how do you use ancestry.com?

Question

how can i research my ancestors on this site past my g-g grandparents??

Answer 1

Use the advanced search method and unclick exact matches in the top left corner. You have to sort through a ton of stuff, but it's worth it. Start with the census records and remember the spelling may not be correct. If you use the family tree links, be careful because some people put incorrect info. U.S. records are more detailed and go farther back. If you are tracing other countries, such as England the census only goes back to 1840 and the birth, marriage and death records are just lists of names. Immigration records are great, some even include a pic of the ship. You might want to also try a google search for birth records from that country. I know that Italy has a lot of info on people, but Ancestry.com does not. If you know the town they are from some cities have great info: like sfgeneology.com for San Francisco. You can also try...
familysearch.org (free)
vitalsearch.com (free)
rootsweb.com (free)
Good luck and happy searching!

Answer 2

I like the records. Now, no way are all the records on any website. However, I think Ancestry.Com has the most.

Family trees on any website must be viewed with caution. Most of the information is not documented. Even when you see the same information repeatedly by many different submitters, you can"t take it for granted that it is right. People are copying without verifying.

Ancestry World Tree is its oldest and largest program. One World Tree is junk.
When they set it up they took the liberty of taking information that others had submitted to Ancestry World Tree and put it in One World Tree. They have tried to put it in showing the different information people had on one person. However I have found at least twice where the one person was actually two different people. There is no place to put in an explanation or notes.

Their new Public Member Tree at first I didn't like. Now I find it a joy to work with.
You can bring records forward very easily to your Public Member Tree.

Answer 3

After you find the name you are looking for, click the "Family Trees" tab across the top where it says things like Historical Records, etc. You could look through all the ones listed, but the majority are considered private (they have an orange dot to the right of the tree name), so the best bet is to go over to the left column and click the link "One World Tree". When this page opens, there are 3 basic lists--the person's name at the left, mother/father's name (if known) in the center; and birth/death/marriage info on the right. If you see your g-g grandparents listed, click the link under their name and when their page opens, they are shown with either a male or female silhouette with their info to the right of it. If there are names with birth/death dates shown in the center, follow the GREEN ARROWS to the right--which takes you BACK in time to previous generations. In the area below all this are listed any and all marriages, and children born to each marriage with full names, sex/gender/and birthdates.
To search for famous relatives--kings, movie stars, singers, writers, etc.--click on the crown to the far right and it will tell you if you are related to anyone famous from history and how they are related to you, along with the "pathway" from them to you.
If you have a membership here in the US, you can also access their sites in England, Australia, and Germany using your login info to search for ancestors there.

Answer 4

Ancestry has many records dating past the 1790 census, including abstracts from wills and court cases for states and locals across the country. Start with census reaords all the way back to 1790. Please remember that the spelling of names are not exact so look under any variations of their last names, if you have an idea of the town they lived in you can search page by page on the census records. Check tax lists for 1800. Ancestry has tons of records, especially military.
Best to pick a starting point and person and start working your way back from then with census records. Check also the family tree records, but be wary of information found, sometimes dates can be off a couple years. I personally have had to change my tree on Ancestry due to transposing digits on birth years and death years.

Answer 5

I know your question relates to Ancestry.com. But I have found the IGI search on Familysearch.com more helpful pre 1837. Though it is not complete it is worth looking at, it has given me many interesting leads.

Answer 6

You just put in the mane you want and look through the matches the find. It can take some time but it can also be very rewarding. I have traced parts of my family and my husband's family to the B.C. time. Good luck reserching and remember ther are many free sights to serch on.