Comments on: Former Friends Reunite After 34 Years

By: Clip

Clip — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 12:53:05 +0000

nice.That is intresting

By: James

James — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 21:38:42 +0000

I have a private tree because there is some info that I don’t want to share with the world.
If I get a member connection and I view their tree, I often find they have the wrong information and send them a message giving them the correct info for their particular ancestor. Sometimes I get a return message thanking me for helping them out, but mostly I don’t get a reply at all and when I view their tree again I find they have added the info I gave them anyway.
So Karen it goes both ways.

By: Don Knupp

Don Knupp — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:17:42 +0000

In response to Karen #1, Jana Lloyd #3, and others:

Here are some thoughts from a private tree owner (myself).

I originally started with my tree being public hoping that people would see it and start sharing similar information.

What happened was that people started copying my information over to their own trees which was fine. Since I was also trying to find clues to my own family history I contacted these people. Not only did I NOT receive replies but these people made their trees private.

Since some people seem to want to play their “one-way” games I decided to make my tree private. I am more than happy to share with anyone who is willing to return the favor. I am not happy to share with people who take but do not give.

For anyone who gets a hint that that points to my private tree I invite you to contact me through Ancestry.com Member Connect service. I am happy to share if you also have something to share.

I, myself, have contacted private tree owners. Some are willing to share some are not. Those that have been willing to share I have obtained valuable information from and hopefully they got useful information from my tree.

SOME of us who make our trees private are not bad people or “one-way” but have been “burned” by others who are “one-way”. For those of you who get hints that point to private trees my suggestion is to try to contact the owner and see if they will share with you. If they are willing to share you may get some useful information. If they are not willing to share all you can do is move on. This comes from personal experience.

If anyone would like engage in further discussion on this through this blog or through Member Connect I would be willing to share further.

By: Peggy Thrailkill

Peggy Thrailkill — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:32:16 +0000

Mike Chilquist,
I am your Aunt Peggy Thrailkill. Yesterday, Uncle Bill & I had lunch with your sister Susan. Contact me at thrailkills@cox.net, Uncle Bill & I will put you in touch with your sister and cousins and Great Aunts.

Peggy Thrailkill

By: Liz

Liz — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:32:35 +0000

My mom in Pennsylvania and her cousin, who now lives in Texas, just reconnected through Ancestry.com and are seeing each other this weekend for the first time over in 60 years! Its wonderful to bring families and friends together again… Ancestry.com is an amazing website.

By: Michael Chilquist

Michael Chilquist — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:54:52 +0000

This note made me feel great. I just received the death certificate of my father. I always felt he abandoned me, and now since I know he is dead, I feel how alone he must have been. I am still looking for my mother Diane and sister Susan.
Mike

By: Jana Lloyd

Jana Lloyd — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:17:55 +0000

Ellen, that is fantastic. Thank you for sharing! I get to hear wonderful stories almost every day about people making connections with living relatives through Ancestry.com and it is one of the best parts of my job.

Best of luck and thanks again for taking the time to share your story.

By: Jana Lloyd

Jana Lloyd — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:15:16 +0000

Karen, I hope that as people with private family trees continue to have positive experiences with members like you who are willing to share their information they will slowly see the value of making their trees public. However, we will always respect the rights of those who want to keep their information private.

I appreciate your feedback, but since I don’t have any control over Member Connect, I suggest you submit your suggestion to our Member Connect team. You can email them at memberconnectfeedback@tgn.com. They always welcome feedback and are constantly improving the product based on our users’ comments.

Best of luck with your family history research and thank you for taking the time to write in!

By: Ellen M Dobos

Ellen M Dobos — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 20:17:09 +0000

This is a great article – I just found my cousin living in Sweden, and we haven’t corresponded for over 40 years. Thank you Ancestry, your links and trees that gave us an opportunity we may not have had. Ellen

By: Karen

Karen — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:37:29 +0000

I like Member Connect and seeing the activity on my tree. I have a public tree and share everything I have to help others find their families. What I DON’T like about Member Connect is the lack of settings. I don’t mind freely sharing information with other Ancestry members who do the same with me. I do not wish to share all my hard work and records with Private Member Trees, who share nothing with me or others. Where is there or could you make a setting on the Member Connect portion of my trees that at least allows me NOT to share my info and work with Private Member Trees?