ancestry.com advice needed
Moderator: MOD_nyhetsgrupper
-
kjk
ancestry.com advice needed
Hi Folks,
I have just started genealogy searching and no matter where I search
all roads seem to lead to Ancestry.com. I am presently on a 14 day
free trial and have been able to find census information but I am
finding it hard to find death, marriage and birth certificates of the
particular family members who died in the early to mid 1900's. I am
beginning to wonder if I am only going to find the information on
Ancestry that I have already gotten, and no more. Before I spend $200
on premiere collection, can anyone tell me if it is worth the expense,
and maybe I just have to sharpen my searching skills, since I have
just begun this process. I don’t mind spending the money if they are
credible and do have all information that is available online.
Also, I told them not to make my credit card available for anything
other than this 14 day free trial and possible billing of the premiere
collection, yet I seem to find my credit card readily available in My
Account info for use in ordering certificates. I e-mailed them about
this and received what appears to be an unintelligible automatic
computer response. Has anyone had a problem with this or will the
credit purchase be refused if I try to order something?
Does anyone have any suggestions as to better website subscriptions
that I am overlooking? . . . or free websites? Been to Family Search
and Ellis Island and Nara.
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.
I have just started genealogy searching and no matter where I search
all roads seem to lead to Ancestry.com. I am presently on a 14 day
free trial and have been able to find census information but I am
finding it hard to find death, marriage and birth certificates of the
particular family members who died in the early to mid 1900's. I am
beginning to wonder if I am only going to find the information on
Ancestry that I have already gotten, and no more. Before I spend $200
on premiere collection, can anyone tell me if it is worth the expense,
and maybe I just have to sharpen my searching skills, since I have
just begun this process. I don’t mind spending the money if they are
credible and do have all information that is available online.
Also, I told them not to make my credit card available for anything
other than this 14 day free trial and possible billing of the premiere
collection, yet I seem to find my credit card readily available in My
Account info for use in ordering certificates. I e-mailed them about
this and received what appears to be an unintelligible automatic
computer response. Has anyone had a problem with this or will the
credit purchase be refused if I try to order something?
Does anyone have any suggestions as to better website subscriptions
that I am overlooking? . . . or free websites? Been to Family Search
and Ellis Island and Nara.
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.
-
Huntersglenn
Re: ancestry.com advice needed
You will need to obtain death, marriage and birth certificates on a
state or local (county or city) level, ancestry.com doesn't carry these.
They do, however, have some information pertaining to those events,
which can point you in the right direction for getting the certificates
(where and when a marriage, birth or death happened, etc.).
I've found their census information to be invaluable as I've been
filling in the blanks on collateral lines in my families. Having those
names has helped others find me, and expanded my range of "known"
cousins (grin).
Whether or not the price for ancestry.com is worth it to you is
dependent on just what it is that you're looking to find. If your
primary goal right now is to obtain the death, marriage and birth
certificates, then you might not get the best value out of ancestry.com.
If you're looking to expand what you know on your families, then it's
well worth the money.
For what it's worth, I have two subscriptions - one to ancestry.com,
primarily for their census records, and one to genealogy.com for their
genealogical library. The genealogical library at genealogy.com does
have records of marriages (no certificates) and some other vital records
(information that is not yet duplicated at ancestry.com). You might
want to check out what they offer before making a decision.
Another avenue to pursue (and you might have already done this) is the
GenWeb project. One county site for a few of my surnames has marriage
bonds and licenses, the county death index, the death certificates,
census records and other assorted data online. Not all counties have
that much, but you might luck out and find that the GenWeb site for the
county/counties of your ancestors do have the kind of information that
you're looking for.
One problem that you're going to run into with both subscription sites
and the GenWeb sites is that you say the information you want is from
the early to mid-1900s. Since this would include people who are living,
that kind of information is generally not put out there to the public,
and you're most likely going to have to order those records from the
city, county or state where the event took place -- provided that your
state will even allow you to do so. Where I live, if you're not a
direct descendent of someone, you can't order their death certificate
from the state. The state next to mine, where I've got a lot of
relatives, has those kinds of records easily available and as long as
you pay the copying costs, your relationship to the person on the
certificate is not questioned.
Good luck,
Cathy
kjk wrote:
state or local (county or city) level, ancestry.com doesn't carry these.
They do, however, have some information pertaining to those events,
which can point you in the right direction for getting the certificates
(where and when a marriage, birth or death happened, etc.).
I've found their census information to be invaluable as I've been
filling in the blanks on collateral lines in my families. Having those
names has helped others find me, and expanded my range of "known"
cousins (grin).
Whether or not the price for ancestry.com is worth it to you is
dependent on just what it is that you're looking to find. If your
primary goal right now is to obtain the death, marriage and birth
certificates, then you might not get the best value out of ancestry.com.
If you're looking to expand what you know on your families, then it's
well worth the money.
For what it's worth, I have two subscriptions - one to ancestry.com,
primarily for their census records, and one to genealogy.com for their
genealogical library. The genealogical library at genealogy.com does
have records of marriages (no certificates) and some other vital records
(information that is not yet duplicated at ancestry.com). You might
want to check out what they offer before making a decision.
Another avenue to pursue (and you might have already done this) is the
GenWeb project. One county site for a few of my surnames has marriage
bonds and licenses, the county death index, the death certificates,
census records and other assorted data online. Not all counties have
that much, but you might luck out and find that the GenWeb site for the
county/counties of your ancestors do have the kind of information that
you're looking for.
One problem that you're going to run into with both subscription sites
and the GenWeb sites is that you say the information you want is from
the early to mid-1900s. Since this would include people who are living,
that kind of information is generally not put out there to the public,
and you're most likely going to have to order those records from the
city, county or state where the event took place -- provided that your
state will even allow you to do so. Where I live, if you're not a
direct descendent of someone, you can't order their death certificate
from the state. The state next to mine, where I've got a lot of
relatives, has those kinds of records easily available and as long as
you pay the copying costs, your relationship to the person on the
certificate is not questioned.
Good luck,
Cathy
kjk wrote:
Hi Folks,
I have just started genealogy searching and no matter where I search
all roads seem to lead to Ancestry.com. I am presently on a 14 day
free trial and have been able to find census information but I am
finding it hard to find death, marriage and birth certificates of the
particular family members who died in the early to mid 1900's. I am
beginning to wonder if I am only going to find the information on
Ancestry that I have already gotten, and no more. Before I spend $200
on premiere collection, can anyone tell me if it is worth the expense,
and maybe I just have to sharpen my searching skills, since I have
just begun this process. I don’t mind spending the money if they are
credible and do have all information that is available online.
Also, I told them not to make my credit card available for anything
other than this 14 day free trial and possible billing of the premiere
collection, yet I seem to find my credit card readily available in My
Account info for use in ordering certificates. I e-mailed them about
this and received what appears to be an unintelligible automatic
computer response. Has anyone had a problem with this or will the
credit purchase be refused if I try to order something?
Does anyone have any suggestions as to better website subscriptions
that I am overlooking? . . . or free websites? Been to Family Search
and Ellis Island and Nara.
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.
-
Gjest
Re: ancestry.com advice needed
In a message dated 4/7/2005 9:42:09 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, kjk@usa.com
writes:
have just started genealogy searching and no matter where I search
all roads seem to lead to Ancestry.com. I am presently on a 14 day
free trial and have been able to find census information but I am
finding it hard to find death, marriage and birth certificates of the
particular family members who died in the early to mid 1900's.
You aren't going to find birth, death and marriage certificates on
ancestry.com. I have been a subscriber for about four years to the census and
Immigration collection and I couldn't do without it. A large percentage of the
1,500 names I have came from ancestry.com.
writes:
have just started genealogy searching and no matter where I search
all roads seem to lead to Ancestry.com. I am presently on a 14 day
free trial and have been able to find census information but I am
finding it hard to find death, marriage and birth certificates of the
particular family members who died in the early to mid 1900's.
You aren't going to find birth, death and marriage certificates on
ancestry.com. I have been a subscriber for about four years to the census and
Immigration collection and I couldn't do without it. A large percentage of the
1,500 names I have came from ancestry.com.
-
Robert Heiling
Re: ancestry.com advice needed
kjk wrote:
That's only because they have their ads all over the place and usually at
the very top of the webpages. What you are being exposed to is their
*advertising*. It's planned that way. Don't allow that blatant
advertising to interfere with your explorartion of all the free genealogy
that is out there.
It looks like the trial has served its purpose and allowed you to see that
you aren't quite ready for it yet. You wouldn't go into a restaurant and
order the largest meal on the menu before knowing that you could eat it
all would you?
Since you are admittedly just beginning, I would recommend that you cancel
the trial and spend a few more months surfing the genealogy websites and
getting your feet wet. If you need census information, you can get it
online thru the Godfrey Library for only $35/year like I do and/or you can
request lookups here like a lot of people do.
http://www.godfrey.org/
None of that is a problem and should not be of concern to you. Just make
certain that you cancel on time - perhaps 2 days before the trial
officialy ends.
Cyndi's List is one of the bibles for that:
http://www.cyndislist.com/
HTH
Bob
Hi Folks,
I have just started genealogy searching and no matter where I search
all roads seem to lead to Ancestry.com.
That's only because they have their ads all over the place and usually at
the very top of the webpages. What you are being exposed to is their
*advertising*. It's planned that way. Don't allow that blatant
advertising to interfere with your explorartion of all the free genealogy
that is out there.
I am presently on a 14 day
free trial and have been able to find census information but I am
finding it hard to find death, marriage and birth certificates of the
particular family members who died in the early to mid 1900's. I am
beginning to wonder if I am only going to find the information on
Ancestry that I have already gotten, and no more. Before I spend $200
on premiere collection, can anyone tell me if it is worth the expense,
and maybe I just have to sharpen my searching skills, since I have
just begun this process. I don’t mind spending the money if they are
credible and do have all information that is available online.
It looks like the trial has served its purpose and allowed you to see that
you aren't quite ready for it yet. You wouldn't go into a restaurant and
order the largest meal on the menu before knowing that you could eat it
all would you?
Since you are admittedly just beginning, I would recommend that you cancel
the trial and spend a few more months surfing the genealogy websites and
getting your feet wet. If you need census information, you can get it
online thru the Godfrey Library for only $35/year like I do and/or you can
request lookups here like a lot of people do.
http://www.godfrey.org/
Also, I told them not to make my credit card available for anything
other than this 14 day free trial and possible billing of the premiere
collection, yet I seem to find my credit card readily available in My
Account info for use in ordering certificates. I e-mailed them about
this and received what appears to be an unintelligible automatic
computer response. Has anyone had a problem with this or will the
credit purchase be refused if I try to order something?
None of that is a problem and should not be of concern to you. Just make
certain that you cancel on time - perhaps 2 days before the trial
officialy ends.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to better website subscriptions
that I am overlooking? . . . or free websites? Been to Family Search
and Ellis Island and Nara.
Cyndi's List is one of the bibles for that:
http://www.cyndislist.com/
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.
HTH
Bob
-
Gjest
Re: ancestry.com advice needed
In a message dated 4/7/2005 10:57:15 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,
huntersglenn@cox.net writes:
The genealogical library at genealogy.com does
have records of marriages (no certificates) and some other vital records
(information that is not yet duplicated at ancestry.com).
Do the marriage records cover all states?
Thanks.
huntersglenn@cox.net writes:
The genealogical library at genealogy.com does
have records of marriages (no certificates) and some other vital records
(information that is not yet duplicated at ancestry.com).
Do the marriage records cover all states?
Thanks.
-
David J Grimshaw
Re: ancestry.com advice needed
kjk wrote:
Unless you have found lots of information at ancestory.com aka
Ancestroy.con then I would bail out quickly, if you are in USA or Canada
phone them and cancel.
If you reside else where try unsubscribing by e-mailing
Internationalcacelsonly@ancestry.com include in the subject line
"Unsubscribe" and in the message box supply the following information;
Un-Subscribe
First and Last Name:
Username:
Subscription type: Census, UK, Free Trial, etc.
Email address used when subscribing:
Phone number including country code:
Country:
and hope they take notice of the e-mail.
Keep a close watch on your credit card statement.
Hi Folks,
I have just started genealogy searching and no matter where I search
all roads seem to lead to Ancestry.com. I am presently on a 14 day
free trial and have been able to find census information but I am
finding it hard to find death, marriage and birth certificates of the
particular family members who died in the early to mid 1900's. I am
beginning to wonder if I am only going to find the information on
Ancestry that I have already gotten, and no more. Before I spend $200
on premiere collection, can anyone tell me if it is worth the expense,
and maybe I just have to sharpen my searching skills, since I have
just begun this process. I don’t mind spending the money if they are
credible and do have all information that is available online.
Also, I told them not to make my credit card available for anything
other than this 14 day free trial and possible billing of the premiere
collection, yet I seem to find my credit card readily available in My
Account info for use in ordering certificates. I e-mailed them about
this and received what appears to be an unintelligible automatic
computer response. Has anyone had a problem with this or will the
credit purchase be refused if I try to order something?
Does anyone have any suggestions as to better website subscriptions
that I am overlooking? . . . or free websites? Been to Family Search
and Ellis Island and Nara.
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.
Hi,
Unless you have found lots of information at ancestory.com aka
Ancestroy.con then I would bail out quickly, if you are in USA or Canada
phone them and cancel.
If you reside else where try unsubscribing by e-mailing
Internationalcacelsonly@ancestry.com include in the subject line
"Unsubscribe" and in the message box supply the following information;
Un-Subscribe
First and Last Name:
Username:
Subscription type: Census, UK, Free Trial, etc.
Email address used when subscribing:
Phone number including country code:
Country:
and hope they take notice of the e-mail.
Keep a close watch on your credit card statement.
-
L Covey
Re: ancestry.com advice needed
Robert Heiling wrote:
Does the Godfrey Library Census data provide images?
Thanks in advance,
Lani
kjk wrote:
Hi Folks,
I have just started genealogy searching and no matter where I search
all roads seem to lead to Ancestry.com.
That's only because they have their ads all over the place and usually at
the very top of the webpages. What you are being exposed to is their
*advertising*. It's planned that way. Don't allow that blatant
advertising to interfere with your explorartion of all the free genealogy
that is out there.
I am presently on a 14 day
free trial and have been able to find census information but I am
finding it hard to find death, marriage and birth certificates of the
particular family members who died in the early to mid 1900's. I am
beginning to wonder if I am only going to find the information on
Ancestry that I have already gotten, and no more. Before I spend $200
on premiere collection, can anyone tell me if it is worth the expense,
and maybe I just have to sharpen my searching skills, since I have
just begun this process. I don’t mind spending the money if they are
credible and do have all information that is available online.
It looks like the trial has served its purpose and allowed you to see that
you aren't quite ready for it yet. You wouldn't go into a restaurant and
order the largest meal on the menu before knowing that you could eat it
all would you?
Since you are admittedly just beginning, I would recommend that you cancel
the trial and spend a few more months surfing the genealogy websites and
getting your feet wet. If you need census information, you can get it
online thru the Godfrey Library for only $35/year like I do and/or you can
request lookups here like a lot of people do.
http://www.godfrey.org/
Also, I told them not to make my credit card available for anything
other than this 14 day free trial and possible billing of the premiere
collection, yet I seem to find my credit card readily available in My
Account info for use in ordering certificates. I e-mailed them about
this and received what appears to be an unintelligible automatic
computer response. Has anyone had a problem with this or will the
credit purchase be refused if I try to order something?
None of that is a problem and should not be of concern to you. Just make
certain that you cancel on time - perhaps 2 days before the trial
officialy ends.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to better website subscriptions
that I am overlooking? . . . or free websites? Been to Family Search
and Ellis Island and Nara.
Cyndi's List is one of the bibles for that:
http://www.cyndislist.com/
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.
HTH
Bob
Does the Godfrey Library Census data provide images?
Thanks in advance,
Lani
-
Robert Heiling
Re: ancestry.com advice needed
L Covey wrote:
Yes, very definitely. As an example, that's where I got these 2 that are on my
website at the moment and which I posted in another thread here:
http://home.comcast.net/~robheil/Weintraub/1900.gif
http://home.comcast.net/~robheil/Weintraub/1910.gif
No special software is needed. The whole images are in view and viewing is very
convenient using the horizontal & vertical scrollbars of whatever browser you
chose just as you would view webpages, additional levels of magnification are
provided, and arrows are provided to move back & forth from image to image, page
to page. In all systems, Win98, Win2000, XP, Linux, it's a simple matter of
right-clicking to save the image on your computer and then view it in your
imaging program of choice.
HTH
Bob
Robert Heiling wrote:
snip
If you need census information, you can get it
online thru the Godfrey Library for only $35/year like I do and/or you can
request lookups here like a lot of people do.
http://www.godfrey.org/
Does the Godfrey Library Census data provide images?
Yes, very definitely. As an example, that's where I got these 2 that are on my
website at the moment and which I posted in another thread here:
http://home.comcast.net/~robheil/Weintraub/1900.gif
http://home.comcast.net/~robheil/Weintraub/1910.gif
No special software is needed. The whole images are in view and viewing is very
convenient using the horizontal & vertical scrollbars of whatever browser you
chose just as you would view webpages, additional levels of magnification are
provided, and arrows are provided to move back & forth from image to image, page
to page. In all systems, Win98, Win2000, XP, Linux, it's a simple matter of
right-clicking to save the image on your computer and then view it in your
imaging program of choice.
HTH
Bob
-
Doug Chadduck
Re: ancestry.com advice needed
Robert Heiling wrote:
images and printed them on 11 x 17 paper. Plenty of resolution. Enough
to even enlarge further portions of the sheet. Well worth the energy.
Doug
L Covey wrote:
Robert Heiling wrote:
snip
If you need census information, you can get it
online thru the Godfrey Library for only $35/year like I do and/or you can
request lookups here like a lot of people do.
http://www.godfrey.org/
Does the Godfrey Library Census data provide images?
Yes, very definitely. As an example, that's where I got these 2 that are on my
website at the moment and which I posted in another thread here:
http://home.comcast.net/~robheil/Weintraub/1900.gif
http://home.comcast.net/~robheil/Weintraub/1910.gif
No special software is needed. The whole images are in view and viewing is very
convenient using the horizontal & vertical scrollbars of whatever browser you
chose just as you would view webpages, additional levels of magnification are
provided, and arrows are provided to move back & forth from image to image, page
to page. In all systems, Win98, Win2000, XP, Linux, it's a simple matter of
right-clicking to save the image on your computer and then view it in your
imaging program of choice.
HTH
Bob
Agree completely. For $35, Godfrey dues, I downloaded over 100 census
images and printed them on 11 x 17 paper. Plenty of resolution. Enough
to even enlarge further portions of the sheet. Well worth the energy.
Doug
-
L Covey
Re: ancestry.com advice needed
Robert Heiling wrote:
Perhaps I missed something. Have you posted your website url here
before? If so, would you please let me know what it is?
Thanks,
Lani
L Covey wrote:
Robert Heiling wrote:
snip
If you need census information, you can get it
online thru the Godfrey Library for only $35/year like I do and/or you can
request lookups here like a lot of people do.
http://www.godfrey.org/
Does the Godfrey Library Census data provide images?
Yes, very definitely. As an example, that's where I got these 2 that are on my
website at the moment and which I posted in another thread here:
http://home.comcast.net/~robheil/Weintraub/1900.gif
http://home.comcast.net/~robheil/Weintraub/1910.gif
No special software is needed. The whole images are in view and viewing is very
convenient using the horizontal & vertical scrollbars of whatever browser you
chose just as you would view webpages, additional levels of magnification are
provided, and arrows are provided to move back & forth from image to image, page
to page. In all systems, Win98, Win2000, XP, Linux, it's a simple matter of
right-clicking to save the image on your computer and then view it in your
imaging program of choice.
HTH
Bob
Perhaps I missed something. Have you posted your website url here
before? If so, would you please let me know what it is?
Thanks,
Lani
-
Robert Heiling
(OT)Re: ancestry.com advice needed
L Covey wrote:
No I never have, Lani. There is a one-surname website there that I host, but anyone
with that surname already knows about it and others wouldn't be interested.
Bob
Robert Heiling wrote:
snip
Perhaps I missed something. Have you posted your website url here
before? If so, would you please let me know what it is?
No I never have, Lani. There is a one-surname website there that I host, but anyone
with that surname already knows about it and others wouldn't be interested.
Bob
-
L Covey
Re: (OT)Re: ancestry.com advice needed
Robert Heiling wrote:
Lani
L Covey wrote:
Robert Heiling wrote:
snip
Perhaps I missed something. Have you posted your website url here
before? If so, would you please let me know what it is?
No I never have, Lani. There is a one-surname website there that I host, but anyone
with that surname already knows about it and others wouldn't be interested.
Bob
I see. Thanks for responding.
Lani
-
Doug Chadduck
Re:ancestry.com advice needed
But, Godfrey does not have indeces for several years.
Ralph
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Chadduck" <dchadduck@comcast.net
To: <ALT-GENEALOGY-L@rootsweb.com
Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2005 10:35 AM
Subject: Re: ancestry.com advice needed
Even when they don't have them indexed, if you have all the page/image
info to specify, they have almost all the images. A good library trip
for a free Ancestry session and back to Godfrey for the downloading.
Don't remember them not having a single image, indexed or not, that they
didn't have.
Robert Heiling wrote:
L Covey wrote:
Robert Heiling wrote:
snip
If you need census information, you can get it
online thru the Godfrey Library for only $35/year like I do
and/or you
can
request lookups here like a lot of people do.
http://www.godfrey.org/
Does the Godfrey Library Census data provide images?
Yes, very definitely. As an example, that's where I got these 2 that
are
on my
website at the moment and which I posted in another thread here:
http://home.comcast.net/~robheil/Weintraub/1900.gif
http://home.comcast.net/~robheil/Weintraub/1910.gif
No special software is needed. The whole images are in view and
viewing is
very
convenient using the horizontal & vertical scrollbars of whatever
browser
you
chose just as you would view webpages, additional levels of
magnification
are
provided, and arrows are provided to move back & forth from image to
image, page
to page. In all systems, Win98, Win2000, XP, Linux, it's a simple
matter
of
right-clicking to save the image on your computer and then view it
in your
imaging program of choice.
HTH
Bob
Agree completely. For $35, Godfrey dues, I downloaded over 100 census
images and printed them on 11 x 17 paper. Plenty of resolution. Enough
to even enlarge further portions of the sheet. Well worth the energy.
Doug
-
Bruce Remick
Re: Re:ancestry.com advice needed
"Doug Chadduck" <dchadduck@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:CNCdndiCP9wfNMXfRVn-iw@comcast.com...
I've found the biggest differences between using Ancestry and
Godfrey/HeritageQuest for census searches are 1. the option for Soundex and
partial name searches in Ancestry but not in Godfrey, and 2. the every-name
search option available for most census years in Ancestry but not in Godfrey.
Still, for the lower price, it's still possible to find most of the elusive
mis-spelled or mis-transcribed relatives in the census using Godfrey. Plus you
get lots of aditional resources to search through at no extra charge.
Bruce
news:CNCdndiCP9wfNMXfRVn-iw@comcast.com...
But, Godfrey does not have indeces for several years.
Ralph
----- Original Message -----
From: "Doug Chadduck" <dchadduck@comcast.net
To: <ALT-GENEALOGY-L@rootsweb.com
Sent: Saturday, April 09, 2005 10:35 AM
Subject: Re: ancestry.com advice needed
Even when they don't have them indexed, if you have all the page/image
info to specify, they have almost all the images. A good library trip
for a free Ancestry session and back to Godfrey for the downloading.
Don't remember them not having a single image, indexed or not, that they
didn't have.
I've found the biggest differences between using Ancestry and
Godfrey/HeritageQuest for census searches are 1. the option for Soundex and
partial name searches in Ancestry but not in Godfrey, and 2. the every-name
search option available for most census years in Ancestry but not in Godfrey.
Still, for the lower price, it's still possible to find most of the elusive
mis-spelled or mis-transcribed relatives in the census using Godfrey. Plus you
get lots of aditional resources to search through at no extra charge.
Bruce