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  #1  
Old 10-25-2013, 11:42 AM
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stratokatsu stratokatsu is offline
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Default Genealogy.Com Users?

Does anyone here use genealogy.com and find it useful and worth the money?

I was adopted and never knew who my birth parents were. I never had any desire to find out, but a friend who has had a great time with genealogy.com mentioned to me that Illinois changed the law about obtaining an original birth certificate, so I filled out the form, paid the fee and sent it off. I should have the birth certificate any day now and will find out who my birth parents were.

I have no intention of walking back into my mother's life, if she is still alive. According to my documents, my father died before I was born.

I'm thinking about whether to see how far back I might find information if genealogy.com is worth using.

Thoughts?

Thanks...
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Old 10-25-2013, 01:41 PM
barefooter barefooter is offline
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I have never used this or any other. With that having been said, I am intrigued with the thoughts of searching my family's history. My mom and I talked about her family ancestors this summer. A few others on her side of the family had done some research many years ago and learned her family came from Giles County Virginia moving to West Virginia.

The only thing I know about my dad's side of the family is that his mom came from an area around Abbs Valley, Va. She died when he was a young lad.

I look forward to the opinion of others here regarding your inquiry. Sorry I had no input for you.
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Old 10-25-2013, 01:54 PM
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No problem...

I was expecting my original birth certificate soon, but it came today.

I learned my birth name was Greenberg and that somewhere out there, I have an older sibling, but little more than that. It says my mother was born in Minneapolis in 1924, so I guess I could search her ancestry. My father died before I was born and for some reason, his name isn't listed. It just says it's "legally omitted" on the birth certificate.

I'll be interested to hear what people have to say, whether this is enough information to start with.
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Old 10-25-2013, 02:02 PM
rhancox rhancox is offline
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I've used Ancestry.com and I was able to go back to the late 1600's on my mom's side. All without spending any money.

Social Security and Census records older than 75 yrs are public domain. With a birth city, year and name, I would think you could have a better than average chance at finding your mom's birth record, which will get you started.
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Old 10-25-2013, 02:18 PM
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I used Ancestry.com to learn many interesting things about my lineage going back to the late 1800s including my real surname....
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Old 10-25-2013, 07:22 PM
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I signed up for the free trial and it's been good and bad so far. Trying to find a death record on my brother, anything beyond a date and place, has been hopeless. Needless to say, searching for an obit is just another way websites want to charge you and I'm determined to find it somehow.

I've identified my mother, father, grandparents on both sides, aunts and uncles on both sides and the one outstanding thing is, I'd like to figure out what they did for a living. The obits are going to be key.
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Old 10-25-2013, 07:35 PM
Dru Edwards Dru Edwards is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RP View Post
I used Ancestry.com to learn many interesting things about my lineage going back to the late 1800s including my real surname....
Is that a pay site or free? Did your surname change when your family immigrated to the US?
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Old 10-25-2013, 07:49 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dru Edwards View Post
Is that a pay site or free? Did your surname change when your family immigrated to the US?
It's a fee site but I signed up for and used the free trial period to learn as much as I could. Nobody in my family seemed to know what the real surname was in the old country...Russia. I always thought that the name had been changed at Ellis Island, but learned that my ancestors didn't come into the country through Ellis Island and they didn't change their surname until a decade or so later....
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Last edited by RP; 10-25-2013 at 08:07 PM.
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Old 10-25-2013, 07:50 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dru Edwards View Post
Is that a pay site or free? Did your surname change when your family immigrated to the US?
You get a free 2 week trial, but if you don't cancel it in a timely manner, you have to pay varied amounts per month depending what amounts of file service you want.

If I continue, it will cost $19.95 a month. That is pretty much everything you need to search U.S. records. There are slightly less expensive plans and then there are the world search plans that go up around $35 a month.
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Old 10-29-2013, 10:09 AM
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Other than birth or death dates, places of birth and death, my mother's side is really difficult to find.

My father's side apparently has more people interested in the memories. I found out my grandfather was a cowboy and my father had a horse ranch in Nevada. I have pictures of my grandfather.

I also found out my grandfather served in WW1 and in 1992, was honored as the oldest living veteran of WW1. My father spent 12 years in the Marines, survived Pearl Harbor and rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant before retiring back to the ranching business.

While I still can't find out anything about my brother, he apparently lived with my father in Nevada.

On my mother's side, I did find pictures of her brother Perry, who would have been my uncle. There's a reasonable family resemblance to me. He served in the Army in Korea and in the Navy in Vietnam.

Other than that, I know my mother's family came from Poland and my father's family came from Romania, but I'm not going back any farther.

I'd just like to know what my brother did.
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