free or paid. They are user submitted. Most are not documented. You might see different information on the same person, then you will see a whole page of the same information on the same person without documentation. All too frequently people are copying, and they are copying errors.

Use the information as clues as to where to obtain the documentation. Good family history requires good documentation. It is best, if possible, to have 3 records to back up any fact.

Ancestry.Com has lots of records and is obtaining more all the time. They have all the U. S. censuses through 1930. The 1940 is not available to the public yet. They also have U. K. censuses. Your public library might have a subscription to Ancestry.Com.

The Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints (Mormon) Church has records on people all over the world, not just Mormons.
Their temple in Salt Lake City has the world largest genealogical records. They are very helpful and will not bring up religion or send missionaries by to ring your doorbell.
They can order microfilm from Salt Lake that you can view.

Answer 3

There are several good sites. Some you will need to pay for and others are free. I would start with www.familysearch.org. It's a good free site with nearly 20 billion records. Also try ancestry.com. You'll have to pay to use it, but it's a very good site. You could try contacting any friends that you may have that are Mormon. They do lots of genealogy and are happy to run your family history and put it in a nice little packet. No strings attached!

Answer 4

I have a payed subscription to http://www.ancestry.com/
They have a lot of records in one place.


Giggle bear: Genealogy is
1. A record or table of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or ancestors; a family tree.

2. Direct descent from an ancestor; lineage or pedigree.

3. The study or investigation of ancestry and family histories.

Answer 5

I used www.ancestry.com for awhile, but had too many problems. I won't say it is their fault, they just take information that people submit, but when it says your ancestors were born in New York in 1580, it makes you wonder. On their site, different web pages give different people for the parents; some supposedly were born in England, but a sibling was born in the Colonies, the next born in England, and so one.
If you just want to have fun, go for it; if you want accuracy, you will not be able to find it.
Current records in modern countries are not all that accurate...

Answer 6

Everyone has different luck with different sites, because some sites have info that others don't. Many are free or have free trials, so why don't you just try them out for yourself? You can also try your local library, mine has loads of genealogy stuff and even a licensed genealogist who helps find stuff.

If you have the money to join it, Ancestry.com probably has the largest number of records to view.

Answer 7

There are lots and depending on whether your prepared to pay for the service offered, or whether you want "FREE". The best free site without question is www.familysearch.org
Then there's my two favourite pay for sites.
www.ancestry.co.uk
www.ancestry.com both are subscription membership, I have the global package and I love it. It's money well spent as far as I am concerned. Hope this helps and this is just my own opinion.

Answer 8

what does genealogy mean anywyas?!