I cannot seem to figure out how to access this information...it says to open and search but when I search for the name that initially gave me the link/clue to rootsweb obit index? It comes up as sorry, no result. How can a persob READ or SEE the obituaries that are listed as being available in the index??

I'm with you--this seems completely useless.

And I guess its going to stay that way too...I guess Im too ignorant to figure out how the seemingly useless information is suppose to work and you know, its too bad because even wading through the inaccuracies, obits can be such a treasure trove of information. I wish there was a more concise, accurate and useful way to access the information otherwise what is the point of ancestry putting the "link" to no where on the site?

Add me to the confused too.

All I can think of it was/is a marketing tool to say they've added X number of names, additional info, etc.

There's another similar data base that [I think] has to do with those who fought in the Revolutionary War. The name of your ancestor leads you to another "paid" database where they don't tell you the fee but say that Ancestry.com subscribers get a 50% discount if you join so you can view their data (of course they don't give you any hint what that data might be). I don't know why, but for some reason I feel this is a bit misleading to all the Acom subscribers. By listing data from another paid subscription service it's kind of double-dipping by Ancestry.com. I'm quite sure Acom gets compensated by the other company for the "leads" or the advertising.

This is a pet peeve of mine with cable TV. I pay for the cable to have something to watch 24X7 but after midnight half the channels are paid programming. So the cable company gets my money for the priviledge of watching something an advertiser also paid for.

Linda,

The three attached screenshot might help. That particular database contains no actual obituaries, it is just an index of where obituaries were published.

I would strongly disagree with the OP's statement that this database is useless

As to the site with the 50% discount... are you talking about Fold3? If so, that site is owned by Ancestry but run as a separate entity.

Andy Hatchett
www.fhiso.org

Andy,

Thanks. As to the Fold3, now that you say it's also owned by Ancestry.com, I'm really ticked.

I've been an Acom subscriber since they first started. I've pretty well picked clean the bulk of my ancestors. Each year, I have to think long & hard about $299 for my renewal. My biggest issue with continuing is the lack of useful new info available.

To find that Acom owns additional info & wants even more than my $299 is a big pill for me to swallow. If Fold3 is, in fact, solely about the Revolutionary War, how much useful info would I expect to find? I'd bet half the subscribers don't even have a Revolutionary War ancestor in their tree! I know of 3 direct ancestors in my family & at least 2 who were brothers to direct ancestors but I can't imagine what info there is to be gleaned for MORE money.

I don't know about you, but money is tight & inflation is killing me. I'm on a fixed income & don't have spare funds to throw around. I am sorely disappointed in Acom. Is this how we can expect other "new" info to be obtained, by paying ala carte over & above the world subscription?

Linda

Sorry, I know it's not your doing, there's just no one else to vent with/at, lol

Linda,
BTW Fold3 is far more than the Revolutionary War. It is focused more or less primarily on military records, but it does have some City Directories and other items.

It is particularly useful for Confederate Civil War era documents. I have not need to search for many Union documents, as my Yankee branch arrived mostly after the 1860s. The few times I've tried Fold3 for Union records, I was disappointed, that might just be the area I was searching.

It also has more recent records pertaining to World War II.

Hope this helps.

Because of copyright issues, the actual obituaries cannot be on the site. Members instead create an index of citation information of the obituary in the following format: Name, age at death, location, periodical abbreviation, date of periodical publication, username of poster.

If you find your individual in the index, you can then Google search the periodical abbreviation to get the actual periodical. Then you can request the obituary from them as you'd have the name and publication date.

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