Good Ancestry Websites??

Question

Does anybody know any good, accurate websites that trace back family history. The farthest I've traced back is the late 1800's on my mom's mother's side of the family. On my mom's father's side, his grandmother had kids with a married man and there is a lot of complicated things on that side, so I am not even going to bother. But i would like to know more on my grandmother's side. Any suggestions??

Answer 1

Your best bet is to find "source" records, like census records, birth, death, marriage, etc.

If you find a tree that looks like yours on one of the genealogy sites, you can verify that information yourself.

My best site is www.ancestry.com for the source records and the family trees.  They usually have a 14 day trial period.

Other sites might might depend on your location.  I use www.google.com alot also. Put in the first and last names then use words like obituary or cemetery or will.  Also if it's the states, use the county and put it like this:     "travis county" texas

Answer 2

There are lots of good, accurate websites.  None, however, will trace back your family history for you - - it's up to you to do that.  Here are several helpful (good and accurate) sites:

familysearch.org

cyndislist.org

rootsweb.ancestry.com

ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com

Best of luck with your searching!  Let us know if you get stuck!

Answer 3

Did you really "trace" it yourself or did you just find someone else's research already posted on the internet.  There is a difference.  If you were really into doing research the right way, you would already know the best sites to use, and you would have a good understanding of how they work.  Rule #1 being that "accuracy" is not guaranteed.  All the info on such sites are user-submitted.  The accuracy is subjective and is only as good as the research of the person who submitted the tree.  The only real way to do proper research is to create a paper trail using legal documents such as census records, wills, land records, court records, birth / marriage / death certificates, etc.  If you are not doing this, then you are not doing real research and are just accepting other people's information as fact without proof.

Answer 4

Adair is right, if you have researched back to 1800 then you really should know all about family researching.

Answer 5

**An "accurate" website is one that has everything documented and has what they can primary records.  

If somebody  has their family history on the internet, take that information with a grain of salt, and only use it for "clues" to help find their family.  

"Accurate" information can be found on ancestry.com in their records posted for instance, not their family trees.  Familysearch.com has records posted, however, remember that primary records are only as "accurate" as the knowledge and/or memory of the person who provided the information.

Answer 6

You should have a DNA Fingerprint test done on yourself if you are just curious about your ethnic makeup.