Q. Are the genealogies found on the internet reliable?

A.  Over the past several years there has been an influx of family trees posted on genealogical and personal websites.  The best way to approach them is to consider them as tools in aiding you in researching your own family tree.  Some are well-prepared and well-documented; however, many are not.  Our advice is that whatever information you take from these postings should be followed-up with careful documentation (preferably primary) of the records, not "family tradition" or assumption. 

Please take a few moments to read Darlene Scotti-Tribou's article, "Internet Genealogy : Proceed With Caution" which can be found at this link Articles .            

Q.  In trying to prove my ancestry for a lineage society I was surprised to find that there are no birth records for my grandparents and their parents who were born in the South in the 1880s.  Is this the norm?  Are there other ways to prove them?

A.  In many areas of the country the recording of births was not mandatory before about 1918 when the Spanish Flu Epidemic at that time prompted the federal government to insist on vital records being better recorded.  Other reasons for the absence of records are: Court houses burned, entries were either lost or never recorded or even mis-recorded.  Often, in the case of twins only one child was recorded.

Q.  I'm curious to know if you've ever come across any "Brick Walls" in researching your own family genealogy.

A.  Yes,  there are several persons who go way back in time whose records seem to elude even the most avid genealogists; both names are "John Smith!"

Q.  How much would it cost me to have my genealogy professionally researched?  I am debating about  doing the research myself, since there is a lot of information on the internet. 

A.  Genealogists generally charge a fixed hourly rate for their services in research hours in addition to "extra fees" incurred, such as travel time, lodging, photocopying of records, postage, telephone calls, fees to use certain repositories, etc.  Fees vary, depending on several factors which include the scope of your research request. Are you interested in researching a certain family group or an extensive, multi-generational lineage, such as our Ancestral Research Packages which may date back to the period of "The Great Migration" (1600s) in America?  (Our typical Ancestral Research Packages generally range from $250 to several thousand dollars; we generally do not charge our clients for the above-mentioned "extra fees." )

If you have the initiative, expertise, and free time to pursue your research without professional help, then you should definitely try to go that route; the personal satisfaction of completing your own research is immense, albeit a very time-consuming endeavor in collecting, analyzing and proving your data.  If your intent is to primarily use the internet in your search, keep in mind that not all genealogical websites are free, and that paid subscriptions to access the databases of the premium websites can amount to hundreds of dollars per year.  You may also want to purchase a genealogical software package to help you keep your research organized.

On the other hand, those who seek out a professional genealogist to research their lineages do so for a variety of reasons, but mostly because they expect the result to be a professionally documented historical account of their family lines.  For the same reason, most of us prefer to hire professionals to paint our houses, maintain our automobiles, dry-clean our clothing, or provide other services which we may or may not be able to do as well ourselves.