Ancestry.com...worth it?

[CollinMacD]

Many people are introduced to Ancestor.com through TV programs, with just a few keystrokes you have a family tree going back centuries. Doesn't work like that not even close. I highly suggest, if you are serious about your family's Genealogy, attending a seminar, and registering for several classes to understand the ground rules and what to expect when you start. Many of the records are wrong, you have many issues from misspelled names in census reports, but most of all, to do this correctly you as the researcher will need help and seminars provide you many of the resources you need and who to talk to and HOW to get the information. The green leaf does not always provide you the correct information. I use it for a tool, one of many that I have learned to use over the years. Eventually you will need to travel to the area of your ancestors and research local records, as so many are still not digitized and on line. Remember the TV programs have an army of professional genealogists, historians, and research staff, to make sure when they do a celebrity, they do it right and are accurate. Well, most of us are not celebrities, and we must do most of this ourselves and me totally involved. This is much harder then just typing in a name and getting results... you need to know the history of the period, the area, religion and politics of the time period, and much more. There are many resources and books available, I would go there first before I purchases the subscription for ancestor.com... Just my experience, I have been researching my family for well over 20 years, and still run into roadblocks.....but when you overcome the roadblock, it feels to good....best of luck. GO TO A SEMINAR, worth it....

[tripleblessed]

This is much harder then just typing in a name and getting results... you need to know the history of the period, the area, religion and politics of the time period, and much more. There are many resources and books available,

What he said, in spades. Not having the money for the paid sites, I dug through public records wherever I could find them. Court records, wills, land sales, militia rolls, tax lists,....... You will learn history as it happened, not as it is taught. My ears have been soundly boxed for having the temerity to suggest that historical documents from the time might be more accurate than current popular myth. I have, however enjoyed the experience of seeing how different versions of given names and surnames evolved, and how family groups migrated and intermarried over miles and centuries. Enormously educational.

Accuracy is, of course, paramount, and often maddeningly difficult. My family's story, often and long repeated, was both right and wrong;
the wrong based in fact but erroneously incorporated. Now corrected. I'm fortunate to be in a family with several known genealogists who amassed huge amounts of info separately, formed their ideas, and then encountered each other and hammered out details from confusing
and conflicting sources. Enormous break for us was one of our stalwarts had both leisure and money to spare, and then was hired by Ancestry as a consultant, giving him access to everything they had, not all of which is available to the public. Resolved questions we could probably never have resolved otherwise. Some lines we had back 400 years, now 700. Some get vague at 150. A very few connected to
known historical figures are likely good back more than a thousand years, as far as is known. But how much is not known? How much is
conjecture? This is the struggle for the average user. Sites like Ancestry and LDS records are filled with conjecture placed by eager and
well-meaning folk who never realized their leaps of faith had landed them solidly at the bottom of the abyss.

Blood, sweat, tears, and the ever expanding databases may eventually get it all sorted. Or not. But it's a fun ride, and a huge learning
curve. Like all hobbies, worth it if you love it. Dig, check, recheck, dig some more, connect with others going over the same material.
That way, when one of you solves something, you have a greater chance of reaching those who made wrong entries and get them
corrected to stop endless dissemination of erroneous info.

Have fun!