This is Part 3 in my blogs on researching your families genealogy. For the first two blogs, click HERE for the "Genealogy: Where To Started" post and HERE for the "Family Tree Maker" post (or click on the label "genealogy" for all three posts).
OK...so you've talked to your oldest relatives and bought a software program that can store all the information you are going to be researching. Now what?
Even if you didn't buy Family Tree Maker, I suggest getting a subscription to Ancestry.com. I'm sure you've seen the "I gotta a leaf" commercials. Click HERE to watch it. Ancestry.com also partnered a show with NBC called, "Who Do You Think You Are?" Years ago, I bought Family Tree Maker Version 16 and it came with a 1-year subscription to Ancestry.com (a $100 value). From what I can tell, Family Tree Maker 2011 does not include a free subscription. I'm sure Family Tree Maker 2011 has a lot of new exciting features but just be aware that there are older versions out there, some coming with a free subscription and some without. Family Tree Maker (any version) and Ancestry.com are a nice research duo because the software has a Web Search that is integrated with Ancestry.com. In other words, the software works with the website to automatically look for information.
Ancestry.com also offers a 14-day free trial. Be careful though. All of the free subscription offers require you to enter your credit card information and if you don't cancel the free subscription, you'll be charged automatically for a renewal. Don't let this scare you off though. Even as absentminded as I am, I put a reminder on my calendar and canceled the free subscription before being charged a renewal fee.
Ancestry.com has so many features that it would probably be most beneficial to go directly to their website to review them all. Click HERE to go there now.
In case you don't want to leave this site, however, here are some of the features I found the most useful:
Census Records
Immigration & Emigration Records
Military Records
Birth, Marriage & Death Records
Family Trees
Court, Land, Wills & Financial Records
There are of course many many more and you can also simply put in a name to "Search All Records". The possibilities are virtually endless.
I'm going to try my best to post more blogs about genealogy. As I mentioned before, I'm no expert. BUT, I did research my families history for many years and would like to pass on the knowledge I gained in what was a slow learning process. I plan on posting what I know about the following topics in the future:
Free Online Websites
Library Sources
Census Records
Cemetery Records
Marriage & Death Records
Obituaries
Family Group Sheets
Encyclopedia of American Quaker Genealogy
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
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