----- Original Message ----- 
From: "jvford5" <[log in to unmask]>

I had Ancestry for a year and can vouch
that for myself it never helped me break
through any brick walls. Any success I've
ever had came from the help of other
researchers, libraries and courthouse records.

I found that once something is entered into
Ancestry it's like it becomes gospel to some
people and mistakes get repeated multiple times.
Ever try to offer supporting documentation to
someone who has wrong family information
on Ancestry? I was met with a brick wall of silence.
User beware is good advice.
Best Regards, Vicki Ford



Vicki,

I rarely look at any of the submitted family trees at Ancestry. I think
you're ignoring the fact that they have many, many databases of scanned
original records - the U.S. census and the U.K. census, both with every name
indexes; passenger lists, WWI and WWII draft cards, passport applications
(many of which give the place of birth and father's name), historical
newspapers, original vital statistics, directories for cities and
organizations, abstracts of land and probate records, family and local
history books, etc. The list goes on and on - over 25,000 databases.

If you find a census record with the name incorrectly indexed, there is a
feature to submit a change. I've done it several times, and they they do add
your corrected name, usually within a couple of weeks.

I love going to libraries too, but most of us don't have access to the
libraries that we need.  I did for many years, but I can tell you that
sitting at home looking at the digitalized and enhanced census records beats
the heck out of reeling through dim and often unreadable microfilm.

Ann
---
Ann Avery Hunter
Winston-Salem, NC

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