Community Chat

[luvingit]

On 1/30/2014 brownie917 said:

On 1/26/2014 Kathleen said:

I've used Ancestry for years and years. Can't remember when I first joined. One of my Mormon cousins "baptized" some of our ancestors. I can't see the problem. They are his ancestors as well as mine.

Genealogical research is great fun. We've even added DNA testing.

For some Christians baptism is a very important sacred rite and ones particular denomination is the preferred practice. Some Christians don't do baptize untll an age of accountability while others have it done to their children shortly after birth. Until recently the Vatican didn't recognize non-Catholic baptism. .... So, given how serious baptism can be to some, it could be very upsetting that a cult (and the Church of Latterday Saints is indeed a cult -- just research Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and read the wacky Book of Mormon) would post-humously baptize otherwise baptized people....And, it should be obvious why Jews are deeply offended their ancestors are being posthumously baptized.

And for 15 million of us Mormons, we take offense at being called a "cult". We know what a cult it and we are not that. Please do not research the Mormon church on the internet which is full of inaccurate facts. And if you read through the the B of M, you would find it is not wacky. Some people's religion is sacred to them and comments like yours are uncalled for. You do not understand why we research our ancestors and do temple work for them, you just get half the picture. We believe in eternal marriage and eternal families, married in the temple for the living and deceased. Having your children belong to your for eternity. As for the Jews, we respect their feelings and are trying to respect their wishes. Our goal is to focus on our own families/ ancestors.

[Luv2Decorate]

On 1/29/2014 redtabby said:

On 1/29/2014 Luv2Decorate said:

I thought I read that Ancestry.com will only search in the USA, does anybody know if that is true? I've looked at their website and it says that they can search US Census'. My Grand Parents came to the USA from Italy and my dad only had sister and she's is still alive, so I came to the conclusion that Ancestry wouldn't work for me. Am I right?

They have two levels of membership, US and International. Some Italian records have been added recently, they are in Italian. You would need to start with your Aunt, asking her as many questions as she can answer - your grandparent's full names, birthdates, birthtown. Find out if she knows their parents names. Death certificates (from the state or county) may have birthplace and parent's names. Try a free intro membership to see if the names come up in any records searches. Do not look at other people's family trees at the start.

Ancestry has passenger manifests, if you are lucky place of origin is included, ideally the town or province. Ellis Island also has lots of records at http://ellisisland.org/. If your grandparents were naturalized go to the courthouse and get their naturalization records. Familysearch.org also has Italian records, most are not indexed yet. That site is free.

Don't forget to research your mother's line, too.

Thanks for the info! My mom's side is already done (thank goodness)