Does anyone know how to find members of your (really) extended family online for free?

Question

I didn't know if it is possible to find distant members of your family online somehow for free. I don't really know how the whole geneology thing works, but I'd like to find members of my family that ive never met, and don't know how to do that.

Answer 1

www.familysearch.org

Answer 2

I'll fill you in on the hard part of your question. Genealogists don't publish the names of living people. Whenever you go online to a family tree site, you'll notice that any tree submitted with living people in it will change the first name simply to "LIVING". Privacy is a serious matter in genealogy because we really do search out very personal information about people. We find DOBs, maiden names, married names, dad's middle name, mom's maiden name...most of the info a person could use to steal someone's identity, reset a password, etc. So there are safeguards built into our systems to keep people from misusing our research.

If you want to find members of your really extended family, the best way is to use an online white pages and start making phone calls. I've done it for years and never had anyone hang up on me. I did have an elderly woman in Escanaba Michigan take my name and number and have one of her kids call me back, but that was about the biggest red flag I've ever raised with someone. People love talking about genealogy and love learning about it, too. If you're organized and have information to share with them, they're willing to share in return.

Answer 3

Rootsweb is a great place to start. They have free message boards for surnames, places, and other topics:
http://rootsweb.com/
(Main Page)

http://boards.rootsweb.com/surname.aspx
(Surname Boards)

There is also their WorldConnect Project, simply enter any names that you're interested in and see if someone has a database that includes that person:
http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/

I don't really visit any of the US-specific sites, but there are a gazillion of them out there, many of which can be found at:
http://www.cyndislist.com/

Genes Reunited is a fantastic site, but you have to be a paid member to contact anyone. It's not much to join though (AU$20, so it would be cheaper in US$):
http://genesreunited.co.uk/

I hope this has helped, good luck with your research. God Bless.

Answer 4

do a seek on yahoo searching for "their call, address, telephone" and multiple of the white telephone pages web pages will arise. it may or will possibly no longer take some funds to apply a sort of websites yet it is okay. Then merely make the telephone calls or write a letter (and their letter would be forwarded). needless to say presently while every person is dropping their homes, moving frequently or moving in with family contributors and such and are tight, they might no longer respond in the event that they think of you like funds from them. needless to say it is stupid although this is the tought of the day.

Answer 5

If you have any information on your family, start writing letters to relatives you have, but have not met, and ask them to tell you everything they know about your family. Once you get that information you can go to the public library and get a genealogist to help you or research online.