Genealogy Websites - Family History & Genealogy Message Board

Website searching

MarciHess51 — 2013-04-17 15:01:55Z

In my quest for family history, I've run across many websites. I would like to learn more about what others find valuable. Do you go to those county sites on rootsweb first or do you find other sites better for your first research step?

Re: Reliability of trees on FamilyCentral.net

thulse121 — 2013-04-15 03:36:03Z

I can help with this. We are a private research firm. We recently started sharing client research online. All of the data is supposed to be filtered so living individuals are not displayed. We try to respond to all emails but we weren't prepared for the volume of requests that we receive concerning sources or offering additional information.
Please send me an email thulse@familycentral.net and I will make sure your living relatives are removed.
There is a link on the site that explains the following:

"This database is a collection of client files that professional researchers have worked on over the past 35 years. It also contains information from our clients' own data files and submissions from other families that may not be fully documented.
To determine if the information is documented look for "Sources" buttons on the Family Group Record. In some cases all of the sources for the family will appear under the father's sources.
Before relying on the validity of any records, please examine the sources and determine for yourself if they prove the information to your satisfaction."

I hope this helps.

Re: Family Search

jemimaellen — 2013-04-04 19:02:58Z

Hi Yes have tried that, i can get it on my Tablet, but not on my desk top, so the problem lies with that not Familysearch
Thanks for your reply

Re: Family Search

mi2early — 2013-04-03 21:35:03Z

No problems at all. Have you tried clearing your browser's cache and trying again? That might help.

Family Search

jemimaellen — 2013-04-03 19:38:02Z

Is anyone out there having a problem with Family Search , been unable to get on it the last few days

Re: familysearch.org messina data..not all pages indexed? anyone see this?

Terrygiannetto — 2013-03-28 14:00:50Z

I had been searching the Messina data,: Italy, Messina, Messina, Civil Registration (Comune).
They have the data sets grouped under either 'messina' or 'villagi di Messina' as groups of files.
Under Villagi, the data sets for births (Nate) 1893-1897, and Nati 1897-1901, and Nati 1901-1904.

Looks like none of that is indexed yet...and I just saw a link on family search home page last night, looking for help in indexing the italian data...so I guess it is still underway!

In the meantime, I'm searching manually....I hunt by my estimated year of birth, then find the specific village (that I hope is the correct one), and then scan the months. Seems like I'll have to do this until we are fully indexed.
I'm thinking about joining the indexing project..since it may also help me uncover people I'm looking for. Thank you for your help!

Re: familysearch.org messina data..not all pages indexed? anyone see this?

barbdale_1 — 2013-03-28 03:57:16Z

Not all of the databases are fully indexed. The description should tell you how far along they are in the indexing process. In addition some databases you can only browse, as they are not yet indexed at all. Also, what is clear to you, may not be to the transcriber, and the indexed name is completely discombobulated.

What database are you trying to search?

familysearch.org messina data..not all pages indexed? anyone see this?

Terrygiannetto — 2013-03-26 19:49:41Z

We just found a record yesterday by way of manual scanning the data. Pure luck it was found, really. However, I cannot find that record via search criteria..nor can I find the other people on that page. Is it possible that not all the data is indexed?
Now I tried to use same hunt and peck method to find another sibling of same family..with absolutely no success. Even though I see the first record, find it very legible, no reference to mother, father, or child in any way using search. I'm stumped! (Of course, this is for my brick wall person!)

Re: Heritage Quest Issues...RESOLVED

ceilidh — 2013-03-24 12:14:18Z

Thanks...I eventually figured out my problem. Adobe Flash Player wasn't playing nice with Firefox. I had to download Adobe's Flash Uninstaller to completely rid my computer of any trace of Flash and then re-download and install the Flash program. Heritage Quest is working great for me now.

Re: Heritage Quest Issues

barbdale_1 — 2013-03-24 04:59:01Z

I occasionally have that problem with census pages, I have found that changing the enlargement to 400% then back again sometimes helps.

Re: Reliability of trees on FamilyCentral.net

jeremy1967 — 2013-03-10 16:44:42Z

Hi there.

I'm sorry to hear that there is confidential information about your family on that site. If I remember correctly, there were two email addresses, so you could try sending a message to the other one, but I'm not sure you will receive a reply. My original mail to them has never been answered. There is a postal address in Utah, USA, so you might be able to track them down that way.

Good luck!

Re: Reliability of trees on FamilyCentral.net

Robyne_Moulds — 2013-03-08 21:28:19Z

i tried to send an email to info@familycentral.net but it was rejected.
I am concerned that there is information on there about my family which I have never put on a site. My childrens names and their spouses and my living mother and 1 sibling.
How do you delete the information or find out who put it there.

Re: Archives.com

scottrobertsbna — 2013-02-09 00:59:39Z

I just recently started getting back into this again...are you sure you are lookin in the right county? I ended up requesting a copy of my relatives SS Application and they had the correct county listed and boom I found it. Alot times you will see that the county you are looking for has a published birth index online too.

Re: Reliability of trees on FamilyCentral.net

jeremy1967 — 2013-02-06 17:18:02Z

Hi,

I sent them an email on 23 January and have still had no reply, so I'm very suspicious of them now.

Since then I have discovered that the tree I found on their site is not actually related to mine, but I am curious nonetheless how they came by it, and my caution regarding its accuracy remains, as I wouldn't like someone who really is related to it to be deceived if it isn't accurate after all.

Re: Reliability of trees on FamilyCentral.net

vanboerum2 — 2013-02-06 17:07:32Z

Hi
the give 2 e-mail links for contact, the first I tried jtmay@familycentral.net, did not deliver, I am waiting for the second one. Both names are not listed with the apg, and they give no information about the "30 professional researchers" working there or how they located their sources. I actually wanted to alert them that their "van SLyck" data is completely wrong and outdated, of course the visible tree, does not show any input date, however this is an example of bad "professional research, if they even ever did this, it looks like they just copied LDS files (old ones)I wonder if they respond to my complaint. I would not use them for $45 an hour, going to 1500 must cost an arm and a leg.

Re: Reliability of trees on FamilyCentral.net

mi2early — 2013-01-23 14:19:23Z

This is a commercial site and unrelated to the Church of LDS.

Take with a grain of salt any information you find in any online tree. Verify all citations.

Reliability of trees on FamilyCentral.net

jeremy1967 — 2013-01-23 12:59:06Z

Hi there. I was just wondering what people's opinions were about the reliability of information on FamilyCentral.net?

I have found a tree on there which, if it is to be believed, takes my own family back from 1765 to 1523. Cautious though I am, there are sources cited in the form of references to microfilms of parish records, probate records and other documents.

The link to the tree is: http://www.familycentral.net/index/pedigree.cfm?ref1=5302:10...

To look at the sources, click on a name (not the first one, as there are no sources for this entry), then under "Marriage" click on the button that looks like a group of skittles, then on the family page that comes up there should be a "Sources" button.

As far as I can tell, FamilyCentral is part of the Church of LDS that runs Family Search.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on the authenticity, or otherwise of this tree and the site in general. How did that tree come to be put together?

Many thanks!

Heritage Quest Issues

ceilidh — 2013-01-18 20:45:52Z

Is anyone else having problems with Heritage Quest not fully loading images?

I've never had this problem before. I have not changed any computer settings, nor how I access the site. Every time I try to view anything there anymore, all I'm getting is a partial image to load...maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of any given page. I've tried everything...clearing cache, cookies, trying to download the images as different file formats, etc. They're always partial images. ProQuest tells me there's no problem on their end, so I'd like to ask some of you to please check and see if you're having the same problem I am.

Lincs to the Past

Price_MaryLouise — 2013-01-15 19:30:10Z

I was introduced to this wonderful site through another ancestry member. It takes a bit of effort but it was about the only way to locate much of the data I found for ancestors in that part of England. They post digital copies of parish books, etc. Searches are by date range, area and surname. Search will return a set of books or documents you can look through. It can be tedious but you can often find a lot about one or more families in each book. As you go from page to page, there is an index of surnames from that page.

Re: Scotlandspeople.gov.uk - high cost to view

Price_MaryLouise — 2013-01-15 19:11:12Z

I have been considering this website as my family emigrated from there in about 1850s. The pay-per-view has made me quite hesitant to try it for the very reason you mention - getting too many random returns to view before being able to find any relevant ones. Could I ask, how many files were you able to view for those 90 credits, and how far back were you able to find documents for? Unfortunately, I live too far away for a trip to the Glasgow Library.

Re: Archives.com

montanadam1 — 2013-01-03 14:21:33Z

Thanks for just saving me about $70 as the birth date I'm looking for is between 1906-1908.

Archives.com

montanadam1 — 2013-01-03 12:58:22Z

Has anyone ever ordered a birth certificate from the above web site? I have not been able to find the birth certificate myself by contacting the counties in Ohio and was thinking about ordering this but was rather surprised by the price.

If you've had experience I would appreciate hearing.

Thanks

Dora

Re: Archives.com

AGHatchett3rd — 2013-01-03 06:35:59Z

What time period are you talking about? According to their website, Archives. com only has Ohio Birth Records from 1959-2012.

RootsChat,com New Look Website

SMackay10 — 2013-01-02 17:25:33Z

A New Year and a new upgraded RootsChat, now viewable for Mobiles and Tablets.

Rootschat.com is a British based Family History forum helping people researching their ancestors. Over 4 Million posts fully searchable and free to use.

Why not see if you can find your British Connections.

Re: Godfrey.org

RGraves2118 — 2012-12-23 18:02:52Z

I subscribe to both Godfrey and Ancestry. You may want to contact Godfrey and ask them if a subscription to their service includes access to Ancestry. I really enjoy Godfrey. They have some unique services.

Rich Graves
East Hampton, Ct

e-mail Golfer1285@aol.com

Milatary Genalogy

mafiacls — 2012-12-14 17:15:58Z

Does anyone use this site ??

Re: Old Pictures of African Americans Website

senior333 — 2012-12-09 22:13:36Z

Thank you so much I am an African American researcher.I pray this help me find some pictures of my surnames.

New Website for discussion of O'SHIELDS or O'SHEAL

ConnieChumleyStringer — 2012-12-08 00:46:35Z

Website for discussion on O'Shields or O'Sheal.

www.irishswamp.com

Re: Free websites vs Ancestry and other fee based sites

kennyg212 — 2012-11-15 14:34:09Z

I argee with you

Re: FindAGrave.com issues

danders0n — 2012-09-29 03:50:11Z

I've been a FAG contributor for several years and the ONLY time I see the type of problem you described is from a *genealogist wanna be*. They gritch and growl about those of us who enter memorials for people we are not related to (because we don't transfer) but never see the problem is in the mirror. They are diluting the database with garbage. There was one such person adding garbage in local (to me) cemeteries: people who died decades before this area was settled, the "shotgun" approach of creating a memorial for the same person in multiple cemeteries to "find" which is correct. And then there are the unknown burial locations. Pure garbage. I wish Ancestry had never indexed Find A Grave because these issues are just escalating.

StackExchange Genealogy Proposal

LordAndrei — 2012-09-11 21:08:51Z

There is a proposal on the StackExchange q/a system for a Genealogy site. As a regular user of it's sister sites: "StackOverflow" for programming, "Parenting" and "Apple" I can attest that it becomes a well organised repository for research.

Please feel free to check out the proposal and the information at:
http://bit.ly/GenProp

Thanks

Re: Description fields; FindAGrave Burial vs. Death field

wadejanet1 — 2012-08-29 19:52:43Z

I think Ancestry just needs to link the location info to the Burial field rather than Death field. It appears to me that the location info that shows up on Ancestry is the Cemetery location in FindAGrave. FindAGrave also has a fillable (by manager of the memorial) field for death location. I would not necessarily expect Ancestry to 'mine' that field from FindAGrave, tho I suppose they could.

Re: Description fields; FindAGrave Burial vs. Death field

scwbcm — 2012-08-29 17:08:36Z

I have wondered if this is part of the problem for searches with findagrave. Many people do not have a death location or it is simply a county or state and not the exact town. The challenge with the burial records might be the combination with the date. Although the location may be improved by using the known factor, which would be the burial location the date that is usually known is the date of death. Frequently, there would not be a known burial date. I am not sure how this can be addressed. The searches have greatly improved since this was originally added. Notice that searches for old search and new search appear to have additional fields, one for birth and one for burial. I have never seen that these actually play into the searches but perhaps they do.

Re: Description fields; FindAGrave Burial vs. Death field

mbmjlm — 2012-08-29 16:56:53Z

I don't believe that Ancestry dictates what comes from findagrave since that is an independant web site itself. Often times that information is not known, in fact unless it is a very recent burial, most times the death location is not known at all. That can be gotten from death certificates if these are available.

Description fields; FindAGrave Burial vs. Death field

wadejanet1 — 2012-08-29 14:49:12Z

Please consider these suggestions:

Include a field for description when saving a record so that additional info from the image can be added in the same step. Example - a draft registration includes info like occupation/employer, physical characteristics etc. that I'd like to record. Ditto with censuses.

FindAGrave info - change the location to that of Burial rather than Death. Many people die in one place but are buried in another! It would also be nice if the name of the Cemetery would be recorded, as well as town, etc.

Re: Rootsweb vs. Ancestry.com vs. FTM

lindhale — 2012-08-28 07:37:54Z

I use both and I have my tree on ancestry and I update my gedcom on rootsweb every couple of months to keep it current with new information also I have a free website with rootsweb that I upload my family stories and pictures and link to all the uploaded trees

Re: FindAGrave.com issues

kennydee1972 — 2012-08-12 16:23:49Z

Well i'm not really talking about what others do. I'm talking about mine memorial that I created, and I have cross reference mine with death records, and/or obituary and on top of that I've contacted some of the cemetery office to verify my findings and I also try to get other photographic the headstones. I know about all the dramas of FindAGrave.com members, I had my fair share of arguments in the forums of FindAGrave.

Re: FindAGrave.com issues

McComberdescendant — 2012-08-12 15:36:10Z

Frost - I hear you about people occasionally making up what they "think" happened and then writing it down as if they actually know what they are talking about. I know of one fellow (his wife is very distantly connected to my family) who invented a duplicate FAG memorial that listed, as a supposed place of burial, where he THOUGHT my great grandfather was buried (using an obit I had posted on Ancestry - which he reproduced in his fictitious memorial), but not only was this a duplicate of my (correct) memorial, it was just wrong. He has similarly created other memorials for people on this family, when I know perfectly well that he has no idea what actually happened to them (one has a woman buried in Arkansas, when there is no evidence - only some unsourced and almost certainly wrong Ancestry trees) that she ever went there - and there is a fair amount of evidence making it highly improbable (a) that she was there at all, much less (b) that she died and was buried there. But I think those situations are pretty uncommon (I hope).

Re: FindAGrave.com issues

frostfreedet — 2012-08-12 11:36:16Z

"Second, I would not assume that the person who created the memorial just imagined what they entered, although it would be a good idea to ask questions."

My cautionary note about folks' sometimes making stuff up stemmed from a recent message board discussion with a chap who invented where he thought a relative was buried, then added a whole lot of speculation about what family he belonged to.

The cemetery he placed the memorial for did not exist as a burial site until about 70 years after the subject person died. The memorialist did not have any idea where in the County his person lived (having done no research in estate, land, tax records). He placed the person in the cemetery because there were folks with the same surname buried there. I happen to know who those folks are descended from, and that couple was not related to the folks speculated as relatives by the memorialist, nor did any record of the actual family (deeds and estate records) suggest any relationship with the memorial-subject person.

In lieu of having any evidence, the memorialist further opined that maybe a descendant or other relative had created a gravestone for the memorialist's subject. However there is no such marker for that subject in the target cemetery. And since the memorialist did not know where his subject or speculated relatives lived, he could not even speculate a sensible particular area of the County.

Ack.

In addition, Patriot Coal Company has destroyed several ancestral-persons' home-farm cemeteries in the past couple of decades (and before them, Consolidation Coal did the same). In one case, some minor bad publicity stemming from a lawsuit forced the company to move most of the markers from ~one~ of the cemeteries to another nearby cemetery. Subsequently some kind soul came along and photographed the markers in the second site, and posted them on findagrave, not noting where most of the gravestones had come from. Patriot did *not* move the actual remains, according to at least one witness to what they actually did. Now they've filed for bankruptcy in a NY court, although their fracking activities in the Pittsburgh Vein must be making them scads of dough.

Ecccccch.

Hence the suggestion of caution.

Re: FindAGrave.com issues

scwbcm — 2012-08-12 02:48:00Z

I agree. with the above. Every database has errors and this is no exception. It does help when a photo has been added.

I know for some of the people that added items it probably never crossed their minds to add a source because they found the item by standing next to it and viewing it. Unfortunately, one man that apparently viewed someone's tombstone, I am interested in and created a Genweb database, can no longer locate the stone. So for people still working on this, get the photo, GPS, map or something please. Another woman created a Genweb database and had an error in it for my family. She is no longer active so the error remains. Fortunately, the same woman had it correct in both her ancestry tree and at findagrave. I know that this woman who added over 30,000 names worked with the county, museums, and the historical society so she has done tremendous work. She hasn't included her sources but she is not someone I would dismiss either.

I am very appreciative to the people work on findagrave and even if an item isn't ideal, it can be a place to start looking.

Re: FindAGrave.com issues

kennydee1972 — 2012-08-12 01:53:32Z

I've been adding interments to FindAGrave.com and doing photographic for over a year now myself. I even had locate two cemeteries and added the two cemeteries with names. I don't do it for the numbers, but I also stop by the local libraries, and or genealogy society and get as much info on the people bury at those location. But when it comes to my own family members and hopes that Ancestry.com will match up the FindAGrave.com database. I know that the date and location matches, but for some reason or another it just won't come up.

Re: FindAGrave.com issues

McComberdescendant — 2012-08-11 18:20:41Z

If there is (for example) exact date information where the gravestone photo shows only years of birth and death, I suggest contacting the person who created and/or maintains the memorial. First of all, you may learn that the memorial was created first (e.g., from cemetery records) and the photo was added later (so the person who created the memorial may not have known that he/she was giving more exact information than is on the marker - and also, they probably can tell you exactly where they found that information).

Second, I would not assume that the person who created the memorial just imagined what they entered, although it would be a good idea to ask questions. I have often sent people additional information relevant to a memorial (e.g., maiden name of a married woman, or place or exact date of birth or death). I make it a practice to tell them where it comes from (e.g., "Susan's maiden name was Smith, according to her children's California birth/death records," or, "the death index shows the exact dates of birth/death were ___"). But, many times the change to the memorial is made without adding the source, or any explanation for why it does not match up to the gravestone photo.

I agree that you should view the FAG memorial itself (as with any hint/abstract that references an actual document that is available for viewing). When I create a memorial that has information beyond what my photo of the gravestone shows, I always add the source in the "notes" section (e.g., "additional information from Kentucky Death Record" or "additional information from World War I draft record" or "additional information from California birth index" or whatever). Unfortunately, however, most people who create these memorials are not conscious of such issues, because they are not attempting to create genealogical records.

I agree that FAG memorials can be good finding aids, as I have had many cases where I was able to verify what the memorial showed once I knew what I was looking for (e.g., a maiden name, or a parent's or child's name), although going at it from the other direction (e.g., "what is this woman's maiden name") was an exercise in frustration.

Re: FindAGrave.com issues

barbdale_1 — 2012-08-11 16:18:25Z

I just resubscribed to Ancestry, and none of the links for find a grave results work. It doesn't matter so much to me, as I find it just as easy to go to findagrave directly, and don't have a tree on Ancestry. However, it is a little frustrating.

Re: GeneTree web site is closing down

ChekWriter — 2012-08-11 15:19:39Z

Thank you Doris W.
My MILLS descendant, I already posted his DNA markers to the web site, www.ysearch.org.

Not sure but think I also did to mitosearch.org but now has been a long time. will have to go back and check again if still there or if I did it correctly.

Would also like to post my MTDNA test markers also done by SMGF a long time ago. They were searching for some specific female markers. Guess mine were not one of them.

Patricia
cw
Thank you for reminding me.

note: I also posted his markers to www.ancestry.com and have found 82 others who have similar markers, NONE exact though.
But from what I have been told, means that they share a Common Ancestor, (MRCA) farther back in time.
From 1 marker different to 5 markers different. From distance of 2 to 35 generations.

Most likely before the use of surnames began.

So far, do not have enough MEM and RAM to do a "good" job of attempting to find the relationship. How our families
came together.

For now, too many missing branches and blank spaces on female names, what were their surname.

Patricia
cw

Re: GeneTree web site is closing down

ChekWriter — 2012-08-11 15:17:36Z

Thank you Doris W.
My MILLS descendant, I already posted his DNA markers to the web site, www.ysearch.org.

Not sure but think I also did to mitosearch.org but now has been a long time. will have to go back and check again if still there or if I did it correctly.

Would also like to post my MTDNA test markers also done by SMGF a long time ago. They were searching for some specific female markers. Guess mine were not one of them.

Patricia
cw
Thank you for reminding me.

note: I also posted his markers to www.ancestry.com and have found 82 others who have similar markers, NONE exact though.
But from what I have been told, means that they share a Common Ancestor, (MRCA) farther back in time. From distance of 2 to 35 generations.

Most likely before the use of surnames began.

So far, do not have enough MEM and RAM to do a "good" job of attempting to find the relationship. How our families
came together.

For now, too many missing branches and blank spaces on female names, what were their surname.

Patricia
cw

Re: FindAGrave.com issues

frostfreedet — 2012-08-11 05:14:11Z

Beware -- what Ancestry.com includes in its Findagrave index is from the main index that you get in the initial list when you search at Findagrave.com.

When you go to the individual detail page you will often discover that what was indexed was dates seemingly from death records, obituaries, genealogies, etc., not the exact gravestone reading. Often the person who created the memorial does not tell you what the dates, relationships, etc. were even from.

In addition some people just make stuff up about where people were buried, so you can't tell from just the index on Ancestry.com what exactly the particular entry is.

So consider the findagrave index on Ancestry.com to be a rather crude finding aid and do not save anything to your tree without viewing the whole findagrave.com entry. If no source is given for the stuff there, and if there is no photo by which you can compare the actual marker entry with the memorial's version, throw a few large handsful of salt into the mix.

Re: FindAGrave.com issues

scwbcm — 2012-08-11 04:22:37Z

Yes, if you use new search go to the card catalog and type in Find a Grave in the keyword area and the different locations will come up. You can also get them in old search in alphabetical order. If you want to try and search from your tree you will need to winnow down in the death category and it may take some narrowing. Sometimes they show up there but sometimes you are better off just going through the card catalog. Records found this way will be the ancestry result that you can attach to your tree, which allows you easier access to the findagrave site.

Re: FindAGrave.com issues

kennydee1972 — 2012-08-11 03:09:20Z

Is there a FindAGrave search inside of Ancestry.com? Like you can search other documents on here.

Re: FindAGrave.com issues

McComberdescendant — 2012-07-22 19:19:35Z

I have noticed that the FAG links go down from time to time, but my experience is that they usually work again an hour or so later. Also, if you know from the hint that something is there it is easy to go directly to FAG and find and save.

Re: GeneTree web site is closing down

ChekWriter — 2012-07-19 14:46:14Z

Thank you Doris W.

Pat
cw