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I recently became interested in searching for family history via online sources. I've been using Familysearch.org because it's free and I've filled in a ton of information on both my and my husband's families, going back several generations, and have hooked up our lines with some that others have researched, so that some of them go back pre-1000 A.D. I've had a lot of fun doing it.
Recently, I got access to Ancestry.com for free. It seems to operate in a similar manner, from my cursory review. I quickly located a few ancestral lines that had dead-ended on Familysearch that had a few more generations completed on Ancestry, but at the same time, there was a lot of missing information on Ancestry, that was already researched on FamilySearch.
So, basically, I am wondering if there's a consensus of opinion as to which site is better, in general, as far as available resources, and number of entries.
Ancestry has more documents & I understand how to manipulate the search engines. But familysearch is a wonderful place to begin your research due to the free aspect.
As far as research of others, I do not trust it--ever.
There are many free sources listed on this forum. The oldest & most helpful might be genweb.
I agree with historyfan. You tree will be a great work of fiction if you rely on the research of others without verifying it on your own. If they have trees going back more than 1,000 years, then I would give them a 99% chance of being seriously wrong.
Ancestry is the biggest single access collection of documents. You might be able to find 60-65% of their information elsewhere, but you will spend a lot of time, and perhaps money, finding it.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm seeing some examples of questionable entries already. The aforementioned 1000-year line seems very well documented, with the exception of a specific generation about 150 years ago. Apparently my great great great grandfather, along with several of his siblings, was conceived 7 years after his father's death. :P
I recently became interested in searching for family history via online sources. I've been using Familysearch.org because it's free and I've filled in a ton of information on both my and my husband's families, going back several generations, and have hooked up our lines with some that others have researched, so that some of them go back pre-1000 A.D. I've had a lot of fun doing it.
Recently, I got access to Ancestry.com for free. It seems to operate in a similar manner, from my cursory review. I quickly located a few ancestral lines that had dead-ended on Familysearch that had a few more generations completed on Ancestry, but at the same time, there was a lot of missing information on Ancestry, that was already researched on FamilySearch.
So, basically, I am wondering if there's a consensus of opinion as to which site is better, in general, as far as available resources, and number of entries.
Thanks for any opinions shared.
See my thread, Family tree and DNA general instructions where I tell how I started doing my family tree using My Heritage, Ancestry and Family Search. Other members have added input to it. I made the post to help others not waste time using sites like My Heritage that only allow so many people before having to pay or entering every person verses doing it once then saving the tree as a GEDcom file to upload to another site. Some sites you can't back up your family tree
I only use My Heritage when I run into a road block because I'm close to the 300 person tree limit. I will delete a branch then enter the branch I'm road blocked on. I keep my main tree on Ancestry because it allows me the best privacy options, plus I've done the DNA of my hub, 2 kids and my kids grand mothers. I also work with a few relatives there, it's very easy to invite them to your tree if you have it private. You can also set your DNA samples to be viewed by various family or friends.
I like Family Search for the free records. The biggest down fall of the site is that you can not back up your tree to save it as a GEDcom file to upload to Ancestry or any of the other sites; you'll have to enter it all by hand.
As was mentioned, you really do have to check the work that's already been done on family search before bringing it to your tree on Ancestry or another site to make sure it is right. I had sent my son's grandmother an email the other day asking if she knew where her fathers brother and sister were buried, she replied back that her father didn't have a sister. I went to my 2 trees to see where I messed up, it was on family search that I found a record with Sam and Minnie as parents of Edith but the last name was spelled different. I don't have any other records attached to Edith; she was born 6 years before MIL's father. It's very possible she passed as a baby; I'm not sure but will have to work on it more to figure it out.
familysearch.org is a Mormon owned and operated website. Do not build your family tree there unless you are OK with Mormons using your deceased relatives' data and doing a strange post-mortem baptism of them in their temples. I had very devout Catholic aunts who were nuns. After a year I saw that they had been 'mormonized'. The aunts would have been furious if they would have known.
Beyond weird, but it's a big thing for this sect to baptize dead people. They even tried it with Ann Frank.
familysearch.org is a Mormon owned and operated website. Do not build your family tree there unless you are OK with Mormons using your deceased relatives' data and doing a strange post-mortem baptism of them in their temples. I had very devout Catholic aunts who were nuns. After a year I saw that they had been 'mormonized'. The aunts would have been furious if they would have known.
Beyond weird, but it's a big thing for this sect to baptize dead people. They even tried it with Ann Frank.
I thought LDS had agreed to stop doing that?
Anyone know if LDS is still baptizing people who have passed, and were not Mormon?
familysearch.org is a Mormon owned and operated website. Do not build your family tree there unless you are OK with Mormons using your deceased relatives' data and doing a strange post-mortem baptism of them in their temples. I had very devout Catholic aunts who were nuns. After a year I saw that they had been 'mormonized'. The aunts would have been furious if they would have known.
Beyond weird, but it's a big thing for this sect to baptize dead people. They even tried it with Ann Frank.
Quote:
Originally Posted by daliowa
I thought LDS had agreed to stop doing that?
Anyone know if LDS is still baptizing people who have passed, and were not Mormon?
Okay, I'm Mormon, and would be happy to tell you how this works. I'm not going to go into the theological reasons for the practice of baptisms for the dead, as I believe it to be inappropriate for this particular forum. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been firmly instructed that they should perform posthumous baptisms only for their own ancestors. The vast, vast majority of Mormons respect this ruling and act accordingly. Occasionally, there are those who do not. Repeated offenses are dealt with and members who refuse to obey the rules may lose their privileges. Lastly, you should know that no posthumous baptism is capable of turning anyone into a Mormon against his or her wishes (i.e. "mormonized"). I hope that clarifies the situation for those who may find it disturbing.
Personally, as far as records go, I have found very little on Ancestry that was not available either on FamilySearch or via microfilm / fiche records that I ordered in at the local Mormon church.
Regarding the family histories that were uploaded by Ancestry users - about 90% are so riddled with mistakes they are rendered useless!
Personally, I consider Ancestry to be a huge rip-off. I have logged in at my local library (for free) to do some searching for people and events I did not have from traditional sources, but had very little success. The only value I would see is if you were just starting out and had more money than time. Even then, I would exhaust FamilySearch site first.
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