'I'm A Mormon' billboards going up from coast to coast since late last year.

[HeiressofBickworth]

17. I looked up the history of Ancestry.com

It apparently was founded by a couple of mormons, but it appears to be publicaly traded at this time. I would venture to guess that their majority shareholders are either the church as an entity or other mormons, either individually or as a group. Ancestry also owns Rootsweb.com, Genealogy.com, Footnote.com and MyFamily.com. There are others. See Wikipedia for the whole history.

Yes, as I've admitted before, these on-line resources make researching much easier. It's becoming easier to research but harder to find FREE resources to search. When I started nearly 40 years ago, public records were accessed either in person or by letter writing, including a check. Networking with other researchers was done primarily through the publication Genealogy Helper.

I've been to many courthouses, cemeteries and libraries across the country putting together my tree. There's a break between the in-person research I've done in this country and using other on-line sources for other countries. I can't afford to travel there and couldn't read the record in another language (including early English!) even if I could travel there. Others have done the hard part for which I am heartily grateful.