Ancestry.com is the one website anyone doing genealogical or historical research must use.
Many libraries and archives have the library edition available for patrons, but more records and options are available if you subscribe to the U.S. Discovery edition. And for a higher rate you can subscribe to the World Explorer edition.
The site offers access to original records from all over the world, usually searchable by name. They do not have every record you might need, but they certainly have a lot of them.
On the home page, go to “search” and a U.S. map appears. Then, click your state of interest and a list of records for that state comes up. However, if a record is multi-state, it won’t show under a state request.
Many family trees are on the site under public member trees, and there is a private family tree section. The site offers suggestions or hints, notifying you of records that might link to whomever you are searching — or, if you have posted a family tree, another record to add. These are useful if you know what you are doing, but many novices have taken a wrong turn thinking these hints are for the person they’re researching. So be careful when using them.
Anyone trying to do genealogy research without using the Ancestry.com site is not going to go far, since additional records and trees are added monthly.
In a later column, I will discuss the AncestryDNA program, and what can be gained from that.
A helpful guide is the Genealogy at a Glance laminated folder, “Ancestry.com Research,” by George G. Morgan. It’s available for $8.95 plus $5.50 shipping from the Genealogical Publishing Co. See www.genealogical.com for this and other publications.
DeKalb’s Champion
The DeKalb History Center’s Lunch and Learn seminar for March 18 will feature Carolyn Glenn, co-owner of the Champion newspaper, discussing its history and impact in DeKalb County.
The event, running from noon to 1 p.m., is free; bring your own lunch. For further information go to www.dekalbhistory.org and look under “events and programs,” or call 404-373-1088, Ext. 23. The center’s archives are available for research Tuesdays through Thursdays. It’s best to make an appointment.
Cemetery types
Cemeteries come in five types: public cemeteries (created by a town or city), family cemeteries, church cemeteries, private cemeteries (created by individuals or a corporation) and national cemeteries (created by the U. S. government for veterans). Records of burials, especially those where no tombstone survives, are more likely found at a public or national cemetery where there is an office.
