Website Tool: Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com is the place for family history. It is a valuable resource to all researchers. It is based in Provo, Utah and is the largest for-profit genealogy internet company in the world. In addition to its flagship site, Ancestry.com operates Archives.com, Fold3.com, ProGenealogists,1000memories.com, Newspapers.com, Genealogy.com, MyFamily.com, Findagrave.com, and Rootsweb.com.

With Ancestry.com researchers can find critical United States census record information beginning in 1790 until about 1930. Other records like military records, pictures, birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, immigration records, and other family trees. The websites boasts that there are billions of records that can be found on their website. In order to access much of this data, a monthly subscription fee will be required. Free access to Ancestry.com can be found at some libraries and The Church of Jesus Christ Family History Centers located around the world. 

Highlights:
-Access to military records, pictures, birth certificates, death certificates, marriage certificates, marriage certificates, immigration records, and other family trees will provide great support to your developing family tree. These records have been scanned and uploaded for your easy viewing. Tools like the magnifying glass will help you zoom in on documents to find the ancestor you're looking for.
-Ancestry.com is user friendly. Simply putting in an ancestors name and date information if available will usually bring up a plethora of records that may have connection to your ancestor. Stronger matches will show up at the beginning of your search. Refine your search to narrow down who you are looking for and prevent an excessive amount of results. Click on the link for other Search Strategies from Ancestry.

There are other features that Ancestry.com has put together for researchers. A family tree maker makes it easy for researchers to organize the information that they find. DNA testing is a new feature and emphasis at Ancestry.com and is becoming a more popular way to do family history.



Take Note: Though Ancestry.com is a great resource with billions of records. Do not make this your one stop for finding information on your ancestors. There are other great websites and places to go to that offer records and information that Ancestry does not.

Researching Tip: Census records are great for finding a lot of information on ancestors in one place. These government documents in the US give good information for researchers every ten years. Think of census records as secondary sources rather than primary sources. This information is often recorded incorrectly by the transcriber. The information found serves as a good starting point to find birth certificates, death certificates, places where ancestors have lived, and other key information that can help solve the puzzle. If you're having a difficult time finding primary records then find multiple census records and compare the recorded information across time.

Ancestry.com is a great resource and will provide great support for any researcher.