Lesson #2: Look at the original records for clarification

Ancestry lets me look at all the census record images (Familysearch has some images, but really not a lot).  I used this feature just today when I was searching for records on John Halston, which is the spelling that was transcribed.  I couldn't find a thing for John Halston.  Finally I looked at the census record itself...and found the problem.  John's real last name is Hulston - it had just been transcribed incorrectly.  A search for Hulston brought up all his records!

Is Ancestry.com Worth It?

In a word, yes.  I had my doubts - but paying for a membership to Ancestry.com is totally worth it.  Familysearch.org has a lot of records, it's true - but Ancestry rocks it on the census records, which I've found to be my go-to source for information.  The search function is quite good, and one of my favorite parts is that if you look at the census records for one person, it'll list links to other census records it thinks might also be your ancestor!  It's kind of like Amazon's recommendations.  "If you like this ancestor, you might also like his 1851 census."

I've found records I wouldn't otherwise have found through Ancestry's recommendations.  You have to be careful though - take a close look and make sure it's really your ancestor.

By the way, if you don't want to cough up the money to pay for a membership, your local family history center will let you use Ancestry and other paid subscription sites for free.

Fun Fact: Google Street View Your Ancestors!

Here's a fun trick: Look up your ancestors' addresses in their census records, and then enter that address into Google maps to check out the street view.

This works especially well in England where their "new" buildings are at least 100 years old :)

Here's the street where one of my ancestors lived in Birmingham, England.  Another fun thing the census can tell you is the occupation of your ancestor.  In this case, my ancestor was a saddler.  The occupation plus the street view gives you some fun insight into what their lives must've been like - and most of all, it makes them a little more real.

Lesson #1: Look for the Missing Children

Here's the biggest secret I've learned so far.  I am one of those people who assumed all the work on my family line has been done.  And for my direct line, that's pretty true.  There really isn't anything left to be done.

One day in the beginning of all this, I went to a class where they shared this tip, which has since changed everything for me: Look for the missing children.   Are there people in your line who show up with just one child?  There are likely missing sons and daughters.

I found someone in my direct line whose parents only showed one child - my ancestor.  I found 6 of her brothers and sisters using census records.  Then, I could start finding each of THEIR families.  I went from not having any names to being almost overwhelmed with the sheer possibilities.

While you're still getting your feet wet, I've found that it's best not to go too much earlier than the 1800s on this one.  There are lots of records available during this time period.  Go much earlier and the records get more and more scarce.  It's not impossible, but while you're first getting started it's better to focus on where you can get the best results.

Who am I and Why am I Doing This?

I'm Kristen and I'm just now starting to get into this whole family history thing (hence the "budding"). I'm also under the age of 80 (hence the "young").

So why this blog? I've learned a lot of stuff on my journey to do the genealogy thing, and I've found that the genealogy information out there right now is either 1) very basic; or 2) way too complicated. Getting started was a frustrating process for me. I want to make the process easier, and capture some of the lessons I've learned, in plain English.

Speaking of English, here's a couple of other things you might want to know about me: 
1. My ancestry is mostly English, so that's where the bulk of my research has concentrated.
2. I'm still new at this and still learning - I don't claim that anything on this blog should be taken as gospel.
3. And speaking of gospel - I'm Mormon, so some of these posts will have an LDS twist on them. Not all - but some.