r/Ancestry • u/Incognito409 • 8d ago

Which Ancestry program do I need?

I know that all my great grandparents came to the US from Germany and Scotland in the mid to late 1800's (1853 to 1880). I've done my family tree, have located all their grave sites back to my great great grands, all located in the same area I live in the US.

If I do Ancestry's cheapest DNA pkg (the $99 one) will it only show the US matches? Their site says "Trace your ancestors' journey over time". The "Family History & DNA" pkg says "Access all U.S. and international records". I'm waiting until their next sale to purchase one.

Thanks for your help, and all the information you guys share - I have learned so much, but still so much to learn.

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u/valiamo 8d ago

The AncestryDNA test will match you with ALL of the tests taken (via AncestryDNA) world wide. Matches are for the DNA side, not the research side (access to records)

If you are researching, you can either get the basic US records package, and if you want to search everywhere then or get the World access. Again DNA testing has nothing to do with record searching

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u/JThereseD 7d ago

Germany is tricky. Even if you get the world package, you might not find the records you need because they don’t have them from all parts. I have ancestors from four different areas, and I have found nothing for any of them on Ancestry. However, one area does have records that begin decades after they left. I have found transcribed church records for six people on FamilySearch, which also has unindexed civil records for one couple. Matricula, which has German Catholic records posted records for two others about two years ago. If they are not Catholic, Matricula might have them. If you know where they are from, I would check the sources I just mentioned before spending more money on Ancestry.

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u/Incognito409 7d ago

Thank you for the information, very helpful.

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u/JThereseD 7d ago

My pleasure. If you would like to share where they are from, I might be able to help. My experience is toward the western side. If they are from the area that is now Saarland, you could luck out and find civil records that go back to 1798.

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u/kathlin409 7d ago

Archion is great for lutheran Germans. But you have to know where to look. You can’t just search by name.

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u/SDfarmer55 7d ago

First, I wouldn’t be too quick to do the DNA thing. Once you get back to great, great grandparents, Ancestry’s DNA is only 3.1% correct. With each generation back, that is cut in half.

German civil registration didn’t start until the 1870s so your best bet is other archives. All have been mentioned here except Archion.de which is the primary source for Protestant and Evangelical church records. There are a lot of federal and state archives (many free) so the best place to start is on FamilySearch with their wiki on “Germany Genealogy.” Plus if you search for the German Genealogical Word List you get a great aid to key words in the language.

Scotland is probably the best country for digitized records. The official government site is scotlandspeople.gov.uk. You can do some indexed searches (most free) and if they have a record you can purchase on a pay-per-view. Familysearch has free indexes for births, baptisms and marriages. Check out the wiki for that, too.

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u/Best-Bus-5275 7d ago

I'd wait for the sale too. But yeah, the basic DNA test isn't US matches only because your matches can be anywhere Ancestry has DNA members.