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Position:Home>Genealogy> Is there a site where I can check my ancestors for free?


Question:First and foremost, start with the people who are living, and do it as soon as you possibly can; start with the oldest ones - people are gone before we know it, sadly, taking what they know with them. Find out what they know. Talk with aunts and uncles, cousins, and so on - anybody who is part of your family. Get dates, locations, names, memories, stories - it's ALL important. Find out what they remember about people who are no longer living, too.

Next, put all your information into a database that will help you organize it. The Mormon church offers a free one, "Personal Ancestral File," that you can download from their web site (they won't bug you in terms of their religion). There are also several good ones out there that you can get for a relatively small amount of money. My personal favorite is "Roots Magic" (I believe I paid about $30 for it), but other folks swear by Family Tree Maker, so it's all a matter of personal preference.

Once you have included as much as you can from people who are living, start to search online sites, records, etc., for matching people and events. Computers and the internet have revolutionized genealogy in the last two decades, and there are ENORMOUS amounts of data available, as well as innumerable personal genealogical web sites.

Good luck in your search!

http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/sto...
http://www.rootsmagic.com

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin...
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default....
http://www.ancestry.com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: First and foremost, start with the people who are living, and do it as soon as you possibly can; start with the oldest ones - people are gone before we know it, sadly, taking what they know with them. Find out what they know. Talk with aunts and uncles, cousins, and so on - anybody who is part of your family. Get dates, locations, names, memories, stories - it's ALL important. Find out what they remember about people who are no longer living, too.

Next, put all your information into a database that will help you organize it. The Mormon church offers a free one, "Personal Ancestral File," that you can download from their web site (they won't bug you in terms of their religion). There are also several good ones out there that you can get for a relatively small amount of money. My personal favorite is "Roots Magic" (I believe I paid about $30 for it), but other folks swear by Family Tree Maker, so it's all a matter of personal preference.

Once you have included as much as you can from people who are living, start to search online sites, records, etc., for matching people and events. Computers and the internet have revolutionized genealogy in the last two decades, and there are ENORMOUS amounts of data available, as well as innumerable personal genealogical web sites.

Good luck in your search!

http://www.ldscatalog.com/webapp/wcs/sto...
http://www.rootsmagic.com

http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin...
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default....
http://www.ancestry.com

There are many good genealogy websites.

Now, you probably won't find your whole family tree. You might find some of your family lines. However, you have to be extremely careful about taking as fact everything you see in family trees on ANY
website, free or paid. The information is user submitted and mostly not documented or poorly documented. There are errors in family trees on the internet. Even if you see the same information repeatedly by many different submitters that doesn't mean it is accurate by a long shot. A lot of people are copying without verifying. Use the information as clues as to where to get the documentation.

Your public library might be a good place to start. Check out the genealogy area and see what all they have. They might have a subscription to Ancestry.Com you can utilize. Ancestry.Com has lots of records and is getting more all the time. They have all the U. S. censuses through 1930. The 1940 and later are not available to the public yet. They also have U. K. censuses.

Still be careful about taking as fact information in family trees on Ancestry.Com.

Have you tried a Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints (Mormon) Church. They have records on people all over the world, not just Mormons. In Salt Lake City, they have the world's largest genealogical collection. Their Family History Centers can order microfilm for you to view at a nominal fee.

They have never tried to convert me or send their missionaries by to ring my doorbell. I have never heard of their doing that to anyone else that has used their resources.

Cyndi'slist.com has a multitude of websites.

Rootsweb and FamilySearch.org are probably the best 2 free sites. Still don't take as fact everything you see in family trees on either of them without verifying.

Good Luck!

google. type in apes, and go to the tab that says pictures.