Ancestry.com...worth it?

**iKiltIt** · 18th August 16, 02:11 PM

Is it worth the money? Also, does it only really trace your ancestry in America unless you pay more to see foreign?

**bdkilted** · 18th August 16, 03:03 PM

I've tried it twice during "free" trials. It never found anything on my family, except the information I put in it. Having said that, my wife signed up for it and found all kinds of links on her mother's family, but not on her father's which was what she was trying to find. The biggest problem I've seen with it, is it lets you create a family tree, and adding pictures, articles, ships manifest (many of which we provided), but if you don't keep paying for it, you lose your tree. Apparently it is on a proprietary format that can't be saved on your computer. So... even though she does very little with Ancestry anymore, we are still paying for it every year so she won't lose her tree.

**iKiltIt** · 18th August 16, 03:14 PM

Originally Posted by bdkilted

I've tried it twice during "free" trials. It never found anything on my family, except the information I put in it. Having said that, my wife signed up for it and found all kinds of links on her mother's family, but not on her father's which was what she was trying to find. The biggest problem I've seen with it, is it lets you create a family tree, and adding pictures, articles, ships manifest (many of which we provided), but if you don't keep paying for it, you lose your tree. Apparently it is on a proprietary format that can't be saved on your computer. So... even though she does very little with Ancestry anymore, we are still paying for it every year so she won't lose her tree.

I was kind of thinking the same. I signed up for the trial and it didn't find anything other than what I put there. I'm definitely not paying for it. It doesn't seem much worth it to me at all.

**Steve Ashton** · 18th August 16, 04:18 PM

Ancestry.com is a tool. I gives you access to records and data. You must still do the work.

My wife was able to find records that we didn't even know or dream about. But the records must already exist and be uploaded. It is only as good as who has uploaded the records.
And of course not everything is on a computer or accessible.

The linking that the Ancestry.com does is your data to another member's data. If you both link to the same person or record it will tell you. We are still getting messages that someone else has linked to some of our data two years after we stopped the subscription.

**iKiltIt** · 18th August 16, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by Steve Ashton

Ancestry.com is a tool. I gives you access to records and data. You must still do the work.

My wife was able to find records that we didn't even know or dream about. But the records must already exist and be uploaded. It is only as good as who has uploaded the records.
And of course not everything is on a computer or accessible.

The linking that the Ancestry.com does is your data to another member's data. If you both link to the same person or record it will tell you. We are still getting messages that someone else has linked to some of our data two years after we stopped the subscription.

Its so weird how they advertise that they can find your relatives but cant if someone hasn't already linked to it...My Grandmother has ours dated back to mid to late 1700's, I think. I remember seeing that book that she had made and my mother still has it and is sending it to me. I am so interested in exactly where I came from, but I'm afraid ill never really know. I do know that my fathers side came from the Angus area of Scotland and my Mothers side (the one with my grandmothers genealogy that Im getting) came from some parts of Scotland and Wales but again, I'm not sure exactly where with her side.

**Pleater** · 19th August 16, 04:53 PM

My uncle had been trying to locate his father's family and any male relatives with his surname for decades. He even engaged a private detective to help in the search. I got a free trial of Ancestry and asked all the female relatives I could find if there were male relatives.

Two weeks before he died my brother took him the news that direct male descendants of his uncle are living in California.

The family tree I made is still there in Ancestry, as is the one my uncle made, plus all the messages and records I collected up.

There were lots of incorrect entries - granddad changed his date of birth, his middle name and married a second time without benefit of divorce from his first wife, but that is all part of the fun - and I found I had a cousin I knew nothing about living only a short distance away.
It helps to be able to read 'secretary hand' as many of the people changing the written records into typed ones can't read what is there - and they obviously didn't care much about accuracy.

I still haven't paid anything for the access I have had, but they do keep informing me of offers they have - it might be worthwhile to watch for free trials or cheap deals so as to be able to have access and see what you can find.

Anne the Pleater

**tundramanq** · 20th August 16, 06:58 AM

When I chased my tree years ago almost all the sites were free.
I found that I needed all the data from each generation from multiple sites to cross check the previous and next generations. Tracking children and wives names and data as well as the places and times of a subjects life events gives you the multiple connections to ensure correctness. It has also let me bridge a lost generation and enabled vetting it from the other direction.
The computer acronym GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) applies to the data accuracy and errors were rampant on all the sites. Never accept any site suggested generation linkages unless you can vet it multiple ways on independent sites.

Finding someone else's tree is nice but like your prime search it still needs vetting the same labor intensive way for every step.

It was an adventure and I found a lot of real "characters" in my tree - good and bad. Open Google searching names and dates you have found can come up with some memorable kin stories and biographies - as well as vetting.

**slothead** · 18th August 16, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by iKiltIt

Is it worth the money? Also, does it only really trace your ancestry in America unless you pay more to see foreign?

It is my opinion that the cost is worth it, at least initially (and you can usually find a cheap starting price), and it is true that you won't get international searches without paying the extra price for that extra service.

If you hit the searches hard up front, it is likely you can find answers and contacts within your first 6 months and then you may be able to work outside Ancestry to get more data. I think the secret is to message folks a lot and watch for their responses. Only one in a dozen will be of help (if that), so it pays to do it a lot. There are a lot of false alarms in the searches, so you have to watch the details carefully.

My biggest disappointment is that the early US census records (1790, 1800, 1810, 1820) only included the householder's name and only listed the ages of others in the household.

**Liam** · 18th August 16, 05:55 PM

Although I have not used our Calgary Public Library has a subscription and Library members can use it on the Library computers for free.

**Richrail** · 18th August 16, 06:54 PM

I purchased a subscription for 3 months during the winter and researched like crazy. I found a bunch of information and even some pictures. But unless you are going to use it all the time I believe it is pricey. I then took all the information and in put it in to a family tree I created on www.myheritage.com for free.