52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy : Paid Genealogy Tools

Week 2 - Paid Genealogy Tools : Which paid genealogy tool do you appreciate the most?  What special features put it at the top of your list?  How can it help others with their genealogy research?


Without a doubt, the paid genealogy tool that I appreciate the most is my subscription to Ancestry.com.  For the money, there just isn't any research tool that has been as beneficial as my subscription.


For years, I avoided subscribing because of the cost - and now I don't know what I would do without it.  My subscription began after I had completed a research project for my MBA program, with Ancestry.com as the subject matter.  After exploring the subject, I was convinced to ask for a subscription for my birthday.  Though the subscription only renews annually, nearly every day I open a new "genealogical present" when I find records of ancestors and relatives online.


Not everything is online, and there are some databases at Ancestry that can be found for free in other locales.  But you cannot beat the aggregation of the information at your fingertips.  You have the ability to access the information anytime you have your computer running, and you can easily lose track of time exploring the databases.


Probably the features that put it at the top of the list right now for me are the census databases and the newspaper archives.  I have been digging into newspaper research on my blacksheep relatives, and use the census databases to track the movements of families across the country.


A subscription to Ancesty.com will not solve all of your research problems, but it will aid you by providing access to more records than you could conceivably access manually by traveling all across the country.  It is a wonderful tool to supplement on-site research at courthouses and libraries.

52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy by Amy Coffin is a series of weekly blogging prompts (one for each week of 2012) that invite genealogists and others to discuss resources in the genealogy community including websites, applications, libraries, archives, genealogical societies and more. 

On This Day : January 9

1710: Elizabeth KENYON born.  Elizabeth was the daughter of Nathaniel KENYON and Eleanor UTTER.


1767: Mary MAXSON born.  Mary was the daughter of Samuel MAXSON and Mary DOWNING.


1781: Isom HUNT married Ann MOON in Guilford County, North Carolina.  Isom was the son of Thomas HUNT and Ann BEALS.


1779: Thomas OLIPHANT born.  Thomas was the son of John OLIPHANT and Hannah AMOS.


1820: Solomon LEWIS born in Montgomery County, Ohio.  Solomon was the son of Nathaniel LEWIS and Nancy Ann SNIDER.


1833: Hannah MILLS born in Morgan County, Indiana.  Hannah was the daughter of Henry MILLS and Hannah WOODWARD.  She was my 4x great-grandmother.


1841: Matilda Mary SHELLY born in Indiana.  Matilda was the daughter of Jacob SHELLY and Elizabeth RICKERT.


1845: Susanna PETRY born in Eldorado, Preble County, Ohio.  Susanna was the daughter of Jacob PETRY and Magdalena ________.


1847: Abijah HEATON died.  Abijah was the son of William HEATON and Abigail ________.


1859: Matilda Gregg MAXON born in Pennsylvania.  Matilda was the daughter of  Alexander Young MAXON and Margaret ROSE.


1871: Amanda PIERCE born.  Amanda was the daughter of Henry Eldred PIERCE and Simeathy SMELSOR.


1885: Lottie A. HALEY born in Huron, Erie County, Ohio.  Lottie was the daughter of Franklin Andrew HALEY and Anna H. KUHL.


1888: Rachel Moore CAMPBELL died.  Rachel was the daughter of William CAMPBELL and Elizabeth McPHEETERS.


1890: Heinrich Wilhelm KAHRE died in Holsen, Westphalia.  Heinrich was the son of Christian Friedrich KAHRE and Anna Marie Catherine BRINKHOFF.


1897: Jessie FIELDS born.  Jessie was the daughter of John FIELDS and Ella Maude LEE.


1903: Abel Woolston CHEW died.  Abel was the son of Dr. Ezekiel Cooper CHEW and Caroline Bishop WOOLSTON.


1913: Richard Milhous NIXON born in Yorba Linda, California.  Richard was the son of Francis Anthony NIXSON and Hannah MILHOUS.


1915: Martha Isabelle HERCULES born in St. Henry, Ohio.  Martha was the daughter of Russell J. HERCULES and Bertha Alberta LeMASTER.


1920: Elizabeth LUCY died in Oklahoma.  Elizabeth was the daughter of James GROENENDYKE and Barbara BUCK.


1950: Suman Douglas KING died in Orestes, Madison County, Indiana.  Douglas was the son of Daniel KING and Elizabeth SHAW.


1960: Elbert A. JUDSON died in Bend, Deschutes County, Oregon.  Elbert was the son of Elza Carlisle JUDSON and Bertha RICHARDS.

Cousin Bait : The First Week

It's been one week since I started my "cousin bait" posts entitled "On This Day..."  As mentioned previously, the purpose of these posts is to generate leads, discussion and hopefully make some connections with new cousins.


Though these posts make my blog look a bit odd, they are also revealing to me how much more information I need to document.


Though it's way to early to tell if these will be successful, I did receive three nibbles this week - though not sure if they were directly related to these posts.  Instead of receiving comments directly on the posts, I received emails and comments on other older posts relating to the surname, which lead me to believe that the "On This Day..." post led to a search of the blog.  If so, that would make my efforts worth it.


I made contact with a distant cousin on the HECK line - whose line comes through Nicholas HECK (1811-1891), son of Godfrey.  My direct line is through Mary (HECK) SHAW (1803-1890), Nicholas' older sister.  We are in the beginning stages of trading information.


I also made contact with a distant cousin on the PIERCE line - whose line comes through Albert Orlando PIERCE (1839-1920), son of Francis.  My direct line is through Edmund G. PIERCE (1837-1875), Albert's older brother.  


Another comment came from a distant cousin on the ALLEN line - whose line comes through John BARKER (1771-1849), son of Hannah Allen Barker.  My direct line is through Abner BARKER (1768-    ), John's older brother.


So far, the fishing is fine...