I am going to start research on ancestry.com.?

Question

Do you have any tips or suggestions on how I can get most out of this web sight?

What happened to Windy's message?

Answer 1

I think it is good for the records, particularly Texas records. I don't know how good they are for other states. They seem to be getting more records all the time.

Just be careful about taking as fact everythiing you see in family trees on any website(free or paid). The information is user submitted and most is not documented.
You might see different information on the same person by different submitters. Then you will see the same information repeatedly by many different submitters on the same person without documentation. There is no doubt copying going on without verifying. Use the information as clues as to where to obtain the documentation.

Ancestry.Com has 3 types of trees, Ancestry World Tree is their oldest and largest. One World Tree is an absolute mess. I am finding the Public Member Tree a great joy to work with.

They have all the censuses through 1930. Their transcriptions sometimes leaves a lot to be desired but you can have pity on the transciprtionist when you view the original images.

However, I feel it is the best online site for me as for as records are concerned.

Answer 2

1. Name spellings can vary. For example: If you're looking for someone whos last name is Howie, also look under Howey, and Huei. Henson and Hinson are the same family. Haigler, Hagler, Hegler, etc.

2. The handwriting on the old certificates can sometimes be in such an archaic handwriting that you'll have trouble reading it. The people who transcribed them, made mistakes, so if you can't find something, keep looking with all possible mispellings or alternate spellings.

3. If you opt to pay by the month, and you decide you don't want it any longer, you'll have to call them to cancel. They don't let you go easily.

4. If you are looking for ancestors from Scotland or Ireland, good luck. They have a few things from those countries, but not much.

Answer 3

Ancestry.com is good for certain things however since they copy the census there are loads of mistakes. If you want to use the census I suggest you use heritagequest. You can access it thru your local library's homepage with your library card. You just have to wade your way thru and see what you find. You know what you are looking for so only you can decide what to click on. They have tons of military info which is great.

Also pay a visit to your local LDS Center. They have tons of stuff.

Just remember to document everything with birth, death marriage certificates, etcc.

If you find someone has submitted something on ancestry contact the submitted and see if they will send you a copy of their documentation. If they have it most are willing to share. :

Like Wendy said don't take everything you find online as fact. Get the documents to prove it.

I can honestly say there is nothing like the real way to research a family, digging thru old documents and old court records. That's how all us old timers started out. It really gives you a rush when you find what you were looking for or stumble onto something by accident. I stumbled on to a newpaper article about a relative that had been shot in the Civil War and lived 20 yrs before the bullet moved in his lung and killed him. I found that very interesting how he could have lived that long and then died from something that happend 20 yrs prior. You just never know what you will find.

So the best advice I can give you is just to put in the name and search. If you know they were in the military then search the military records. If you find a family tree contact the submitter and share. If you find a census, print it and then look at the original at heritagequest. Each of these things works hand in hand with another.

Good luck on your quest.

Answer 4

Ancestry is has a online family tree called "My Family Tree" in the "My Ancestry Tab". While you will probably want to buy a family tree file, you'll have to decide which one is your primary file, and use this file exclusively and download to the other. Of the two, try using the online ancestry "my family tree" maker and keep your tree online. You can invite others later if you want.

I would start your tree using this program and then once the basic info that you know is addeded then you can use the search tools on the program to search and add. As you find sources, and new info you can save and source directly to this file. Then download to a Gedcom like "Family Tree Maker" when you need.

Answer 5

I always type in as much info as I can about the person--especially birth/death dates/locations. The census pages are always first to pop up, and there are usually several pages listed (from about 1880-1930 in the US--both Federal and State censuses, then there are pages in the UK census, Canada census, etc). There are sections on Birth, Death, and Marriages (US), England Free Marriages/Deaths (sometimes includes Wales), etc. If you have a general idea where they lived, click on the "Family Tree" tab (these pages list other people with the same person you are researching in their family trees. Under each bold-face typed name is their spouse's / parents' names, where they were living at a certain time, etc). If you don't want to go through all these pages, click on the link at the left that says "One World Tree" and you have all your info in one spot--from left to right, are the person's name (with spouse under it sometimes, if known), parents in the middle, and life events at the right. Click on their name if anything looks remotely familiar, and it will take you to another page that tells all about them--in the top half, it lists them, their parents and how ever many generations beyond the grandparents that are known--with a green, right pointing arrow in a tan box (I recently helped a girl on YA trace her French-Canadian family back to the Middle East in the 10th century, and found out she had royalty in her background just by using the One World Tree), and in the bottom, it lists the spouse's info, and their children--regardless of how many times they were married. At the far right, in a white box with a little crown showing, you can search for famous relatives and it will tell how exactly you are related to them.
As far as memberships go, I have the World Deluxe membership at $29.95 a month, but I can use ancestry.com's sites in Canada, the UK, and Germany with my US user name/password. The US Deluxe just lets you use their USA site. It's worth it if you plan to do a lot of genealogy research.

Answer 6

I was sent a copy of my original message, which contained NO VIOLATION of any kind, and I have not gotten any reply from 'management' as to why it was removed.
Folks.. I can care less about points. YOU might have an excellent answer next time, and someone can remove it for no reason.
Whoever does this, ruins the whole thing for everyone.

Answer 7

Check out Rootsweb - a message board forum for asking questions. It's very useful.

Answer 8

windys mess. prolly got deleated or reported

Answer 9

They charge way to much, to cover all their adverstising.

This one is free www.familysearch.org 5.7 Billion names there!

Answer 10

I think they'll only let you go so far unless you pay them.