Ancestry.com may be genealogy's biggest subscription Web site, but it's not the only game in town. We tried out the “little guys” and found 10 small commercial sites worth your money.
Ancestry.com <
Ancestry.com
> has become the Goliath of online genealogy. With millions of digitized records, thousands of databases and a presence (through ads or links) on practically every other family history Web site in existence, this genealogical giant dwarfs the competition — so much so that some researchers don't even realize it has competition. But the truth is
Ancestry.com isn't the only place to spend your online dollar. In fact, a number of genealogical Davids — that is, smaller and upstart sites — are also aiming to get your business. These “little guys” (at least comparatively speaking) offer some of the same record sets as Ancestry.com, as well as resources you won't find in that site's colossal $155.40-a-year US records collection. Whether you're seeking a source for obscure records or simply an alternative to Ancestry.com, we recommend giving these 10 lesser-known subscription sites a shot.
Accessible Archives
<www.accessible.com>
County histories usually include biographies of local residents, and Accessible Archives makes 92 rare county histories from the Mid-Atlantic states accessible online. Search for a name anywhere in county histories from Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania, and you could discover priceless details about your ancestor's personality, exploits, education, religious affiliation, military service and careers. For example, a history of Schoharie County, NY, argues that contrary to his reputation in some camps as “a loud-mouthed Irishman” and “a cool, intrepid murderer,” my relative Timothy Murphy was actually a kindhearted man and a Revolutionary War patriot and hero.