Just type in a name and a leaf appears! But what happens when your branch isn’t growing? Be prepared to do some real digging…
Genealogy is a billion-dollar industry that has spawned profitable websites, television shows, books, and a cottage industry with DNA testing. A 2014 study found that genealogy is the second most popular hobby in the United States after gardening. It is also the second most visited category of websites after pornography.
At the forefront of genealogical research is Ancestry.com. Their slick marketing suggests that just by typing in a name, voila!… a leaf will appear to help you build your family tree.
If only it were that easy. While leafy hints do suggest that a document may pertain to your relative, be aware that the record may not be associated with the person you are looking for. As Ancestry explains, the user must still determine if the record is factual and relevant.
Sometimes, there are no hints, even when you continue to add more information such as birth date, birth place, death, marriage, spouse, children, residence, gender, and other vital data. If you were relying on the software to build your tree, you may discover that you’ll need to invest a lot of time into your research.
Here are some tips to help you:
- Conduct a surname search of the available records. If your results come up empty, try different variations of the name which may have been phonetically entered into the record. For example, if you’re looking for your great grandfather John Rhodes, try Rhodes, Rhoads, Roads, Roades, etc.
- What happens if your surname search yields no results? It may be possible that the records are not indexed, and you may find yourself conducting a line-by-line item search of names in the record collection, with many of the names written in poor manuscript.
As with any record you find or that is presented as a hint, always run a proof test. Are the source records accurate? Does the data make sense? Have you resolved any conflicting evidence?
- While genealogical sites have their exhaustive databases, you should try using other services. For example, the search engine on the Library of Congress’ digital newspaper collection yields better results than Newspapers.com, but Newspapers.com has more functions. By searching the Library of Congress first to find the article I need and then going to Newspaper.com to retrieve and store the article works best.
- Other family trees, books, and articles are good resources – even better if they cite the source. However, be cautious – there are some bad family trees and books out there. Regrettably the incorrect data finds its way into numerous trees which is then cited as “fact” in forums.
- Be cautious with “member submitted data” such as Family Data Collection and Yates Publishing. They may be a good starting resource, but they are unreliable sources. The data is inputted by members and then quoted back to other members as “fact” (either directly or indirectly through a third party). For example, if a user created a person called “Ebenezer Geezer b.1765,” and another user were to add Ebenezer to their tree, Ancestry.com will provide “Ebenezer Geezer b.1765” as a record from “The Family Data Collection.”
- Always document the location of your source and your conclusion, even if you think it is wrong or irrelevant. You may find a second source that supports the first source. If you had rejected the first source, you may discover that trying to find it again takes more time than when you originally found it.
If a leaf doesn’t appear, don’t be discouraged. Spend the time to do your research the old-fashioned way. You’ll find those late night stints to be even more rewarding.
Philip Farmer has been helping families break down their genealogical brick walls. He has also authored a biographical history book, Edward Farmar and the Sons of Whitemarsh, that captures a family’s story of continual immigration to the edge of America’s expanding frontier.