The World of Genealogy Research

The first thing I can say about this topic is to save the "professional" genealogists for getting around those impassable "brick walls" or researching in foreign countries. Personally, in my almost 10 years of researching my own family lines, I have unearthed and gathered information on over 1300 people connected to my research and, with the exception of a few books and magazines, have not paid a single penny for any of what I have.

Admittedly, I'm a world class cheapskate. My favorite word is free and if it's free I'll find it eventually. I have sent for certain state/county kept records and still not paid for anything. If you get lucky, some states and/or counties don't charge for certain records on file. Especially if they don't actually have to search for anything. The best way for that to happen is, of course, to check the location online and use any online database search available and then simply submit that data for them to retrieve, copy and mail out to you.

There are a lot of government kept records that are relatively, no pun intended, cheap to order. Depending on the type of information you are requesting you will most likely pay for postage (if the request can't be sent online) to mail the request and for a self-addressed stamped envelope for the forms to be mailed back to you, possibly a small charge for their time and usually no more than a few dollars for the actual copies. Now, price of copies will certainly vary depending on whether your copies are certified or uncertified so be careful to verify what their prices are.

My favorite way to find my information for free is by using genealogy message boards. You can usually find someone living in or near your location of interest that is willing to visit libraries and court houses in that area to look up the records you need. Most of the time they only request that you reimburse them for copy charges and postage. Most often, at least in my case, all they request is a heartfelt thank you and that you pay it forward by assisting other researchers in the same way.

Note: Never ASSUME they don't want to be reimbursed. At the very least, OFFER to pay them for whatever charges they accrue for helping and if you really can't afford to pay them then at least let them know up front.

In the end, I have come to the conclusion that almost anything can be had for little or nothing. All it takes is some searching and a polite attitude.

Happy Hunting