Ancestry.com

While reading the latest issue of Family Chronicle magazine, this situation was recounted by author Wendy Carlson:

Recently a woman contacted Wendy saying she had just started doing her family history and gotten a subscription to Ancestry.com. She kept seeing Wendy's name pop up while researching her ancestors. She explained that she was stuck and gave Wendy the names where her family tree stopped. Wendy explained that the woman was stuck because that was where Wendy herself was stuck in researching those families. Later, Wendy noticed that the lady had added many generations to that family line. Wendy contacted her asking how she had broken through the brick wall. "Ancestry did it for me!" was the woman's reply.

As many of you know Ancestry has a feature that pops-up with a little leaf when there is a possible match to your family tree. The woman had been adding these matches to her tree even though they didn't belong. Wendy explained the importance of verifying information and gave her a list of possible sources.

But how many unsuspecting people are out there, new to family history research and hearing Ancestry's commercial claim "You don't have to know what you're looking for, you just have to look!", believe it??? These folks are adding strangers to their family trees and adding chaos to other people's research.

It is time for Ancestry to "man up" and change their advertising. Yes, you DO have to know what you're looking for! And yes, you do have to know what you are seeing when you look at other people's trees!

New Lineage Society...

For years I resisted the lure of joining a lineage society, labeling them "elitist" and old-fashioned. But lately, I have been reconsidering the idea. Not because I want to join the ranks of the elite, but because I want to test my genealogy skills.
Having worked on my own family history for over 30 years and helped others research their family at the library for over 20 years, you would think I would feel fairly confident of my skills. But applying for a lineage society takes the research to a different level because your work won't just be viewed by family members who may not know any better. Your work is reviewed and judged adequate or not by other genealogists. So I have been toying with the idea.
And I think I have found just the society to start with: The Sons & Daughters of World War II Veterans www.sonsanddaughtersofww2veterans.org I only have to prove I am my father's daughter and that he served in WWII! Now, all I have to do is come up with the $125 fee!!

Benefits of Genealogy

Several genealogy articles lately have cited the study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology that showed that thinking about your ancestors and what they have conquered before taking a test can increase your score. Our ancestors overcame severe illnesses, wars, loss of loved ones and economic depressions.
"So when we think about them, we are reminded that humans who are genetically similar to us can successfully overcome a multitude of problems and adversities."
Reminds me of Oprah Winfrey. She once said that the reason she liked reading Toni Morrison's novels was that it showed her what it was possible to overcome. What better example of a success story than Oprah Winfrey??

Who do you think YOU are?

The new season of the NBC show will commence this Friday. This season profiles the family histories of such celebrities as Tim McGraw, Lionel Richie and Rosie O'Donnel. Tune in for fun travels down incredible research trips.