Is there a way to get a genealogy of your family done for free? If so, how?

Question

I'm not talking in the literal sense because i have been lucky enough to learn about opportunity costs but I would like to know if there is some information somewhere where i could look up say a grandfather or a great great grandfather legitimately.

Answer 1

If you know approximately where your family lived then try contacting the local colleges and historical centers. I had to look up information about my great-great and my great grandfather for a project once and I found out that the local college had a online database of old newspapers in PDF files that could be searched.

All it cost me was time to look through the articles. At first I didn't really care about it, but soon I found that even the searching was interesting. The old newspapers were written in such a different style from what is printed today. Especially in the towns, when there was a party or a meeting somewhere, everyone who attended had their name listed in the papers. It was wonderful to discover an article about the time when, at a party, my great grandmother had to pull a name out of a hat to decide the winner of a prize and, surprisingly enough, she pulled out her own husband's name!

There's all sorts of places to search for free. Ellis Island has an online record of many of the passenger lists from the ships that docked there. Also, I believe that all birth/marriage/death records are public domain. Those are also excellent resources. And don't forget your own family! If you have any elderly relatives, it is quite possible that they have some of the knowledge that you may be looking for.

Good luck!

Answer 2

There are a number of ways to find the family trees. Just go to google and do a search on family trees, you should come up with things like Roots web, I have traced my great great great grandfather back to when he lived in penn. and was a woodsman (I guess that is something like a lumber Jack). I was even lucky enough to get my great great grandfathers birth certficate and found out his mothers name and I searched. If you google, you can find the sites that are free, I know that roots web is free, but I can't remember the other site that I used.

Answer 3

I save this and paste it because the same questions come up a lot:

What are good free sites for genealogy?
Does anyone know about the {surname} family?
How can I trace my family tree, for free?

Sometimes in the genealogy category,
Arts & Humanities -> Genealogy.
Sometimes elsewhere. The fourth time I typed in three of my favorite links I realized it would be better to make a good list and save it. Since this is a general answer, some of the paragraphs may not apply to you. If you search or browse the resolved questions in the Genealogy category, you can find more links from other people.

Two warnings:
1) It takes time. Compiling a good family tree is like writing a term paper for a high school history class. You have to do research.
2) Most of the genealogy data on the web is about people born before 1900, to protect living people's privacy. You'll have to find your grandparents (or great grandparents) off the web.

Here are some large free sites.

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, some excellent, some bad, most in between)
http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?ln=
Surname meanings and origins; no specific individuals, but fun.

These are for the USA only.

http://www.usgenweb.net/
(Subdivided into state sites, which all have county sites.)
(Canada has a Canadian Gen Web, with sites for each 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)

These two are for the UK & Ireland only:
http://www.genuki.org.uk
http://www.freebmd.org.uk/


If you get serious, you should probably buy a genealogy program. I like Roots Magic. Family Tree Maker is very popular. Both are $29 in the USA, but you can sometimes find old versions in discount bins at software stores.

http://www.tedpack.org/begingen.html
has some tips for beginners.

Answer 4

yes sometime someone in your family tree has already done the work involved there are two free sites the latter day saint site and rootsweb both give good information but sometimes someone makes a mistake so check out the information for yourself you can use their information as a guide good luck and happy hunting

Answer 5

It's free if you do your own genealogy online, or, at the public library.

I doubt if you will find someone to do it free, because it requires a lot of labor and is time intensive. Also, you know the family members.

It's more rewarding to you and your family if you do your own family tree research.

You can pay a professional geneologist to do it for you. It's expensive.

Answer 6

Yes. There are sites that offer free message boards where you can post who you are looking for. One is Ancestry.com and AKA Rootsweb.com Check out the Mormon online family search site at:

http://www.familysearch.org/

All the above are free. If you want to email me with your info I can start you in the right direction. I have some paid subscriptions to sites and I would be happy to look up info for you.

My email is: [e-mail]

Margaret

Answer 7

substitute into you grandfather John born in 1905 in PA? What substitute into his mom's call? George Meade had approximately 10 brothers and sisters, so it extremely is achieveable you're suitable, yet you should do the study, commencing with your self.

Answer 8

Sometimes, you can find ancestory charts on the internet by searching through google. You usually have to list a place also though.

Answer 9

The Morman Church has all genealogy records,they are up to date. You can access them on line.

Answer 10

http://download.familysearch.org/...

It's FREE