Oh, Lina, thank you for that comment. It gives me an opportunity to correct a common misconception. I know lots of people have believed that Ancestry.com is connected to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And I can understand how that misconception could come about. However, I assure you Ancestry.com is not a Church-supported entity. FamilySearch.org IS the Church site, but has never charged. Even the genealogical software, Personal Ancestral File or PAF is free. I am an assistant director of a Family History Center and am currently serving as As I said, it's easy to see how it could get started, so I don't want anyone to think I'm placing blame or pointing fingers. Personally, other than the pure fun of being part of a program that's making records available free of charge to everyone, my enjoyment of being involved in Indexing has a lot to do with my personal disapproval of charging for data that isn't, as you said, checked for accuracy. Anyone who is interested is welcome to help with the Indexing program. What actually happens is that the person who is Indexing extracts data from an actual document image and submits it, using a free computer program, and submits it. Two different people do this with each image. If there's a discrepancy in either submission an experienced extractionist examines the records and makes a determination. We're only human, and there is always potential for error, but a great deal of care is taken to prevent error. I believe we can be comfortable with the accuracy of records extracted in this fashion. It is wise to take into consideration, however, that indexed records, no matter the source, are just an index. If you want to be sure of your sources, you need to use the index as a guide for locating original documents and then send for a copy of that original. FamilySearch.org is NOT owned and controlled by Ancestry.com. FamilySearch.org is a free web site and always has been. True, the Church of Jesus Christ is supporting the Indexing program, but the intent is to make records available free of charge. In fact, if I were one of the owners of Ancestry.com I might be a little concerned about how the Indexing program may affect my future bottom line. :) I hope everyone will take a few minutes to visit the Indexing site and find out for themselves how it works. I don't like to be part of a conflict by offering this different view, but since I'm this close to the facts, I feel duty bound to make it clear the Church of Jesus Christ (Mormons)does NOT charge for data. The only exception is that there is a modest fee to cover the cost of shipping film requested by researchers ($6.50). Yes, census records are often wrong -- it's the nature of the beast -- and should never be one's only source. My personal axe to grind with Ancestry.com is that they made such a mess of records thoroughly researched -- people like my own father, for goodness sakes! -- and there were so many mistakes I didn't dare put my trust in Ancestry.com. Even so, I never really got peeved with them until they absolutely refused to make a correction, even though I could prove that the data was my own work. So, okay dear ones, I'm stepping down from my stump now. I apologize if what I've said caused anyone a problem, for that certainly is not my intent. I love researching my family so very much and am so grateful for all that is available to us now-a-days! My only intent to is share what I know if I think it'll help anyone. For those of you who regularly use the Church web site, FamilySearch.org, get ready for the newest version -- it's going to be wonderful! It's not available everywhereyet, but it's coming. Check with your local Family History Center to see if it's available in your area. Carlyine ----- Original Message ----- From: "Linda Spencer" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 10:46 PM Subject: Re: [VARUSSEL] Fw: Russell Tax assessment & Ancestry.com >I don't understand why you people do not know that "FamilySearch" is > sponsored and controlled by Ancestry. And that Ancestry (the Mormons) are > sponsoring the indexing. And then they use the indexing of censuses, > etc. > (a freeby for them) to use that indexing, done by whomever is willing to > do > it. They then put that information on their website, for pay. But they > don't check it. And all too often, the census indexes are incorrect. I > subscribed to Ancestry for one year. One year too long. Too many of the > census indexes were really wrong. > > Linda > >