by Jan Alpert, NGS President
Since I'm a genealogist, I have saved many printed emails in my genealogy files. Some of them are almost 20 years old. I remember being on a research trip in DC with a friend who had begun to use CompuServe because it had a genealogy forum where you could post surname queries. I went home and signed up. I believe it was the spring of 1992. Of course, it was dial-up and slow - very slow by today's standards! Dial-up access in those days might cost as little as $5 per hour for limited service, nights and weekends, and up to $18 per hour for daytime service.
The year stands out in my memory because it was August 1992 when I discovered my ancestor Martha Allen Carrier was a witch. Up to that point, I had been researching her husband and children, who had moved to Connecticut. I had posted an online query about the Carrier surname, and someone responded that she was one of the accused witches who was hanged. I found it a remarkable coincidence that I would discover what happened to Martha so near the 300th anniversary of her death.
Based upon some of my printed emails, it looks like I was on CompuServe for about 5 years, moving to AOL in 1997. I am amazed at how many distant relatives I have found because of surname lists. I haven't changed my email address since because I don't want to lose touch with those distant cousins.
When did you first use online resources for genealogy?
I started on Prodigy in 1991, because I got a modem to use at work and it came with a free Prodigy disk, soon I was on Prodigy almost every night, and later became a Special Contributor and Chat Host. Hard to believe it was that long ago, but I still have my Prodigy E-Mail address.
ReplyDeleteYes, and I was one of many that were helped in our research by you, Charles Hansen. I was half-scared to post, and then was so pleasantly surprised when you responded!
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