None. If you want extensive genealogy information at some point you're going to end up working with sources that ultimately trace to them. They have a greater incentive for thoroughness than anybody else.

My family already did a bunch of genealogy research for me. I think there's one line going back to 790. In what is now Switzerland, which is the origin of my last name. Because I was genetically designed to be climbing the Swiss Alps with a cow over my shoulders.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch: KITTENS! They are full of purr. They appear to like us. Sasha has begun to tolerate them.

Most of our records were lost in the war. I have some semblance of a family tree from my mom's side but nothing on my dad's.

It bothers me that the LDS are arrogant enough to baptize posthumously but I don't believe it's doing anyone any good. Isn't a big part of being "saved" accepting Jesus as your savior? If you're dead how can you?

When the time comes, if ancestrydotcom is my only decent option it's what it will have to be. My desire to know more overrules my disdain for their practices.

I just finished the last episode of Farscape (still have the movie, will watch that tomorrow). Holy frell.

Say what you will about their LDS connections, but Ancestry.com is the bomb! I've found far more information about my family in just a couple of evenings than I had in the couple of years I was previously pursuing it.

Just tonight, I found an image of the passenger list from the ship that brought my Mother's family over from Wales in 1886.

I'm surprised at you, JW. Ancestry.com is a major tool of the Mormon church. And aren't you just a little bit creeped out that the Mormon church has done so much research about YOUR family, before you or anyone you are related to even visited the site?

Why would that be creepy? There are a lot people related to people on that boat other than just JW.

But even if the research was done so that they could invoke their name in a meaningless ceremony, that doesn't strike me as any more creepy than who alive now would be the king of Montenegro if that monarchy still existed.

And having used Ancestry.com in the past, it isn't generally the case that you type in your own name and say "ok, what is my family tree back 19 generations." It is more that it provides access to the data records that allows you to make the connections.

So, for example, it has scans of the microfiches that lets me see my mom's original birth certificate where her dad's full name is listed with date of birth. And then I am able to use that to find another scan with his birth certificate and parents names. And a search finds that his mom's name is in an Ellis Island record listing X as her country of origin, and then...

Yes, you can find family trees already made, but that assumes someone who took the time to draw all the connections and therefore probably had some personal interest.

My mom, who is apparently now Mormon spent time last summer just validating the OCR transcription of the 1910 census data for Merced County. No connection at all but also not drawing any explicit genealogical connections. Simply making sure the data was effectively searchable.

My dad's family has already been pretty extensively researched. My Mom's not as much but we do have paperwork so we can join the DAR should we choose to do so.

For Dad's I can just go to the county cemetery and go back at least 4-5 generations. I think I'm 6th generation to be born in Lassen County.

My Mom got all into family history (only it was my Dad's family and not his biological/real family which is puzzling) the last 10 years or so. I've got a bunch of different files on it.

It's all kind of interesting. I think Daniel Boone is our most famous ancestor. Otherwise not a hugely famous bunch.