Why is it so difficult to find active genealogy researchers of my family surname?

I have been pondering this Q? for many years now.

In years past, I have been blessed by corresponding with a few individuals, via postal mail, who shared a common goal, researching my specific family surname, ARNEY.  These people openly shared their research with me, even going as far as sending me copies of actual documents (they made copies of themselves), old photographs, etc.

With the introduction of the Internet, I believed this would make doing research much easier as well as connections with others doing the same research.  After all, if you cannot afford to travel to an area, to perform research yourself, finding someone else who lives in that area, and is also interested in actively researching the same family, is a "win-win" situation for both of you.

However, I have not found this to be the case.
I have found that many people are what I term, "stand on the shoulders of others", meaning they are not actually interested in doing any active research, but simply accept (blindly) the research they find of others, without regard to checking the sources, etc.

They are not willing to do any active research, and when shown "errors" in past research, they simply ignore it, or are not concerned with finding the true answers.

I, myself, have a very limited income, so I cannot afford to travel around the Country, visiting local libraries and Genealogy Societies, nor can I afford each of these places to make copies of anything I might find useful because of the costs they charge for people who are not residents of that State.

I have joined many web-groups (ex. Yahoo) and email groups (ex. Rootsweb), that note they were created for my specific surname, ARNEY.  So, I foolishly (naively) joined these groups thinking that other people that joined them were actually interested in doing "active" genealogy research.  Together, we could tear down the genealogy "brick-walls", and share our findings with other people. Well, I was wrong, it seems no one (that I have found) is interested in doing any active research.  Therefore, I press on, alone.

Buying old coins for genealogy purposes

Recently, I was considering what "tangible" items do I have that future people looking at my research could actually hold in their hands.  I'm not talking about copies of documents, but actual items from the past.  Since I don't have really any item from an ancestor, I thought of something that is possible to obtain, coins.  That's right, United States coin currency.  So, I thought about it, what years would I want to look for, and for how many ancestors would I attempt this?  So, since I'm researching my family surname, ARNEY, I decided to concentrate on direct ancestors, as far back as I could trace and obtain, at a reasonable cost.  I chose to concentrate on birth and death years, perhaps marriage years (if known).  As far as my first ancestor to arrive in Tennessee, I went a little further, the year he went to the Cumberland area of Tennessee, and when specific Tennessee Counties formed, that he lived in, but the County borders, therefore names changed (ex. Smith County > Jackson County > Overton County), he died in Overton County, Tennessee.

I wasn't actually looking for "perfect" coins, and any specific denomination.  I only looked for coins, of the years I needed, without regard to their actual condition, as long as they were readable and a low cost to me.

What do you think of this idea?

Working on putting my information together

Well, I have spent several days, entering my information, online, at Ancestry.com.
Now, trying to export that information, back to myself, and my FTM software.
Trouble is, my computer froze during the process.

As I go over the letters, I have received over the years, I can see the level of detail,
these people put into their research.  Sometimes, they did, what people do now online,
they simply copied the work of others.  I tend to call these people, "standing on the
shoulders of others" researchers, meaning they don't actually find the information themselves,
they simply accept other people's work as "gospel", and never second guess or question it.

When you are a "self taught" genealogy hobbyist, many times you don't follow the so-called
rules, simply because you are ignorant of them.

I know, for myself, when I did my early research, my concern was getting the information.
I would write down or make photo copies of the exact information, without making
copies or notations, as to where that information came from (ex. what book, etc.).
Now, years later, it's like, yeah right, I'm going to remember where I found that.

So, I guess it does "pay" to get some sort of training, so you don't have to re-do a lot
of "leg work", if you know what I mean.

Using FTM and Ancestry.com online

Well, it makes for some "interesting" decisions, when trying to do a "tree", with both your FTM software and Ancestry.com online.  Do you enter the information twice?  Do you add it to your FTM software, then upload it to Ancestry?  Do you add it to Ancestry, then download it to FTM software?

Oh, decisions, decisions, decisions.

Finally using Family Tree Maker software

For the past few years now, I have purchased the latest FTM software, intending to use it to put my genealogy information on, but also because it usually comes with a free 3 month subscription to Ancestry.com.
I usually use the 3 month subscription, then cancel before it expires.
However, I have yet to use the actual FTM software, until now.

So, I began yesterday, entering in my information, while simultaneously making sure it gets posted on Ancestry.com for all to see.  I pray that by the time I'm done, maybe it will give me some insight on where to search to solve the mysteries that still linger about my family ancestors, especially Jacob Arney.

For decades, it was believed that he had been traced all the way back to when his parents entered the United States of America.  Therefore, any researcher of this family name's job would be done, we could actually say we had traced our ancestor, back to the first one who came here to the USA, right?

Well, wrong, the information would turn out to be in error, which meant we really cannot trace our Jacob Arney back any further, than himself.  We still need to know, who were his parents, who were his siblings, where was he born, where was his parents born, etc.?

So, I'm putting that task, on hold, for a little while, until I can get all the other information, that I have gathered over the years, together, both in a software program on my computer, and online, for others to see and compare.

I'll let you know, how both goes.

How it all began, for me.

I got involved in genealogy, in my mid teens, when I was given a hand-drawn family tree, after my grandmother gave me some handwritten notes she had.  

Then, in the mid 1980's I received a letter, from someone claiming that because my family surname was so "rare", she had done the research and prepared a book, and for only $30/$40 (I can't remember the exact cost), I could purchase a copy of her book.

Well, her book consisted of mostly, how to do family genealogy, only at the back of the book was some information.  She had gone through public information, like telephone directories, utilities, driver's license bureaus, etc. and produced a list of names and addresses of people with my family surname of Arney (about 200 names, in all).

I thought, thanks a lot, this book could be sent to anyone, it wasn't specifically written for my "rare" family surname, because she could take out the back part (with the lists of names and addresses) and substitute any other family surname.

However, what I did do, was look at the given names, and since many people named their children after family members, and I had a family tree with given names and the Arney surname, I starting writing people, from that list.  I wrote a standard letter, sending them a copy of the family tree, I had been given, and asking them simply if they were related to me, and if so, please send me their information.

As you can guess, I sent out lots of letters, and received few in return, but I did receive answers.  Those few who chose to answer, blew me away, they sent along lots of information, and for that I'm eternally grateful.  Some letters simply confirmed, what I already had, some expanded on my information, still some even corrected my information.

I have kept most, if not all of those letters, and still have them to this day.

I recently, scanned them into my computer, so I have a digital copy, and won't have to rifle through them, again and again, if you know what I mean.

I have no "formal training", I have never taken a single genealogy class.

I began doing my own research, by hitting the local library, and looking at microfilm of the US Federal Census.  I was looking for the relatives, that I knew of, so I could find confirmation of my information, but also, where they lived, etc.

Then I began exploring my local library's Genealogy section, and all its' books.

I knew what areas, my direct ancestors lived, so I concentrated on books of those areas.

I have "tunnel vision", when it comes to my family genealogy, I concentrate solely on the men, after all, they are the ones who carry on, my family surname (no offense intended).

Then, back about 10 years ago, with the Internet explosion, I found many researchers, who were researching my family surname, but alas, as I said before, that quickly faded about 3-4 years ago.

I don't have the financial freedom, to travel the country, believe me, I wish I did, because I would, maybe I would find my answers, myself, and sooner.

I guess, I am naive, because my desire was to find researchers, of my family surname, who I prayed, lived in the areas, which needed further research.  After all, the second best thing to going there yourself, is to find someone who is already there (and is willing to help).

After all, it's one thing to ask a stranger to help, but ask yourself, "what do they gain from it", it's quite another to find someone researching the very same thing, "who does have something to gain", knowledge.

I know I can't travel to these places myself, and I know in time, many more genealogy worthy books will be digitized and online, and that information may be available, but will it be "in my time"?

I have, the last few years, used my "vacation" to travel to the nearest genealogy library, the "Mid Continent Genealogy Center" in Independence, Missouri.  They have a vast array of genealogy books, from all over the country, plus additional microfilm/microfiche, etc.

They have a yearly budget of $800,000 to spend upgrading equipment, purchases more books, etc.  Financially, it's the furthest I can honestly afford to travel, and now that both my wife and I are retired (due to disabilities), I'm not sure I can afford to even take that trip anymore.  I have Multiple Sclerosis, so my cognitive thinking, short term memory, etc. are gravely effected.

So, yes, I'm naive, because my desire, hope, goal, is to find people, who are genuinely interested in solving a family mystery, that live in the areas of interest, that are willing to make the effort to learn more.  Because the information, about which the mystery revolves, is in error (or false) which ever way you wish to say it.

But no, I'm not a "stand on the shoulders of others" (as I prefer to call them) type of family genealogy researcher.  The research that was done on my family was basically from the 1950's, and if they could find answers the "hard way" (going archives, courthouses, libraries, etc.), then we should be able, to at least find, what they did, and perhaps more.

Thank you for your time, consideration, and cooperation, I truly appreciate it.

Arney Genealogy website