The Internet has greatly changed the genealogy scene since the late 1990s. Numerous archives both domestic and international have their holdings available for online searches. This is great for us. Research at your own leisure from your home. How can it get any better?
It does get better. For me, I have been using Ancestry.com for a little over a year now and I am very pleased with its record searches. I have found numerous records and expanded my tree greatly. The "hints" that ancestry provides are also very helpful. The access to all census records up to the recent release of the 1940 census is phenomenal. I am not an expert on Ancestry but it helps my research and I would recommend it to anyone. Unfortunately I do have one "beef" regarding Ancestry but it is not with the site itself. It is with some of its users. I will get into that later.
Just last week I signed up and paid for another genealogy subscription with the addition of My Heritage to my regular online search databases. I was hesitant to do this at first because I was already paying for Ancestry and My Heritage offers many of the same searches that Ancestry does; so I would be paying for the same thing twice. Hopefully they balance and complement each other.
So far I am very happy with My Heritage. I have not yet done any specific record searches on My Heritage but I am very impressed at the "Smart Matches" that My Heritage has found for me by comparing my uploaded GEDCOM tree to other subscriber's trees. Presently I have over 3900 individuals in my The Master Genealogist (TMG) database. After I imported a GEDCOM file of my tree into My Heritage, I came up with over 4700 matches/hits from over 900 subscribers trees. Obviously many of the matches are incorrect and I am "rejecting/ignoring" those hits. It will take me quite a while to go through all of these matches. I am trying to review a number of these each night.
What I am finding with these Smart Matches is that many of the subscribers who have posted their trees online are also direct descendants of my ancestors. Meaning we are cousins. Now part of the reason I believe that I am getting so many matches is because most of these hits are on my "Dutch" side. From what I gather, genealogy is very popular in the Netherlands. Also Dutch vital records are outstanding. Civil registration for births, marriages, and deaths began in 1811. Most of these civil records are searchable online directly from the appropriate provincial archives.
Now with these Smart Matches, I am able to review them and send a confirmation that my "individual" matches the corresponding person in another subscribers online tree. It is almost an instantaneously way to find others who are researching the same ancestors as you. Also, after you confirm an individual, the other subscriber can either reject or confirm your find. Everyday I have been getting almost 100 confirms from other researchers. I will have to check the sources for this new found data but it appears to be a very quick way to find distant cousins who are also genealogists.
Very soon I will be contacting these new found cousins of mine and hopefully I will not end up with the disappointment that I have had numerous times when I contacted other cousins who listed their trees on Ancestry. Perplexing I find it when someone posts their tree on Ancestry and when I contact them about "our" relative, especially with stories about these individuals, the other person does not respond to your query. Now these are not people who listed their trees a few years ago. They are very recent users who still access Ancestry on a regular basis, when I checked their profiles. They are also local to where I live. They must be half-hearted genealogists; not in with both feet.
As mentioned, I am happy so far with my little experience on My Heritage especially with the smart matches, I hope that my Dutch cousins will be interested in swapping data afterwards.
Thank you. I am considering MyHeritage as part of a National Genealogical Society promotion and your comments were very helpful.
ReplyDeleteI have been using Ancestry for a few years now but have really gotten going since I retired in June and have more time. I did a lot of genealogy before my kids were born, 25 years ago, when contacting cousins or requesting records was by snail mail. I like Ancestry for pretty much the same reasons you do--sometimes quick results and convenience of doing it at home at all hours. But I think the easiness has consequences. Specifically, there are Ancestry users who are so excited about adding to their tree (ie the number of individuals in it), they really don't seem to care about the accuracy of the data nor about potential contacts with distant cousins. They are just in it for bragging rights to their immediate family. Not everyone of course, and I have had contact with cousins through Ancestry--often the descendants of my previous snail mail correspondents--is that cool or what? I am able to help them as their parents/grandparents helped me! Speaking of which, I have "Dutch" line who settled in Buffalo in the mid 1800s--the Elsinghorsts and the Loomans. William and Johanna Elsinghorst Looman left Buffalo for Detroit area where I was born and raised. My HammIngs were originally HammAngs from Alsace-Lorraine but there are many Hammings of "Dutch" origin in the western part of the state, who are not closely related to me to my knowledge. But Alsace is not all that far from the Netherlands...and Albany not all that far from Buffalo...
Thanks again for your help. I think I will give MyHeritage a shot at the reduced rate and go from there.
Barbara
PS-although I consider myself and "intermediate level amateur" in genealogy, I am a rank beginner in computer technology--but I am learning. I found you through google search, but don't know anything about blogging in general....
Hello Barbara
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment. I am very happy with My Heritage; especially the "smart matches" that it offers. Also, I am glad that my comments helped.
Regarding the computer, take it slow, over time with practice things will get easier. Google has been very helpful to me with my searches. Glad you found my site. Now that summer is over and the kids just got back in school I will be posting again. Thanks - Chris
Good comments. I have used Ancestry.com and have an Italian relative who uses MyHeritage. Do you think MyHeritage has more German and Italian information. Ancestry.com seems very US based--and MrHeritage is English---I think. Good analysis and I agree with you. There is a place for both.
ReplyDeleteHi, I use both, Ancestry and MyHeritage. You are correct about Ancestry being US based. In my opinion MyHeritage is more European based; I use MyHeritage mostly for the "smart matches", where my info is compared to other researcher's trees. It has led me to numerous cousins in the Netherlands. Soon I will be using MyHeritage for research; I'll be looking into German research. Since I do not have Italian ancestry I have never come across Italian records.
DeleteHi Chris- just came across your site while doing some Albany-focused research. I have family there dating back to the mid-1800's (possibly earlier).
ReplyDeleteI'm also using both MyHeritage and Ancestry and find good things about both. Out of curiosity, though, how are you keeping your data synced between them and your offline database? I'm finding it to be a real pain. Does Master Genealogist have solid merging tools? Do you keep uploading revised gedcom files to both online sites to add new material? I'm using MyHeritage's Family Tree Builder to take advantage of the integration with their online site, and its merge capabilities are poor at best. I'd appreciate any tips you might have.
On a separate note, what sources are helpful for 1900's obits from Albany? I've been striking out on many of my more recent ancestors and haven't found great coverage of the TimesUnion or Knickerbocker. (Fulton History is amazing but doesn't have a lot of more recent stuff.)
Thanks,
Mark
Hi Mark
DeleteI uploaded my tree to both Ancestry and MyHeritage when I joined those subscription sites. I have to admit that my tree on those sites are rarely updated because then I would be adding the same data three times (in TMG, Ancestry, & MyHeritage). All of my family information is entered, stored, and backed up regularly in TMG. Sometime in the future, I plan on uploading an updated GEDCOM file to both Ancestry and MyHeritage and then deleting the older file. TMG is a very powerful program and very flexible; however I admit that I am not using all of its features because of its learning curve. I am not familiar with merging tools in TMG.
For obituaries in Albany after 1900 I use the Times Union regularly. Unfortunately the newspaper is not found online on sites such as Fulton History unless it has been recently added. When I need to search for an obit I have to research it at either the main branch of the Albany Public Library or at the NYS Library. Both libraries have the newspaper on microfilm. I have used the Albany Evening Journal on Fulton History for slightly earlier obituaries in Albany with good luck. Hope this helps. - Chris
Is it possible to do family tree researching w/o using Ancestry . com?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, the vast majority of my earlier genealogical research was conducted pre-ancestry.com. Ancestry for me is a paid for tool that allows me to research at my convenience from the comfort of my home any time.
DeleteAbsolutely, the vast majority of my earlier genealogical research was conducted pre-ancestry.com. Ancestry for me is a paid for tool that allows me to research at my convenience from the comfort of my home any time.
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