While working on a research project recently, I ended up with a long list of original (mostly digital) records I had checked for the group of individuals. I had also consulted family trees posted by other people and few had sources. Nothing pointed me to learning more about the background of some of the people before they were in the target place. THEN I did a few searches on https://www.myheritage.com.
We can’t guess which one will provide the most help at a given time and with what search parameters you use. Genealogy standards include reasonably exhaustive research. To that I add, check once, twice, and then again and again.
That led me back to some trees on Ancestry that had not come up in other searches. I did learn where the ancestors were in the 1700s into the early 1800s and that led to some great historical material in the U.S. and Canada. So, which is the best of these and other genealogy sites to join? Every dang one of them as your budget allows. Don’t forget to check public, academic, and historical society libraries to see what genealogy subscriptions they may hold. Check FamilySearch.org to see what may be at the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City or at a local FamilySearch Center. Then look at what a specific country may offer via its libraries and archives. It does take time, but whichever place we overlook may have been the one that led to some clues.
© 2023 – 2024, Paula Stuart-Warren. All rights reserved.
