Is there a place I can find out about my heritage or genology?

Question

Online or elsewhere.
I'd like it to be free; but it doesn't have to be, as long as it works.
And would the library have something like that?
Or be able to get me something like that?

I'd like to find out about both of my parents families backgrounds.

Any help is appreciated.

Answer 1

A really good place to start is at familysearch.org It is the LDS churches website for genealogy. You can do on-line searches for your ancestors. Ancestry.com is also a good place but it costs. An annual subscription can run over $100.00 depending on what records you want access to.

Many libraries have access to ancestry.com through the library system for free, and you can do your searches there.

A really good alternative is one of the LDS Churches, Family History Centers, they have them nationwide and you can locate one near you at the familysearch.org website. They have volunteers there that will help you get started and give you guidance, you have to do the actual work, but they will put you on the right path so to speak. You don't have to be a member of their church and they won't ask you to join either... You can gain access to ancestry.com through the FHC and through that get to birth, death, marriage, and census records.

Kinda like one stop shopping.

I suggest you get as much information as you can before going to the library or anywhere else. Start with yourself and work back, ask your parents about grandparents and great-grandparents, that way you have a starting point. I also suggest you get genealogy software on your computer. familysearch.org has a free download of their PAF program. It works very well, I have been using it for over 25 years now and not one hiccup.

Lastly I wish you good luck....

Answer 2

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/default.asp is the most useful free site. Ancestry.com is essential really for the serious researcher. It contains a vast database of records, which is growing continually. Eventually, I am confident this site will contain every useful record not held elsewhere (apparently they already have plans to upload scans of every church record in England & Wales). In England & Wales, FreeBMD is also invaluable.

Answer 3

www.myancestry.com isn't free, but they have a companion site that is.
You can look at all kinds of information on there like a census and use that information to trace your family back many years, and even join your family tree to the information someone else in your family line has already found and posted.

Answer 4

Hi, try FamilySearch first, then go to lds.org to locate your nearest Family History Centre of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints; they will be more than helpfull with your search. This is all for FREE !

Answer 5

http://www.cyndislist.com/internet-gen.htm#Soapbox
(bookmark cyndislist... she is an encyclopedia of sources that you can come back to)

There are thousands of places online to find information, much is free. Start with free first, then decide if you want to subscribe to something.
http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/

Answer 6

Start by asking any living relatives for info; write everything down...names, dates, places. Make certain to write down the source...who said what.
Our local library has www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com free for use, plus books, periodicals and a volunteer who helps folks with genealogy.
There are plenty of websites available:
Anyhew, as to searching, try these:
Free sites: there are several to choose from. Start with:
http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

Assuming they emigrated from Europe, start with Ellis Island and the Battery Conservancy sites:
http://www.ellisisland.org
http://www.castlegarden.org

For Scotland, check:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

For ship’s passenger lists, try:
http://www.immigrantships.net/
www.cyndislist.com/ships.htm
www.geocities.com/Heartland/5978/Emigration.html
www.immigrantstips.net/
www.searchforancestors.com/passengerlists/
www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigration/passenger-arrival.html

For those with native American ancestry, try:
http://www.tribalpages.com/
http://www.cherokee-nc.com/geneology.php...
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/herita...

Netherlanders: http://www.genlias.nl

For a fee, try a DNA test:
When you really want to know where your ancestors came from, try such sites as: www.familytreedna.com, dnatribes.com, dnaancestryproject.com, and, of course, the National Geographics Genotype program, https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/geno...
For Jewish ancestry, try:
www.israelgenealogy.com

For people from India, try:
http://www.fibis.org/

Have a look at these sites these are South African ones,
http://genealogy.about.com/od/south_afri...
http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/page2.html....
http://www.jewishgen.org/safrica/website...
http://southafricanfamilyhistory.wordpre...

Meaning of names:
http://www.winslowtree.com/surname-meani...

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/f...

Here are some general sites with lists of African names:
http://www.swagga.com/fname.htm
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/afr.php
http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/ba...

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/...

Military:
www.military.com
http://www.familymilitaryrecords.com/

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/militar...

http://websearch.about.com/od/peoplesear...

http://genealogy.about.com/b/2007/05/24/...

http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ww1/draft/sea...

Finding live people:
Two good places I use are www.zabasearch.com and www.peoplefinder.com

www.nationalobituaryarchive.com
http://www.obitcentral.com/obitsearch/
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/
http://zip.langenberg.com/

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welc...
http://www.tedpack.org/obit.html


http://www.newspaperarchive.com/
http://ancestryresearchsitereviews.blogs...
http://www.search-background.com

http://www.birthdatabase.com/
http://www.intelius.com/search-summary-o...
peoplesearch.com
smartpages.com. to get to US Search

http://www.intelius.com/search-summary-o...

http://affiliates.reunion.com/ads/ads/la...

http://www.peoplelookup.com/people-searc...

http://people.yahoo.com/

http://www.addresses.com/

http://websearch.about.com/od/wendyssear...

http://www.anywho.com/

http://www.whowhere.com/

http://www.nola.com/forums/searching/ind...

http://www.77investigators.com/messagebo...

http://www.voy.com/48081/

http://messages.yahoo.com/

http://www.angelfire.com/va3/search/Mess...

http://www.worldvitalrecords.com
http://www.ntis.gov/products/pages/ssa-d...

http://www.search-background.com

Some folks on here try to say anything back more than 100 - 200 years ago is just made up. Not true. A Martin Genealogy, Tied to the History of Germanna, Virginia, William A. Martin, Copyright 1995, William A. Martin, Published 1995 by Heritage Books, Inc., 1540E Pointer ridge Place, Bowie, MD 20716 [phone]; Customer Service, [phone]. goes back to the 1400s. His work is based upon other world reknown genealogists. Then there are the works by Pope: Pioneers of Massachusetts, Charles Henry Pope, Published 1991 by Heritage Books, Inc.. A Descriptive List, Drawn from Records of the Colonies, Towns and Churches, and other Contemporaneous Documents. By Charles Henry Pope, Pastor First Church, Charlestown, Boston, Compiler of the Dorchester Pope Family, the Cheney Genealogy, etc. Royalty for Commoners by Roderick W. Stuart, Pub: Genealogical Publishing Co., Baltimore, 1993, Subtitled: The Complete Known Lineage of John of Gaunt, son of Edward III, King of England, Philippa.. Reviewed in TAG, Apr 1994 by Dr. David H. Kelly. Note: Poor, p. 103.
Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1760 by Frederick Lewis Weis, Pub. 7th ed., Genealogical Publishing, Baltimore, 1992 or “Ancestral Roots of 60 Colonists Who Came to New England, 1623 - 1650, Ed. 1 - 6, J H Garner.
Ancestry of Richard Plantagenet and Cecily deNeville by Ernst Friedrich Kraentzler, 1978.
soc.genealogy.medieval

These are just a few of the RELIABLE source books that go back centuries...Including Charlemagne.

If you can't believe these sources, there really are none you can believe in.

Answer 7

www.ancestry.com