Careers of Yesteryear…And Today!

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 28 Jan 2016.

Last week I took an interesting webinar called Your Ancestor Was…Occupations of our Ancestors by Nancy Waters Lauer through the Florida State Genealogical Society.  I had never heard of many of the occupations the presenter mentioned. Have you ever heard of a brightsmith?  It’s a metal worker. How about a bluestocking?  That was a female writer.

I guess this topic was in the back of my mind as I continue to work on my Kinship Determination Project for my Certified Genealogist portfolio this week.

Guess what century I’m working on based on the “hot” jobs of the individuals I’m writing about:

  •   Blacksmith
  •   Wagon Maker
  •   Farmer

If you speculated it was the 19th Century you are correct!

Funny, but I did an Interest Inventory with my students recently and I found many scored high in the areas of Transportation and Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources.  I doubt any of my students will turn out to be blacksmiths or wagon makers but the allure of travel and the interest in food production definitely continues in this century.  The more the world changes the more it stays the same!

ACES and Genealogy

Originally published in genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 22 Jan 2016.

Went to a training today on Cyberbullying and students’ ACE Scores were mentioned.  It got me thinking of what some of my ancestors’ scores would be!

ACE stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences.  There’s a phenomenal TED MED talk about how the effects of childhood trauma resonate well into adulthood, effecting not only mental, but also physical health.  You can view the video of speaker Nadine Burke Harris here.

I decided this weekend, since it’s going to be cooooold and wet, that I would stay inside and keep the ACE test in mind as I look at my tree by working backwards.  By that, I mean I’ll look at cause of death and then investigate the individual’s early life.  Anyone dying of heart disease, lung cancer, or diabetes may have had a high ACE score.  Was it a one parent household?  Was the parent an alcoholic?  I can check that by looking at some of the newspaper articles that I’ve found and poking around some more for those that I don’t have much info.  I won’t be able to fill in many of the other ACE questions but the results of this little experiment may prove interesting.  If you’d like to obtain an ACE Score or learning more about it check out this website.  Make sure, if you go to the site you scroll down to obtain a Resilience Score as that’s important, too!

Personally, I think genealogy is a lesson in resiliency.  Whenever things are tough I know my ancestors had it a whole lot worse than I do.  I’m thankful to live in this day and age, even with all the stressors we face and most of all, I’m really thankful that my ancestors had the resiliency to carry on under adversity. If they hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here!

A New FAN Idea

Originally published on genealogyatheart.com on 17 Jan 2016.

FAN – Friends and Neighbors – of your ancestors is a tried and true way to help uncover brick walls. It didn’t dawn on me that checking out your current Friends and Neighbors can also help you connect with the past. In December, I was talking to my office mate about my genealogical plans for the holidays.  She has no interest in genealogy but inherited from her grandmother all of the family heirlooms which she keeps in her garage.  GASP!  I almost had a heart attack when she told me she has an indentured servant record of an ancestor from the 1700’s in her garage, along with civil war letters and tintype photos.  The look on my face must have said it all as she immediately told me I shouldn’t worry as she had “all that stuff in acid free folders and binders” in rubber totes.  I mentioned no air conditioning, high humidity, bugs and rodents (hey, this is Florida and that is in everyone’s neighborhood!), not to mention dust, mold and temperature extremes.  She decided she would spend a few minutes over the holidays cleaning out a closet to store these family treasures.

That evening, I got a text from her with several pictures of documents and a question about how she could find out the name of a man in a photo and how he was related to her.  Since I didn’t get her a Christmas gift I told her I’d check it out.  Three hours later I had discovered the man’s name, occupation, place of birth and sad tale of his daughter who had been the clue in identifying him.  Still working on how she’s related to him and I suspect she isn’t.  My present hypothesis is that she is related to the man’s daughter’s husband.  They had no living children so the photo may have passed to the husband’s surviving family members.

Oddly, my husband’s got family with the same name in the same location at the same time with the same occupation and I bet I can tie everyone together.  If so, this means that my husband is distantly related to my office mate.  If not, their families were definitely neighbors.

We live in the Florida.  The family I’m researching lived in New York in the 1800’s.  My husband was born in Indiana and my office mate in Massachusetts.  If she hadn’t mentioned the stash of heirlooms in her garage I would have never discovered a connection.  Yes, the FAN method works but not the way I expected!

Tree Error in Ancestry – An Update

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 9 Jan 2016.

Here’s an update on my blog, Faulty Family Trees – Erasing a Deadly Mistake, from 7 January regarding one of my co-worker’s mother being reported dead on Ancestry when she’s very much alive.

Of the 2 family tree’s that gave her a death date, therefore making her birth date and place visible, along with her marriage date and place, I received an email message from one tree owner who did delete the death date.  Unfortunately, although I had asked him to, the tree owner didn’t make the individual private so some of her info is still showing:

I cut off the rest of info, above, as I don’t want to publicize the year and place which are still visible.   I emailed him again to ask that he make the individual private but he didn’t respond.

The other tree owner never responded so all information is still displayed.

The other problem is if you do a search of the individual’s name under Family Trees this shows up as public:

 

 

Even though one of the tree owners removed the wrong death date it is still visible in the search.

Since 3 days have passed, no telling when the other tree owner is going to respond AND Ancestry.com needs to update their search results, so I called Ancestry.

They were experiencing heavy call volume so I waited about 5 minutes.  Spoke with Carnel who said “due to privacy, we can’t do anything.”  He acknowledged that “this happens all the time.”  Ancestry will update an error in an index but won’t touch a family tree.

I read Carnel Ancestry’s privacy policy: ” We recognize that the information about living family members can be sensitive so we have safeguards to hide living individuals within family trees, the AncestryDNA experience, and other areas of the site.”

Carnel couldn’t explain to me what safeguards Ancestry has put into place to protect the living when they are marked as dead.  I understand why he couldn’t because they have none.

I then asked what happens if the individuals we’re trying to contact never respond to the email we sent or don’t renew membership.  Carnel said they still maintain registered guest status so they can always add and edit their trees.  That means, if they ever read their email and follow the directions, they can correct the wrong information.

Carnel told me that I could contact customersolutions@ancestry.com – email only, can’t talk to a real person! and they will email the individuals.  What a brilliant idea (note sarcasm).  We’ve already done that twice.  Although Ancestry has phone numbers for these people, they don’t call them.  Heaven knows, Ancestry will protect the PRIVACY of the living who make errors but not of the living who are trying to preserve their own PRIVACY.

Also was told that Ancestry does update all of their records but there is no time frame for that (could explain why I have so many ghost leaves).  Eventually, Ancestry will get around to doing that so when someone is searching this individual’s name in a family tree the corrected tree won’t display the death date that is still showing.

Will let you know how this plays out…

Faulty Family Trees – Erasing a Deadly Mistake

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 7 Jan 2016.

I’ve written before about the difficulty in correcting record mistakes but I didn’t expect the situation I’m about to describe as hard to fix.  Boy, was I wrong!

Right before the holidays a co-worker’s adult son went online and discovered that his grandmother was reported as dead on someone’s Ancestry.com tree.  He had the free trial membership, was inexperienced with how the program worked and emotionally impacted by the wrong info, especially at holiday time.  He notified his mom what he discovered.  She told him she had seen the same information a few months earlier when she, too, did a trial membership.  The information was so off that if the woman had died in the 1950’s when the tree said she had two of her children would have never been born.  My co-worker asked me what to do to fix the information since it was upsetting to her children.

I gave her Ancestry.com’s contact number and suggested she call Customer Support and explain the impact the wrong information was having on her family.  She did so and was informed that Ancestry.com policy does not allow for corrections to information placed by members on their trees.  She could file an appeal but it would most likely be wasting her time as the company only approves the removal of “offensive” information.

I don’t know about you but I find it offensive that a loved one has been reported dead when it’s not the case.  I also find it offensive that personal information on living individuals is displayed when the company policy is supposedly to keep that information private.  In this case, the co-worker’s mother’s name, date and place of birth, and marriage information is available because of the incorrectly added death date.  I also find it offensive that the company knows that their member tree information is inaccurate yet provides no recourse to correct wrong information.  If you’re allowing inexperienced individuals a free trial offer with little direction who then abandon what they input you’re going to have wrong information available for a long time.  I also find it offensive that the problem will continue since the company does not provide simple to follow step by step directions for newbies to eliminate the possibility of errors.  I also think it’s offensive to charge a hefty membership fee when they know their site doesn’t work correctly, is error filled and the number of records they tout as available includes wrong information.  Since we’ve all gotten valuable information from each other I’m not advocating  making all trees private; I’d be happy if they added a disclaimer banner when someone is searching on the member trees to remind people to be cautious.

I told the co-worker yesterday I’d see what I could do.  Last night I looked and wasn’t surprised to see that the error has now spread to a second tree.  Of course it would, since people blindly click other’s information believing it to be accurate.  I emailed both tree owners explaining the error, its impact on the family and asking them nicely to remove the death date which would make the individual’s other info private.  One of the tree owners included in her biography that she’s a beginner so I’m hopeful she responds and I can educate her on how to avoid this problem in the future.  She was on the site yesterday so that’s a good sign for a quick resolution (if she figures out that she can get messages from other members!).  The original source hasn’t been on for over a month so I can see that as going through the appeal process which ancestry did not spell out to my co-worker.  Co-worker said she had previously emailed the individual but the wrong info remains.  I plan on calling Ancestry.com today to find out what the appeal process is and I’ll keep you posted on an upcoming blog.

Now that Ancestry owns Find-a-Grave I’m wondering if there will be negative changes at the Find-a-Grave site as well.  I’ve always been pleased on how the administrator at Find-a-Grave handled correcting errors.  All you needed to do was email the organization and let them know that you attempted resolution with the memorial owner.  My second cousin was able to get his mother’s information corrected within 2 weeks by showing that both he and I made attempts to resolve the problem before contacting administration.  Why Ancestry.com can’t follow that process is a mystery.

Genealogical Resolutions

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 3 Jan 2016.

Exercise, eat healthier, lose weight – nope, not for me!  The time has come to resolve for 2016, that I will

  • diligently work on completing my Board of Certification of Genealogy portfolio and submit it before my deadline of October 24th.
  • in my free time (yeah, right) start downloading all of the scans I have placed on Ancestry.com so when I can no longer afford a subscription I won’t have lost anything.  I foolishly saved everything to Ancestry without downloading a copy to my overworked laptop.
  • continue blogging twice a week.
  • plan my upcoming midwest research trip and find things that will interest hubby while I’m researching.
  • really, truly set up an office that is functional.  I’ll be reclaiming the dining room table in the interim now that the holidays are over.
  • reread the genealogical bibles – the Genealogy Standards, Evidence Explained, BCG Skillbuilders, etc, to refresh the unfreshed mind.
  • fix my old citations in my family tree as they really were poorly done back in the day.
  • work on completing my e-book, Thanks to the Yanks. (Since part of this is included in my certification portfolio I’ll be unable to publish until after the process is completed but I can continue to work on it since I’ve changed directions from when I started)
  • continue taking webinars to refine my craft and
  • looking forward to attending conferences, especially the National Genealogy Conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida in May!  Email me through my website if you plan on attending, too! (www.genealogyatheart.com)

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Finding Old Time Medical Records Can Be A Challenge

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 30 Dec 2015.

Don’t you hate it when you discover wrong info on the internet and have no way to correct it?!  I’m sure the information was accurate once but it isn’t any longer.  Now that Ancestry.com owns rootsweb they permit “view only” so no updates can be made.  It’s nice that the old posts are still viewable but it wastes a lot of time if you follow the directions that are wrong.

In August I tried to obtain records from a state hospital in Florida.  I found the following links:

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~chattahoochee/

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~chattahoochee/index12.html

Following directions from those sites, I wrote a letter in late August to the Health Information Manager as I figured the name given on the above link probably wasn’t accurate any longer.  I included a copy of my driver’s license, the client’s driver’s license, and birth and death records to prove lineage to the individual I was trying to obtain information about.

On September 3rd I was contacted by an individual who said she was a volunteer and that she had the file on her desk but couldn’t send the contents until I submitted the following notarized statement from the client:

“I am the oldest living relative and heir-at-law and am giving permission to send the copy of my Great Grandmother, (insert the individual’s name here as I don’t have permission to use it in this blog), to: (My Name, My Address)”

Note:  If you are requesting the information for your own use you can omit the giving permission portion.  Client had to attest that I had permission to receive the records which is why the statement had to be included.

We were supposed to fax the notarized statement to a number given to me but the fax didn’t work so I called the number I had been contacted from but that number wasn’t working either so I mailed the notarized statement with a note explaining why I was unable to fax it.

I made a follow up call the following week to verify that the notarized copy was received because we have terrible mail service here.  The phone number was working and the same volunteer told me it had been received and was pending approval by the Health Information Manager.  This was new!  Last time we spoke she never told me it had to be approved; I was led to believe that the file was found and as soon as the notarized permission was received it would be copied and sent.

A month passed and nothing was received so I called again.  This time the phone was the fax and the fax was the phone!  I spoke with the same volunteer who now said, “As an employee, this is my side job so I can only look for files when I’m caught up with my other duties.”  I didn’t want to question her as to when she was hired as she had presented herself as a volunteer in our two previous phone calls, plus she had told me she had the file on her desk.  She could give me no time frame as to when I might receive the information.

Another month passed so I wrote a letter asking if additional information was needed and this time, the fax worked (Yay!)  I got a phone call back a few days later from the volunteer/employee saying how weird it was that the file had just been approved to send to me.  She said she would mail it the following day.

On November 25 I received the “file.”   Actually, it was a letter from the Health Information Manager apologizing for the delay in responding and mentioning that most of the records had been destroyed (how convenient) and that all they had was attached.  It was a copy of an admission card and a ledger page on the day the patient arrived.  The letter directed me to check the Florida State Archives as some records had been transferred there but there was no telling if this patient’s file was one of those records saved.

I contacted the state archivist by phone.  What a delightful person! She told me that most records had been destroyed and that older records were “samplings” only.  She said researching is “hit or miss” but she would see what she could find.  Luckily for us, she was able to find, scan and email 10 pages of the initial admission document within an hour. (Cost is .25 per page).

A diligent genealogist uses reasonably exhaustive searches so I would recommend pursuing the path that I followed but be aware that it was MONTHS before I received the scant information.  I think one of the genealogy standards ought to address patience!  What I received was extremely valuable, though, and actually changed the direction of the research plan.

Due to the holiday, I’m again blogging early.  Hope to resume my regular Sunday and Thursday blogs next week.  Wishing a Happy New Year to you and your family!

Another Find Where It Shouldn’t Have Been!

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 26 Dec 2015.

Okay – here we go again!  I found the missing information in a place that that was not anywhere close to where the ancestor had lived but ironically, was only 5 minutes from where I work. 

Earlier this month I blogged about the importance of revisiting places previously checked as sometimes the needed information becomes available due to persistence.  You can read that blog here – Why Persistence Pays in Hunting Records.

That blog was about my difficulty in obtaining a death records for my husband’s maternal great grandmother, Louise Carlson Johnson.  I had a death year (1937) given to me by his mother but no proof of death.  Previously, I had written to Lake County, Indiana where I assumed she had died, for a death certificate.  They told me they didn’t have one.  I then contacted the Gary Health Department thinking they may have some record but they said they had nothing on Louise.  I contacted both hospitals in existence in Gary at the time of her death – Methodist Hospital (the Protestant hospital) and Mary Mercy (the Roman Catholic Hospital) but they couldn’t help me.  I checked both hospitals because many of our Protestant relatives used Mercy Hospital as they had a very good staff back in the day.  And seriously, when you’re in pain who cares who helps you! 

After discovering that Louise was buried in Ridgelawn Cemetery in Lake County, Indiana I decided to write to Indianapolis (for my non US readers – that’s the capitol of Indiana) to see if they had the death record.  Maybe it had been sent from the local to the state level.  I received the response via snail mail on December 22– no record found.  Geez!

The cemetery didn’t seem to be the kind of place that makes any exception to rules (see Ashes on the Doorstep for those places that do!) so I believe the death certificate was presented for burial.  With that thought in mind I decided there was only two reasons that there was no death certificate in Lake County:  1) she had remarried and her name was no longer Johnson or 2) she died somewhere besides Lake County.

I checked Ancestry.com for City Directory information for Gary for 1937 and found her residing with one of her married daughters.  Her name was still Johnson and she was listed as a widow.  I wasn’t exactly sure when the City Directory was published but the chance of her marrying in the few months after it was published and before her death was remote as she had been a widow for 31 years.  That meant she must have died out of the county.

Louise had 3 children – all married in 1937.  She resided with daughter Elsie in Gary.  Daughter Ruth lived nearby.  Daughter Helen, however, was living in Porter County – the county next to Lake.  Louise also had 10 step children and although I’ve been unable to trace many of them, some were also living in Porter County.  From letters that I have it didn’t appear that Louise was close to most of the step children but the possibility existed that she may have been visiting one when she passed away.  Porter County seemed the most viable place to look.

Searching online I could find no database for Porter County deaths.  I had previously checked newspaper archives for the Vidette Messenger, the Valparaiso (Porter County seat) newspaper but found no obituary.  I had also checked for an obituary in the Gary paper, The Post Tribune, previously but was unable to find a paper from that year as the paper had been sold a number of times and some years are missing in the archives.  Of course, 1937 was one of those years!

I went to familysearch.org to check their catalog and discovered a book that might be helpful – Index to death records, Porter County, Indiana, 1931-1959Right place, right years – could be helpful. 

Checked Worldcat and found a copy locally so Wednesday morning I called the Genealogy Department at the Tampa Public Library and David not only found the book on the shelf, he did a lookup for me.  Happy Holiday to me!  Sure enough, Louise Johnson was listed in May 1937.  Now I know where I can write for the death certificate! 

Louise is the only recent relative that I don’t have parent information for so hopefully, the death certificate will give me a clue or two.  Also, her dna is very interesting so I’d really like to find out more about her line.

Due to holiday closures David volunteered to scan and email the page to me.  I attached it to the death certificate request to expedite it.  Like the song says, “waiting is the hardest part!”

After I put the death certificate request in the mail I decided to just recheck newspaper archives and what wonders did I behold!  Some kind folks have entered the obituary information for the Gary Post Tribune and now 1937 is available!  I immediately requested a librarian to look it up.  Keeping my fingers crossed that my youngest brick wall is about to be scaled.  

A Transcription Treat

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 22 Dec 2015.

Tis the season of Sugar Plum Fairies and although I can’t prove it, I believe they are somehow related to Genealogical Fairies.  Here’s why –

For some reason, I didn’t receive the document from the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG)  that I am supposed to transcribe.  After waiting 3 weeks I emailed and was told the day it had been sent.  BCG staff was going to resend if I didn’t receive it by the end of that week.

Nearly a month after it had been mailed it finally arrived with no postal markings and it looked like it had gotten stuck in a machine as a side was torn.  The contents, though, were fine.  Since it arrived the day before I was to fly out to the west coast for business I put it aside until this week.

Last Friday, I decided I would drive to the county mentioned in the document on Monday and locate the original so I called to check the time the office would open.  With holiday closures one never knows!  This led to several phone calls and messages left.

I received a call mid day Saturday informing me that the office would be closed Monday but they would be open on Saturday until 5:00.  I was running errands but dropped everything to drive the 2+ hours to get there before they closed.  I am so glad I did!

When I arrived there were only 2 people staffing the archives, a paid employee and a volunteer.  After seeing the document and photographing it, the volunteer asked me why I had wanted to see that particular record.  I told her about the certification process.  We continued talking and she mentioned her home state which happened to also be mine.  Turns out we’re related in 3 lines (Lamphere, Kuhn and Duer) through our great grandfathers!  If you’re a faithful reader you know I wasn’t close to my dad’s side growing up and have never met any of his relatives so this meeting was especially sweet.

What makes it even better is the lesson that persistence pays!  My first call was to the courthouse but I was told by the operator that they didn’t have old records and I needed to call a different office.  The next office staffer told me that all of their records were online and the originals had been destroyed.  When I pointed out that the record I was looking for wasn’t online the clerk didn’t know what to say.  She suggested I called the historical society. The first person I spoke with there said she had no idea where the record I needed was and she would have someone call me back.  I waited a few hours and called again.  That’s when I learned she had left for the day. The person I was then speaking with told me that the historical society only had microfilm and that the originals were at the courthouse.  I asked who I should speak with at the courthouse as that was now bringing me full circle because that’s where I first called.  She suggested I check with the records department.  Unfortunately, the records clerk had to check with an older employee as she had no idea what I was talking about.  The older employee wanted to know why a fortune teller wanted the record.  Huh?! Evidently the girl I spoke with didn’t know what a genealogist was and thought it was some kind of fortune teller.  Clearly I’m not a fortune teller or I would have knowledge of where I’d find this record!  We both laughed about the misunderstanding.  We left it that I would come on Monday at 8 AM but I should be prepared that the record wouldn’t be found.

I packed what I needed in my purse in preparation but wasn’t particularly hopeful.  When I got the call on Saturday that the record was available I couldn’t believe it.  That alone would have made my day but to meet a relative who just happened to switch her volunteer hours due to the holidays, well, I think this was meant to be.

I’m on my way to the post office to mail my new found relative copies of my records and then on to the airport to pick up family so I’m posting my Thursday blog early.  Wishing you and your family love, hope and good cheer this holiday season!

12+ More Genealogical Gems to Use

 

Originally published on genealogyatheart.blogspot.com on 20 Dec 2015.

Last post was my 12 most favorite free genealogy sites and today is my 12 favorite paid sites. I have placed these in alphabetical order and not by preference:

1. Ancestry.com – since they own just about everything in the genealogical world it’s very hard not to  subscribe to them.  I do have issues with their new website, phantom hints, relationship help that comes and goes, removal of records and not adding new databases but for now, I still use them.  Just learned there is an AARP discount and I will be going after that when I renew in 2 months.  Complete access is $389.00 per year.  OUCH!  

2, Association of Professional Genealogists – “an international organization dedicated to supporting those engaged in the business of genealogy through advocacy, collaboration, education, and the promotion of high ethical standards.”  Subscribers are $45.00 annually, Professional Members $100.00.  Well worth it for the webinars, journal and eNewsletter! Additionally, members get discounts to many paid sites.

3, Board for Certification of Genealogists – Even if you have no desire to become a Certified Genealogist this site is valuable!  Check out the Skillbuilding, Work Samples and Genealogy Standards which are free.  If you decide to become certified, the cost is $75.00 initially, followed by $300.00 when your portfolio is submitted (1 year deadline).  

4. FindMyPast.com – Similar to Ancestry with different records.  Cost varies depending on plan purchased.  I got a year free due to being a member the National Genealogical Society but it would have cost me $99.95.  Since I’ve had trouble uploading my tree I won’t be purchasing this anytime soon but it was nice for a year.  

5. Fold3.com – an ancestry.com owned site, currently I’m not a member but I join periodically.  For military history it’s a must have.  If you’re an ancestry member it’s currently $39.95 a year – half the regular price.  So maybe, I’ll upgrade….

6. JStor – is a digital library with books and journals (about 1700) that are intellectual in nature.  Many libraries and educational institutions are members so check out if you get an alumni password.  If not, some access is free (but not much) and you can purchase an article if you have to, cost varies.   

7. New England Historicand Genealogical Society – the database, AmericanAncestors.org is free, however, if you are planning to visit the library in Boston, it is not free.  This is a nonprofit organization that also offers research assistance (for an additional fee but discounted), an awesome magazine, journal, weekly email update and seminars.  Well worth it for $89.95 a year.

8. National Genealogical Society – the journal, the magazine, the conference, the discounts, the store – wow, that’s a lot of genealogy goodness.  Annual membership is $65.00.

9, Radaris – the place to find the living! “Radaris is a universal people directory and an information indexing system about people.”  Trying to find long lost cousin Joe – this site will help.  If you just want a report it will cost .95.  Premium memberships can cost up to $49.95 per MONTH.  I only purchase a report if I’m desperate as I usually can find people through other methods – Facebook, Linkedin, etc.

10, Spokeo – a more inexpensive way to find the missing – A 6 month membership is $4.95 per month.  They do offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee that I’ve never tried so I can’t attest to what that offer is.  I don’t currently belong to this, either, but I’ve gleaned info from this site to help me locate free information in the past.  

11 Your Local Genealogy Society – because you need to hang out with people who get excited about your finds.  Mine offers trainings and research help for novices.  Cost is $17.00 a year.

12. Your State Genealogy Society – or whichever state your ancestors’ resided.  My state offers a wonderful journal, newsletter, links to sites around my state, posting for help and webinars.  For $25.00 a year it’s the best deal around!

Bonus – The sites mentioned above are not the only for pay genealogy sites around but the ones I use the most.  Every couple of years I join newspaperarchive.com but until they add some new newspapers, I’ve maxed them out.  I would highly recommend them, though, if you haven’t ever been a member.

Yikes!  I totaled the amount and I’ve spent $776.85 this year.  Guess when I retire Ancestry will be accessed only from the library.