Finding Your Ancestors for Free: Your Guide to the Best Online Genealogy Archives, Collections, and Websites

Most current genealogy researchers, when starting their quest to find their ancestors and begin filling out their family tree, start by searching online. There are thousands of websites that contain genealogy-related collections that can be helpful in that quest—some are easy to find while many are not. A common frustration is quickly being overwhelmed with raw data while still not being unable to find what you are looking for. There must be a better way. Everyone who has a television has seen commercials promising to help subscribers find records that help determine who should be in your family tree. However, not everyone has the means to subscribe to websites that only offer genealogy databases for a price. The goal of this book is to provide you with the major online databases, libraries, archives, and websites that are free for you to use. This book includes over 2,500 links to free online genealogy websites. Imagine being able to finally do an effective and detailed search on people in your family tree, filling in mysterious gaps, making unknown connections, identifying lost relatives, and breathing new life into your family history… all at no additional cost and from the comfort of your own home. The information in this book is presented in three parts. • Section 1 discusses nationwide U.S. databases, archives, and libraries. • Section 2 presents the 50 to 80 largest and most diverse websites in each of the 50 states. • Section 3 , the Appendix, contains techniques for using some of the websites in this book. BONUS: When you purchase the book, you will be able to download a free PDF version with clickable links for the genealogy websites referenced in the book. What more could you ask for? This one book has everything you need to get started, keep going, and expand your personal ancestry library, complete with dates, stories, events, images, and more.