2007-01-07 12:10:51 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Genealogy
FamilySearch.org is a 100% free genealogy website offered by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. They have excellent resources on their site.
2007-01-07 12:14:53 · answer #1 · answered by newyorkgal71 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
There is no such thing such as free genealogy searches I agree. Someone realised there is money to be made in that. Have you noticed also how many of their links, pages won't load, just when you "think" you might have actually found a free one?
Familysearch - latter day saints site is probably the only "free" search there is, but the information on there is not only limited but also to my disgust not very accurate either. People are posting incorrect databases. Just wish there was a governing body who could regulate these misinformation sites.
My advise would be to cross check all your findings with other sites and census records of the area you are searching. You will be surprised how information differs from site to site for the same people. Also remember that information storage back in the 1800s was not as good as it is now. A lot of information got lost or damaged or the people filling in the information i.e. census, birth and death records were given the wrong information.
Good luck!
2007-01-08 08:56:51 · answer #2 · answered by lollipoppett2005 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many pay sites offer limited free services.
For building a family tree, I recommend:
http://www.tribalpages.com/
Here's a site that has volunteers to look up requests for free.
http://geneasearch.com/lookups.htm
You can also get free trial periods and stuff from paid sites. Ancestry.com just had a free immigration ports look up in December.
If you're lucky, random people will give you help when you least expect it. Put your requests on sites like rootsweb.com and sometimes you'd be amazed at who might respond.
For every pay site, there is usually a backdoor into the same information, it's just a matter of looking and asking around.
To answer your question exactly, "free genealogy" sites can only remain free through funding from someone.
2007-01-10 19:14:54 · answer #3 · answered by tacapollo 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are still many great free resources out there.
I use the Social Security Death Index a lot.
Most states still have archives that are free to browse and in some cases you can even get copies of the records sent to you for free (if you live within the state)
And dont count out searching the net and people's web pages. You can a lot of times search a name and get geneology results. There are many free websites that can possibly contain information you need, for instance someone might be searching the same tree as you, or as in my case, be working on a community family tree (I am working on a website dedicated mainly to a small town called Eldorado Illinois) If you run across a personal page dont hesitate to email them and ask for their resources.. you can sometimes get hardcopies of important documents or even photos..
2007-01-08 00:01:24 · answer #4 · answered by ladypaige357 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you have British desecent, you can check these sites out.
They are all free.
Unfortunately Ancestry have started the momentum, and they have become a very greedy company. Other companies jumped on the band wagon, and now you cannot access any records without paying.
2007-01-07 12:28:06 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
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. Many people complain about advertisements. Please don't. They bring you the "free" sites. There's no such thing as a free lunch.
Just don't click on the adverts. Don't enter your names in them, either.
LDS Central, RootsWeb and US Gen Web are all free. Cyndi's List has 250,000+ free sites.
2007-01-08 03:51:10 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I know of only one place that is totally free. lds.org . they do not direct you to non-free sites. It is associated with familysearch.org.
As long as the site you are going to is not charging you to be in that site it is free, but to direct you to a site that is a for fee it is still within the realm of a free site, because the initial site is not charging.
2007-01-08 03:57:49 · answer #7 · answered by Maggie P 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
nothing is free. ever. to answer your question its a gimmick. i wish it were more complicated but it isnt.
2007-01-07 12:16:28 · answer #8 · answered by samdragonsfire 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋