Ancestry.com
Once in a while you discover an amazing web application, a brew of ever-updating SaaS code resident with a unique, compelling set of content. One of the best state-of-the-art web applications I’ve found recently is located at: http://Ancestry.com. With over 250,000 Genealogy sites on the internet (last time i checked, which was about three years ago) you would think it would be hard to do something new, better, or different in the online genealogy space – software for researching family trees.
But then again… they said the same thing about Google, “search engines have already been done”. Not always the case.
Ancestry.com is a privately-owned internet startup company based in Provo, Utah. They are not owned by the Mormon Church, the Church of Latter Day Saints; or anyone related to them. However, they do have a very good relationship with the Church (the Church of LDS is one of the best sources of Genealogical information on the planet). Ancestry.com partnered with the Church to enter the 1800 to 1930 U.S. Census Data (1930 is the last Census to be released into the public domain, until 2012 at which time 1940 will be released), into a database. But that’s just the start of it.
I’d like you to allow me to show you just a bit of the power of the Ancestry.com system (compare this to your relatives who went town to town, asking for tips as they manually figured out the family tree, going back to the turn of the century).
I opened a free account on Ancestry.com one week ago — actually, six days. I have had no previous experience with doing Genealogy work. However, I have been intending to map my family tree for many years.
After joining Ancestry.com, I put an average of one to two hour’s effort per day into using the site, usually in the evening. So far, since last Thursday (5 days ago) i have located 2,671 relatives going back to the year 1280 ad. I have found photographs of many of them; and have photos of the ships that some of them took across the Atlantic when they immigrated from Europe.
For most of my Ancestors in the past two centuries, I already have located between five and twenty independent sources cross-referencing key facts (Birth, Marriage, Immigration, Census/location, and Death records). There are many stories posted by other users as they research their family trees, that intersect your own. For example, I found a picture of my Grandfather’s farm in 1790 on the plains of Kansas, and recognized it. Once you get back into the 1800′s, tracing your family tree gets a lot easier.
Among many surprises, I’ve learned that some people have many famous relatives; while others have almost none. And that you can see almost every aspect of your own personality; your kids, parents, and spouses within their lineage. Ancestry.com allows you to generate a list of famous relatives, and map the connection with a single click; then email it to the family member; many great “bonus features” like that are standard. Family members with a military service record get their own “Military Service page”, complete with all the details of their service – enlistment and discharge dates; rank; unit; battles; stories; etc.
Newbie Genealogical researchers should be forewarned that some family members may be less than pleased to learn of their heritage; which is understandable. Especially with this “lighting speed” method of discovery using state of the art database technology. There are legitimate concerns which take time for people to adjust to, e.g. sometimes famous “evil” individuals, bandits, criminals (or worse) that can pop up in a family tree. Often times you will spot health trends (shortened lifespans, various diseases, etc) a century or two before they arrive in the present day. But Genealogical research also highlights the overwhelming goodness of humanity; as negatives are overwhelmed by positives by orders of magnitude. Not true for your family? Oh, well… 
There are a number of concerns that come up quickly for Genealogy research newbies and their family members as you marvel at the accelerated pace of research and learning that is possible by using this type of site (an ever-growing database, as more records are added). Privacy, security, and accuracy just for starters. I have started to look into these issues and will report at more length on these issues soon (I am not the first to ask these questions; they are well understood, and have for the most part been resolved by the Genealogy community). To net it out, they are all handled well with no “hot button” major issues; and the course of technology determines the direction things are going, not a single site. In the future, our descendants’ children are unlikey to spend a week charting their family tree going back to 1280 ad. They wil instead likely chart their heritage back 50,0000 to 100,000 years with a few mouse clicks. We are likely living in the last generation not to have our family tree thoroughly decoded, photographed, and published before we even arrive.
This web application does not change what is in the public domain, substantially. The US Government withholds individual US Census Data for 72 years after it’s release. Right now, the last US Census released int the public domain was 1930. In 2012, when the 2010 Census is published, the 1940 Census Data will be released. The US Government releases individual demographic data on that person’s 72nd birthday. This makes the first 80 years of research on any family tree, the most difficult. But it’s not really that hard.
If you are a bit lazy and want to take a short cut, for $79 you can have your DNA entered into the system, and you will find Ancestors going back 50 to 100,000 years. But the DNA technology is new and there are many wrinkles on using it. Stay tuned.
That is just my first week using this marvelous, state of the art service. There will be many more breakthroughs ahead, and i will occasionally report back in on my experiences as the project unfolds. What is also intriguing to me is, how superior this type of service is, to a desktop, shrink-wrap software Genealogy application.
I usually refrain from “raving” about products or services. But in this case, I can say with all earnesty, get yourself an Ancestry.com free trial account, and prepare to go on a wild, but rewarding ride!
More soon about this one.