Free ways to discover your family history
Free ways to discover your family historyWhere does your family come from? That's an important question. The answer can tell you a lot about yourself. But, as with most important questions, the answer doesn't come easily. Tracking down your family history is a big project.
Searching your family history can be very rewarding. And the right tools can get you going in no time. You may be related to dashing princes or famous bandits. You'll never know unless you start looking.
LDS Family Search—Tracking down your ancestors takes a lot of work. Fortunately, you don’t have to do it all by yourself. One group knows more about genealogy than any other. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints provides Family Search. You can search through many kinds of records like birth and death certificates. It even helps you keep everything organized.
Ellis Island Foundation—Most U.S. citizens can trace their ancestry outside the country. When your family immigrated is an important moment to pinpoint. Many people came through one place in particular—Ellis Island. It's a source of extensive immigration records. Searching those records can be enlightening.
Cyndi's List—The Internet is a rich source for genealogical information. You can find things like adoption records, death records and passenger lists. Unfortunately, these resources tend to be scattered all over the place. That's what makes Cyndi's List such a helpful tool. You'll find links to thousands of resources. And they're all neatly categorized.
USGenWeb—National and international databases are a good place to start researching your family. But eventually, you'll want to use more focused resources. Perhaps you've tracked your family line to a single state. This site links to state-specific genealogy projects. You'll find databases and people who can help with your search.
Dynastree—You’ll find a lot of information when researching your family. Pulling it all together can be as challenging as the search itself. This program makes it easy to organize your family tree. Add birthdates, marriages and occupations. You can even attach photos, if you have them.
Once you're finished, you'll have enough stories to fill a book. So, why not do just that? With the Digital Family Scrapbook, you can organize your memories. Add your photos. Then, share them with your whole family.
Cost: Free
System: LDS Family Search--Winindows
XP, Vista and 7
Ellis Island Foundation—Windows XP, Vista and 7, Mac OS X
Cyndi's List—Windows XP, Vista and 7, Mac OS X
USGenWeb—Windows XP, Vista and 7, Mac OS X
Dynastree—Windows XP, Vista and 7
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