When I first began researching my family tree, I had no real method. I was like a magpie—grabbing anything that sparkled. I’d screenshot or download documents, photos, scraps of information, and save links to websites, much like someone stuffing newspaper clippings into an old shoebox. I was driven by the hope that one day, somehow, all the pieces would come together to tell me about my ancestors and newly found familial relatives.
As time passed and the picture started to take shape in my mind, I’d often try to revisit those early clues—only to find the links broken, the websites gone. I searched for the missing pieces, often in vain. That’s when I learned a hard truth: unless a website is free and open source, it vanishes once the owner stops paying the hosting fees. Sometimes the site owner simply lets it lapse, or worse—they pass away, and with them goes an entire archive of knowledge and passion. Just… gone.
I’ve seen the same thing happen on sites like Ancestry.com It’s a treasure trove, yes—but not everything on it is accurate. In my early days, I accepted so many hints and added them to my tree before I understood how vital it was to verify each one with solid documentation. That’s why my tree is private now—I don’t want to risk leading new researchers astray with unconfirmed information. As I write the stories here, I verify as much as possible and note where I am making assumptions, as I go. But going back over all content on my ancestry.com account would take forever!
Over the years, I’ve reached out to many DNA matches, only to hear the same sad stories: “The person who was doing the research died… the tree is locked and we can’t access it… all their papers were thrown away when the house was cleared.” That kind of loss is more than just data—it’s the silencing of voices, the erasing of stories that may never be recovered. Please if you have a private ancestry.com account be sure to pass on your password and leave your material research to someone who will value it.
Lesson learned!
Now, when I share what I find, I include not just the links (when they still work), but also the content itself. I don’t do this to claim someone else’s work as my own—far from it. I do it to preserve what might otherwise be lost forever. If you see something here that you created, please know the only reason for this lapse is that I don’t know where exactly I found your info. Feel free to reach out. I will gladly credit you—or remove it, if that’s what you prefer. But I hope you’ll allow me to keep it alive, for the memory of those it pertains to and the sake of those to come who will treasure this information.