Did You See that AmericanAncestors.org is Free July 10-17 2018? [closed]

Question

American Ancestors, a service by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, is offering free access to all its online databases--including the recently released Mayflower Families Fifth Generation Descendants, 1700-1880--from Tuesday, July 10, through Tuesday, July 17.

You do need to be registered as a Guest Member in order to search the databases, but there is no charge and no credit card required to access its more than 1.4 billion names on file. Useful to all searching for American (and other) records, it is particularly valuable to those with a New England heritage. And this offers a free trial for those may wish to join American Ancestors.

Thanks for the heads-up to David Allen Lambert (@DLGenealogist and The Past Finder blog), Chief Genealogist at NEHGS.

Comments

Can you give an example of the sort of thing they might have, "above and beyond"? I have a couple of gt-gt-gt grandfathers with New England roots, myself. There's a shaky connection or two "back there" that would expand my tree greatly, if they could be firmed up.

I visited the NEHGS long ago, and it was quite a place!

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If it's your first time using the site, look to see whether the recent webinar on getting the most out of the site is available for replay.  It offered lots of good tips for using the site's search engine effectively.  It's at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsFL2vliTGA

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I have been a member of NEHGS for several years, but I have never done anything with American Ancestors as I have no idea how to do anything there.  Like, how do I find that Mayflower to the 5th generation thing?

bigusmith@yahoo.com

EuGene Smith

Answer 1

I am a happy subscriber to americanancestors.org. If you have New England roots, this is the site for the most inclusive records, particularly for Connecticut and Massachusetts. At less than $90 a year, I consider it a bargain. I encourage you all to take advantage of the free time period; you won't be disappointed!

Comments

And if you are ever in Boston, they have a wonderful library and helpful staff.

Answer 2

I'm another enthusiastic member of NEHGS.

In addition to the benefits already mentioned here, registered guests get access to some good content on the NEHGS website that isn't readily available on other free sites.

And I have found the helpful NEHGS staff to be far more responsive to online users than the staff of other genealogical research sites. When I report an error in a transcript, it gets fixed and I get a response within day or two!

Comments

Ditto what Ellen said. I've had the opportunity to report a couple of transcript errors, and received fast, and personal responses. As Ellen says, other content can be invaluable - back issues of The American Genealogist, the NEHG Register, and articles by, and compilations overseen by, Donald Lines Jacobus, just to name a few. In the NEHG Register I've found Connecticut Cemetery Inscriptions done in 1912-13 that are more accurate than Hale's collection (which is more data extracted from gravestones, rather than the actual inscription, which is sometimes more valuable than the mere data summation).

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Thanks Ellen and Jim (and Edison), I don't have any early American ancestry, but I know they have published some key European Aristocrat related articles over the years, so I will definitely have a look to see what is available.

Answer 3

Thank you for this post Ellen!

"Highlights include the world's largest Mayflower database" --

Comments

It said, it is not free, it only gives you so much, then you have to pay

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I know that is disappointing, Brenda. OTOH, I can't imagine what it costs for NEHGS to keep up their huge database and keep it online. I think they do their best -- they have in the past had a free set of databases each month, rotating through their large inventory - I think they still do that. Yes, to access any of the data at any time, there is an annual fee, which is still under $90 (I think). I understand that is still not in the reach of many who want to use the data.

Have you checked with a Family History Center near you? Most of the LDS churches have a space dedicated to genealogy, and they pay for access to various databases - I'm pretty sure one is ancestry, and don't know about NEHGS. There is a trade - less convenience and more time consuming, or paying more for unlimited, private access.

I have found that our large Multnomah County library in Portland, Oregon will scan and send me digital copies of NEHGS publications, like TAG, if I can give them a specific date, volume, page # and title, and/or author. So If I know the article I want, and it has not yet been added to the database, I can phone the library.

One great advantage to having a membership is the convenient "print" 'button' on every page, and I can choose either print to paper or download to my computer.

Perhaps you could ask relatives for a group birthday gift one year? It is amazing how much work can get done in a year.

I wish to be encouraging and but don't know your situation.