ANCESTRY.COM SELLS FOR $1.6 BILLION
Brenda Kellow
November 11, 2012
The European private equity firm Permira bought Ancestry.com for $1.6 billion dollars. That is a $32 cash sale. CEO Tim Sullivan said in a statement. “We’re excited that Permira shares our commitment to keep investing in our technology and product experience to make family history easy and accessible for more and more families around the world. Their strong investment track record in the technology and Internet sectors makes them a terrific advisor and partner as we take the company forward.” The deal should take place early in 2013. Ancestry will continue to be based in Provo, Utah.
Ancestry was founded 29 years ago and has over two million paying subscribers. Although it took a while to acquire that many paying subscribers, the payoff is a nice one.
Family history researchers hope it continues to grow and enlarge over many years to come.
SAR CHRISTMAS PARTY: The Sons of the American Revolution have their annual Christmas Party at Canyon Creek Country Club on December 4, at 7 p.m. On the menu is turkey, dressing and all the trimmings. Reservations are required by November 15. For more information, go to their website, www.planosar.org or contact President Dan Reed at [email protected].
GENEALOGY FOR NOVICES: Where Do We Begin? Tips for the beginning genealogist or family historian will be offered including organization skills, home sources, personal interviews, and jurisdiction of some original records. Free Webinar November 14 at 1 pm. Register at www.legacyfamilytree.com. Professional genealogist Linda Geiger is the speaker.
THE BIG 4 U.S. RECORD SOURCES: Mary Hill will conduct a webinar on. Research in the United States depends upon census, vital, land, and probate records, the bread and butter of American research. Get an overview of each type of record. Learn where to find them and how to use them effectively in your research on November 28 on Wednesday at 1:00 p.m.
SEARCH INTERNET ARCHIVE: This free site has the census records from 1790 to 1930 that they have scanned from microfilm from collections of the Allen County Public Library who previously scanned those censuses from the National Archives in Washington, D.C. This is not an index but scanned images only. Internet Archive, http://archive.org/, also has digitized books and historical texts as well as items on genealogy, Scottish directories to Confederate records.
DO YOU CORRECT INTERNET ERRORS? Are you finding transcription errors in online records? Do you correct them? At Ancestry.com, you can do just that. I have been busy making corrections I have found on the 1940 census. Anyone can make a transcription error, but failing to correct an error is a shame. It only takes a minute. On the left side of the screen, click on “Leave a comment.” It will ask for your user name and ask how you know of the discrepancy. After a couple of days, you will receive an email from Ancestry thanking you for submitting alternate data to Ancestry.com. Correct it. Be a Genie Angel.
GENEALOGY RESEARCH: On my website, www.genealogyresearch.weebly.com, are articles to help with your research that I have written over the years. These came about when readers or students asked, “How Do I …” Several people I grew up with in Plano have emailed me to remind me of fun things we did as kids growing up. For fun, I began putting some of these into Memoirs on the site. You have to remember that back then, everybody knew everybody else. When someone reported to Mother that Brenda did it, there was no other Brenda to blame. Honestly, sometimes I did those things while I did not do other things. I was never experimental or overly brave so my stories are certainly G-rated.
FREE HELP WITH RESEARCH: Do you feel the need for a wonderful person to help you with a research support or research help? GenerousGenealogists.com is that place to go for help. They have a newsletter you might want to receive. It covers many topics. Just give them a user name, password and your real name and you use it free. http://generousgenealogists.com/.
Brenda Kellow has a bachelor's degree in history, teaches, and lectures on genealogy. Before retiring to publish her family’s histories in 2007, Brenda held certification as a Certified Genealogist and as a certified Genealogical Instructor. Send reunion announcements, books to review, and genealogy queries to: [email protected].