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Genealogy Links
Getting Started in Family History
The best place to start your family history might be by interviewing
older family members. Another important step is to write your personal
history.
Very quickly though you will want information from other sources.
You're in good luck. The internet has revolutionized the way family
history research is done.
The Internet puts tremendous power in the hands of everyday people.
Much of what you find here is contributed by individuals and volunteer
societies, not big institutions and corporations. Moreover, a very
nice spirit of collaboration pervades this part of the Net. Total
strangers routinely go to great lengths to help each other, and
especially to help newcomers to the field. It's all a model of what
learning should be!
Here are a few links to explore. Using some of the gateways below,
you can come up with lots of sites that fit your family's story.
Samples of classroom family history units:
The National Endowment for the Humanities website, My History is
American History, with activities for all grade levels, as well
as other resources: http://www.myhistory.org/teaching/index.html
A High School Special Education Family History Project http://www.rain.org/~sbhs22/family/
General sites:
• Ancestors - Site produced by the Public Broadcasting System
for its Ancestors series. http://www.pbs.org/kbyu/ancestors/
• Ancestry.com - Portal allows you to search numerous databases.
Part commercial, part free. http://www.ancestry.com/main.htm Ancestry.com
also operates FamilyHistory.com and MyFamily.com.
• Cyndi’s List of Genealogical sites on the Internet
- A comprehensive listing of over 40,000 genealogy links, one of
the best places on the Internet to start. http://www.cyndislist.com
• FamilySearch - New site provided by Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, with huge database and links to other resources.
http://www.familysearch.org/
• Family Tree Maker home page http://www.familytreemaker.com/
• Family Tree Searcher site, http://www.familytreesearcher.com,
makes your family tree search easier. Once you've entered your family
information, you won't need to enter it again. You can then search
multiple web sites from this web site. This free service will create
the optimal searches for your ancestor data.
• Genealogy.com - Portal provides databases, forums, tutorials
and links to commercial services. http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/index.html
• GenGateway.com - A good general site, which allows you to
search by surname. http://www.gengateway.com/
• The Genealogy Home Page - Their home page is a good place
to start. http://www.genhomepage.com/
• Genealogy Online - A large site with a searchable database
and a large chat area. http://www.genealogy.org/
• Genealogy Portal - Allows you to search for sites and surnames,
vital records and software. http://www.genealogyportal.com/
• Genealogical Resources on the Internet http://www-personal.umich.edu/~cgaunt/gen_web.html
• The Journal of Online Genealogy - Journal of Online Genealogy.
http://www.onlinegenealogy.com/
• National Genealogical Society - Web site for the National
Genealogical Society. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/
• Rootsweb - One of the largest sites on the Internet, includes
a database with over half a million surnames. http://www.rootsweb.com/
• USGenExchange - Genealogical data exchange and surname registry
that allows visitors and researchers to exchange data with one another.
It is among the largest non-commercial genealogy projects on the
Internet. http://www.genexchange.com/
How-to-sites for genealogy beginners:
• 20 Ways to Avoid Genealogy Grief - A list of 20 ways to
avoid genealogy grief. http://www.rootsweb.com/roots-l/20ways.html
• Beginner’s Guide - A beginner’s guide to family
history research.
• http://biz.ipa.net/arkresearch/guide.html
• Deciphering Old Handwriting (tutorial) http://www.firstct.com/fv/oldhand.html
• Everton's Genealogical Helper: online edition http://www.everton.com/ghonline.html
• Family Gathering -- Setting Out http://www.uftree.com/UFT/Nav/howtossetting.html
• Family Photo Historian http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/2878/
• FTM's Genealogy "How-To" Guide http://www.familytreemaker.com/mainmenu.html
• Genealogy.com University - Free online course on genealogical
research. Associated how-to resources include a Step-by-Step Guide
and FamilyExplorer. http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/university.html
• Genealogy 101 - Genealogy instruction for beginners, teenagers
and kids. http://home.earthlink.net/~howardorjeff/instruct.htm
• Genealogy Organization - How to organize your genealogical
materials. http://www.rootsweb.com/~ote/organize.htm/
• Getting Started - Good article on getting started. http://digiserve.com/heraldry/tools.htm
• How to begin. - Good site on how to begin researching. http://www.lds.org/en/2_How_Do_I_Begin/2-What_Can.html
- Good site on how to begin researching. http://www.lds.org/fam_his/section-fam_his_res.html
• Family History in Easy Steps: http://www.state.mn.us/ebranch/mhs/library/tips/family/family.html
• Planning Family Reunions http://www.familytreemaker.com/issue1.html
• Preserving Old Documents and Photos http://genweb.net/~gen-cds/faq.html
• Recording Oral Histories -- Tips and Topics http://www.familytreemaker.com/00000028.html
• Treasure Maps (good collection of tutorials) http://www.firstct.com/fv/tmapmenu.html
• U.S. Census Bureau -- Genealogy http://www.census.gov/genealogy/www/
Resources for family history:
• The Bible Archives - Archive of thousands of names found
in family Bibles. http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Fields/2403/
• Blank Family Tree - A very basic blank family tree. http://www.erols.com/emcrcc/Family_Record.htm
• Census Home Page - U.S. Census home page, provides information
on ordering past census data. http://www.census.gov/
• Federation of Genealogical Societies http://www.fgs.org/~fgs/
• Four11 (locate people from database of 9 million) http://www.four11.com
• FTM's FamilyFinder Index (searchable databases) http://www.familytreemaker.com/ffitop.html
• Freestuff - Links to free downloadable genealogy software.
http://www.janyce.com/gene/FREESTUF.HTML
• Genealogy bookstore - Online bookstore devoted solely to
genealogy material. http://www.genealogybookshop.com/genealogybookshop/index.html
• Genealogy Toolbox http://genealogy.tbox.com/genealogy/overview.html
• GenForum - With more than 1.5 million messages, it ranks
as one of the Internet’s biggest message boards for family
history. http://genforum.genealogy.com/
• Handwriting information - Tips on how to decipher old handwriting.
http://www.firstct.com/fv/oldhand.html
• Interactive family tree - Template to make an interactive
family tree (includes HTML code). http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hornbeck/htmlpedg.htm/
• Internet Family Finder - Genealogy.com provides a search
engine that indexes 325 million names on nearly 3 million genealogy-focused
web sites. You can also use Genealogy Site Finder to look through
more than 56,000 links classified by subject. http://www.genealogy.com/genealogy/ifftop.html
• Mapquest - Good resource for finding any location in the
world. http://www.mapquest.com/
• National Archives - Searchable database of selected parts
of the National Archives’ collection. http://www.nara.gov/nara/nail.html
• Obituary links - Page of links to various obituary pages.
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Valley/5025/obit.html
• Rootsweb: Cemetery - A great site to start looking for tombstone
rubbings, state-by-state listing of resources and sites (includes
a poem on the wonders of tombstone rubbing). http://www.rootsweb.com/~cemetery/
• Rootsweb: Kids - Site where kids can begin to get involved
in genealogy, has printable forms. http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgwkidz/
• Rootsweb: relationship chart - A chart which shows you exactly
what a “fifth-cousin, twice-removed” means. http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~hornbeck/chart.htm/
• Social Security Database - Ancestry.com provides a Social
Security death index which can be used to look up when and where
someone died by last name or Social Security number. You can also
check national online White Pages to find addresses and phone numbers.
http://www.ancestry.com/ssdi/advanced.htm
• Surnameweb - A large database which allows you to search
for links by surname. http://www.surnameweb.org/
• Tombstone rubbings - How to do tombstone rubbings. http://www.firstct.com/fv/t_stn1.html
• Useful Vocabulary - Genealogy vocabulary, useful in understanding
legal terms found on many historical documents. http://www.usgenweb.org/researchers/vocab.html/
• U.S. Gazetteer http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/gazetteer
• USGenWeb - One of the best resources on the Web, with a
state-by-state listing of useful links and information. http://www.usgenweb.org/statelinks.html
• World Family Tree Project http://www.familytreemaker.com/wfttop.html
SURNAME SEARCHES/DATABASES
• Distantcousin - A general site with large surname link list.
• Gengateway - A collection of surname databases.
• Gensource - A surname database.
• Hamrick: Names - Interactive map of the United States showing
where the most popular 50,000 names in the USA are concentrated.
• Rootsweb: Lineage - Another good list of links to various
surnames.
• Rootsweb: Surname Search - Three major surname search engines
on one page.
• Surnameweb - A large database which allows you to search
for links by surname.
• Surname definitions - A listing of the meanings of thousands
of surnames.
• Yahoo: Surnames - Yahoo list of links to over 2,000 surnames.
PASSENGER LISTS
• Australian passenger Lists - Passenger lists from Australian
convict ships.
• Cyndislist: Ships - A solid collection of passenger lists
and resources.
• Immigrant information - Information about immigrant ships.
• Mayflower - Mayflower passenger list.
• Passenger Links - Collection of passenger list links.
• Rootsweb: Ship Lists - A great collection of passenger lists
stretching from the 1400s to the early part of this century.
• Titanic - Titanic passenger list.
Useful Info
• American Civil War home page http://funnelweb.utcc.utk.edu/~hoemann/cwarhp.html
• American Memory (Library of Congress) http://lcweb2.loc.gov/amhome.html
• Civil War Pages http://www.traveller.com/genealogy/civilwar.htm
• Ellis Island (gateway to America) www.wallofhonor.com/
• Ellis Island -- historic immigration photos http://www.cmp.ucr.edu/exhibitions/immigration_id.html
• Genealogical Dictionary http://www.electriciti.com/~dotts/diction.html
• List of [Old] Occupations (So Grandma was a fish fag, eh?)
http://cpcug.org/user/jlacombe/terms.html
• Mayflower Web Page http://members.aol.com/calebj/mayflower.html
• Medical terms (do you know what hectical complaint was?)
http://www.oz.net/~cyndihow/terms.htm
• Oregon Trail - The Trail West http://www.ukans.edu/kansas/seneca/oregon/mainpage.html
• Sections and Acres Chart (decipher deeds and plats) http://www.janyce.com/misc/section.html
• Vietnam POW/MIA Database http://lcweb2.loc.gov/pow/powhome.html
Genealogy Software
• Family Tree Maker online (software info) http://www.familytreemaker.com/
• The Master Genealogist (TMG) http://www.doit.com/tdoyle/tmg/home.html
• Family Gathering (software info) http://www.uftree.com/
• Design Software (genealogy data CD's) http://www.dhc.net/~design/
Ethnicity sites:
Genealogy.com: Ethnic groups - A comprehensive list of sites organized
by ethnicity and religion.
ACADIAN, CAJUN, & CREOLE
Acadian - A list of Acadian genealogy links.
AFRICAN AMERICAN
African-American links - A collection of links to African-American
genealogy pages.
Ccharity - A site dedicated to those researching their African-American
genealogy, includes a comprehensive list of freedman records, African-American
emigrants to Liberia, fugitive slave cases, manumission papers,
wills of slaves, tombstone transcriptions, and a partial list of
lynchings in America since 1859.
Familytreemaker: African-American Genealogy - A good starting point
for those researching African-American genealogy.
ASIAN
Cetel - A good starting place.
Chinese surnames - A database of Chinese surnames.
AUSTRALIAN
Census - Information about the Australian census.
Familytreemaker: Australian - A good starting point, list of resources.
CARIBBEAN
Rootsweb: Barbados - Barbados genealogy page.
Jamaican Genealogy Page - Jamaican genealogy info page.
West Indian Links - West Indian genealogical links.
EASTERN EUROPEAN
Euro Libraries - Public Libraries of Europe.
FEEFHS - Federation of Eastern European Family History Societies.
ENGLISH
Census - Information about the English census.
Genuki - The U.K. and Ireland Genealogical Information Service.
U.K. genealogy - How to research your ancestors from the United
Kingdom.
FRENCH
French Genealogical Center of America - For Americans of French
ancestry.
FFG - Federation of French genealogists.
GERMAN
German-American immigrants - A page dedicated to Germans who emigrated
to America. Includes passenger lists of ships coming to America
and U.S. passport applications.
German genealogy - German genealogy home page, with a list of links.
HISPANIC & CENTRAL & SOUTH AMERICAN
Familtytreemaker: Cuba - Cuban genealogy page.
South American Links - South American research links.
HUGUENOT
HHS - Huguenot historical society.
NHS - National Huguenot Society.
IRISH
The A-Z of Irish genealogy - A good starting point.
Irish Links - Irish genealogy links.
Irish Times: Ancestors - A comprehensive site listing land records,
ship logs, and a surname search.
ITALIAN
IGSA - Italian Genealogical Society of America.
ItalGen - Italian genealogy home page, includes a surname database.
JEWISH
JamGen - A site devoted to Jamaican Jewish genealogy.
JewishGen - The official home of Jewish genealogy.
JewishGen: Database - Searchable Jewish surname database.
NATIVE AMERICAN
Genealogy Links - Native-American genealogy links.
Getting Started - Information about getting started on researching
Native American genealogy.
POLISH
Links - Polish genealogy links.
SCANDINAVIAN
NordicNotes - A great collection of genealogical material for Scandinavian
countries. Includes databases and archive materials.
Scandinavian databases - A collection of Nordic databases.
• Danish Emigration Archives http://cybercity.dk/users/ccc13656/
• Danish Genealogy http://nordicnotes.com/denmark/denmark
gen.html
• Scandinavian Genealogy http://www.bahnhof.se/~floyd/scandgen/
• Welsh Genealogy http://midas.ac.uk/genuki/big/wal/index.html
• Rhode Island Genealogy Page http://users.ids.net/~jcraig/
• Genealogy/Family History Research in Illinois http://www.outfitters.com/illinois/history/family/
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