What is a good geneology website that is 100% free?

Question: What is a good geneology website that is 100% free!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Here is my answer:
You should start by asking all your living relatives about family history!. Then, armed with that information, you can go to your public library and check to see if it has a genealogy department!. Most do nowadays; also, don't forget to check at community colleges, universities, etc!. Our public library has both www!.ancestry!.com and www!.heritagequest!.com free for anyone to use (no library card required)!.
Another place to check out is any of the Mormon's Family History Centers!. They allow people to search for their family history (and, NO, they don't try to convert you)!.
A third option is one of the following websites:
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 has the most links to genealogy websites, whether ship's passenger lists, ancestors from Africa, ancestors from the Philippines, where ever and whatever!.

Of course, you may be successful by googling: "john doe, born 1620, plimouth, massachusetts" as an example!.

Good luck and have fun!

Check out this article on five great free genealogy websites:

http://www!.associatedcontent!.com/article!.!.!.

Then there is the DNA test; if you decide you want to REALLY know where your ancestors came from opt for the DNA test!. Besides all the mistakes that officials commonly make, from 10% to 20% of birth certificates list the father wrong; that is, mama was doing the hanky-panky and someone else was the REAL father!. That won't show up on the internet or in books; it WILL show up in DNA!.
I used www!.familytreedna!.com which works with the National Geographics Genotype Program!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The WorldGenWeb and USGenWeb project are tied in with the old Rootsweb network!. You will find very active sites for every county in the US, every province in Canada, France,etc!. You'll also find that every country has a site or is a partner with other countries in their region!. The sites are full of volunteers who maintain them, let you know which local resources are online and how to get the ones that aren't online!. They have volunteers who are willing to pull local records and copy them for people all over the world!. You can also access all sorts of State databases, the Social Security Death Index, and tombstone transcriptions and obituaries that volunteers have posted locally!. The volunteers on each site are the experts on their local area and can help you overcome roadblocks!.

http://www!.usgenweb!.orgWww@QuestionHome@Com

I agree with itsjustme that the best free site is the familysearch!.org but I also use the www!.rootsweb!.com web site and www!.lostcousins!.com is also a good site to contact people who are working on common ancestors!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

UK answer!.
www!.familysearch!.org is completely free and it's excellent!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

There are over 400,000 free genealogy sites!. I have links to some huge ones below, but you'll have to wade through some advice and warnings first!.

This is a text file I paste!. People ask your question 3 - 14 times a day here!. By pasting, you get a long, detailed answer, but I don't get cramps in my fingers from typing!.

Researching your family tree is harder than posting on MySpace!. It is about as hard as researching a term paper in a History class!. You don't have to be a Ph!. D!., but you won't do it with five clicks!. Many people stop reading here and pick another hobby!.

If you didn't mention a country, we can't tell if you are in the USA, UK, Canada or Australia!. I'm in the USA and my links are for it!. If you are not, please edit your question to add a country!. Or, better yet, delete it and ask again, this time putting in the country!. Genealogists from the UK answer posts here too!. They are more experienced and more intelligent than I am!. I'm better looking and my jokes are funnier!.

The really good stuff is in your parents' and grandparents' memories!. No web site is going to tell you how your great grandparents decorated the Christmas tree with ornaments cut from tin foil during the depression, how Great Uncle Elmer wooed his wife with a banjo, or how Uncle John paid his way through college in the 1960's by smuggling herbs!. Talk to your living relatives before it is too late!.

You won't find living people on genealogy sites!. Don't look for yourself or your parents!. Crooks can use your birth date and your mother's maiden name to steal your identity!. If your parents were married in June and your oldest brother was born 4 months later, it isn't anyone's business, which is another reason living people's dates are not on public sites!.

So much for the warnings!. Here are some links!. These are large and free!. Many of them have subtle ads for Ancestry!.com in them - ads that ask for a name, then offer a trial subscription!. Watch out for those advertisements!.

If you try the links and don't find anyone, go to

http://www!.tedpack!.org/yagenlinks!.html

It repeats each link, but it has a whole paragraph of tips and instructions for each one!.

http://www!.cyndislist!.com
Cyndi's List has over 250,000 sites!.

http://www!.familysearch!.org/Eng/Search/f!.!.!.
The Mormon's mega-site!.

http://worldconnect!.genealogy!.rootsweb!.c!.!.!.
RootsWeb World Connect!. The links at the top are advertisements!. They mislead beginners!. Ignore them and scroll down!.

http://www!.rootsweb!.com/
RootsWeb Home!.
This is the biggest free (genealogy) site in the world!.

http://www!.ancestry!.com
Ancestry has some free data and some you have to pay for!.

http://www!.usgenweb!.net
US Gen Web!. Click on a state!. Find a link that says "County"!.

http://www!.ancestry!.com/learn/facts/defa!.!.!.
Surname meanings and origins, one of Ancestry's free pages!.

http://ssdi!.genealogy!.rootsweb!.com/cgi-b!.!.!.
Social Security Death Index!. Click on "Advanced"!. Women are under their married names!. They are under their maiden names in most other sites!.

http://find!.person!.superpages!.com/
USA Phone book, for looking up distant cousins!.

http://vitals!.rootsweb!.com/ca/death/sear!.!.!.
California Death Index, 1940 - 1997!.

http://www!.genforum!.com
GenForum has surname, state and county boards!.

http://boards!.ancestry!.com/
Ancestry has surname, state and county boards too!. They are free!.

Read
http://www!.tedpack!.org/goodpost!.html
before you post on either one!.

Read the paragraphs about query boards on
http://www!.tedpack!.org/yagenlinks!.html
before you search them!.

http://searches!.rootsweb!.com/cgi-bin/lis!.!.!.
Roots Web Mailing List Archives!.

Read
http://www!.tedpack!.org/maillist!.html
if genealogy mailing lists are new to you!.

Off the Internet, some public libraries have census image subscriptions!. Many Family History Centers do too!. FHC's are small rooms in Mormon churches!. They welcome anyone interested in genealogy, not just fellow Mormons!. They have resources on CD's and volunteers who are friendly!. They don't try to convert you; in fact, they don't mention their religion unless you ask a question about it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com