How can I find out who my anscestors were without having to pay anyone?

Question

Any websites that could be useful?

The problem is I don't know who my anscestors were. I'm curious who they were and where they came from.

Answer 1

Netti, what many don't get is that research is the PROCESS of finding answers to what you don't know. That's the challenge of genealogy. If someone else has already found it, then you are accepting their answers. It is a huge rush when you find out that NO ONE KNEW the answer, and you made the effort to dig it out.
So, let me shift your thinking just a tiny bit... think about WHAT HISTORICAL record is going to have that info? Not what website, what record. Your birth certificate records who your parents were - your grandparents death certificate says who their parents were.. a census record shows a family (parents and children)- an old will says "I leave my land to my son John".. just to give you a sampling. In general, the websites that you have to pay, are the ones that claim to have it all "found" already for you.
Instead of looking for a pre packaged family history, think in terms of a single person, a single fact... one bite at a time. BASIC RULE with no compromise, is to start with you... link to your parents... link to their parents... and build it that way, thus you know each step along the way is actually YOUR family.
One of a kazillion useful and free sites, is www.cyndislist.com. She collects websites for genealogy.. but for you, browse around to get a feel for it. Then click back to her beginner section, with many tutorials.
Next, another of my favorites is www.genforum.com, which has areas for all persons working a certain surname. Not all persons of one name will be related.. thus use the search box for the state or county you need (or, use the name of the spouse.. especially if the name is not common).
I don't know if you are in the US, but another absolute basic spot if you are is www.usgenweb.com. Try it out.. click to your state, then your county, to get a clue what they offer. These are all volunteer based, and for the entire country.
These are just a sample of ones I use all the time. And I hang out here too.. there are many experienced people who will explain tricky things along the way. I have 25+ yrs of experience.. I posted something I could not find the other day, and in LESS THAN AN HOUR, several persons found what I needed.
To me, paying someone to find info for me, would be like paying someone to go out to dinner for me. They would get all the fun. You DON'T HAVE to pay for info, but there are also times when it makes sense to use a service, such as ancestry to find info that you would otherwise have to get dressed and drive to a library to find.
Look forward to seeing you around here often!!

Answer 2

Information in family trees on any website(free or paid) must be taken as clures, not as fact. Most is not documented or poorly documented. You might see the same information on people by various submitters without documentation which means foolish people are copying. Trees on websites are not free of errors.

The best thing to do is to get as much information from your family as possible, particularly senior members. Tape them if they will let you. They might be confused on some matters, but what might seem to be insignificant story telling might just turn out to be very important.

Go to your library and see what they have in the genealogy section. They might have a subscription to Ancestry.Com. Ancestry.Com has lots of records. They have all the U. S. censuses through 1930. The 1940 is not available to the public yet.
They also have the U. K. censuses.

Call your nearest Latter Day Saints (Mormon) Church and find out if they have a Family History Center and if so their hours for the general public. They have records on people all over the world,not just Mormons. They don't bring up their religion and they won't send their missionaries by to ring your doorbell.

While at the Family History Center, you will have an excellent opportunity to talk with people who can give you some great ideas.

Don't expect it all to be on websites. Eventually it will cost. Cyndi's List has a lot of websites listed. You might check it out.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

There's a lot of information on the web, but you will have to dig around a bit. If your last name is a common one, you will need at least one ancestor's name (one of your grandparents will do) and if possible, the year of birth. Put that in a search engine, and you should get something. Whichever one of the responses looks most promising, go to it, but keep going back to the original search results until you find one that does not want a fee.

The ones that charge a fee may give you some information for free, as a come-on, and then you can use it to track through one of the free sites. I have not done it with ancestors, but lots of other sorts of information. Takes a bit of back and forth, but you'll find a lot.

Answer 4

Most United States public and academic libraries have a government document section which has US Census records available on microfilm and microfiche from 1790 to 1930 (the last year such records are available). Most libraries also have a subscription to Ancestry.com for patrons to access online at the library.

Additionally, the Latter Day Church maintains a free of charge site: www.familysearch.org.

Answer 5

Hi Netti: you can use rootsweb.com, familysearch.org, or Ancestry.com. findmyfamily.com etc I have used all three and find that they work well. If you know where your ancestors came from or where they are ie what cemetery you can narrow down the search fairly quickly. Or tell us who your ancestors (the ones you are looking for) are and we might be able to help

I do free lookups myself and can help a lot with ontario families. P Carson

Answer 6

You could go to the area Census Bureau as well as the local Archives Department. It helps that you have some at least vague information though so that you can be sure that these are your peeps. GL!!

Answer 7

Try a site called Genes Reunited. It's a bit like Friends Reunited but you can build up your own personal family tree and it doesn't cost you anything except your time.

Answer 8

Google people's names in quotation marks and add any other information. Examples

*"Jane Smith"
*"Jane Smith" 1871
*"Jane Elisabeth Smith"

If you use quotation marks, it looks for the exact phrase, and then you'll have a lot better chance of finding genealogy info by finding people's exact names.

Answer 9

www.familysearch.org completely free.

Answer 10

ancestry.com, but you have too pay sorry