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I'd think it would be difficult to make a living as a "full time" genealogist. For most, the endeavor is most definitely a hobby. How many people interested in history, for example (outside of teaching school) can make a living at it? Very few, I would bet. Museums and government institutions employee only so many historians / archivists.
I agree. I think it was possible before the internet. Now too much of what a we need is available for free.
I have only hired a person to look up something once. That was some records from an orphanage that are in one of the libraries at Columbia University. I went through their office that finds jobs for students and found one who had the library pull the box. She found what I was interested in, made pictures of the pages with her phone, and emailed them to me. Since I am in Georgia, no telling when I would have been able to go to that library.
On the other hand, a cousin I did not previously know emailed me and asked me to call him, which I cheerfully did. His wife had died, he had put together a book about her life for their kids, and he decided to look into his own family history. He happens to be financially well off and not very computer oriented, so he hired someone to research just his paternal line.
Then someone in his family found my email address on one of the message boards and gave it to him.
That telephone call turned into a road trip to the county our shared ancestors lived in, with him coming to Georgia from Texas.
The material he had from the "pro" was skimpy and mostly from Ancestry.com. I was able to give him much more. In fairness to the "pro", he only paid for a couple of hours of work.
In the past, genealogists could make money writing books, compiling abstracts of wills and deeds, books of marriages, and summarizing census results. However, once someone abstracts the wills of a certain county in a certain state that pretty much does not need to be done again and now many of those wills are digitized and online.
The professional genealogist can still help when travel is not an option and you really, really want copies of original documents.
I recently read genealogy is the #1 hobby in America. Hmmm........wonder why is that?
I did a little research into my family tree, found my great-grandparents, ok, so, then, so what? So now I know their names.
Not to knock anyone's hobby, but what is the excitement all about? I mean, you can only "discover' ancestors once, then what? make scrapbooks out of them? I'm just wondering what there is to it that involves people so much......
I have been doing Genealogy for 20 years and love it but I like history and enjoy a good mystery. I think its good to see where you came from and the history associated with your ancestors, buts that's me, everyone has their likes and dislikes
I have been doing Genealogy for 20 years and love it but I like history and enjoy a good mystery. I think its good to see where you came from and the history associated with your ancestors, buts that's me, everyone has their likes and dislikes
I think that is why I like it also. I love history and imagine my ancestors embroiled in the topics of the day. For some it was more than just the news. I also love mysteries. Agatha Christi was a childhood favorite. I read all her books.
I find it peculiar that a sibling thinks everything I have found is basically a waste of time. But then I find that she is not very curious about things. Just day to day life for her, her yard and house. Almost a fear of the unknown.
See, how my mind thinks up of sorts of scenarios - want to know the why, what, who, when - lol.
Well, I was the OP of this thread......please note it was about 4 years ago! Since then, I've really been bitten by the genealogy bug! I spend many hours pouring over old documents, wills, deeds, etc and have found many new "pen pals" along the way. For Christmas I got a Flip Pad and am in the process of copying and "stitching" documents, etc. I am sending original documents to various historical societies, while keeping the copies for my own reference. Perhaps I'm planning my own "demise" a bit early---but I was concerned about original documents. My kids are not old enough to care about such. So, I've been sending the originals to places that can make use of them, while keeping the data.
I found enough about my grandmother and her sister to write a book, and perhaps I will! Just a private publishing, which I might send to existing relatives. I now see why its such a great hobby
It's kind of like being adopted... growing up not knowing who your biological parents are and then wanting to know who they were and how that may effect you even if you never knew them.
Each ancestor you learn about and every new detail you learn about them gives you the same sort of discovery. You never knew them, they seemingly didn't directly impact your life but nonetheless they did. Every thing your ancestors did (even those hundreds of years ago) resulted in you and the situation you started life... it also completely effects your genetics which as we are still discovering play a hugely significant role in who we are and how we experience things.
Whenever I think of the bigger picture of what my ancestors did and if any one of them had done just one or two things differently it might not have resulted in me I get overwhelmed... I feel both very tiny and very big at the same time.
It's also an immensely rewarding way to learn about history and feel a personal connection to it and guide you around learning new parts of it. There is so much depth and breadth to the history of cultures around the world and you could spend all day every day reading about it all, but this is a way to guide you through it in a meaningful and impactful way... one that resulted in you.
Well, I was the OP of this thread......please note it was about 4 years ago! Since then, I've really been bitten by the genealogy bug! I spend many hours pouring over old documents, wills, deeds, etc and have found many new "pen pals" along the way. For Christmas I got a Flip Pad and am in the process of copying and "stitching" documents, etc. I am sending original documents to various historical societies, while keeping the copies for my own reference. Perhaps I'm planning my own "demise" a bit early---but I was concerned about original documents. My kids are not old enough to care about such. So, I've been sending the originals to places that can make use of them, while keeping the data.
I found enough about my grandmother and her sister to write a book, and perhaps I will! Just a private publishing, which I might send to existing relatives. I now see why its such a great hobby
I have always argued that Genealogy is addicting. Once you delve into it, you can get hooked and that's what happened to me. I enjoy the history and detective work but its the personal nature that really puts a exclamation on it. I too have started writing a book about my 3rd great grandfather who spent a year and a half in the Rock Island Prison Camp during the Civil War....
I love genealogy, it gives you a chance to learn about where you came from, and the people that were your ancestors. Some lived exciting lives, others sad, yet each one has a story to tell. Its the story that makes it worthwhile!
I love genealogy! Was always interested in my family history as a small child. My great grandfather wrote about his ancestry and it was fascinating. Also, growing up I was confused as to how my genealogy could be from so many different countries. How could one person be so many things?! I would wonder. Researching ancestors and the eras they lived in has been rewarding intellectually/emotionally and yes spiritually.
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I recently read genealogy is the #1 hobby in America. Hmmm........wonder why is that?
