Shirley T
Posted 2 hours ago
When I see a question like yours I am not sure if you want to find a website that will be an aid in doing research or an already prepared family tree. Let me tell you, already prepared family trees, on any website, free or fee, must be viewed with great caution. They are not submitted by some experts working for the websites that go around doing other peoples? family histories but by folks like you and me, the subscribers and yes, yes, yes, there are errors. If you disagree with wrong information on your family in anybody?s family tree, those that run the websites will tell you that is between you and the other subscriber. Even if you see the same info on the same people from many different subscribers that doesn?t mean it is accurate because too many people copy without verifying.
I believe Ancestry.Com has more records online than any other website. It isn?t free but your public library might have a subscription to it you can use for free. Still you must distinguish between the records they have obtained and put online and their subscriber submitted family trees. This is particularly true of their One World Tree program which is trash. Not all records are online but the ones you find will save you time and money.
They have
1) all the U.S. censuses through 1930. The 1940 and later are not available to the public yet.
2) they have vital records(birth, marriage and deaths) for many U..S states. Now understand many states did not record birth and deaths and issue certificates until the first quarter of the 20th century. Before then you have to go to church records.
3) They have immigration and naturalization records.
4) They have military draft and enlistment records.
5) They started accumulating obituaries sometimes in the 1990s and are getting more from different places all the time.
6) They have many U.S. newspapers online. I have found some older obits perusing through some old newspapers.
I have a friend who has made numerous trips to the National Archives in Washington. Both of her parents came from Italy. She tells me that Ancestry.Com now has all the records she found on her family at the National Archives. When I visit their free website, I prefer to go under ?Old Search? which is toward the top on the right. That way I can better pick out records I want to check. The ?New Search? was set up to just look prettier but their computer programmers probably should be hung.
Another free source is a new pilot program FamilySearch.org has where they are putting the Latter Day Saints (Mormon) records online. The Mormons have records on people all over the world, not just on Mormons. In Salt Lake City, they have the world?s largest genealogical collection.
http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.html#c=1320964;p=2;t=searchable
Actually it would be wise to visit a Mormon Family History Center. I have never had them to try and convert me nor have I heard of them doing that to anyone else that has used their resources. They can order microfilm for you to view for about $3. Just visit their free webiste, FamilySearch.org, to get the hours for the general public to the nearest Mormon FHC..
Maxi
Posted 2 hours ago
If you are just starting out with researching your family history, the last place you start this process is on the internet and genealogy websites?as it sounds that you have launched into websites and got fed up because you can?t find what you are looking for, or more likely don?t know what to look for, do your groundwork first??.
Look on this site, it will help you make a start in understanding the principles of researching your family history http://www.familytreefolk.co.uk/page_11010.html , also http://www.bbc.co.uk is another good website that will give you all the information to get you started, search for heir hunters or family history.
Down load family history sheets http://www.mcpl.lib.mo.us/genlh/forms/ & starting with yourself fill one in. You will find the sheets act as a check list you may also find that you don?t have all your own information & have to go searching in your home and asking your parents/other relations about it, look for any certificates, baptism cards, wedding invitations, newspaper clippings and any other papers which can give you information, we all have these and most are put away and forgotten about.
Look at your own birth certificate, it gives you lots of information & don?t forget to write the registration number from it down on your form, as this tells you that it is primary document information, which is what you need for every piece of information you collect, once you start researching you will notice that many people don?t have primary information numbers on their research?which shows you it is hearsay, copied from others , from websites and guesswork and there is no place in family history research for guesswork. One wrong name in your tree and it means you are not researching YOUR family and it is so easy to get it wrong without looking at documentation.
Fill a sheet in for your parents /any living relations you have, go & talk to them, ask to see any certificates they have, write all the information down they give you, just from a marriage cert you will get both names including the maternal name, where they lived, married the date, their fathers names, occupations & names of witnesses?also if the bride/ groom could read & write at that time as if there is an x in the signature box they couldn?t, which also then helps you later on looking at other records should you find different spelling of their name?..ask if they have any old photographs as this gets people talking and remembering other people in the family they had ?forgotten? about?write down any ?family stories? you are told, it is all part of your family?s history and culture?.some may be correct, however many are not or have some truth in them and different people in your family will tell you different versions of the same story, you find once you start researching you can sometimes use these stories in your research for clues about where to look at records???..before you go near a website, this information give you a ?feel? for who your family is and makes it s much easier to find ancestors once you do start looking at websites
By using the family sheets it makes it very easy for other relations to see what you are doing & to understand the information you are collecting, they are more likely to help & give you more information?.as most at first will say, ?I don?t know or I haven?t got any idea about our ancestors?. It is also nice to be able to give you relations a copy, as by doing this they will look at the information, talk about it and may remember more information for you or even find some paperwork that has been long forgotten. I very often leave these sheets with family & tell them to add information if they remember, the more family you ask the better, this information is first hand information, most family historians regret not having asked these questions of older family members once they realise how valuable their knowledge could have been, however many often leave it too late to ask .
The very best sources of information is in your home memories of your living relations, any documents, certificates and newspaper clippings that many people keep?.you will get lots of information, start lots of interest in what you are doing and will get your family involved in helping you get started and are more likely to have correct information
Many will tell you http://www.familysearch.org or the LDS pilot website, it does have some good information, it also has lots of donated, unverified information which is completely wrong from people who have copied other?s family trees & sent it in, so don?t trust it as correct?
Good luck in your research
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Source: http://answerfuse.com/arts-humanities/how-do-i-find-my-genealogy/-38728/
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