Ancestry

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I wasn't quite sure how I would begin this discussion. I had a pretty good idea of how to and then ended up getting sidetracked and had forgotten exactly what I wanted to say. I guess I will have to improvise and try to remember all the key points I wanted to make. Finding out about ones ancestors is an exciting thing. Maybe not for everyone, but I have to say that I immensely enjoy immersing myself in the world that was my ancestors. It hasn't always been an easy thing to do, and I haven't even gone back to try to find out info about my grandmother's (father's mother's) parents. I did have a lead on one thing that had me side tracked for awhile but I will have to start from the beginning to find that lead again. It's made even harder when people who are also researching decide to give out false information. The majority of these people are just following what others are posting / writing up without doing their own research or verifications. Others, usually the ones posting the false information, want to do so to become part of a prestigious group. One such group is the Daughters of The American Revolution. I am not personally dealing with anyone else. I prefer to do my own research and look at documents myself. I won't go asking questions unless absolutely necessary, and I don't think I'll ever have the need to do that anyway. There are people who will intentionally put a wrong date for a birth or a death, who will make some cockamamie story about a person they never met, just so they can say that their "great great great uncle such and such fought in this or that war or was part of this or that movement." I don't care what my great great great whatever did in life. I don't need them to be part of any war (though one of them was, and I have proof) or done anything of remarkable value. I don't care about any of that. I want to know what they did for a living, where they lived, who they married, and what their children's names were. I want to know if they knew how to read and write, if they went to church. Someone in my family is doing research on my mother's side of things while I am doing the same but for my father's side. The researcher for my mother's side has related to me about a guy who has tried to convince my relative to sign myself and his daughter up for the DAR or Daughters of The American Revolution. This same person is also one of the ones to falsify the information that is out there just so he can "prove" the legitimacy of his claim. I just shake my head and say "some people care about titles more than they do about family." I know there are several of us who are doing our own research and so I made this post as a reminder to always look for documented proof! Don't believe what someone else has said! Also, I can't remember the website off hand, but there is one such website that is offering free access (for this weekend? or maybe week?) to documents in Ireland and Scotland.