Making the Most of Ancestry.Com for Your Family History Research

Ancestry.com databases now contain billions of records scanned and indexed from public sources in the US and around the world. This course helps individual learners make the most of Ancestry.com databases to study their family’s histories, including using research tools available in the US and other national censuses: vital records (birth, death and marriage), military and pension records, land and property records, and immigration records. The course will be a mix of lectures about the nature of public records available on Ancestry.com and discussions in the chat room about how to search the records. The course will give special attention to studying those whose ancestors lived in Maine, and, more generally, to studying women ancestors regardless of their location. The course will not ask participants for any information about their DNA or make use of Ancestry.com’s DNA testing.

Jim Oberly is a retired professor of history. He has taught workshops on using Ancestry.com for Sunrise Senior College, for SAGE in Presque Isle, and for Minneapolis 55+ Community Education.