I want to learn about my family history but I don’t want to pay for it and I know there are some free websites out there. So please help a gal out.
I want to learn about my family history but I don’t want to pay for it and I know there are some free websites out there. So please help a gal out.
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http://www.cyndislist.com – a gazillion good links
But if I said I wanted to learn how to paint but didn’t want to pay for lessons, brushes, paper, paint….etc you would be rolling on the floor laughing your …………
Genealogy is not that simple. It does not work that way.
First, you are not going to find anything on anyone who lived in the last 50-100 years. It is unethical to post anything on anyone living or that recently deceased as it protects the identity of the living from identity theft and scams. Professional genealogists know this.
Second, IF you do find anything on the internet of your family (probably starting around 1900 and going back), you cannot assume just because it is on the internet means it is accurate. The only way to know if the information you find is right is to do your OWN research from scratch. A lot of people out there copy and paste other people’s bad “research” and don’t verify anything. That is wrong.
Third, unless you have a great-aunt or someone who has already done some research and posted it on the net, then your family will not be on the internet. People don’t usually go around researching trees of total strangers for no reason at all and just put it on the internet for that stranger to one day find their whole family tree in 5 clicks or less.
Fourth, genealogy is fun and rewarding, but also very difficult and challenging, like putting together a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. And will take longer than doing that puzzle to do.
The best thing to do is to start by asking questions of your living relatives. Collect as much information as possible regarding names, dates, places, etc. and DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.
Then start an internet search as well as doing some research the old fashion way (going to libraries, court houses, cemeteries, etc.). If you find anything on the net, you need to try to reproduce the research yourself and see if you can find legitimate documentation of the individual, dates, or event in order to be sure the information is accurate. Trees on the net are to be used as clues and guidelines……not as gospel. Ask the poster about their resources and proof. Many times, you can find scanned copies of original documents such as census records. Otherwise, I would not take their word for it that what they have is right.
Last, you will not accomplish this overnight, in a week, month, or year. It is a LIFETIME hobby and passion, that, inspite of the countless hours you spend at it, it will never be completed. There is always another piece of the puzzle to find.
If you are not willing to do all this, then you really are not interested in the truth of your family. If you expect it to fall into your lap, all done and completed, and accurate, and FREE, with no work or challenge at all, then you are in for a rude awakening. Besides, that takes all the fun out of it.
I agree with everything Violet, just above me, said, but my stock answer has some links. If you can get back to1900 – 1930 by yourself, give these a try.
This is a text file I paste to questions like yours. People ask similar questions 3 – 14 times a day here. You get a long, detailed answer, I don’t get finger cramps. It is long because there are over 400,000 free genealogy sites.
It is also long because researching your family tree is as hard as writing a term paper in a History class. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist, but you won’t do it with five clicks. I could tell you everything I know in 30 minutes, but not 3. The fact you have to do research stops nine out of ten teens and many adults.
If you didn’t mention a country, we can’t tell if you are in the USA, UK, Canada or Australia. I’m in the USA and my links are for it. If you are not, please edit your question to add a country. Or, better yet, delete it and ask again, this time putting inthe country. Genealogists from the UK answer posts here too. They are more experienced and more intelligent than I am. I’m better looking and my jokes are better.
The really good stuff is in your parents’ and grandparents’ memories. No web site is going to tell you how your great grandparents decorated the Christmas tree with ornaments cut from tin foil during the depression, how Great Uncle Elmer wooed his wife with a banjo, or how Uncle John paid his way through college in the 1960′s by smuggling herbs. Talk to your living relatives before it is too late.
You won’t find living people on genealogy sites. Don’t look for yourself or your parents.
So much for the warnings. Here are some links. These are large and free. Many of them have subtle ads for Ancestry.com in them – ads that ask for a name, then offer a trial subscription. Watch out for those advertisements.
If you try the links and don’t find anyone, go to
http://www.tedpack.org/yagenlinks.html
It repeats each link, but it has a whole paragraph of tips and instructions for each one.
http://www.cyndislist.com
Cyndi’s List has over 250,000 sites.
http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp
The Mormon’s mega-site.
http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi
RootsWeb World Connect. The links at the top are advertisements. They mislead beginners. Ignore them and scroll down.
http://www.rootsweb.com/
RootsWeb Home.
This is the biggest free (genealogy) site in the world.
http://www.ancestry.com
Ancestry has some free data and some you have to pay for.
http://www.usgenweb.net
US Gen Web. Click on a state. Find a link that says “County”.
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?
Surname meanings and origins, one of Ancestry’s free pages.
http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi”
Social Security Death Index. Click on “Advanced”. Women are under their married names. They are under their maiden names in most other sites.
http://find.person.superpages.com/
USA Phone book, for looking up distant cousins.
http://vitals.rootsweb.com/ca/death/search.cgi
California Death Index, 1940 – 1997.
http://www.genforum.com
GenForum has surname, state and county boards.
http://boards.ancestry.com/
Ancestry has surname, state and county boards too. They are free.
Read
http://www.tedpack.org/goodpost.html
before you post on either one.
Read the paragraphs about query boards on
http://www.tedpack.org/yagenlinks.html
before you search them.
http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl
Roots Web Mailing List Archives.
Read
http://www.tedpack.org/maillist.html
if genealogy mailing lists are new to you.
Off the Internet, some public libraries have census image subscriptions. Many Family History Centers do too. FHC’s are small rooms in Mormon churches. They welcome anyone interested in genealogy, not just fellow Mormons. They have resources on CD’s and volunteers who are friendly. They don’t try to convert you; in fact, they don’t mention their religion unless you ask a question about it.