I REALLY want to look into my family history, so does anyone know any sites that provide genealogy tracing for free? I mean completely free, not a Free Limited Trial or none of that horse-crap.
Tags: horse crap, Chats and Forums, Social Issues, Public library, family history, United States, Free Limited Trial
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Before you launch into websites and get 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 could’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
If you want a computer database a free one is Brothers Keeper http://www.bkwin.net/version6.htm and you can even add photographs, print out family trees, lists or add notes/stories etc
Once you have done all this you will be more aware of who your family is, you get a ‘feel’ for who is family and who is not & websites are easier to look at then as you can cross reference the information you have…
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 you can’t be sure it is YOUR FH.
Good luck in your research
genes reunited
Tracing this kind of thing requires hours of a researcher’s time, effort, and skill. They must do their research on very limited information in most cases, and sometimes on next to none, accessing public records, and not-so-public-records they have to gain your permission to access, and sometimes, they must pay a fee to access this information. This is why you will never find any "free" family tree tracing, and why it costs so much money to have it done. It can cost a company upwards of 100 dollars just to find and collect the information you seek, and it’s not fair to them to expect it for free. After all, would your employer have the right to say "We think you should work for free, so you’re not getting paid this week"?
I know what you said but http://www.ancestry.com is a good place to find your family’s genealogy and yes it has a 14 day free trial, so if you want check it out, I never tried it before.
Genes reunited is only based in the U.K. but it is FREE, so give it a try.
Also RootsWeb.com is a part of ancestry.com but it is a FREE one.
Good Luck.
You can trace your family tree for free but it will take alot of patience and time. I started 15 years ago with just my grandparents name. In time I learned that my grandfather had 9 siblings! Ask lots of questions of your family. Write down family stories for later. Not all stories will be true but most stories have some merit. Be sure to write down all names mentioned because you never know where those names will pop up later.
Most of the states now have archives where you can find some information, weather it be death certificates or dates of marriage.
Try sites like familytree.org, EllisIsland.org, Genweb, or try typing in your family name plus genealogy in google. You will have to spend lots of time at your computer but it can be done.
I have managed to trace 8 generations this way, but it didnt come without some aggrevation.
Good luck
To my knowledge there is no "free" site that might have a family history, like Ancestry. However, if you are willing to do the research Familysearch.org is one of the best site, and there is not fee. You might also try using the Family History Centers, they are open to the public and there is no fee. The volunteers are very knowledge and helpful. There are computers and the programs available include subscription sites as well as Ancestry and some of the genealogical libraries.
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