"our name in history" ancestry book?

Question

I have a very unusual name and order one of these books of ancestry, but since heard quite bad reviews about them. It is a present for my dad and is set to arrive on christmas eve. I am very scared that it will be completely irrelevent, any one ordered these books before, did you like it?

Answer 1

I have heard nothing but bad things about them. There is no way anyone could research a specific family and produce hard-cover results for $29.99.



I am a serious amateur, not a professional. Every year our church has a talent auction. People offer gourmet meals for 8, tree-trimming, baby-sitting (the teens offer that), engine tune-ups, a day of sailing on the bay, etc. I always offer 20 hours of research, with a minimum bid of $150. My item usually goes for $200 or so. Professional rates start at $25/hour and go up to $100. What the winning bidder gets from me is a 20 - 30 page print-out from my genealogy program, "Ancestors of {name}", in a Kinko's binding, and a CD. I can usually get back to 1850 on three or four lines. I don't travel for them and I don't send away for transcriptions. I rely heavily on my Ancestry subscription, especially the census images.



I'm not offering to work for you at those rates. I'm giving you an example of what might be possible for $200, from a serious amateur.



You might work out a deal like that through a poor but honest widow; if you are interested, call your county genealogical society. (She shouldn't be honest enough to tell the IRS what she is doing, and you should pay her in cash.) ($400 would be more like it, but if you have handyman or yard skills you might work out a swap.)



Ancestry is not staffed by poor but honest widows, and they pay taxes. What you are going to get for $29.99 will be what anyone with your surname will get for $29.99; a list of famous people with your surname, and a list of people with your surname who are in the telephone book. It will be up to you to make or prove the connections to your specific family.

Answer 2

As long as you don't assume that it's going to be a history of your particular family, it may be interesting -- especially if you have an unusual surname.



My dad bought one of these many years ago -- we have a fairly uncommon surname as well, and we enjoyed reading the info -- because although it had nothing to do with our immediate family, it did have some good general info about the surname and gave us a few clues about where to look. I wrote letters to all of the people listed in the back of the book and found several distant cousins we could prove links to.



That said, you can probably find the same information on-line these days. If your dad is computer savvy and you can afford it, why not include a subscription to ancestry.com -- where you can find more relevant family records if you're willing to do some research. Or if he's not into computers and you have the time, include a "gift certificate" promising to do some research with or for him?



I did this for my MIL -- we sat down and I interviewed her about what she remembered about her family. We had a wonderful time and got to know each other better, and it didn't cost me anything but some time.

Answer 3

What is wrong about the books is they somehow assume everyone with the same surname are related or shares ancestors. Some will say we are all related if we go back far enough. But the root person of your surname will not necessarily be the root person of someone else with your surname.



People in Europe did not have a surname until the last millenium. In the Netherlands they didn't have one until the reign of Napoleon. In England most had one by the end of the 14th century.



They were usually based on a)being the son of someone b)their occupation c)where they lived d)some characteristic about them. When they got through taking or being assigned a surname, it wasn't impossible for legitimate sons of the same man to have a different surname and still each could have shared their surname with others to whom they were not related.



I understand they were usually started not so much to identify a person as a member of a family but for taxation purposes. If they had several men named Isadore in a village they had to tell them apart. So if an Isadore had a father whose name was John he might have become Isadore Johnson or Isadore Jones. However, there might have been another Isadore whose father's name was John so he took the name of his occupation. He became Isadore Baker, Isadore Taylor, Isadore Cook. Still another Isadore had a father named John and he happened to have black hair. He became Isadore Black.



Peddlers who sell surname products like coats of arms etc usually have a family history with them. Unfortunately, many people have been misled if they saw one with their surname over or under it and read the history. Then they started to do their own family history and they wasted time because they followed the history they had read.

Answer 4

My family purchased one many years ago. It was impressive as far as the binding goes. It contained very general information about the Surname but did provide things such as various Coat of Arms that had been used in relation to the Surname. If I had the extra cash in all likelihood I would purchase one just to have around now.

I don't think such a gift for anyone would be looked upon with disfavor by the recipient. It could even be a connection to the past for them and the stimulus to start them out on the road to know more of their family history.

Rolling Thunder

Answer 5

a cousin gave me one like that, that they had bought..

and the only thing personal was the names and phone listings (most of which were not correct to begin with).

The "general" history did not mean anything, since without research, it did not connect to anyone.. and most of us long time researchers know that family crests/ coats of arms DO NOT ever belong to a surname.

Ted's reply is completely accurate.. I have no idea who/why would thumbs down the information.

Answer 6

I bought one many years ago. Mine had a standard history of the world, migration patterns, explanations of emigrations and immigrations etc. The only thing I got out of it was the insert of several (10-20) families with the same name. It did allow me to contact them and started me researching seriously. With computers it is probably easier (message boards) to do this, but it may impress your dad.

Answer 7

Books like that are completely ineffective for kinfolk tree. not all human beings with an analogous surname are suitable and shares ancestors. the only way a individual might nicely be conscious of their origins is to music their kinfolk going back one technology at a time. you do not hint your call. Surnames are effectual in figuring out human beings. maximum folk in Europe did not have one until the final melennium. They have been in accordance with a) being the son of somebody, i.e., Johnson, Jones, Johns skill son of John. are you able to think of what number adult men named John that had sons or adult men named Williamson, Williams etc have been son of adult men named William. b) their profession: Barber, Taylor, chippie, Clark(clerk), Baker, Miller, Fisher, Smith c) the place they lived. Sam that lived on a hill became Sam Hill. it ought to be for the call of the city or fortress they lived on the portion of and a individual could make a mistake in assuming in view that they had an ancestor residing close to a fortress with an analogous call that by some skill they're related to the Lord of the Manor. d) some function approximately them. adult men with brown hair in many cases took the call Brown. different names White or Whitehead, short, Stout, Sharp, Black etc. maximum in England had one by the top of the 14th century. although, valid sons of an analogous guy might have wound up with a diverse surname yet nevertheless they might have each and every shared their surname with others with whom they weren't suitable. It replaced right into a pair of greater centuries, in many cases, the place an analogous surname replaced into surpassed down from father to son contained in direction of the generations. If the e book is on the Ancestry.Com internet site, is it being cautioned by Ancestry.Com or is it basically an commercial on their internet site? The surname product organization isn't an extremely respected one with genealogist. in many cases cases they sell coats of hands(misnomer kinfolk crest) as though they belong to all human beings with a particular surname. in many cases the coats of hands and the kinfolk historic previous that incorporates them are valid yet they do basically not prepare to each individual with that call.