Essential and Free Web Sites For the Genealogist Much is available on the web at no cost, but it can be challenging to find what you are looking for. You may want to bookmark this page for handy links to oft used sites... or you may want to just bookmark the sites you like best. To find more on the web, see also my page : Finding Ancestors With Google. To find what subscription sites are available, see my page on Subscription Database Sites

 

The #1 site: Family Search This is the free site maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and offering a wealth of information, with no mention of religious choices. It is too much to describe here... see my separate page Guide to Using the Family Search Library and FamilySearch.org The #2 site I use most often is The GenWeb -- which consists of many volunteer hosted sites; quality varies greatly but the information is always free. In general you will browse these sites by going first tot he state or province, then the county. You can also search them, but the searches will not always find everything. for every state at the US GenWeb (search US GenWeb) (2nd U.S. Genweb Archives search engine) for every province at Canada GenWeb and for every country at the World Gen Web Project. There are sites that now mimic USGenWeb in structure and purpose. Again, amount and quality of informtion on a site varies greatly. AHGP: American History & Genealogy Project. ALHN : The American Local History Network Genealogy Trails History Group Coming in as #3 -- Rootsweb.com, the grand-daddy of the free Genealogy sites. A number of Genweb pages are hosted on rootsweb, but there is more there too. Rootsweb is owned and supported by Ancestry.com, but all content on Rootsweb is free. Rootsweb is designed for sharing; there are many ways to use and share information on rootsweb. What is Family Connect? Search family trees at World Connect. (But you won't want to accept information without verifying it!) Registry of websites on rootsweb. Searching the many webpages on rootsweb. There is actually a whole book about this site:The Official Guide to Rootsweb.com (Find in a library) Here are some pages I use often to help find information on the internet Blacksheep Ancestors Cemeteries: Cemetery Junction Interment.net cemetery lookup forum ObituaryCentral's cemetery search U.S. GenWeb Tombstone Transcription Project Guide to Online Cemetery Records and Indexes Census: Census Links Census Finder Mortality Schedules USGenWeb Census Project Family Search.org offers free search and transcription of 1880 US, 1881 Canada and 1881 British Isles -- search together or separately. Online International Census Records and Indexes (includes some references to payment sites) Maps: U.S. county maps State maps of the U.S. 1895 U.S. Atlas Online US GenWeb Digital Map Library * Military : Online Military Indexes and Records (includes reference to some payment sites) Native Americans: Online Native American Genealogy Records and Databases (includes some references to payment sites) Newspapers Chronicling America Naturalization: Online Searchable Naturalization Lists and Records (includes some references to payment sites) Obituaries: Obituary Central Obituary Daily Times (mostly late 1990-2010) Obituary Search Engines and Indexes online (to older newspapers) Passenger Lists : What passenger lists are online? (includes references to some payment sites) Ships Passenger Lists on the Internet (a short list of the larger collections) Penny Postcards Social Security Death Indexes Online Vital Records: Online Searchable Death Indexes Online Birth and Marriage Records Online Death Indexes and Records for Canada * (these 3 include some references to payment sites) VitalRec.com -- information on how to get vital records Genealogists often help each other. Check these sites to find offers of help or place queries. A Directory of genealogy lookup volunteers. Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness Message Boards Genealogy.com's GenForums Ancestry.com/Rootsweb's Message Boards. (this link takes you to the Rootsweb interface, but both sites link to the same database) Obituary Look Ups More Links Cyndi's List Genealogy Today Directory Linkpendium Genealogy Gateway Extras Find interesting reading at Family History Articles . Find genealogical and local history societies online. Especially useful is the Rootsweb page to find the county when you know only the town and U.S. state. Surname information Keep current by reading genealogy blogs (See CyndisList Blogs page for more information) Download the standard version of Legacy -- a (good) free genealogy recording program for the PC. (The standard program is free; if you want the deluxe version, you pay.) They even offer a free "Legacy for Beginners" video. Back to Bobbie's Genealogy Classroom This page last updated January 30, 2010