DivaEroticus wrote:
Does anyone here use ancestry.com?  If so, do you have a paid membership?  Is it as good as it's touted?  Do you use it a lot?  Do you get tons of information?

If you only have the free membership, do you have any tips for getting more information in your searches, or are you as limited as I find myself to be?

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Yes (BUT......you gotta get used to how to work the search engine properly. It can be cantankerous.
5. Free part.....cannot remember exactly what all one can do, but it kinda sucks.

A little less information, but a fine search engine can be found here. And it's free. https://familysearch.org/search

Like any other site, one has to learn the nuances.

Cherrystone wrote:

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes
4. Yes (BUT......you gotta get used to how to work the search engine properly. It can be cantankerous.
5. Free part.....cannot remember exactly what all one can do, but it kinda sucks.

A little less information, but a fine search engine can be found here. And it's free. https://familysearch.org/search

Like any other site, one has to learn the nuances.

I use whatever free sites/databases I can find (including familysearch), and I'm pretty good at it, but I find myself ready to dig deeper than I've been able to, so far.

ernst tischler wrote:
My Dad researched his family history back before Genealogy was cool.  Back in the 60's and 70's it was all done by either visiting a courthouse and looking through books or by mail for birth records, death records, census records, military records, etc.

It took a lot of patience and a lot of detective work at times.

His Dad's side of the family came from Germany to the US in the 1850's.  That was an easy trace back to the ancestors on the ship, but prior to that, in Germany, proved difficult because of the loss of old records at the end of WW2.

His Mom's side was interesting, her family dates back to before the Revolutionary War and they slowly migrated west with each generation, ending up in Texas in the late 1800's.

What does this have to do with your question...

Last year I was visiting my older brother, he told me his wife had paid for a membership in that ancestry website to research her family.  I was curious about the site, so I asked if I could log into her membership and look around.

A few years ago, using my Dad's research, I created a family tree for a family reunion...so I am familiar with Names and Locations of my ancestors.

On the website, I found errors in my Mom's side of the family.  It appeared someone had made an assumption and linked a child to the wrong mother.  The child was my Mom's Grandmother, her birth Mom had died and her Dad remarried and had more children with the new wife.  They had attributed all the children to the new wife, so they had the maternal side of my Mom's Grandmother going off in a wrong direction.

The issue was one my Dad claimed to be a common error, using the census records as the sole basis of tracing lineage.  He always said the census is the roadmap, you use it to help find the other records (birth, death, marriage, etc) to confirm the correct information.

So my word of caution is to have fun with the website, it is a wealth of information...it will certainly speed up the process...but before you take stock in anything, check the actual records.

I do have some information, but I'm really good at disseminating and parsing it.  Puzzles are fun!

DivaEroticus wrote:
Does anyone here use ancestry.com?  If so, do you have a paid membership?  Is it as good as it's touted?  Do you use it a lot?  Do you get tons of information?

If you only have the free membership, do you have any tips for getting more information in your searches, or are you as limited as I find myself to be?

Yes, no, maybe, yes, maybe. Use it at your public library. Try & find the original sources. Don't trust everything that's been posted, lots of others research is poorly done or wishful thinking.

I started out when I was 10 with my father's side to 1717 in Switzerland & Flanders (Holland/France)last ship to New Amsterdam before the English renamed it. I'm up to about 2,500 ancestors so far. Last year I found a web site with another 2,000+ Welsh names from a man that worked in the Library of Congress.

The main suggestion is to document where you find the info. Birth, death & marriage are some of the best records if you can find them. Census are good but can contain errors. Property, wills & legal documents can be useful as well.

Good puzzle solving.

Lohkee wrote:
I think, by and large, most of these sites are scams (perhaps well intentioned, but still scams). Being in the legal profession I'm sure you can figure it out pretty easily.

Horseshit.
Please define "scam"?

Oh wait....I remember another thread where you were spouting doubting Thomas type stuff about this kinda research.

Cherrystone wrote:

Horseshit.
Please define "scam"?

Oh wait....I remember another thread where you were spouting doubting Thomas type stuff about this kinda research.

Maybe he's thinking of the heraldry sites. Those are more often scams.

Cherrystone wrote:
Horseshit.
Please define "scam"?

Oh wait....I remember another thread where you were spouting doubting Thomas type stuff about this kinda research. :

Say what you will. The fact of the matter is that birth certificates are a relatively new thing (late 1800's). My grandfather, for example, simply filled out a form with whatever he wanted to when they were initiated in the U.S.. Was his real name, parents, DOB what he claimed them to be? Who knows? I don't, nor does the government. They just took him at his word, as they had to do with everyone. The SSA death index is even newer (mid 1900's).

I did check out the site you linked to. Notice how most of the DOBs prior to 1900 are "estimated?" There's a reason for that.

I did find my grandparents (mother's side). They got my mother's name wrong. Close, but still wrong.

That fact of the matter is, as it was before, that any kind of official recording is a relatively new phenomenon. Prior to 1700 unless you were an historic figure, you were probably born, lived, and died in obscurity, or at least as who you claimed and presented yourself to be. 

But hey, everyone, as we all well know, is nth in line to the British throne or part Native American.

So yeah, you're right. Horseshit!