Genealogy research

[victorskid]

For many years I used Family Tree Maker (FTM). beginning with about version 4 and buying into the regular new revisions. It was actually more of a spreadsheet than a database through the revisions up to about 16. It was becoming more "hinky" in terms of being able to handle large databases and other programs that were really databases were passing it by in terms of capability/capacity.

A massive revision was undertaken, turning FTM into a real database. Sadly it was released before many of the bugs were taken care of. A lot of folks were very upset with the resulting difficulties. A new revision, correcting the problems came out fairly quickly and there have been additional revisions since.

At about the time of the ill-fated FTM revision I made the decision, after quite a bit of research, to move my database to Legacy. It was an excellent decision IMHO.

I have never considered putting any part of my database online. Part of my rationale has been a disinclination to possibly put more errors out into cyberspace to be perpetuated forever and ever....

Trees that I find online can be useful as pointers but I certainly try to validate the data in them through primary records.

I am happy to share data with others in a variety of ways but always with caveats about the potential for errors.

There are a number of genealogy programs available, not all of them run on non-Windows platforms. Any good program, however, should allow you to save your database in the form of a "gedcom" which can then be opened in another genealogy program.

 

[smurfy]

Thanks for info. I have a ton of paper, so will continue to file by name. I do have to start scanning, but I did start dabbling in this over 15 years ago, plus documents from my parents and their parents, I have documents that should be kept since they are cool/beautiful penmanship etc.
For married women - do you file under their maiden name or their married name?

Good news! From all the data I did receive this past weekend - I input into ancestry.com. Had lots of info on my grandmother siblings(6 of them). By adding that info, I got a hint to another family tree - and have corresponded with its owner. We are 4th cousins. I was finally able to confirm that the folks I suspected as my great grandmothers parents were here parents. Key data matched, but not sure if just similar. But since my great grandmother had so many siblings, born in 3 different states, the cousin had that data so a match!!

In the past month I have uncovered the names of 2 great great grandparents and 6 great great great grandparents.
And I still have several viable leads for additional data. This is so addicting!

 

[barbk]

FWIW, you can maintain a tree on Ancestry as "private" -- other people who are searching can find a hit in your tree, but they can't see the tree itself (or look at the details on the person) unless you grant their user id access.) I do this, and I've always been happy to grant access when requested.

I second the suggestion of verifying information. But that said, I've gotten some amazing leads from people researching someone who's also in my tree, and it is amazing how often different people researching the same person can find some very different source material, bringing different family memories and data points into the process.

 

[nerdycool]

For married women - do you file under their maiden name or their married name?

I personally would file under maiden name, mostly because that's how my ancestry stuff is input on the computer. If it's a paper file and you think you might be confused at a later date by putting it in the maiden name file, you could add a little note stating the married name and husband's name.

But I wouldn't recommend splitting up a person's documents, no matter what name is on them. I once put one of my ancestor's documents into separate files, depending on which of her names was on the document. Super confusing once I came back to her later on.

 

[Marilou]

I personally would file under maiden name, mostly because that's how my ancestry stuff is input on the computer. If it's a paper file and you think you might be confused at a later date by putting it in the maiden name file, you could add a little note stating the married name and husband's name.

But I wouldn't recommend splitting up a person's documents, no matter what name is on them. I once put one of my ancestor's documents into separate files, depending on which of her names was on the document. Super confusing once I came back to her later on.

I do the same - file under maiden name. I have also made up a label template which includes name, birthdate and spouse. This is especially helpful when there are several people with the same name - which in my case happens a lot! On occasion, I even include the fathers name. On one line I have several brothers who all named one son after their father, Jonathan. There are a least a dozen Jonathan/John Lanes in the family

If there are multiple people named on a document, I make mutliple copies and place one in each file. Every document is also scanned and saved on my hard drive, in addition to a memory stick.

 

[skatak]

I guess I'm very lucky not to bother doing it, several people in my family already did it. It goes up around 1200, with plausible connections up to before 1000 (which i've learned in Nice this week, thanks Worlds !). It's quite fascinating, the elder branch extincted, my ancestor took part in the Crusades, etc... The old first names are quite something.

 

[smurfy]

Etiquette question - I see in ancestry.com someone linked to my great grandmother. I have confirming info on where/when she was born and her mothers maiden name.
Someone linked to her and when I looked at their family tree, they took someone with my great grandmother's name and linked wrong year of birth, location of birth and wrong mother/mother maiden's name which linked them to other wrong people.
I am thinking of sending a message offering the correct info, or should I just ignore it?
Thanks.

 

[victorskid]

Smurfy - I would make contact and politely offer the correct information. Leaving erroneous information on the Net simply causes it to be further proliferated.

 

[jenlyon60]

And that is one of my problems with Rootsweb Worldconnect (now owned by Ancestry) and the Ancestry trees... There is too much proliferation of inaccurate/incorrect and downright bogus info out there, and a lot of "newbie" researchers tend to assume that "because it's on Ancestry it must be correct" or "because its on the Internet, it must be correct" or such.

And trying to refute or remove this incorrect/bogus data is nigh on impossible.

 

[Marilou]

And that is one of my problems with Rootsweb Worldconnect (now owned by Ancestry) and the Ancestry trees... There is too much proliferation of inaccurate/incorrect and downright bogus info out there, and a lot of "newbie" researchers tend to assume that "because it's on Ancestry it must be correct" or "because its on the Internet, it must be correct" or such.

And trying to refute or remove this incorrect/bogus data is nigh on impossible.

I have my tree on Ancestry, but I don't use other trees as sources (sometimes, if someone's tree looks like they have put some real work into it, I will contact them with the hopes of collaborating.) That said, I source everything I put in my tree so that if people look at mine, they can see my research. I also know I won't be around forever, and perhaps future generations, can use what I have done.

As has been said, we live in a "cut and paste" society, and there are many errors that continue to get repeated. In my own research, I was able to determine that a piece info from a newspaper article, taken as fact, and is all over the web, was really false. So on my tree, in the story section, I wrote an explanation of what I had found and why I believe what I do. In a small way, I hope it will help to combat some of the misinformation out there and get even one person to think about their own research techniques.

 

[barbk]

I have my tree on Ancestry, but I don't use other trees as sources (sometimes, if someone's tree looks like they have put some real work into it, I will contact them with the hopes of collaborating.) That said, I source everything I put in my tree so that if people look at mine, they can see my research. I also know I won't be around forever, and perhaps future generations, can use what I have done.

As has been said, we live in a "cut and paste" society, and there are many errors that continue to get repeated. In my own research, I was able to determine that a piece info from a newspaper article, taken as fact, and is all over the web, was really false. So on my tree, in the story section, I wrote an explanation of what I had found and why I believe what I do. In a small way, I hope it will help to combat some of the misinformation out there and get even one person to think about their own research techniques.

I do the same. I also put source information (and copies of documents) on the tree, as well as entries in the appropriate place chronologically over things that I'm not certain about.

 

[milanessa]

Glad to hear people do that - some folk are incredibly proprietary and selfish. I don't care much about genealogy but my husband spent some time researching his family and, even though he did a lot of his own legwork, occasionally he'd ask someone about theirs when he came across some links. Most people were generous but others wouldn't share to save their lives.

 

[Marilou]

Glad to hear people do that - some folk are incredibly proprietary and selfish. I don't care much about genealogy but my husband spent some time researching his family and, even though he did a lot of his own legwork, occasionally he'd ask someone about theirs when he came across some links. Most people were generous but others wouldn't share to save their lives.

I think this comes from the idea that if someone has gone to the trouble and expenses, it is ultimately their "intellectual property." In one of the courses I took, the instructor was admanant about it. While I can understand where they are coming from, my personal opinion is that this sort of information is meant to be shared. If we don't, what happens to it, when we are no longer here to share it.

 

[Marilou]

I do the same. I also put source information (and copies of documents) on the tree, as well as entries in the appropriate place chronologically over things that I'm not certain about.

If a document has cost me a substantial amount of money to obtain, I won't put a copy of it in my tree. However, I do put the source of the information, including location of microflim, mf rolls numbers and documet numbers. And if if someone contacts me about it I will send them a copy by e-mail.

 

[smurfy]

Thanks for the advice, I will send a polite note.
I was wondering, as someone else had linked to my father. When I sent a note inquiring how we were related, he stated quite strongly that my father was brother to his cousins mother-in-law and cross referenced to my sister, now deceased. Names are right, but the mother-in-law in question is my fathers 1st cousin, not his sister. Same names though. Yes my sister is their cousin, but second cousin and my father has a first cousin with same name as him. I sent a note, which I thought was polite, but it has yet to be corrected. And in ancestry.com you can see when someone has logged on, and he has multiple times.
In ancestry.com - you have a shoebox to store stuff instead of linking to somone. Mine is full, as I do not link unless I am sure. If the person is truly looking for my great grandmother, and not someone with the same name, there is so much other info that I found easily that would show that person has the wrong data. Seems lazy to me. I know sometimes when I find somethiing at first, I get all excited, then I really read it and think it through before any determination that it is correct.

Also interesting discussion about intellectual property. I have dabbled in this for years, but only in the last year have I spent any real money and time. I can see how one could spend a small fortune. I do not have kids and plan to share everything with my brothers kids, and feel pretty sure one nephew in particular be the caretaker when I am gone of the physical stuff. I will share with others online, but will try to be careful that things are correct.
Marilou - I like how you have info on line, but are keeping source to yourself and then share as requested.
It is fun to have this forum to share with everyone. Hobbies are great, but not something you can talk about with friends sometimes.

 

[Susan1]

And that is one of my problems with Rootsweb Worldconnect (now owned by Ancestry) and the Ancestry trees... There is too much proliferation of inaccurate/incorrect and downright bogus info out there, and a lot of "newbie" researchers tend to assume that "because it's on Ancestry it must be correct" or "because its on the Internet, it must be correct" or such.

And trying to refute or remove this incorrect/bogus data is nigh on impossible.

From Familysearch.com FAQ page, where I have found transcription errors in the Census pages (i.e. one census says Mamie, 10 years later it says Minnie - which if you are trying to read someone's handwriting, is possible to type up wrong, but how can you know which one is right???? (Never mind they have my mother's middle initial as A instead of R. If someone is searching for her and knows her middle initial, they would pass over the one with the A and hit a dead end.)

(tried to squeeze this up):
Question A name has been indexed incorrectly, or was spelled wrong in the record, and I want to add an alternate spelling.
Can I submit additional information that I have in my possession?
Transcription errors were made. How can we fix records that were transcribed incorrectly?

Can information be corrected in the Historical Records on FamilySearch.org?
Answer (Resolution)
Errors in Record Indexes
At this time, we have no proccess to correct errors in the indexes made for historical records.

At FamilySearch, we understand your need and desire for accurate records about your family and regret any errors in the indexes to our historical record collections (records such as birth, marriage, death, census, and more).

Errors have been made, in spite of our 3-step process. Over the years, tens of thousands of volunteers have given many hours to index these records. We have tried to ensure accuracy in this way: one indexer extracts the information, a second indexer extracts the same information, and a third-party arbitrator resolves any differences between the two.
No process to correct published indexes at this time. Once the index has been published, we do not have a process to correct errors or to add notes to the indexes. We have been looking into this process. See "Thoughts on correcting errors to the records" by design engineer, Robert Kehrer.
Errors in the original records. Sometimes errors were made not in the index, but in the original historical records. It is the purpose of FamilySearch to gather and preserve the records of the world about families, but we do not revise or edit these original sources.
Working to provide more indexes. FamilySearch is continually working to improve our processes and to provide indexes to more of the records in our vast collection.
How to preserve and share accurate information about your family

We understand your need to preserve and share accurate information about your family. FamilySearch provides two ways where you can do that on the Internet, at no charge. Submit your accurate, well-documented family information to the following:

Pedigree Resource File

Submit your pedigree in a GEDCOM filie to Pedigree Resource File. Your pedigree will be preserved as it was submitted.

Your pedigree at new.FamilySearch.org or the Family Tree at FamilySearch.org (now in beta testing)
In these collaborative pedigrees (currently available to invited users, but soon to be available to the public), family members work together on their family information. You can:

Add information. Add family members, relationships, and details.
Delete or edit incorrect information. Currently you can correct many errors in new.FamilySearch.org. This will be easier to do in the Family Tree which is currently testing very well.
Add notes, sources, and discussions. These fields help all family members to understand what sources are available about their family and what research has been done. Discussions enable families to resolve their differences about the data.

Me again - all of which doesn't help me go back further if I'm using the wrong person.

 

[smurfy]

Update on one mystery I have. I have some info on a great grandfather, name, marriage date and residence once he married my great grandmother. I know he died between 1910-20 but not finding death record, he is not buried with my gr grandma - she died in 1966 and I did research at the cemetery where she is. Not sure of his date of birth - between 1852-59 in Yonkers NY. One odd thing, in the marriage register at the town hall, his residence is listed as 116 acres Mass. An experienced geneaologist was there and agreed that is what was written. She thought that was how much land he owned, and I know my grandmother and some siblings were born in Springfield, MA. Today, in chatting with a coworker that is from the Springfield, MA area, I mentioned doing some property research and how he owned 116 acres. She said, that is where my mother is from, it is an area in Springfield. I can't believe how excited I got.

Note on errors in data: the 1900 census lists my grandma as age 7, which is correct, but lists her birth year as 1886. So crazy that every little detail matters.
I know now we think folks have 8 or 10 kids is crazy, but when they all live at home and listed in the census with correct ages, it makes me sure I found the right relatives.

 

[barbk]

Hey Smurfy -- have you checked out any of the resources from the New England Historic Genealogical Society? http://www.americanancestors.org/home.html

They have great Mass. coverage with lots of stuff not found on Ancestry or the other sites.

 

[smurfy]

Hey Smurfy -- have you checked out any of the resources from the New England Historic Genealogical Society? http://www.americanancestors.org/home.html

They have great Mass. coverage with lots of stuff not found on Ancestry or the other sites.

Thank you - that is on my list. Last year when I was at a church in CT, I met the pastor, the nicest guy, that is also into geneaology and he gave me a name @ NEHS Boston and highly recommended the place. Great to have 2 recommendations.
I am lucky that I am still at the stage where I am still finding new stuff. I have more research in CT, plus made contact in Westchester NY and plan to go to a historical society there on my next day off work. I am focusing on US - which seems to be all CT, MA and NY, so all driveable for me. Then it will be Ireland, Scotland, England & Germany. Darn, I may have to go there in person - such a drag. Right now I am paying for ancestry for 6 months. This can get expensive.

 

[victorskid]

Smurfy - Ancestry is way less expensive than travelling to England (from Canada), paying for accommodation and local transportation and then purchasing certificates and/or spending hours in front of a microfilm reader. Trust me, I know from experience

 

[smurfy]

Smurfy - Ancestry is way less expensive than travelling to England (from Canada), paying for accommodation and local transportation and then purchasing certificates and/or spending hours in front of a microfilm reader. Trust me, I know from experience

I was joking. But I do not think even ancestry is cheap, given how long one can spend on this, plus all the other sites that charge. I am lucky that I can drive within 1-2 hrs to all the US sites and get info without paying. I am enjoying this, but am being careful of my budget and expectations.

 

[nerdycool]

Yeah, genealogy can be expensive if you aren't careful. I guess one just has to be okay with the fact that once you get to a certain point in your research, it's nearly impossible to get any further without paying someone or physically traveling to another location. Of course, one could network like crazy and get a lot of info for free. Or on the other end of the spectrum, one could just call it a day and be satisfied with what was accomplished.

Anyway, I almost had a mild panic attack when I finally got my gift subscription to Ancestry. I requested it solely because of the 1940 census, and when I logged in and started getting into it, only half the states' info was up. Only one of the 5 states I was planning on looking into was up... California. And from what I'd read, there wasn't a timeline for when the rest would go up, so I was hoping it'd be in a timely fashion. So imagine my relief when a few days later, I saw all the states were up. I'm a happy camper now.

 

[suep1963]

Another way to find information is to see if there is an active genealogy society in the city/town/county you are looking for information. Some of them have great information in their newsletters, and the fee usually is reasonable, and some have great information on their websites.

 

[mysticchic]

Wow thanks to you guys I solved a 90 year mystery in my family. My Grandfather was married in 1923 to a woman and my Mom was never allowed to even know the about it. At my Grandfathers wake someone mentioned that my Grandfather had been married twice and it floored her.
She told me about it a few years ago and I was never able to find anything out. Well I just found the marriage on FamilySearch!!! Now my Mom wants to know how the woman died. My next thing I have to find out! Whee

 

[Wyliefan]

I've recently gotten started wtih Ancestry.com. It's fascinating but very frustrating because of all the errors and uncertainties. In my maternal grandmother's line, in the 1600s, is a woman whose parentage no one seems to agree on -- she may be descended from the Plantaganets, or she may be just an ordinary Irish-Scot. I'm really hoping it's the former, because how cool would it be to be related to Eleanor of Acquitaine? But it's incredibly difficult to trace.

As for the Italians (my maternal grandfather and my paternal grandparents), they are nearly IMPOSSIBLE to trace further than a few generations. It figures. Just when you want Italians to talk, they clam up on you. My great-grandfather Luciano in particular -- he was left on a doorstep as a baby, so we'll probably never know a thing about his ancestry.

 

[smurfy]

I have been doing genealogy for years. Ancestry.com - love it and hate it. It can be so helpful, but people are not careful with what they enter, or take from other trees without vetting. You have to be so careful in anything you find there, especially if no citations/source. I have Puritans in the 1600s and have emailed folks politely asking them the source of their information and they ask why I am asking? Why create a tree if the information is completely wrong? My favorite - person born in 1640, but the father died in 1631.
Certain sources on ancestry.com are suspect. Millinium files and Family Data - are just other companies where people created trees that ancestry gobbled up - no source.
I use to find 'Find a Grave' useful - it would only include info from a photo of a gravestone, location of cemetery and where in the cemetery. Now people are adding family tree data - again no source. My favorite - photo of the entrance to a cemetery stating a particular ancester of mine may be buried in there.

I find going on field trips to cemeteries, historical societies, libraries and town halls lots of fun and very fruitful in finding good data. Online can only get you so far. And I am lucky that live within a 2 hr drive of where any of my relatives in the US have been.
I also did do some research in Ireland and got some good info.

I have a divorce from 1836 where my 3x great grandmother claimed her husband 'deserted her with 6 children, was cruel, intemperate and tried to suffocate her with brimstone in the bedroom'.

 

[Wyliefan]

My favorite - person born in 1640, but the father died in 1631.

I've had a few of those as well. Lots of time-travelers back then.

But I've made some fun discoveries as well. Turns out my great-uncle x 6 is buried in a little churchyard about 20 or 25 minutes from where I live, and I never knew it. He was a pallbearer for George Washington, and his name was on a plaque on the church wall along with the names of the other pallbearers. It was so interesting to go see it! And according to Find a Grave, I have lots relatives buried all over Pennsylvania (and even some in Connecticut), not just the few I knew about in the town where my parents grew up.

 

[A.H.Black]

Would someone be willing to say how much they pay for Ancestry? I have several aunt Minnies who have done all of my lines way, way back. There are a few gaps, though, that I would very much like to fill in and I need better access to censuses and other records. Since direct lines are done and redone for me, I am working on descendent records rather than ancestors. Does Ancestry have a forum or a way of helping when someone is stuck?

 

[smurfy]

Would someone be willing to say how much they pay for Ancestry? I have several aunt Minnies who have done all of my lines way, way back. There are a few gaps, though, that I would very much like to fill in and I need better access to censuses and other records. Since direct lines are done and redone for me, I am working on descendent records rather than ancestors. Does Ancestry have a forum or a way of helping when someone is stuck?

It can vary. Once you have an account, the information stays, and you can see basic things - your tree and info, but not any documents you downloaded to your tree from within the site. First there is a 14 day free trial.
Then there are monthly, 6 month and 1 year subscriptions - check out prices at their website.
There are 3 types of access - US, World, and World Plus.
For some reason I got into a strange loop with them. Usually World for 6 months is $149, and after my first 14 days free, a few weeks later I got an offer for 6months World for $99, so did that. A few months after that expired, same offer. That went on for about 3 years - so did 6 months on, a few months off.
I did not get any emails.
I just signed up for a year - with an AARP discount - 30% off world- the offer expired in March though.

 

[Lizziebeth]

Love genealogy but not too crazy about ancestry.com. i use it only when they control all access to records such as the census. For my research in norway and finland i go directly to the sites in those countries. I also use google to find more info on my ancestors. Other people in norway and finland are researching the same family and people and it is nice to have my personal research confirmed. I agree that people put family trees on ancestry all the time with no documentation so they are not worth too much.

It is a good hobby for cold winter nights!