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I think most LDS churches also have ancestry.com subscriptions in their family history centers. The centers are open to everyone so you might go in to one near you and try out ancestry.com.
I have a subscription to ancestry.com. I don't use it as often as I should for the money. But I do log on and look for things occasionally. My dad is into genealogy so much of the "easy" research has already been done. I know that ancestry.com does a lot of records extractions though so I figure that even if don't use the site as much as I would like that at least I am supporting further research in general and extractions.
My brother purchased the Ancestry.com subscription and has been very pleased with it. He used to travel to courthouses to get copies of records of things he uncovered with the free sources, but now he says he can print the copies of those same documents from home and browse images of documents too far away to easily travel to see.
The Church of Latter Day Saints supposedly has the largest geneaology data bank in the world. I have found their website hard to use but have heard it is a great resource.
This is great information though! I get inspired to research, do some of it and then put it aside. Maybe this thread will keep me motivated! Thanks!
If you live near a LDS Center that has a family hisory dept. it is the best. They have Ancestry.com for free and are very helpful. I'm not a Morman, but am lucky to live not far from where the church was founded and they have a great family history dept. computers,micro fish etc.
Good Luck.. I've found alot of info, much more than just from their website.
Here are a few things to know about using the LDS genealogy centers. Bring all your info. The volunteers are usually very well versed in researching genealogy. Bring lots of change to make copies. Bring pencils and a notebook for jotting down info. You can 'rent' microfilm from the main center in SLC. I believe the last time I did it was $2 or $3 per microfilm. Once you rent that microfilm 3 times, it automatically stays at your local center. I always bring the volunteers cookies or something else to thank them. They have been a wonderful resource.
ancestry.com has always been worth it for me. i had a account with them twice for lengthy amounts of time. just make sure you write them to cancel your subscription and check to make sure it went thru. it took me 3 mos. of calling, writing etc.. to stop the monthly charges and i never got my money back.
that being said, i would use them again if i needed to.
The Church of Latter Day Saints supposedly has the largest geneaology data bank in the world. I have found their website hard to use but have heard it is a great resource.
This is great information though! I get inspired to research, do some of it and then put it aside. Maybe this thread will keep me motivated! Thanks!
You should also check to see if the LDS have a Family History Center near you...I happen to live close to their original site and have access to their center, which is free...and access to Ancestry on their computers also free.
We're still inputting the stuff we know into Ancestry.com... so we've got awhile before we'll need to subscribe. Through one of my grandparents, we have membership into the DAR, which means that line has been traced extensively for us, but I still have to input the branches (siblings, etc) into ancestry.com. One of my father's cousins did extensive work into another line 35 years ago, so those 2 lines have basically been updating the past/current 3 generations. The other 2 lines stop dead at my great-great grandparents. But there still have been lots of babies/marriages/deaths,etc to update on those lines. My dh has one line that had work done by his grandfather (extensively), so he's just inputting that info, plus updating.
We spent about 5-6 hours/day on it for the first 3-4 days (just putting in what we knew) and then 2-3 hours/3-4x a week for a couple months. We're getting burned out! And we're still not done putting in what we know! Our families have waaaay too many babies!
On a plus side, we've 'met' many extremely extended family members through it and have found interesting links to several historical figures. Someday, we'll get it all done. Chances are, our kids won't be interested (), but perhaps our grandkids will appreciate our efforts someday.
My grandmother wrote me letters full of family info years ago... not just family tree stuff, but stories and anecdotes. My husband's grandfather did the same for him. We're both packrats so we've saved it all and we're inputting that stuff too as well as all the old photos/photocopies of newspaper articles/tickets from the "old country"/personal correspondence, etc we've inherited. Many of our contacts have been people writing to thank us for this or that, letting us know that the great-great-great aunt was their grandmother's mom, but they never had a photo, or they had a photo, but not the copy of her ticket, or they'd heard stories of this house, but never the whole story so detailed.
Family histories can be fascinating, but it has the potential to take over your life! We're taking a break for the summer. No more than 2 hours a week max each, if that, while the kids are home. Gotta enjoy the living, not just focus on the past!
We're still inputting the stuff we know into Ancestry.com... so we've got awhile before we'll need to subscribe. Through one of my grandparents, we have membership into the DAR, which means that line has been traced extensively for us, but I still have to input the branches (siblings, etc) into ancestry.com. One of my father's cousins did extensive work into another line 35 years ago, so those 2 lines have basically been updating the past/current 3 generations. The other 2 lines stop dead at my great-great grandparents. But there still have been lots of babies/marriages/deaths,etc to update on those lines. My dh has one line that had work done by his grandfather (extensively), so he's just inputting that info, plus updating.
We spent about 5-6 hours/day on it for the first 3-4 days (just putting in what we knew) and then 2-3 hours/3-4x a week for a couple months. We're getting burned out! And we're still not done putting in what we know! Our families have waaaay too many babies!
On a plus side, we've 'met' many extremely extended family members through it and have found interesting links to several historical figures. Someday, we'll get it all done. Chances are, our kids won't be interested (), but perhaps our grandkids will appreciate our efforts someday.
My grandmother wrote me letters full of family info years ago... not just family tree stuff, but stories and anecdotes. My husband's grandfather did the same for him. We're both packrats so we've saved it all and we're inputting that stuff too as well as all the old photos/photocopies of newspaper articles/tickets from the "old country"/personal correspondence, etc we've inherited. Many of our contacts have been people writing to thank us for this or that, letting us know that the great-great-great aunt was their grandmother's mom, but they never had a photo, or they had a photo, but not the copy of her ticket, or they'd heard stories of this house, but never the whole story so detailed.
Family histories can be fascinating, but it has the potential to take over your life! We're taking a break for the summer. No more than 2 hours a week max each, if that, while the kids are home. Gotta enjoy the living, not just focus on the past!
I have a membership to NEHGS (New England HIstoric Genealogical Society) and Ancestry. Both worth the money. BUT, before you put your family tree online at Ancestry.com, look to see if someone else hasn't or isn't already working on that line. It might help to get in touch with people before posting. ALOT of mistakes are put online and most people new to research aren't aware of it. I have found many mistakes regarding my grandfather (someone put his name online with out permission, used me as a source and then put in the wrong death date and location). I do genealogy research for people, and tell them to beware of the online stuff. I have been doing Genealogy Research since 1984.
I also do Genealogy Research as a business. If you need help organizing information, give a holler! I'd be glad to help!
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