The First Internet Era and Free Genealogy
Disappearing data
The First Internet Era 1993—
There was the era of free genealogy! Yes, it was found throughout the Internet. Programs uploaded family group sheets. It was the beginning of sharing.
Census records were recorded and posted for almost every state and county. You could find the desired information….it just took a little pleasant digging.
Genealogies were not always indexed because they were written in the family group sheet format. Although most original family group sheets uploaded to the Internet were taken down, you might still find some.
In 1983, Ancestry came online and began building the structure of online census records and other data only available from the Federal Archives. Eventually, all of the free Internet data was purchased by Ancestry or was removed. After Ancestry was sold several times, it began featuring widespread DNA testing. However, the recent hacking of the online DNA tests at 23andMe and Ancestry has caused some significant threats to privacy issues.
“Yes, we understand the value you can gain from Y-DNA and mtDNA test results, however we've decided to retire these tests in order to invest more aggressively in our core Ancestry.com business, such as AncestryDNA -- the autosomal DNA test which surveys a person's genome at over 700,000 locations.” (statement issued by ancestry.com) LegacyDNA FAQs - Ancestry.com
Census data is available on microfilm at most regional libraries. My favorite is Cobb County Regional Library in Marietta, Georgia. In addition to the census data, the most valuable results come from searching old wills and estates.
Where to find Important Genealogy Resources that Help Find Ancestors__
Online Wills, Estates, and Marriages (AL, GA, KY, NC, SC, TN, VA). This site also includes a vast collection of genealogies and books from every State, plus England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Germany, and Scandinavia. It comprises over one terabyte of genealogy. One terabyte (TB) equals 83,333,333.33 pages of a Word document. The Pioneerfamilies LLC websites have been online for over 25 years and are still growing!
County records in other states are available online familysearch