Where can I get my ancestry drawn up?

Question

I've been to ancestry.com, and there's people I can't find on there for one, and I didn't get very far! What are my other options, and what could it cost?

Answer 1

Professionals charge $35 - $100 an hour, usually with a 12 - 24 hour minimum.

Did you subscribe to Ancestry or just use the free sections?
Is your dead end someone born in 1623 or 1987?
Is he/she in
Macon, France;
Macon County, Georgia;
Macedonia?

Some other options I can think of are
1) Two weeks in Genealogy's Mecca, the FHL at Salt Lake; there are Holiday Inns just blocks way with daily shuttle service.
2) Joining a couple of mailing lists
3) Trying some of the other 400,000 free sites on the Internet

#1 would be as costly as a 2-week vacation to any other Holiday Inn, although the hotel restaurant's wine list would be spartan.

2&3 are free.

Without details it is hard to make specific suggestions.

Answer 2

Ancestry is well known and popular.. it will NOT have everyone in the world. If you are new to genealogy, there is a very possible answer that you are hoping to find persons who are living, or recent enough that they might be living.
On the other hand.. if your ancestors were in the US in the 1800s, it is probable that they WOULD be in the census records.
The trick to finding more, is some basic background on how to research your family. My personal advice is always that you think in terms of PERSONS and not a ready made family tree. In other words... identify your own gr grandfather, and look for records about him (which leads you to his immediate family). By the time you get back a few generations, the odds increase that someone may have worked your gr gr grandfather. This is simple math.. there may be 5 grandchildren from your grandparents. On the next generation back, there can be 20 gr grandchildren.
Genealogy is not free. There are costs, even if it is gas to go to the library, or send for a death certificate. I did without Ancestry for years (it wasn't around when I started) but just this week, decided to use it.
http://www.cyndislist.com/
I always suggest starting here, both for the beginner guides, and for later use, when you find you have ancestry in (say) Ireland, and you want to learn what is out there for that.
Expecting too much to start with is probably the biggest roadblock.

Answer 3

The internet itself should not be your main source.

First of all, if you haven't, get as much information as possible from living family, particuarly your senior members. Tape them if they will let you. What might seem to be insignificant story telling might be very significant.

Go to your public library and find out what all they have.

A Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints(Mormon) Church has records on people all over the world, not just Mormons.
In Salt Lake City, they have the world's largest genealogical collection. Their Family History Centers can order microfilm for you to view at a nominal fee.

You need to get vital records, births, marriage and deaths. If you are in the U. S., each state has its own laws as to who, where and when a person can obtain birth and death certificates. Governing bodies(state, county, city) in most states did not start obtaining vital information until the first quarter of the 20th century. Also once they did, a lot of people who were born at home or died at home did not get recorded.

So before government vital records, you need to check for church records.

Don't expect to find info on living family so much online. Genealogist do not post info on living people since it is an invasion of privacy and can lead to identity theft.

Answer 4

Always start with all your living relatives; ask them about info on themselves, their parents, their parents' parents, etc. Be sure to write everything down; and include who said what. Go to your library and check; ours has a genealogy section (more later). There are websites for Mayflower genealogy; various family genealogies; there are county genealogy sites, state sites, Civil War genealogy sites, Revolutionary War genealogy sites.
The biggest expense will be TIME; I have spent hundreds of hours and have so much left to compile.
Remember, no matter where you obtain the information, there are mistakes (yes, I include "official" documents, such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, death certificates, whatever). My maternal grandmother's tombstone doesn't even have her name correct!
Anyhew, as to searching, try these:
Free sites: there are several to choose from. Start with:
http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

Assuming they emigrated from Europe, start with Ellis Island and the Battery Conservancy sites:
http://www.ellisisland.org
http://www.castlegarden.org

For Scotland, check:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

For ship’s passenger lists, try:
http://www.immigrantships.net/
www.cyndislist.com/ships.htm
www.geocities.com/Heartland/5978/Emigration.html
www.immigrantstips.net/
www.searchforancestors.com/passengerlists/
www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigration/passenger-arrival.html

For those with native American ancestry, try:
http://www.tribalpages.com/
http://www.cherokee-nc.com/geneology.php...
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/herita...

Netherlanders: http://www.genlias.nl

For a fee, try a DNA test:
When you really want to know where your ancestors came from, try such sites as: www.familytreedna.com, dnatribes.com, dnaancestryproject.com, and, of course, the National Geographics Genotype program, https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/geno...
For Jewish ancestry, try:
www.israelgenealogy.com

For people from India, try:
http://www.fibis.org/

Have a look at these sites these are South African ones,
http://genealogy.about.com/od/south_afri...
http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/page2.html....
http://www.jewishgen.org/safrica/website...
http://southafricanfamilyhistory.wordpre...

Meaning of names:
http://www.winslowtree.com/surname-meani...

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/f...

Here are some general sites with lists of African names:
http://www.swagga.com/fname.htm
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/afr.php
http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/ba...

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/...

Military:
www.military.com
http://www.familymilitaryrecords.com/

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/militar...

http://websearch.about.com/od/peoplesear...

http://genealogy.about.com/b/2007/05/24/...

http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ww1/draft/sea...

Finding live people:
Two good places I use are www.zabasearch.com and www.peoplefinder.com

Don't forget, use your local library. Ours (a small one, yet) has www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com, as well as periodicals, books and guidance from an experienced genealogist.

Keep good notes on where you find what: sources are very important.

Good luck!
Here are some more:
www.nationalobituaryarchive.com
http://www.obitcentral.com/obitsearch/
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/
http://zip.langenberg.com/

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welc...
http://www.tedpack.org/obit.html

http://www.newspaperarchive.com/
http://ancestryresearchsitereviews.blogs...
http://www.search-background.com

http://www.birthdatabase.com/
http://www.intelius.com/search-summary-o...
peoplesearch.com
smartpages.com. to get to US Search

http://www.intelius.com/search-summary-o...

http://www.ancestry.com/facts/-name-mean...
http://www.netsleuth.com/

http://affiliates.reunion.com/ads/ads/la...

http://www.peoplelookup.com/people-searc...

http://people.yahoo.com/

http://www.addresses.com/

http://websearch.about.com/od/wendyssear...

http://www.anywho.com/

http://www.whowhere.com/

http://www.nola.com/forums/searching/ind...

http://www.77investigators.com/messagebo...

http://www.voy.com/48081/

http://messages.yahoo.com/

http://www.angelfire.com/va3/search/Mess...

http://www.worldvitalrecords.com
http://www.ntis.gov/products/pages/ssa-d...

http://www.search-background.com

Good luck! Hope these help!