This from- ----- Original Message ----- From: "Margaret Mcclure" <maggi312@cox.net> To: PATE-L Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 12:53 PM Subject: ancestry > First, I too am not very happy with Ancestry and it's newest ploy, however > as you so very aptly put it Janice, you had better check your sources! > First you named the IGI, that is nothing more then abstracted records, > mostly the 1850 census and tax records. People probably did make typing > errors, heaven forbid that we aren't all perfect as you seem to be. Second > a lot of material is from census records, bet you use them too, sometimes > it is the only place you will find an ancestor, however even the census > takers are wrong, so then your wrong too aren't you? Third not everyone has > the opportunity to go and check the actual record, even if it exists, nor > the money to pay some of the prices today. Yes we rely on others to help us > and a big part of the time someone else comes along and says, hey your > wrong here, I suspect that most people will make the corrections and get > them up as soon as possible. I have some glaring errors, one of which Joel > kindly pointed out to me, but it was an honest mistake made by an elderly > woman who trusted someone else, so it gets fixed, but you know, I have now > met someone else that I might have never found without all of this. > Rootsweb is not owned by Ancestry, Ancestry bailed it out when it was about > to go under, but didn't buy it nor control it. > > I don't know about others, but I personally have had no trouble with > Ancestry and billing my credit card, they call me faithfully every year > with what do I want that they are providing? And they will cut me off if I > don't pay the bill. I do understand that some others ( companies) aren't > that careful and will rebill without asking. > > Next in defense of the Mormon church, of which I am not a member, let's see > you provide the amount of information that they do at a minimal charge. Yes > the Ancestry files are a mess, one would think that the members could > figure out 4 generations, but perhaps not. Some of those files are so old > that it is just guess work that grandma or grandpa provided a hundred years > ago, and you know you can go in and make corrections, they are happy to > accept them. Unfortunately they have no way of backing things out, but the > new stuff will be added. > > Now to the "glaring" errors, you know, everyone tries to be right, and yes > some get carried away when they believe they have found someone "important" > to add to their line, it makes them feel like they are important too, at > least for awhile and they are definitely hard to discourage about it, but > really who am I to burst their bubble. If you know it's wrong, you can say > something, but your seldom going to change their mind. If you know it's > wrong, then don't use it. One goes into old records at court houses and > find "John Jones" did this or that, your John Jones was there, it's the > right time period and there doesn't appear to be any other Johns in the > area, you presume that he is yours, but are you absolutely positive? You > have one day to look at those records if your really lucky, so you take the > chance. So ten years down the road, you know, there was another John Jones > there and it's the only time he ever appeared, so which one was it??? No > one will ever know for sure but he is your only connection to your family, > are you going to kick him out, no your not, maybe you will note that the > possibility of being wrong exists and maybe you won't. > > A great deal of genealogy is and has always been done by elderly people who > did the best they could 50 and more years ago, records weren't readily > available and one doesn't live long enough to check everything they did, > they didn't have the internet nor the availibilty of the Mormon Church > records as they do today. They learned how to use a computer after a > fashion and entered their stuff. The old programs didn't have all the bells > and whistles they have today, space was limited and sources really didn't > have much space if any. Now they are stuck with a time element, I for one > am trying to get my sources entered, but with the data base I have I > probably won't get it all done, all I can do is make the corrections and > note the source at this time. So, mostly just have a little compassion and > cut some slack. Even with the wrong material, it was a place for you to > start and prove they/we were wrong. Obviously your looking for and at the > records, if your so sure that they are all wrong, then why are you even there? > > I'm in a quandry as to remove my records from Ancestry, but then found long > ago that others are copying them from other sources anyway and have been > charging for a long time, so what difference does it make. If your going to > share via the internet, they why bother. If your not going to share at all, > then remove your stuff and hide it in a drawer. > > I don't think this whole mess needs any further discussion and I'm not into > a free for all with any of you. I'm sorry if I stepped on some toes, if so > I will just unsubscribe so you all won't be bothered further. > Maggi > > >