Genealogy, are those paid subscription sites worth it??

Greetings fellow steemians!!

I get asked this question all the time, are those paid subscription sites really worth paying for?? Yes and no!! It all depends on how much of an interest you have in starting your family genealogy. For most newbies I tend to say no, start with the free sites first. Make sure you really enjoy it and want to stick with it first before investing a lot of money. Some people just have a mild interest and investing the money would be a waste. There are plenty of free sites to check into first. http://www.familysearch.org has plenty of free records to search and give you a taste of what to expect.

You could also take advantage of http://www.ancestry.com when they offer the free 2 weeks they have a few times a year. But let me caution you, you will need to provide a credit card when you sign up and select a plan. 2 things, first, select the smallest plan possible, monthly or 6 months to start with. You can always upgrade later. Second if you decide it really isn't for you, make sure you cancel 4 days prior to the free trial period ending so you will not be automatically billed. You'll still get those 4 days, (unless their policies have changed, read the fine print). But if you do not cancel you will be automatically billed.

Image provided by ancestry.com

While I am on the subject of ancestry.com, another question I often get are do those little green leaves really help? Yes and no. The leaves will provide a hint for that particular person. Ancestry will match as close as possible all the information that you have either found or provided already for that person. It is up to you to determine if it really belongs to the person or not. For example, someone born in the same area and time frame might show up as a hint for a census but not necessarily be the correct person. Pay close attention to information, especially when dealing with common names. Don't automatically assume it is accurate information and add it to your tree without checking it out first. I have come to ignore many hints in my research simply because the names I am searching are so common. Hints are just that, hints, no guarantees, sometimes they pan out, sometimes they don't.

I would also suggest if you still have family members living, ask as many questions as you can and take notes. But, understand that not all family stories are true. Memories become faulty, stories can get exaggerated over the years, and unfortunately, some just plain make things up, for whatever reason. Treat those family stories as hints or clues and search them out to find out the truth.

If you do decide you want to become a genealogist or the family historian you will see the more you find the more you want to know. It is addictive. It can be quite time consuming and frustrating at times. But it is so much fun and oh so interesting what you might find along the way.

If you have any questions about doing genealogy, feel free to leave me a post. I am always glad to help if I can.

Until next time,,,,,