Way OT!: Ancestry.com or similar.

[binxnyrwarrsoul]

Ancestry.com or other people search sites. Anyone use one of these avenues to find a family member, and get results?

[FlashUNC]

I've used Ancestry a bit, and it can be helpful to some degree, though it really relies on you having as much information going into it as possible if you're looking to flesh out a particular branch of the ol' tree, ie: birth dates, death dates, places someone may have lived. Its helpful, but hardly the be-all/end-all.

[gdw]

I've never used it but people have contacted me based upon some of the info on the site. One guy claimed to be writing a family history and wanted more info than I was willing to supply. I don't know how he got my phone number because it's unlisted and he didn't get it from my immediate family.

[Saint Vitus]

Whatever you think of the Mormons, they have (due in part to their system of beliefs) created the largest repository of genealogical info extent.

https://familysearch.org/

It is free and you can do all kinds of neat stuff if you join the site (not the church lol).

[Mr. Pink]

FYI, Ancestry.com is a Mormon run company that collects data so that they (the church) can baptize the dead. I know that sounds wacky, but, the Mormons are a tad wacky, and, yes, they actually baptize the dead.

[TBDSeattle]

FYI, Ancestry.com is a Mormon run company that collects data so that they can baptize the dead. I know that sounds wacky, but, the Mormons are a tad wacky, and, yes, they actually baptize the dead.

NYTimes article on the topic Mr. Pink brought up... (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/03/us/jews-take-issue-with-posthumous-mormon-baptisms-beliefs.html?_r=0)

Draw your own conclusions on this practice.

[roydyates]

I just spent 30 (or was it 60) minutes on ancestry.com. I can see that if I get started, I could really spend a lot of time there. Maybe even more than I spend here at the paceline. The one freebie document they offered me was a 1940 census record for my mom's family. It was surprisingly interesting. I am pondering joining for a few months.

[azrider]

Whatever you think of the Mormons, they have (due in part to their system of beliefs) created the largest repository of genealogical info extent.

https://familysearch.org/

It is free and you can do all kinds of neat stuff if you join the site (not the church lol).

I just joined this to try it out and was complete let down......terrible site

IMO

[oldpotatoe]

Whatever you think of the Mormons, they have (due in part to their system of beliefs) created the largest repository of genealogical info extent.

https://familysearch.org/

It is free and you can do all kinds of neat stuff if you join the site (not the church lol).

delete

[Joel]

And on the other hand, we used familysearch.org for some really way back work (1500's in Germany) and had better success with that than anything else.

It may not answer the full question but is robust enough to give good ideas on where to else to look.

Be sure to also access the Ellis Island site if you think you had any family members come over from Europe. It's also a free site and again pretty robust for starting a search.

Fun stuff.

[TBDSeattle]

....

[oldpotatoe]

ooohhh boy... do you really want to open that can of worms?

I think it deserves a completely different thread that this one. Asking questions like this will derail a thread faster than someone saying they can retroactively read the mind of Greg LeMond and Lance.

Then again, I really like this forum and "debates" about religion usually leave everyone bruised and unhappy. You can always watch old Hitchslap videos to recap the debate (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQorzOS-F6w).

ok...you can delete my quote..

[TBDSeattle]

ok...you can delete my quote..

Yeah... I'm deleting mine too. And I'm removing your quote from my post.

[Tony T]

Yeah... I'm deleting mine too. And I'm removing your quote from my post.
Looks like this thread is toast and should be closed.

[bking]

https://familysearch.org/

it's a great site if you want to pursue the best kind of history, your own. it is free. And yes, we, yes i'm a "tad wacky", believe that all must be baptized.

It's not a new practice: 1 Corinthians 15:29, Asks Paul, "Else what shall they do, which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all, why are they then baptized for the dead?"

I'll shut up now and take a seat at the back;)

[Louis]

And yes, we, yes i'm a "tad wacky"

IMO no wackier than any of the other guys; they've just been around longer than you folks.

[TBDSeattle]

IMO no wackier than any of the other guys; they've just been around longer than you folks.

+1 to that.

[Tony T]

How did this turn into a religious discussion?
Time to lock this……

Obamacare! It's Bush's fault! Fox News!!!!

[Scooper]

I had my DNA analyzed by 23andMe.com for $99, not to find relatives, but to understand where my ancestors were from geographically and to obtain my raw DNA (~10 megabyte ZIP file) for further analysis about health risks.

I got some very interesting results; basically I'm a mutt with mostly Northern European ancestry, but also some sub-Saharan African, Native American, Ashkenazi, and Neandertal. I was surprised by the percentage of sub-Saharan African and Ashkenazi. I already knew that ~2% to 5% of the DNA of virtually all Europeans come from Neandertals (2.9% of my DNA is from Neandertals).

My maternal haplogroup is H1, and my paternal haplogroup is E1b1b1a.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d7/k4drd/Archival/ancestrycompositionanon_zps1486549d.jpg

[MattTuck]

National Geographic Genographic Project (https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/) is another service like 23andme, and I believe your results feed back into their research database, which I believe is academic non-profit in nature.

Not sure of 23andme.

Either way, there are some privacy concerns.

[makoti]

and my paternal haplogroup is E1b1b1a.


Is that code for Ebola? ;-)

[Scooper]

Is that code for Ebola? ;-)

Heh heh... E1b1b1a sorta looks like Ebola.

What's ironic is that both the the sub-Saharan African and Ashkenazi DNA are on my dad's side and he was somewhat racist.

Ah, poetic justice.

[Scooper]

National Geographic Genographic Project (https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/) is another service like 23andme, and I believe your results feed back into their research database, which I believe is academic non-profit in nature.

Not sure of 23andme.

Either way, there are some privacy concerns.

The results of 23andMe are also used for research. Your DNA is used anonymously and participation is voluntary, but they ask about diseases and causes of death of relatives and as a result of comparing genomes and family disease history they've identified about 17,000 genes and mutations that are related to higher and lower than average risk for many inherited diseases.

I believe knowledge is power. Certain genetic risks can be mitigated by changes in diet, lifestyle, prophylactic surgery, etc.

[Seramount]

I don't care about my family history all that much...most of my immediate relatives are boring losers.

can't imagine it gets much better going back in time.

[makoti]

What's ironic is that both the the sub-Saharan African and Ashkenazi DNA are on my dad's side and he was somewhat racist.

Ah, poetic justice.

Kind of reminds me of my very dear Aunt, who was/is very proper British. Married an American, but that was ok since we were of British descent. All's good for years. Then someone gets nosy, does research & what do ya know? We're Irish. Oops. ;-)

[Louis]

Cool. We're already very close to them ("differing in DNA by just 0.12%") but I saw an article a while back discussing non-trivial amounts of Neanderthal mixing with "us." The horror!

Wikipedia:

Genetic evidence published in 2014 suggests that Neanderthals contributed to the DNA of anatomically modern humans, probably through interbreeding between 50,000 to 60,000 years ago with a population of anatomically modern humans.

[kgreene10]

"Wacky" is an interesting word for baptizing those who may have died for their non-Christian beliefs.

[Keith A]

How did this turn into a religious discussion?
Time to lock this……

Obamacare! It's Bush's fault! Fox News!!!!Please keep this the original topic or it will be locked :)