I also do not have access to Ancestry.com due to the expense. However by joining my local library I have acess to Heritage Quest. I have been able to find photcopies of census records and some real surprises. When looking up one individual or family, I have stumbled across other family members on the same census sheet Most recently found the 1900 census for my ggrandfather in PA and found his widowed aunt living next door. She had last been seen in the 1880 census in OH. Widowed in 1884, I wasn't sure if she remarried and could not find any leads on the children. Of course it doesnt help that her son, John P, shows up as Patrick in 1880 and as John in 1900. Heritage Quest can also present problems due to the search index, it is mostly keyed to head of the house, I have had most of my luck when searching by last name and state only, then if necessary by county A.E Fadden The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius had its limits. - Albert Einstein --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now.

Have you ever wondered why so many really important documents are only available through Ancestry.com? I do not know if it is because they are the only ones interested in them so they readily receive permission to copy data from various sources, or is it because they pay large amounts for this information? I just find it really frustrating that everything I need seems to be on this web site but to most of us the price is exorbitant to belong. Am I the only one who questions this? Could you tell me if this Heritage Quest is available only through libraries? Do they have info on just America or Ireland etc. also? Thank you for the lead.. Confidentiality Notice: Protected Health Information from the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Protected Health Information is personal and sensitive information related to a person's health care. It is being e-mailed to you after appropriate authorization from the person or under circumstances that do not require the person's authorization. If you are not the intended recipient, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to the intended recipient, the disclosure, copying or distribution of this information is Strictly Prohibited. If you have received this message by error, please notify the sender immediately. Important Warning: This message is intended only for the use of the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged and confidential, the disclosure of which is governed by applicable law. Carol VerCammen Billing Supervisor carol.vercammen@dmh.state.ma.us 5-digit for DMH 73322 508-977-3322 -----Original Message----- From: ny-troy-irish-gensoc-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:ny-troy-irish-gensoc-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of austin fadden Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 3:57 PM To: ny-troy-irish-gensoc@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [NY-TROY-IRISH-GENSOC] Irish Acts of Kindness at TIGS I also do not have access to Ancestry.com due to the expense. However by joining my local library I have acess to Heritage Quest. I have been able to find photcopies of census records and some real surprises. When looking up one individual or family, I have stumbled across other family members on the same census sheet Most recently found the 1900 census for my ggrandfather in PA and found his widowed aunt living next door. She had last been seen in the 1880 census in OH. Widowed in 1884, I wasn't sure if she remarried and could not find any leads on the children. Of course it doesnt help that her son, John P, shows up as Patrick in 1880 and as John in 1900. Heritage Quest can also present problems due to the search index, it is mostly keyed to head of the house, I have had most of my luck when searching by last name and state only, then if necessary by county A.E Fadden The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius had its limits. - Albert Einstein --------------------------------- Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. ===NY-IRISH-GENSOC Mailing List=== Did you pay your 2008 Dues? Troy Irish Genealogy Society http://www.rootsweb.com/~nytigs/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NY-TROY-IRISH-GENSOC-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

An article here explains some of what you are asking http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13483892/ and here is an excerpt-- "The Provo company was set to announce Thursday that it copied complete U.S. Census records from 1790 to 1930 — a Herculean effort that took a team of experts and workers a combined 6.6 million hours of labor. The U.S. government waits 72 years before releasing original census documents containing such personal information as an individual's occupation — actor Tom Hanks' grandfather, Clarence Frager, made a living as a rodent exterminator, a 1930 census record reveals. **Hours of legwork **Workers for Ancestry.com spent so much time compiling these records because they had to decipher the handwriting on millions of census forms. They had to index and catalog every name, and scan images of the census documents. In all, workers made 22 billion keystrokes to organize all the information, the company said. Ancestry.com, which claims more than 725,000 paid subscribers, says it now has the only online repository of historic U.S. Census records." VerCammen, Carol (DMH) wrote: >Have you ever wondered why so many really important documents are only >available through Ancestry.com? I do not know if it is because they are >the only ones interested in them so they readily receive permission to >copy data from various sources, or is it because they pay large amounts >for this information? I just find it really frustrating that everything >I need seems to be on this web site but to most of us the price is >exorbitant to belong. Am I the only one who questions this? > >Could you tell me if this Heritage Quest is available only through >libraries? Do they have info on just America or Ireland etc. also? > >Thank you for the lead.. > >Confidentiality Notice: Protected Health Information from the >Massachusetts Department of Mental Health > >Protected Health Information is personal and sensitive information >related to a person's health care. It is being e-mailed to you after >appropriate authorization from the person or under circumstances that do >not require the person's authorization. If you are not the intended >recipient, or the employee or agent responsible to deliver it to the >intended recipient, the disclosure, copying or distribution of this >information is Strictly Prohibited. If you have received this message by >error, please notify the sender immediately. > >Important Warning: This message is intended only for the use of the >person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain information >that is privileged and confidential, the disclosure of which is governed >by applicable law. > >Carol VerCammen > >Billing Supervisor > >carol.vercammen@dmh.state.ma.us > >5-digit for DMH 73322 > >508-977-3322 > > >-----Original Message----- >From: ny-troy-irish-gensoc-bounces@rootsweb.com >[mailto:ny-troy-irish-gensoc-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of austin >fadden >Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 3:57 PM >To: ny-troy-irish-gensoc@rootsweb.com >Subject: Re: [NY-TROY-IRISH-GENSOC] Irish Acts of Kindness at TIGS > > > I also do not have access to Ancestry.com due to the expense. >However by joining my local library I have acess to Heritage Quest. I >have been able to find photcopies of census records and some real >surprises. > When looking up one individual or family, I have stumbled across other >family members on the same census sheet > Most recently found the 1900 census for my ggrandfather in PA and >found his widowed aunt living next door. She had last been seen in the >1880 census in OH. Widowed in 1884, I wasn't sure if she remarried and >could not find any leads on the children. Of course it doesnt help that >her son, John P, shows up as Patrick in 1880 and as John in 1900. > > Heritage Quest can also present problems due to the search index, it >is mostly keyed to head of the house, I have had most of my luck when >searching by last name and state only, then if necessary by county > > > > > >A.E Fadden > > >The difference between genius and stupidity >is that genius had its limits. >- Albert Einstein > > >--------------------------------- >Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try >it now. >===NY-IRISH-GENSOC Mailing List=== >Did you pay your 2008 Dues? >Troy Irish Genealogy Society >http://www.rootsweb.com/~nytigs/ >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >NY-TROY-IRISH-GENSOC-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >===NY-IRISH-GENSOC Mailing List=== >Did you pay your 2008 Dues? >Troy Irish Genealogy Society >http://www.rootsweb.com/~nytigs/ >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NY-TROY-IRISH-GENSOC-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > >