Is there anyway to do geneology research without having to pay for it?

Question:I want to make a family tree and I can't seem to find much information without paying to use the info. online. I have done this before and didnt get much for results. ( I went to Ancestry.com) Anyone with any ideas of where to go for free info that is useful?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I want to make a family tree and I can't seem to find much information without paying to use the info. online. I have done this before and didnt get much for results. ( I went to Ancestry.com) Anyone with any ideas of where to go for free info that is useful?

I do believe this is one of the most common questions here in the Genealogy Department.

Caution: You might be descended from Charlemagne, queens, kings, whathaveyou, but the ONLY way to know is to work backwards, starting with yourself. No one on earth will ever know for certain! In olden times, they ALWAYS KNEW who the Mother was; nowadays hospitals mix babies up all the time and not even the Mother is known (unless they do a DNA test!)
Start with your living relatives and find out all you can, then start researching. It is tedious work, requiring so much time.
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/

http://www.geni.com/

Cyndi's List has the most links of any genealogical site out there.

And don't forget your public library: ours has both www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com free for use, as well as periodicals (The Mayflower Descendant and others), books, and a volunteer to help people.

So, get busy. And don't forget to google names, such as "john doe, born 1826, tallahassee, florida" or whatever applies.

talk to mormons, its what my family did

Government records police /prison licensing departments

No. Eventually, you will have to pay for something. All hobbies have a cost involved.......piano lessons, art supplies, etc..............whatever the hobby is.

You can get some stuff for free on the internet, but eventually you will have to pay to get access to some stuff. Even if you do it the old fashion way, by digging through old court records and census records and stuff like that yourself, you will have to pay the copy machine to make copies of it, or something. You will definitely have to pay to get copies of birth, marriage, and death records from the state and those are not available online........for free or not.