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I rememer when Rootsweb was the only genealogy site on the web.
I remember when there were no data theives. That's when real family researchers put their own work on Rootsweb for legitimate reasons. It helped newbies like me make some amazing connections,
I remember the first time I found my parents in a 'cousins' data base with 12,000 unrelated people. Then I searched her db and discovered she was just a common garden variety liar.and thief that could not be trusted. None of her so called 'genealogy was original. And we are NOT related.
I remember when all the real family historians, including myself, removed our work from the public view and stopped talking about it.
I remember the first time I found my family on a C-D. It included personal information that should not have been on the C-D.
I remember the first time I learned LDS is a fraud. LDS does not expunge member transcriptions or family information that is wrong - even with 400-year old legal records. The only reason to collect your information is NOT to further genealogy, it IS to "seal your fmaily" in their church.
I remember long hours at the local library, going through city directories and looking for possible living relatives, and then WRITING letters to them.
I remember writing at least 10 letters a week to genealogical/historical societies, archives, cemeteries, etc....and waiting every day for the mail to arrive, hoping at least one new answer would come through.
I remember when the original genealogy programs for computers were so clunky that it was still better to do all charts and family group sheets by hand.
I remember going to the local LDS Family History Center on the ONE night a week it was open and NEVER being able to get on the microfiche or microfilm readers because members of the church got first priority and they were ALWAYS on them. I had to make the longer drive to the Santa Monica FHC instead. Being a young wife and new mother with very little money for gas this was a rare opportunity.
I remember when finding royalty and nobility was exciting. Now its no big deal, LOL!
I remember when I was such a newbie that I thought anyone with the same surname in their line just HAD to be related
I remember when finding a "family skeleton" could still shock me. Now I actively look for them and pull them out of the closet kicking, screaming and dancing
I remember LBC (Long Before Computers) the money I spent (which I really couldn't afford) on long-distance phone calls I made and the many, many letters I wrote seeking info, and often the letters were never answered. Then there were the phone calls and letters I received requesting info, and once they had picked my brain I never heard from them again.
And I bought my first computer specifically to do genealogy and found the only program available was one written by a computer store owner, and as written above, it was very "clunky" compared to those available today, but was wonderful at that time.
I don't begrudge the advances. Clerks who kept earlier records, that you folks accessed in what you consider time consuming fashion, would have probably appreciated ink pens over quill and bottled ink. Who know what kind of data storage will come next?
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I remember when there were no data thieves.
Definitely agree about that. Even if I've only been into this for about three years, I get aggravated at people like the one I just noted on my Ancestry home page. I checked her profile after noting that she pulled >40 records, obits, and biographical profiles from my tree. She's been on the site for about a month and has collected >1100 people and >400 records. She couldn't have done that just by research even if just about everything is online, now
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Originally Posted by Cyanna
I remember when finding royalty and nobility was exciting. Now its no big deal, LOL!
When I found that one line of my family was descended from a noble source, I was scandalized at what they had become: a bunch of wife beaters, petty thieves and public drunks. Then I realized that people farther back in that line, who were granted the privilege to wear tiaras and ermine robes, probably engaged in the same sort of peccadilloes, but got away with it because of their status
...Then there were the phone calls and letters I received requesting info, and once they had picked my brain I never heard from them again.....
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Originally Posted by nitram
Same here, frustrating and inconsiderate I would say.
I've had that happen, too. Have then later seen my original research, uncredited, incorporated into others' websites.
The flip side of that is a distant cousin who I called about 20 years ago. Though we politely spoke and he gave me an extra bit of info (a 2 ggm's maiden name he'd recently found), he actually told me not to call him again.
It wasn't like I wanted to move into his garage or even meet him for that fact. Different strokes, I guess.
The flip side of that is a distant cousin who I called about 20 years ago. Though we politely spoke and he gave me an extra bit of info (a 2 ggm's maiden name he'd recently found), he actually told me not to call him again.
It wasn't like I wanted to move into his garage or even meet him for that fact. Different strokes, I guess.
Eh, maybe a fight in a distant generation that passed down to the kids? I've had that happen in my family. A grandparent, great-aunt, second cousin .. will squawk because I dare communicate with a relative engaged in a feud with them. I lay down the law and declare "unless this involves a theft of large sums, or sexual assault, I'm not involved and refuse to take sides in your squabbles"
I remember when all the real family historians, including myself, removed our work from the public view and stopped talking about it.
I hope you're not trying to say that anyone who makes their tree public is not a "real family historian". Mine is public but I have spent years on it after inheriting a lot of work my Grandmother did before computers and I feel it's very thorough and accurate.
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I remember the first time I learned LDS is a fraud. LDS does not expunge member transcriptions or family information that is wrong - even with 400-year old legal records. The only reason to collect your information is NOT to further genealogy, it IS to "seal your fmaily" in their church.
FamilySearch.org, the LDS genealogy website, have a great free public records database.
I am not saying any such thing. I don't personally know any real family historian today who isfoolish enough to fill a db with years of personally sourced research and put it on the web for data theives, and bots that scrape the information for the express purpose of selling it. There are a few family historians who drop some very useful breadcrumbs to help, but the bulk of their research is not available to the general publc. The pseudo family historians have DBs filled with thousands of names of persons they are not related to and know nothing about. I do know my own and I limit my research to my direct lines. I care nothing about the second double cousins' spouse and in-laws. Paid Genealogists don't either, .
PA2UK said......
I hope you're not trying to say that anyone who makes their tree public is not a "real family historian". Mine is public but I have spent years on it after inheriting a lot of work my Grandmother did before computers and I feel it's very thorough and accurate. There are a few that leave bread crumbs but
I am not saying any such thing. I don't personally know any real family historian today who isfoolish enough to fill a db with years of personally sourced research and put it on the web for data theives, and bots that scrape the information for the express purpose of selling it.
I don't own those sources and I'm happy to share them with anyone. I'm sorry if you think that makes me foolish but I think it makes me generous. Please stop insulting people who simply go about things differently than you do or I'll be forced to report you to an admin.
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There are a few family historians who drop some very useful breadcrumbs to help, but the bulk of their research is not available to the general publc. The pseudo family historians have DBs filled with thousands of names of persons they are not related to and know nothing about. I do know my own and I limit my research to my direct lines. I care nothing about the second double cousins' spouse and in-laws. Paid Genealogists don't either, .
I really don't care what paid genealogists do.
I just thought of an answer to your original question too... I remember the first time I came across genealogist snobs.
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Different strokes, I guess.