Genealogical Research, Ancestry.com, and Archives by Christine Garrett A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Auburn University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters of Arts in History Auburn, Alabama May 14, 2010 Copyright 2010 by Christine Garrett Approved by Robert J. Jakeman, Chair, Associate Professor of History Reagan Grimsley, Assistant Professor of History Kenneth W. Noe, Professor of History Abstract Genealogy is one of the most popular leisure activities in the world. Until the 1990s, genealogical research was conducted either by visiting at or corresponding with physical repositories. The rise of the Internet, particularly the growing popularity of Ancestry.com, challenges archival institutions’ role as a main research location. To discover how much Ancestry.com has affected genealogical research and archives, this study includes a survey of genealogical researchers at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. Although the survey yielded useful information, the results cannot be considered as representative of genealogists as a group because of the limited number of participants (thirty) and the administration of the survey at only one location. Instead, the survey serves as a pilot project to promote further study of Ancestry.com. The survey showed that most of the participants use Ancestry.com, yet relatively few have subscriptions to the Web site. Instead they use the free access available at the archives. Participants like Ancestry.com’s ease of use, speed, and access to numerous records. They consider the site another tool to help them in their genealogical research, a tool that will not replace their need to research at physical repositories. Survey participants continue to visit archival repositories to receive help from staff and to access original records and records not available online. Thus, while Ancestry.com has made genealogical research easier, it has not replaced the need to visit archives for the participants in the survey. ii Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... ii List of Tables ............................................................................................................................... iv List of Abbreviations ................................................................................................................. viii Chapter 1: History of Genealogical Research ............................................................................ 1 Chapter 2: Ancestry.com ........................................................................................................... 19 Chapter 3: Literature Review ................................................................................................... 36 Chapter 4: Survey Methodology .............................................................................................. 61 Chapter 5: Survey Results and Analysis .................................................................................. 78 Chapter 6: Conclusion.............................................................................................................. 136 References Cited ....................................................................................................................... 142 References Consulted ................................................................................................................ 149 iii List of Tables Table 1: Number of Years of Experience ................................................................................. 79 Table 2: For Whom Participants Research ............................................................................... 81 Table 3a: Other Research Locations by Years of Experience .................................................. 82 Table 3b: Other Research Locations by Professional/NonProfessional Status ......................... 84 Table 4a: How Learned about Genealogical Research at ADAH by Years of Experience ...... 85 Table 4b: How Learned about Genealogical Research at ADAH by Professional/NonProfessional Status .......................................................................................... 87 Table 5a: Records Used at Archives by Years of Experience .................................................. 88 Table 5b: Records Used at Archives by Professional/NonProfessional Status ......................... 90 Table 6a: Genealogy Web Sites Used by Years of Experience ................................................ 91 Table 6b: Genealogy Web Sites Used by Professional/NonProfessional Status ....................... 92 Table 7a: Use of Ancestry.com by Years of Experience ......................................................... 93 Table 7b: Use of Ancestry.com by Professional/NonProfessional Status ................................. 94 Table 8a: Parts of Ancestry.com Used by Years of Experience ............................................... 95 Table 8b: Parts of Ancestry.com Used by Professional/NonProfessional Status ...................... 96 Table 9a: Personal Subscriptions to Ancestry.com by Years of Experience ............................ 97 Table 9b: Personal Subscriptions to Ancestry.com by Professional/NonProfessional Status ... 98 Table 10a: Use of Archival Institutions’ Free Access to Ancestry.com by Years of Experience .................................................................................................................................. 99 iv Table 10b: Use of Archival Institutions’ Free Access to Ancestry.com by Professional/NonProfessional Status ........................................................................................ 100 Table 11a: How Participants Learned about Ancestry.com by Years of Experience ............. 101 Table 11b: How Participants Learned about Ancestry.com by Professional/NonProfessional Status ......................................................................................................................................... 102 Table 12a: Checking Ownership of Records on Ancestry.com by Years of Experience ....... 103 Table 12b: Checking Ownership of Records on Ancestry.com by Professional/NonProfessional Status ........................................................................................ 104 Table 13a: Visiting Repositories to See Original Documents by Years of Experience .......... 104 Table 13b: Visiting Repositories to See Original Documents by Professional/NonProfessional Status ........................................................................................ 105 Table 14a: Reasons for Participants to See Documents by Years of Experience ................... 106 Table 14b: Reasons for Participants to See Documents by Professional/NonProfessional Status ......................................................................................................................................... 107 Table 15a: Ability to See Original or Copy by Years of Experience ..................................... 108 Table 15b: Ability to See Original or Copy by Professional/NonProfessional Status ............ 108 Table 16a: Participants’ Trust of Archival Copies by Years of Experience ........................... 109 Table 16b: Participants’ Trust of Archival Copies by Professional/NonProfessional Status .. 110 Table 17a: Visiting Repositories to See Other Records Held by Years of Experience .......... 111 Table 17b: Visiting Repositories to See Other Records Held by Professional/NonProfessional Status ........................................................................................ 111 Table 18a: Ancestry.com’s Effects on Participants’ Research by Years of Experience ........ 112 v Table 18b Ancestry.com’s Effects on Participants’ Research by Professional/NonProfessional Status ........................................................................................ 113 Table 19a: Success in Finding Information on Hard-to Locate Ancestors by Years of Experience ................................................................................................................................ 114 Table 19b: Success in Finding Information on Hard-to Locate Ancestors by Professional/NonProfessional Status ........................................................................................ 115 Table 20-1a: Ancestry.com’s Effect on Use of Archives by Years of Experience ................. 115 Table 20-1b: Ancestry.com’s Effect on Use of Archives by Professional/NonProfessional Status ......................................................................................................................................... 116 Table 20-2a: Increase or Decrease in Use of Physical Repositories by Years of Experience 116 Table 20-2b: Increase or Decrease in Use of Physical Repositories by Professional/NonProfessional Status ........................................................................................ 118 Table 21a: Records Participants Would Like on Ancestry.com by Years of Experience ...... 119 Table 21b: Records Participants Would Like on Ancestry.com by Professional/NonProfessional Status ........................................................................................ 120 Table 22a: Participants’ Views on Placement of Public Records on a Subscription-Based Web Site by Years of Experience ............................................................................................ 121 Table 22b: Participants’ Views on Placement of Public Records on a Subscription-Based Web Site by Professional/NonProfessional Status ................................................................... 122 Table 23a: Top Reasons for Researching Genealogy on Ancestry.com by Years of Experience ................................................................................................................................ 123 vi Table 23b: Top Reasons for Researching Genealogy on Ancestry.com by Professional/NonProfessional Status ........................................................................................ 125 Table 24a: Top Reasons for Researching Genealogy at Physical Locations by Years of Experience ................................................................................................................................ 126 Table 24b: Top Reasons for Researching Genealogy at Physical Locations by Professional/NonProfessional Status ........................................................................................ 128 Table 25a: Genealogical Research Location Preference by Years of Experience .................. 129 Table 25b: Genealogical Research Location Preference by Professional/NonProfessional Status ......................................................................................................................................... 130 Table 26a: Explanation of Preference for Researching at Physical Locations or Online by Years of Experience ................................................................................................................. 131 Table 26b: Explanation of Preference for Researching at Physical Locations or Online by Professional/NonProfessional Status ........................................................................................ 133 vii List of Abbreviations ADAH Alabama Department of Archives and History GEDCOM Genealogical Data Communication (see note seven for a definition) LDS The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as Mormons) NARA National Archives and Records Administration SSDI Social Security Death Index SAA Society of American Archivists SARC Southeastern Archives and Records Conference TGN The Generations Network (former name of Ancestry.com) viii Chapter 1: History of Genealogical Research Genealogical research in the United States, like numerous American pastimes, has its origins in Western Europe. The tracing of genealogical lineages in Western Europe dates back, at least, to St. Matthew’s gospel which was first written in Greek.1 From the time of St. Matthew in the first century until the sixteenth century, genealogy was primarily a tool of the aristocracy, used to prove one’s membership in noble or royal families and, thus, to affirm their entitlement to power and wealth. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries witnessed the beginnings of “modern scientific genealogy,” which required genealogies to be supported by documentary evidence and written down, not just repeated orally. The impetus on written proof resulted from economic and social factors of the times. The two centuries were rife with “economic instabilities and demographic crises” including the rise of new families to the nobility who sought to connect themselves to established families and the disappearance of many well-established lines. Coincidental with this instability was increased interest in literacy and history, which also contributed to the rise in genealogy’s popularity.2 1 Matthew 1: 1—17 NIV (New International Version). Although genealogies can be found throughout the Old Testament, genealogists, such as William Roskey, trace genealogy’s beginning to the New Testament. The reason for this apparent discrepancy is “[t]he word [genealogy] itself comes from two Greek words meaning birth and study, and . . . [in the New Testament] it appears in the original Greek. See William Roskey, “History for Genealogists.” In How to Trace Your Family Tree: A Complete and Easy to Understand Guide for the Beginner. Ed. American Genealogical Research Institute Staff, 7—14. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1975 for more on this topic. 2 American Genealogical Research Institute Staff. How to Trace Your Family Tree: A Complete and Easy to Understand Guide for the Beginner (Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, 1975), 2-3 and Hannah Little, “Archive Fever as Genealogical Fever: Coming Home to Scottish Archives,” Archivaria 64 (2007), 91. 1 The rise in literacy rates also contributed to the shift from oral to written genealogies. Until the twelfth century, genealogical information was transmitted orally, with the genealogy recorded in the Bible being an exception. As the population—beginning with royalty and the upper classes that were genealogy’s main practitioners—became more literate, reliance on oral transmission of information gave way to recordkeeping. The change from oral to written records, including genealogies, was a gradual development that was not firmly established until four centuries later and its progress varied geographically and by record type.3 Unlike their European relations, early settlers in the thirteen colonies did not spend much time, if any, tracing their ancestors. Given that they were trying to settle the New World they likely lacked the time and resources to pursue genealogical research. It was not until the 1700s that a few published genealogies appeared in the colonies. These early works included 1731’s Memoirs of Roger Clap, a 1763 Bollinger broadside, and Luke Stebbins’s The Genealogy of Mr. Samuel Stebbins and Hannah, his wife published in 1771. Stebbins’s work is considered by some to the first major American genealogical work. Like most early genealogists, Stebbins was interested in solely the lines of direct descent—brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles were not included.4 Despite these early examples of American genealogical activity, genealogy was not a popular pursuit of the new nation’s citizens or, at least, not one pursued in public. The American Revolution and the resulting independence of the United States had a significant 3 M. T. Clanchy. From Memory to Written Record: England 1066—1307, 2nd ed. (Padstow, Cornwall: T. J. Press Ltd., 1993), 68 provides just one example of the transition from orality to literacy. Little, “Archive Fever,” 91. 4 Elizabeth Shown Mills, “Genealogy in the ‘Information Age:’ History’s New Frontier,” National Genealogical Society Quarterly Centennial Issue 91 (2003), 262. 2