Ancestry is worth the money, BUT do not just start accepting people they say may be a possible relative. They give you these hints based on similar names and locations. That's great, but there not always your relative. I have a 2nd cousin that cannot accept this. She went down a rabbit hole and is convinced we're related to George Washington. We're not. Our ancestors did know him and there is correspondence between them in the National Archives, but he's not our relative.

I was fortunate and have a relative with such an unusual name there's never been another person with it. That's how I trace most of my mom's side.

Also, on the census records, not a lot of people could read and write back then, so you'll get some unusual spellings. I've been doing this for about 7 years now. Fun, but time consuming.