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Let me guess…your first stop on the genealogy path includes Ancestry.com? For most this is the first go-to website to aid in research. For rookie genealogists, ancestry.com can be overwhelming to say the least. The following 7 tips can help new users navigate their way around the leading the genealogy website.

1- Utilize a free trial and know subscription levels

If you are new to ancestry.com I highly recommend doing a free trial in the beginning. This will allow you to get to know the website and get a sense of what records are available. Although access to records are limited with the free trial, you will still be able to check out the site and determine if you want to pay for a subscription and what particular subscriptions will help you the most. **Note that if you get a free trial, do so when you have a good chuck of time to fully investigate the site. No sense in getting a free trial when you don’t have time that week or two to explore it fully.

A basic subscription will allow you access to 15+ billion records in the United States. The World Explorer subscription will allow you 3+ billion more records from around the world. If some of your research will branch out beyond the United States, this subscription is a good idea if even for a set period of time until you gather the information you need.

All Access subscription includes all of the above and access to Newspapers.com and Fold3.com (military records). The All Access subscription value depends on the amount of research you plan to do. Once you search Newspapers.com and Fold3.com for relatives in your family tree, you may not have a need for it any longer (or at least for awhile until more records become uploaded). However, you can always downgrade your ancestry.com subscription when certain services are no longer needed.

Choose one that suits you and your budget. You can adjust them when needed.

You can also go to Newspapers.com and Fold3.com and do a free trial separate from Ancestry.com and determine if it will be of value to you to have a longer subscription or include it with an Ancestry.com subscription.

2. Create a family tree: public or private

Create a family tree on Ancestry.com. Click on ‘Trees’ in the upper left hand corner and start entering in information you currently have. You do not have to have a public tree that everyone can see. However, having a public tree could lead to more leads from possible relatives. Should you choose to have a private tree go to the drop down arrow on the tree you created. Go down to “Tree Settings”. In the middle of the page under “Tree Settings” click on “Privacy Settings” and select Public or Private. A description of what Public and Private really mean is stated on the “Privacy Settings” page.

Add as much information as you can to your tree and include photos if possible. When you find a record that matches a relative in your tree attach it to that person in the tree. Attaching the record to the person helps to keep track of sources (a crucial element to proper research).

3. Be cautious of family trees and hints

Once you create a family tree on Ancestry.com you will begin to see the little green leaf next to relatives. These are called hints. Take these hints with a grain of salt. Just because they are attached to a relative does not necessarily mean they are connected to your relative. You have to do your own research and deciphering before declaring the hint a find.

Be alert when it comes to other researchers family trees. They are doing research just like you and can often get details wrong or mix up people with similar names. Using other trees is not a good way to gain proper information. However, family trees are excellent to use as hints. Verify information from other trees with good sources.

I often hear of researchers getting very upset that someone else has wrong information on their tree. Remember–you may have misinformation on your tree as well that you don’t see. Some of us have decades of research behind us and some of us are new. You can gently send them a note with a correction and source but hold in your anger, please!

4. Create a genealogical question

Going straight onto Ancestry.com without a clear idea of your objective can make research overwhelming. Research is much more successful if you stay focus on one topic at a time and follow it through as far as you can. An example of a question includes: When did my great grandfather immigrate to the United States? With this question you know a name you need to focus on and what records will be need to be utilized.

Once on Ancestry.com you can focus in on immigration/ship records for clues. Census records would also be useful with this question as they may state the year of immigration.

Keeping a journal of your genealogical questions with short research notes will also keep you organized. Once one question is answered or taken as far as you can over a period of time, you can create another question and move onto more research.

5. Be flexible with general searches

When first beginning a search on Ancestry.com, be as specific as possible. Include as much of the name, birth/death date, and locations as you are able to. Have tunnel vision and stay on the straight and narrow right off the bat. However, after you have results for specific information, begin to branch out and relax your details.

You can be as specific as you want with various search categories.

Try entering in a date of birth range instead of a specific year. Expand the birth or death location to surrounding counties or states of their last known residence.

Don’t forgot to be flexible with the spelling of names. Census records, especially, were recorded phonetically and the spelling may not be how you know it to be. Often people went by their nicknames or middle names so don’t disregard an entire household just because one name is not correct.

Ancestry.com is a great starting point for any researcher. However, Ancestry.com does not do the research for you. Use common sense, compare records, take hints and other family trees with a grain of salt and your research can flourish. And remember…Ancestry.com is not the only source out there. It only scratches the surface of sources out there on the web and in person.

Six weeks ago my grandpa Hans passed away. My last grandparent. The feeling of no longer having grandparents and with that loss the history gone, is an odd feeling.

Growing up I knew very little of my grandfather’s family. I would occasionally hear about a relative, but I only remember one of his sisters. When a family tree class project in my junior year of high school showed just how little I knew, I began my decades long journey through history.

My grandfather, Hans

The few details….

I started with my grandma and grandpa’s names: Mildred (Kuhn) and Hans Kunze. Except for the fact that my grandpa was a German immigrant, that was all I could tell you. I began asking questions. If there is one beginner’s rule of genealogy it is this: Ask the older generation questions! Do this before it is too late. I admit that I never asked my grandfather many questions and I should have. I did ask my aunt what she knew and got a few details.

The cemetery where my grandmother was buried provided my first clue. I decided to do a search online of that cemetery and see if there were others buried there with the last name Kunze. Luckily, the cemetery had a website listing all of the burials with plot information. I was elated when I found two grave sites: one for Emma Kunze and the other for Carl Kunze. My research then took me down a path of discovering my German roots.

My great grandmother, Emma Heinemann-Kunze

A History Uncovered…

1930 census records told me that the Kunze family was in America by that time. I also knew my grandfather was born in 1921. I narrowed down the immigration between late 1921 and 1929. For that time frame I knew the best bet for finding their immigration records was Ellis Island. (When I started my genealogy research the internet was no where near the scope it is today. Much of my research for the immigration records came several years after I started my research.)

After years of research, one of the best genealogical days for me was finding the immigration ship records. Carl came to the United States first in 1925 and Emma and their children came several months later in 1926. However, I didn’t just have the years of immigration. The ship record gave me the name of Emma’s father back in Germany. I finally got a name of a great great grandparent. I also was able to see the names of all of my grandpa Hans’ siblings.

From those records I was able to do more research on Hans’ parents and siblings by looking for obituaries in the local library where they lived. I also was able to go to the Health Department in the county where they lived and acquire death records.

The fortified brick wall….

The stopping point for the records I could find came quickly. The Kunze family was fairly new to the United States so the records are limited here. The records I did find often said ‘unknown’ in slots such as ‘parents names’. Also, because of privacy laws and records being restricted for a certain number of years, records are hard to come by right now for the time period I need.

My recent research has focused on Germany. Searching for records in other countries is not without its own headaches. Germany sustained heavy destruction in both world wars thus making records harder to find. Searches for Carl or Emma (Heinemann) Kunze in Germany have been fruitless but the chipping away at the brick wall will continue on.

A tribute to a hero…

The funeral for my grandfather was in one word: perfect. The military tribute, gun salute, playing of Taps, and American flags presented to our family made me incredibly proud to call him my grandfather.

My grandfather, Hans Kunze

He was a soldier in the Army during World War II fighting against the country he had left only 16 years earlier. The same country his brother, aunts, and uncles still lived in. He earned 5 bronze stars and a sliver star for gallantry for pulling men from a downed plane before it exploded. He marched into his home country proud to be American and fought for us all.

Now, in a sense, I feel like part of my history is gone. My connection to Germany somehow lost. My goal is to keep that piece of my family alive through my genealogy. I vow to find out what ultimately happened to my grandfather’s brother, discover who Carl’s parents were, and in all hope- one day visit the town where Emma and Carl were born.

Piece by piece that brick wall will come down. I will see the other side and forever keep Germany my heart and mind.