The World of Genealogy Research
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The Theory of "Relativity"
After spending a few years researching my own family tree I wanted to "branch" out a bit. I enjoy digging up new finds and not only strictly for myself. I love doing research in general and jump on the chance to look up information for others. I've collected many links to very useful sites and decided it was time to share with other genealogists.
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Starting Tips For Newbies
Before starting your search, be prepared.
Here are several things that you should do before actually starting your research.
This should get you started, but it's only the beginning.
This should get you started, but it's only the beginning.
- Set up a spot in your home just for doing your research and organize it accordingly. A computer, printer/scanner, notebooks, filing cabinet or portable file boxes, file folders, labels, etc. Even if your research is done entirely on your pc you will most likely have to print things out so be sure to have set up that will be helpful.
- Determine what method you will use to keep track of all of your family data. Take your time in choosing a family tree software program for your pc. Compare a few different ones carefully before deciding which will best fit your needs and level of computer skill.
- Gather together any family information you already have. Look through drawers and/or albums and pull out copies of birth certificates, obituaries, birth/wedding/graduation announcements, etc. If you check out my genealogy blog, The Neverending Search, I have posted a list of suggested sources for finding information on family members. Quite a few of the sources on this list are places I probably never would have thought to look.
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Write down any and all information you already have on yourself and other family members working backwards (i.e. yourself, your parents, your grandparents, etc.)
Whether using a notebook or family group sheets, always start with yourself. Make note of full names, birthdates/birthplaces, spouse(s), children, etc. Everything. Trust me, the more information you start with the easier (sometimes) it is to find new information.
Great Ancestry Research Software on Amazon
Basic Rules of Online Research
Mind Your Manners....
A few rules to remember when doing online genealogy research. These pertain mainly to email correspondence and message board queries.
- Do not type in ALL CAPS because it is considered shouting. The only words that should be in all uppercase are surnames (last names). Try and use punctuation to the best of your ability, also.
- RE: Subject Lines. Make your subject line specific. Examples of vague subjects: "Searching for family" or "I need all you have on the SMITH family". Also, if you're on a surname specific message board, say, JONES, please do not use "Looking for the JONES family" as your subject line. Most people searching on the JONES board will assume that this is the family you're looking for. Try to include as much information in your subject line as possible. Ex: Noah EVANS b. 1877 Michigan.
- Once you have your subject line you can move on to your message. Again, include as much information as possible and be specific about what you are wanting to know.
- Be sure to leave a way to be contacted. An email address is probably best for researching online. I have an email that is ONLY for my genealogy research.
- If possible, if or when someone responds to your message board postings, try to thank them by email instead of responding with another post. This keeps from adding to the off-topic messages and makes searching a little easier. But, either way a thank-you is always appreciated.
My Personal Genealogy Sites
- Old Photos of the Evans/Braun Family of Michigan, Ohio & West Virginia
- Old family photos with connections to the EVANS and BRAUN families of Saginaw County, Michigan, Washington County, Ohio and Pleasants County, West Virginia.
- Family History Quest - The Neverending Search
- Family History Quest - The Neverending Search
I believe the title explains it all.. I am the unofficial family historian and am always in search of present and past relatives. I am researching the surnames EVANS, MALCOLM, WHALEY, BRAUN, DOTSON, KLEIN, MORAN, RHEINHOLD and many, many more...
Help To Get You Started
Helpful genealogy links for the beginning researcher.
Cyndi's List - Beginners
GEN-NEWBIE-L Mailing List A mailing list where peo more...2 points
Free Genealogy and Family History Online - The USGenWeb Project
Free genealogy and family history online made poss more...1 point
The 5-Step Genealogical Research Process
The 5 basic steps involved in working on your fami more...1 point
The Genealogy Home Page
Excellent collection of research links from rootsw more...1 point
GENUKI: Newbies Guide by Roy Stockdill
FIRST, an explanation of why in the headline I put more...1 point
Amazon.com: Family Tree Maker 9.0 Collector's Edition: Software
Better for the total genealogy newbie, December 18 more...1 point
Grosgrain Ribbon
House of Ribbon offers grosgrain ribbon, schiff gr more...1 point
Mary's Genealogy Treasure
Extensive list of links to help get you started. C more...0 points
Welcome to Gen-Newbie
Gen-Newbie started as an electronic mailing list f more...0 points
Getting Started at Genealogy Today
Whether you've been working on your family history more...0 points
Free Genealogy Software
Regardless if you are a seasoned veteran or a Gene more...0 points
FREEWARE GUIDE - Home & Education - Genealogy
For the seasoned veteran or the genealogy newbie, more...0 points
Introduction to Genealogy - Lesson 1C: Charting Your Course
It is important as a genealogy newbie that you und more...0 points
Genealogy Resources on the Internet - General Information ...
GEN-NEWBIE-L. A mailing list where people who are more...0 points
Macworld: MacFamilyTree 4.4
And a free piece of advice from an old hand who st more...0 points
Pod-Planet.com - The World's Largest and Most Accurate Podcast ...
Juliann.net - Roots Rookie Podcast Rate and Review more...0 points
Where's MY Family Tree? - A Newbie Column at Genealogy Today
This column will give you some of the tools to hel more...0 points
The Attic ... Genealogy Resources
Newbie Tips Searchable Files Ethnic, Religious, St more...0 points
The Genealogy Spot: the spot to find ancestors in Census Records ...
Are you a beginning Genealogist? A newbie to genea more...0 points
New to Genealogy - Help for Beginners
Are you new to Genealogy? Are you lost and bewilde more...0 points
Genealogy Research Resources
Would you like some help with the design and layou more...0 points
Message board - Newbie Questions
MyHeritage - Genealogy family tree - Family websit more...0 points
Journal of Online Genealogy - August 1996 - Newsgroups/Mailing Lists
When searching, remember that we spell it geneAlog more...0 points
Texas History Hunter
Texas genealogy and family history.0 points
Online Research Assistance - Cheap to Free
or how to avoid having to pay expensive professionals
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
Current Favorite Links
- BlackSheepAncestors.com
- Search for your ancestors in free genealogical convict and prison records,
historical court records, executions and biographies of famous outlaws, bandits & criminals in the US, Canada and UK - Trace Your Ancestry with DNA - DNA Ancestry Project
- The DNA ANCESTRY Project
Discover your deep ancestral origins.
Find out where your ancestors came from, their ethnic background, and how they have scattered throughout the world - Female Ancestors - Resources to Help Find Your Female Ancestors
- Databases and other resources to help find your female ancestors.
- Family Heritage Fact or Fiction
- If you've been researching your family history very long, no doubt you've had an unnerving discovery that what you thought was a family fact subsequently turn into family fiction. So be on your guard for these fact or fiction traps
- Family History Of A Kind
- Maybe you have lost an ancestor and wondering where to look next. Sometimes you don t know when an ancestor dies, especially if the name is popular- just knowing they were alive that year means less searching.
- Ohio Genealogy
- Ohio genealogy resources blog.
- Online Cleveland & Cuyahoga County, Ohio Death Indexes, Records & Obituaries
- A directory of online death indexes, including obituaries, cemeteries and probate records.
- Directory of Family Associations and Organizations
- Directory of Family Associations and Organizations. This is exactly what is says. You can add your own family groups or join those already available. Site it set up to search by surname.
- The Genealogists
- The Genealogists is a network of people who are interested in exploring their ancestry and family history. Together we can share our knowledge of genealogy and learn more from each other.
- The Ancestry Insider
- The Ancestry Insider
The unofficial, unauthorized view of the big genealogy websites. Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org aren't the best communicators, leaving a need for the Ancestry Insider. The Insider reports on, defends, and constructively criticizes these organizations. (more...) - Ancestry Locator
- Great page for the beginning genealogist. Provides a very basic list of what genealogy is and where to start.
- Christine's Genealogy Website
- African American Genealogy African American History General Genealogy General History
eNews & Updates
Sign up to receive the latest breaking news, as well as all of your other favorite headlines!
African American Genealogy Resources
Papers relating to crimes - 5 Things You Can Learn From Death Records
- 5 things you can learn from death records - Besides the Place and Date of Death!
- About Genealogy
- How and where to get birth certificates, death certificates and other vital records in each of the US states and territories, including free online vital records databases and indexes.
- Social Security Death Index Search
- Learn how to search and use the free US Social Security Death Index to find information on your deceased ancestors. The Social Security Death Index is a database containing names, birth and death dates for over 72 million Americans. Learn how to use the Social Security Death Index and where to searc
- DearMYRTLE - Read her columns
- Your friend in genealogy.
- Welcome to the Ancestors Web Site
- Ancestors: A PBS series on family history and genealogy - Front Page
- Welcome to GenCircles!
- Genealogy Social Network
- Genealogy and Family History Research
- Genealogy and Family History Research including city directories, obituaries, military, cemetery photographs, marriage records
- Military Records
- Military Records
- Genealogy Links
- Over 50,000 genealogy links to ships passenger lists, cemetery transcriptions, censuses for UK, Ireland, Scotland, US, Europe, Canada, Australia..
- Free genealogy search tips, how to articles, and family tree helps
- Genealogy resources and family history articles, genealogy search tips, online genealogy tutorials and reviews from Treasure Maps genealogy site. Visit Treasure Maps how to genealogy site for genealogy help, tutorials and information on how to search your family tree.
- MyHeritage - Free Family Tree - Genealogy
- Face recognition for your photos and family tree. Free genealogy software. Tools for researching your heritage and sharing it on the Internet.
- LASTNAMES.htm
- Â OUR SURNAMES
What did your medieval ancestors do? Or where did they live? Surnames -- our last
names -- tell a story that has been handed down for hundreds of years,
and yet many people don't know what the story means.
Personal Selections from Amazon
Genealogy Videos on YouTube
Genealogy Products
Help me pick the best of the best to help with your search...
Family Tree Maker 2011 Platinum
Whether you're a seasoned pro, or just starting yo more...0 points
Family Tree Magazine
FAMILY TREE MAGAZINE, America's #1 family history more...0 points
Creating Keepsakes-Family History Scrapbookng/Becky Higgins by Becky Higgins
CREATING KEEPSAKES-Celebrity scrapbooker Becky Hig more...0 points
Popular Del.icio.us bookmarks
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Genealogy Books on Amazon
Important!
Don't Forget The Breadcrumbs
This means to track your steps. If you've started using genealogy messages boards to ask for help when you've hit a dead end or brick wall you want to make sure that the person with your answer is able to contact you. Keep notes of where you've posted so that if you ever have to change email addresses you can update your posts. It's terrible to know you have the information someone is looking for only to have out of date emails and no other way to track that other person down.
Family History with Amazon
eBay for the Family Historian
Extremely Useful Stuff
These are links to free genealogy stuff such as research forms and helpful tip pages.
- Cyndi's List: Top 10 Donts for a Genealogy Web Site Title
- Exactly what the title says it is. This should be a must read for any genealogist who has or is planning to put up a web site of their own. If you want your site or page to be found then definitely check this out. Not just for genealogists.
Gifts for the Family Historian
Gifts and supplies that any family historian will find useful....
Storyteller photo book creator, 8 x 10, 10 photo sheets/book
StoryTeller Photo Book Creator, 8 x 10, 10 Photo S more...1 point
Scrapbook Paper Kit- Dog(12")
Whether you are a new scrapbooker or a busy scrapp more...0 points
Finished in a Flash 12-Page Scrapbook Kit - Outdoor (12")
Whether you are a new scrapbooker or a busy scrapp more...0 points
Scrapbook with Black Cloth Covers, 14-1/2 x 12-5/8 Sheet Size, 25 per Book
Scrapbooks Black cloth covers with expandable scre more...0 points
Featured Lenses
St. Charles, Michigan - 2nd Grade Class - 1914
Interesting Feeds
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byFamily History Search - The Neverending Quest
My personal genealogy research blog...
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byGenealogy News
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byMore Useful Links
Vote For Your Favorite
Ancestor Hunt - Free Genealogy Search Engines
Search for your family surnames in this large coll more...1 point
Genealogy Resources on the Internet - WWW/Genealogy Indexes and Reference
GENEALOGY RESOURCES ON THE INTERNET1 point
Genealogy Gifts Store
Unique genealogy gift ideas. The perfect birthday more...1 point
Customized Genealogy Search Advice
Answer a series of questions and get free, customi more...0 points
Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search
Ellis Island is the symbol of American immigration more...0 points
Everton.com
For more than a half century, Everton Publishers h more...0 points
Gen Directory
Welcome to the genealogy community directory -- wh more...0 points
The Genealogy Register
thousands of links to online census records, passe more...0 points
Genealogy Search Help
This free genealogy site will help you use Google% more...0 points
Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
Fetching RSS feed... please stand by24-7 Family History Circle
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byLinks To Bookmark
Always Useful Links for Research
- FAQ: Obtaining a Copy of a Social Security Card Application
- FAQ: Obtaining a Copy of a Social Security Card Application
Last revised on 26 June 2001. - Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search
- Ellis Island is the symbol of American immigration and the immigrant experience. Use our Free Search to find your immigrant ancestors arriving through the Port of New York at Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924
- RootsWeb.com Home Page
- RootsWeb - the Internet's oldest and largest FREE genealogical community. An award winning genealogical resource with searchable databases, free Web space, mailing lists, message boards, and more.
- Genealogy, Family Trees and Family History Records online - Ancestry.com
- Ancestry.com is the largest family history site online with over 4 billion names in worldwide historical records, family tree services and genealogy learning materials
- 6 Steps to Writing a Successful Genealogy Query
- Â 6 Steps to Writing a Successful Genealogy Query Step ONE:
Pick the PRIMARY surname (last name) of your query.
Note that this is your "main" surname and should have the highest priority. "Shotgun" versus "Laser Beam" Genealogy
Queries: The Shotgun method:
Reader Feedback
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AnnaleeBlysse
Oct 24, 2011 @ 6:55 am | delete
- Nice resources. I spent some time on genealogy before the Internet really got a go. I wonder how much further I could get these days.
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KimGiancaterino Jun 30, 2011 @ 9:35 am | delete
- I wasn't aware of genealogy message boards. How nice that people are willing to look up records in their local area and help others find lost relatives. Thanks for putting together such a great resource.
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sherileigh75
Jul 31, 2011 @ 4:08 pm | delete
- Yes, message boards are where I officially started my research. A lot of genealogy sites have them and they're a great resource. Ancestry.com and Rootweb are where I went the most. My favorite site right now is GenealogyWise.com which is a genealogy/social networking site. Kind of like Facebook for genealogists. :)
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sherileigh75
Jun 18, 2011 @ 2:12 am | delete
- I would like to thank everyone for their encouraging comments. I do try to check out others' links when I am able. I have spent a lot of time with no internet service since I started on here so I apologized for taking so long to check out shared links.
Thank you all again and please feel free to offer suggestions if there's anything I could change or possibly add to this page.
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Goals
Jul 24, 2010 @ 8:43 am | delete
- Fantastic lens - so much information. I tend to use free resources as much as possible too.
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by sherileigh75
sherileigh75
I'm enjoying life with my husband and son. I've been doing genealogy research since 2000 and only occasionally take a break. In the short time... more »
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