Tracing my ancestors+ putting my family tree together?

Question

What is the best way to do this without paying a company to do it? Are there any websites where i can start searching that dont charge registration fees? Any info to help will be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

If you want to type in your name somewhere and get a 12-generation tree, skip the rest of this. I can show you where to dig, but you'll have to buy your own shovel and do the work yourself.

As a side note, before I start, since you are strongly in favor of free sites, contact the US Gen Web administrator for your county (Link below) and offer to help transcribe records. They are in favor of free data too. The more people they have to help, the more data they can put on-line for free.

Buying a shovel: If you get serious you'll need a genealogy program. Trying to do family research without a genealogy program is like trying to write a novel with a pencil and yellow pad, instead of a word processor. I like Roots Magic. Family Tree Maker is the market leader. Both cost around $29. The Mormons will let you download PAF for free. It is clunky, but it is free. You can sometimes find old versions of FTM or Family Origins (FO is the predecessor of RM) in bargin bins at CostCo.

These may help get you started.

http://www.cyndislist.com/
(240,000+ links, all cross-indexed.)

http://www.familysearch.com
(Mormon's mega-site)

http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi
(450,000,000+ entries, of varying quality)

http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?ln=
Surname meanings and origins

United States only:

http://www.usgenweb.net/
(Subdivided into state sites, which all have county sites.)
(The Canadians have Canadian Gen Web, by province)

http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi
(Social Security Death index - click on "Advanced".)

http://find.person.superpages.com/
(US Phone book, for looking up distant cousins)

Note:

You won't find living people on any of the sites except the phone book one. You will have to find your grandparents' or great grandparents' birth dates and maiden names somewhere besides the Internet.

The free sites are supported by advertising, just like TV. You can't watch the Super Bowl without seeing a beer commercial, and you can't surf for dead relatives without seeing an Ancestry advertisement. Don't complain about advertisements. They bring you the "free" sites. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

Start with asking family members names and dates of parents, grandparents etc. From that you can obtain Birth, death and marriage certificates. Those you will have to pay for.

Ask at your local Latter Day Saints (Mormons Church), if they have a family history library there.

DONT WORRY, they wont make you become a Mormon. I researched my family tree via the records they keep there. They are helpful if you get stuck..

You can order certificates from what used to be St Catherines House in London. There are people who will order them for you from there for a very small extra charge. They cost £7.50 anyway which is expensive if you make a mistake like I have done.

Just hope you have some unusual surnames going on in your family.

Dont assume the first name you come across is the right one.

Also you may find there are evening classes in researching your family tree.

Good Luck! Its really interesting once you get going.

Answer 4

Try this lot:
Trace Your Family Tree
www.ancestry.co.uk Search for records of important events in your ancestors’ lives with Ancestry.co.uk.
Family Tree
www.ancestry.co.uk Use Ancestry.co.uk to build your family tree, try our 14 day free trial now.
Research Your Family History
www.familyrelatives.org Find your family history at Familyrelatives.org.
Build a Family Tree at Genes Reunited
www.genesreunited.co.uk Search 60 million names to find your family tree - try for free.

Answer 5

They'll all say they're free until you get further than your parents, and then, oh dear, you have to become a "full member" to continue - and even then with one in particular, you still need more cash to get to the next stage or ask somebody down the line who in any case has probably got everything you want already and if you'd have thought you could have phoned them in the first place and got the info for nothing... and so it goes on, and on, and....

Answer 6

You can try www.familsearch.org or www.ansestory.com or http://www.worldgenweb.org/ if you know where most of your family is from try search of the actual towns website and e-mail them that's how I started, if you have the dates of birth they might be able to find information for you. I started a few years ago and I can now go back 5 generations.

Answer 7

Start by asking your eldest relative what they can remember of their parents or better still, grandparents, especially where they were born. You will then need to go to County Records Office, where searching is free, birth and death certificates cost £7.50.
The county town or city of where they were born is your starting point. Back track from there to village of birth, to local church records, and hopefully graves. Be aware of different spellings of your name, people were illiterate then, so don,t discard similar names..

Answer 8

You can try that mormons thingy in Utah. They help track family trees. I can't remember what it is called.

Answer 9

Good luck

Answer 10

here is a site that i have used...