Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com is probably the most common site for genealogy research and it's really no wonder why. One of the best things about Ancestry.com is that it has a huge database of records, pictures, other family trees, etc. One of the worst things about Ancestry.com is the price; it can cost up to $45/month. Now, as a stay-at-home mom (and an all around frugal person), that price is not an option. So I continue to use Ancestry.com quite a bit, but with modifications so I can do so freely.

The first is the obvious 14 day trial that they offer. I have yet to use it because I am waiting until I have a slow couple of weeks and a lot of research that I want to do. I believe that time is coming soon! I already know I'll be taking the World Explorer membership for a trial run because all of my ancestors immigrated to the United States, and that is where I am hitting dead ends in my research.

After the trial run expires, aka I end my membership, then all my research will be done at the local library. Most people don't know this, but a lot of libraries and historical societies in Kansas are equipped with the library edition of Ancestry.com. I haven't used it extensively yet, but from when I have used it, it's pretty much like having the full membership of Ancestry.com. When I've done research on it, nothing came up unavailable.

So for all my money-savvy, genealogy loving friends out there, please let me know if there are other ways to cheaply use Ancestry.com.

Happy hunting!

FamilySearch.org

When I first heard of FamilySearch.org, I was cautioned that it wasn't just for that particular religion. I was slightly confused because 1. I had never heard about this website before so I had no idea what religion they were referencing, and 2. It made me wonder how good of a resource the site would be if it happened to only cater to people of a certain religion. So I did my homework and checked out the site for myself. Turns out it is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and it does not just have information on people of that religion.

As I was playing around with the website, I actually started to like it a lot and I quickly found why it was such a good source for genealogists. Of course you can build your own tree and research your ancestors, but I had access to all that through Ancestry.com so that wasn't the main selling point for me. What I found really valuable was that the site was compiled of sources from multiple places, so it gave you a nice rounded look into that particular ancestor. For example, while I was looking up one particular ancestor of mine, sources popped up from FindAGrave.com, Ancestry.com, various newspapers, etc. Even though I had done research on this ancestor before, I was able to find more information than previously because I didn't have to individually go to these sources to find documents; they were all just right there!

So if you haven't given this website a chance, do it! It could further your research leaps and bounds. Or, of course, you can hire me to do it for you :)

Beginning of a Journey

Welcome to my new blog! My name is Abbi, and I created this blog to document my journey as a private genealogist.

A little background information on me... I'm a stay-at-home mom to the sweetest 6 month old girl and I absolutely love being home with her all day. Before she came along, I taught high school English and Social Studies for the past three years. History was my main focus in school and it's become an intense passion for me in recent years, especially the field of genealogy. I've been working on my own family's genealogy for about a decade now, but was slacking the past couple years with graduating college and starting my teaching career. Now that I have more time at home, I've been thinking of what interests I could start pursuing again that have been put on the back burner for the past several years.

Now for what I'm doing... Since our family is now down to one income with me staying at home, and the need I feel to do something related with history, I decided to be a personal genealogist. This allows me to work on my own family history as well as other people's genealogy to bring in a little extra income. I can not WAIT to uncover a person's history and give them new insight into themselves and their families.

Thanks for your interest in my journey, and I hope you learn some new stuff along the way!