Surname Interests

One of the fastest ways to make progress with your family pedigree is by working with other genealogists who have an interest in the same surnames as yourself. It is known for genealogists to find cousins who are pursuing the same family line; I can confirm this as it has happened to me. At the very least, it will help you to find out how much research has been done on the name that you’re studying. Some genealogists undertake what is known as a “one name study” and may contain valuable information from primary sources that they may be willing to share with you.

This ability to connect rather quickly with other researchers is one of the major assets of the internet. Previously you would have had to research many individual sources; both published and unpublished, burrowed through volume upon volume of genealogical directories, and still not have gotten very far. You’ll still have to verify the data you discover online with these original sources, but the internet hastens that part of your research by letting you know exactly where they can be found. Whatever you do, don’t completely overlook offline sources. Many professional and experienced genealogists do not have a website; some don’t even use the internet.

If coming upon a surname interests database you find that it doesn’t contain certain information that you possess, please consider submitting your own data. This is how genealogy works, by sharing information freely, it’s how families are brought together and ancestors are found. It is the very heart and soul of genealogy, so give something back whenever you can. Provide a way for other genealogists to contact you as well, whether by post or email, that’s up to you. Many websites have a submission form for you to fill out which makes the procedure an easy one. If there is a means of doing this, read the instructions carefully band fill it in exactly as required, some website managers may ignore something or discard it if it’s not formatted correctly.

Occasionally you may come across contact details that are no longer valid. Unfortunately there is nothing you can do about this, except to make sure that it doesn’t happen to other researchers when they try to contact you. Keep you details up to date if you move or begin using a new email address.

Try the Guild of One Name Studies

This is an organization that was set up for people who are researching a particular surname. The website contains a searchable listing for everyone involved in the research of over 7,000 surnames registered with the Guild. This is an international focused organization; in fact a requirement for membership is that your surname search is an international one. Much of the registrants are professional genealogists and other types of researchers, and though you may not have common ancestors with them, they may have uncovered information about your family.

To celebrate the Second Anniversary of this posting, we have added 40 More Absolutely Free Genealogy Resources to the list and updated the reviews on the previous 40+ links (which are now numbered 41 – 82). All of the resources in this post are absolutely free to use – No Strings Attached, No Hidden Costs, No Special Terms, just plain good old-fashioned FREE!

I also want to also take this opportunity to thank you for continuing to trust ObituariesHelp.org to provide you with the best in Genealogy advice, articles and resources, and hope to have you around for at least another 2 years! So without further ado – our 82 Absolutely Free Genealogy Resources!

1. 1911 Census of Canada Indexing Project

Everyone who lived in Canada in 1911 was recorded in this Census report, which has only been made available to the public this year, and is an ongoing project. It contains the personal data of each individual, and includes links to images of original documents and various other records for certain individuals. All of the transcribing, linking, and proofing is performed by volunteers and as such no registration or payment is required for viewing the index.

2. Census of Ireland 1901/1911

The National Archives of Ireland website hosts the Census of Ireland for the years 1901 and 1911. The returns for all 32 counties of Ireland have been digitized in conjunction with Library and Archives Canada, and the site features basic and advanced search capabilities as well as links to digital images and other illustrative material. Information that can be found regarding your Irish ancestor includes; name, relationship to the head of household, age, sex, occupation, marital status, religion, and county or country of birth, and its all completely Free!

3. The Victorian Military Society

Founded in 1974 by a gentleman named John Crouch RIBA, the Victorian Military Society was originally dedicated to all things military during the Victorian period. It has now been extended to include early 20th century campaigns and covers the period up until 1914. You can access much of the historical information they have on their website for free, yet have the option to subscribe as a member if you wish to avail yourself of even more than the wealth of information and articles that are already available to the public. The VMS publish both a Quarterly journal for members, a newsletter and is home to several specialist study groups – a great resource for researching military ancestors.

4. Alberta Family History Society

As its name implies, the Alberta Family History Society is based in Calgary, Alberta. It is a not for profit organization that seeks only to foster the growth and advancement of family history research, especially how it relates to Alberta. They house a database of Birth, Death and Marriage Records in their Newspaper Announcements database, and offer a wealth of resources and tutorials to help any genealogist.

5. The Genealogical Institute of South Africa

This organization was set up to gather and preserve genealogy related source material for those researching and publishing family histories of South Africa. They are home to a free to use database of over fifty thousand names stored in GEDCOM format for easy download and transfer. A must visit for anyone researching African or Boer ancestors. The home page is in the native language of Afrikaans but there is an option to switch to their English version.

6. Central Bureau for Genealogy – Netherlands

If you are researching Dutch ancestors there is no better place to begin than this website. The Central Bureau is the centre for the collection and storage of Dutch genealogy records, and features an online catalogue of names for which you can find corresponding entries in their various collections. Again, the website is in the native language, in this case Dutch, but they have an option to switch to the English version as well.

7. Polish Genealogical Society of America

Headquartered in Chicago, the PGSA was founded in Illinois in 1978. It exists as a non-profit entity designed to collect, distribute and preserve data regarding Polish and Polish-American family histories while helping and guiding its members in with their personal research. Anyone researching Polish ancestors is welcome, and the society provides a wealth of material including books, bulletins, a newsletter and online databases, as well as conducting workshops and regular meetings. The society has members from around the world and is an excellent resource for any genealogist researching Polish or Polish-American ancestors.

8. The Peoples Network

The value of this site is its specialized search engine which is designed to return only information that can be accessed online. You simply type in what you wish to search for as in any search engine, but the returns will be info that is available online.

9. Cousin Connect

A great place to locate free genealogy databases containing surnames is CousinConnect.com. It also provides a platform to post any genealogical queries you may have, allowing you to hook up with other researchers, and of course, cousins! Its foremost purpose is to help people connect with lost relatives –both living and dead – and provides a great deal of information and advice on how to get the most out of their research databases.

10. Interment.net

This site has free databases of cemetery records from selected churches from around the world. The records in the databases have been transcribed by family historians specifically with other researchers in mind, and consequently are carefully copied and indexed. Internment.net also has links to other resources such as BMD (Birth, Death and Marriage) indexes; the highlight however is the cemeteries database. Cemeteries from the UK, Australia, USA, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany, other European and South American countries are listed here and they are absolutely Free to use!

11. The University of Florida African Heritage Project

The USF project was initiated in order to assist genealogists with researching their African heritage. It is dedicated to developing free genealogy databases that will contain the records of slaves, freedmen and their descendants. The free genealogy database they have begun is called AfriQuest, and it has made available a number of records that were previously difficult to find for researchers. The free genealogy database AfriQuest contains records such as the Camden County Georgia Deeds, which identifies African Americans from 1786-1881, and is in the process of having additional records transcribed and uploaded.

12. The Freedmen's Bureau Online

The free genealogy databases of the Freedmen's Bureau contain mostly labour and indenture records of former slaves. These labour contracts contain terms of employment, while the indenture records provide dates, names of the indentured people, names of the officers who officiated, and the names of the guardians to whom the indentured were given over. There are also free genealogy databases of freedmen marriages for several states including Arkansas, Tennessee, and Louisiana.

13. The Scottish Genealogy Society

The Scottish Genealogy Society has developed a Family History Index 2,500 files donated by researchers within the Society covering a period of nearly fifty years. Every file contains data on either a specific family or a number of families and may include numerous files for a particular family. These files can range in size from one page to substantially researched family histories containing hundreds of pages. They take original documentation, transcripts, newspaper clippings, photos or complete histories. A must visit for anyone searching their Scottish ancestry

14. BBC Archives

The BBC Archives host a wealth of historical items ranging from photos to fact sheets for every decade of its existence. If you're looking for historical photos, and especially World War related material, you might just find them here.

15. The British Library

Digital collections held by the British Library include;

• Newspaper Collections from 1800 – 1900
• Festival Books from 1475 – 1700
• Manuscripts
• Endangered Archives

The Endangered Archives Collection is extremely exciting, as this organization had dedicated itself to preserving historical documents from around the world, especially societies where such documents are in extreme danger of disappearing and their history being lost. So far the project has compiled archives of endangered documents from Cuba, Tuvalu and Ghana.

16. The Imperial War Museum

Founded in 1917, initially the museum served as a memorial to those who had died and suffered in during World War I. It has since expanded to include all conflicts, specifically those of British and Commonwealth involvement from 1914 to the present day. Some of the digital collections one can access online are:

• Guides for Tracing Specific Personnel
• Photographs
• Honour Rolls

17. The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum – America's first presidential library is quite unique in that it was also the only one ever used by a sitting president. Conceived and constructed under the direction of President Roosevelt's they have an online collection consisting of Historical Documents, Historical Photographs – many from the Great Depression era, Biographies and Historical Narratives.

18. Canadian War Museum

The Canadian War Museum's Military History Research Centre contains both the George Metcalf Archival Collection and the Hartland Molson Library. These are comprehensive national collections of primary and secondary research material that document Canada's military history from colonial times till present day.

The Military History Research Centre's catalogue is accessible via the internet. Users can search the library and archives collections belonging to the Canadian War Museum and the Canadian Museum of Civilization.

Available for online research is Democracy at War: Canadian Newspapers and the Second World War which is a full-text searchable collection of nearly 150,000 contemporary newspaper clippings reporting on events of World War II as it unfolded.

19. Government Record Services of Hong Kong

This organization specializes in managing recorded information for Hong Kong's Special Administrative Regional Government. It is primarily responsible for developing and maintaining a record-keeping program that effectually manages and makes records available in an efficient format. Their electronic services include an archived records collection, photos, and a free search of their entire catalogue. A must for those searching Asian ancestors!

20. Italian Genealogical Group

This organization is dedicated to furthering Italian genealogy and Family History. Most of its members are from New York City but they embrace members from around the world. They have been transcribing and indexing collections of records held at local and regional archives in conjunction with other genealogical groups, and these indexes are free to search on their site. Some of what their collection contains is: Naturalization Records, BDM Indexes, and a Surnames Database.

21. British Red Cross

Here you will find an online archive of military and historical photos that can be accessed free of charge. There are also historical interviews such as those of the Channel Islanders of Guernsey who were cut off from their families and Britain when the island was occupied by Germany during WWI, interviews from those who served in the Red Cross during the war, and photos of the Changi Quilt. The Changi Quilt contains names of those who were imprisoned in the internment camp at Changi prison by the Japanese army in 1942. The names are those of service personnel and civilians including women and children.

22. Archives of Indian Labour

The Archives of Indian Labour was established in 1998 by V.V. Giri National Labour Institute and the Association of Indian Labour Historians. It is devoted to preserving and making accessible the rapidly disappearing documentation of India's working class. The archive also builds collections and generates research in the field of Indian labour history. It contains documentation regarding labour movement and memoirs, personal narratives, and video and audio material.

23. National Archives of Japan

The National Archives of Japan website is fully translated into English and their entire catalogue can be searched online. Contents of their collection include documents, maps, scrolls and photographs. There is complete instruction (in English) on how to search the archive which contains a wealth of historical and administrative records.

24. National Library of New Zealand

Te National Library of New Zealand is a favourite of mine as they make research dead easy! There is a Quick Links menu on the right hand side of their homepage that includes a section especially for researchers. Clicking on "for Researchers" takes you to a webpage that is clearly and efficiently laid out, separating their online resources from those of their brick and mortar establishment. There are three sections; Online Resources, Collection Guides and Advice and Services, and each section contains a wealth of valuable info. Their online resources include; their own catalogue, newspaper collections, manuscripts, photos and lots of other historical documentation and articles. Truly a 5 Star website for researchers!

25. Documentation Centre of Austrian Resistance

This organization was founded in 1963 by ex-fighters from the Austrian Resistance in conjunction with anti-Fascist historians. It contains a wealth of important and interesting historical information, but of most interest to Family Historians may be the database of over 60,000 names of Austrian victims of the Holocaust. There is also a database of more tan four thousand photos taken from Gestapo records which includes biographical details of prisoners as well as information regarding their arrest, and unfortunately in many cases their deaths.

26. The National Library of Russia

The National Library of Russia has a small digital library available to users in English. It contains archived documents, rare maps, books, manuscripts and other valuable research materials.

27. Meeting of Frontiers

The absolute highlight of the National Library of Russia would definitely have to be the link to Meeting of Frontiers – a bilingual, multimedia English-Russian digital library telling the story of the American exploration and settlement of the West, the parallel exploration and settlement of Siberia and the Russian Far East, and the meeting of the Russian-American frontier in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.

28. Archives Made Easy

This is a website dedicated to educating researchers about specific archives around the world. Volunteers have posted specific tips about particular archives that can save you time, money, and frustration if you will be visiting an archive. An example of how valuable this sight is can be demonstrated in the advice given by a volunteer for anyone visiting the French National Archives. After giving directions on how to get there and the procedures you must go through upon arrival, he even 'makes a suggestion for lunch…" you are in a great neighbourhood for cafes and sandwich shops, but I love to go down to the little square just near Maubert Mutualité metro stop. There is a fruit and veg stand, a cheese shop, a bakery, and traiteur/delicatessen. You can make your lunch and then walk over to the park near Shakespeare and Company to relax and eat while looking at the Notre Dame. "

29. The European Library

The European Library is basically a vast super-search engine that browses the National Libraries of just about every country in Europe. It is a completely free service that offers access to the incredible wealth of resources contained in the 48 national libraries of Europe in 35 languages. Resources are both digital (posters, books, sound recordings, maps, videos, etc.) and bibliographical, making this an awesome research tool to have in your arsenal. To top tings off, the quality and reliability of all material is guaranteed by the forty eight collaborating national libraries of Europe.

30. Archives Wales

Archives Wales is a member of the UK National Archives Network. This is an initiative designed to provide access to all of the online catalogues of the UK archives. All member websites allow cross-searching of entire catalogues of groups of repositories for particular record types or regarding specific areas. Besides the wealth of information regarding where to look for what records, they have an excellent section on Non-Conformist Records – Birth and Baptismal records of people who were not members of the Church of England but rather Methodists, Baptists etc.

31. Welsh Mariners

Welsh Mariners is an on-line index containing the names of 23,500 Welsh captains, mates and engineers who were active between 1800 and 1945. The index is a work in progress and is being compiled and overseen by Dr. Reg Davies. The value of the website is best summed up in the words of Dr. Davies himself. He states "Mariners represent a difficult group to research from the point of view of the family historian. I wanted to make information about our Welsh maritime ancestors more easily available to anyone researching their family and Welsh heritage, and so it seemed appropriate to develop this website and make the information on it freely available to all."

32. Crew List Index Project

The Crew List Index Project (CLIP) was developed to assist family historians more easily access records of British merchant seaman from the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. They have amassed a huge database and include lots of information to help researchers find their seafaring ancestors.

33. Coal Mining History Resource Centre

This is the UK's largest and most complete website regarding the history of coalmining. It includes a huge searchable database containing more than 164,000 names of those killed or injured in recorded accidents. The site was established by Ian Winstanley, a retired science teacher and published author, hailed as Lancashire's leading mining historian.

34. James E. Walker Library (Middle Tennessee State University)

The James E. Walker Library as some valuable digital collections that you can access online, but two that are of utmost interest to Family Historians are the Discovering American Women's History Online – a database providing access to an array of digital collections of primary sources (diaries, letters, photos) documenting the history of women in America, and the Volunteer Voices Collection- The State of Tennessee's digitization program encompassing its archives, repositories, libraries, museums and historic homes. Its aim is to develop digital collections that comprehensively document the history and culture of Tennessee.

35. The Hawaiian Collection (University of Hawaii at Manoa)

The Hawaiian Collection is a comprehensive assortment of retrospective and current materials relating to Hawaii. Most of the material is held onsite at the school library; however they offer a vast array of digital material as well, including:

• Assignment Guides and Bibliographies
• Manuscripts and Archives
• Various Collections
• Indexes
• Databases

36. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Yale University)

Another researcher's dream website, here you can search and view online: historical photographs, documents, manuscripts, historical maps, works of art, and rare books from the Beinecke's collections. Especially interesting to family historians might be the collection of historical maps – one hundred in total – detailing early New England and North America.

37. Smithsonian Institution (Collections Search Centre)

Known and loved by all for preserving much of our history, the Smithsonian generously makes a huge database of online material available for researchers. Of special interest to family historians would be the massive collection of historical photographs, biographies, articles, books and electronic documents.

38. Missouri Digital Heritage

Nearly seven million records can be accessed through Missouri Digital Heritage, including records held by the Missouri State Archives, the Missouri State Library and more than 50 other smaller institutions throughout the state. Their Family and Faith section is geared especially towards genealogists, and the records they have made available online include resources that include BDM records, church registers, cemetery records and family papers.

39. The National Archives of Hungary

The Government of Hungary is definitely pro-genealogy as is evidenced from their website. Not only do they have an option to view the site in English, but they have developed an entire section with excellent information designed to assist you in locating your Hungarian family members. On top of that they maintain an online database of Paris Registers. This is a great starting point if you are tracing Hungarian ancestors. For your convenience the link above goes directly to their Family History section.

40. The Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation Inc.

Miriam Weiner is a celebrated Jewish Genealogist and syndicated columnist of Roots and Branches which is published in over a hundred Jewish periodicals and newspapers. She has developed a fantastic website for those researching their Jewish family history, and offers a vast searchable database of archive inventories for towns and villages in Poland, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, and Lithuania. Once you locate the documents you seek for the town that interests you, you simply click on “archive name” which directs you to a page where you'll be able to locate the archive addresses and corresponding contact information. There is however a wealth of other valuable information, especially for those searching ancestors from Eastern Europe including a Guide to Russian research terminology, and foreign language alphabets such as Yiddish, Hungarian and Romanian to name a few.

41. Family Search

Family Search is a favourite and trusted site of many genealogists. Maintained by the Latter Day Saints (LDS), who are committed to keeping genealogy free, it is home of the International Genealogical Index, a collection of millions of records from the 16th century to present. Records to be found here include; Census Lists, Birth, Death and Marriage Indexes, Probates, Wills, Church Records and much more, which one can search by place, date, or record type. It is run entirely by volunteers and as such there are no hidden fees or costs involved in accessing their collections.

Since we first posted this list, Family Search has developed a new, reportedly more efficient website. There is a "Try the updated site" banner on the page to which the above link brings you, or you can access it directly Here. You can try the new site out (reactions are mixed in the genealogy community – some like it, some don't) and if you aren't happy with it you can continue using the old one. New features of the updated site are:

• An online film ordering system (available in selected areas)
• Updated and improved search engine
• New Online Learning Center
• New Twitter Handle – @FamilySearch
• Newly Updated YouTube Channel
• New Filtering Features
• New Records

42. Our Timelines

Ever wondered what historical events your ancestors might have witnessed, or even been involved in?? If so, a trip to this website will reveal the answer. At Timelines you can find out what was happening historically during the lifetime of one of your ancestors or yourself. You simply enter a person's name and their years of birth and death and the online software generates a timeline of historical events that happened during that person's lifetime. This is an excellent tool for Family Historians, as you are able to see exactly how your ancestors fit into history, allowing you to better focus your research efforts. If you like to create web pages, you can display these Timelines on your personal website, adding to it an interesting and very personal touch.

43. Archive.org – The Way Back Machine

Searching for a website you once visited regularly but can't seem to find online now? Perhaps it has moved or been taken offline, but don't despair – you'll find it at Archives.org. Here you can search for such websites; in fact they have over 150 billion cached copies of them. To search for Genealogy websites you simply click on "Texts" in the Toolbar, and then click on "Additional Collections" in the Sub-Bar, then type "Genealogy" in the Search Box.

44. U.S. Board on Geographic Names

Here you can search documents relating to over 2 million geographic locations in the United States and from around the world. Inconsistencies and contradictions among names, the spelling of them, and applications for them can cause serious problems for map-makers, scientists, surveyors, and of course, genealogists. The Board on Geographic names was founded to eradicate that problem by standardizing names and their spellings, all of which can be confirmed using this website. One can search for any federally recognized location, National Park or geographic coordinates, by state, or by county.

45. Access Genealogy

What started out as a small family run website of 50 State pages has blossomed into the largest website for Native American records on the internet. Consisting of over a quarter million pages now, the site is well maintained, and records collections are added on an almost daily basis. Their collections contain Biographies, Cemetery Records, Census Lists, Military Records, Native American Rolls and Tribal Histories to name a few.

46. The AfriGeneas Library

AfriGeneas was developed to provide resources and guidance for those who are researching African related ancestry. The website contains a database of transcribed records regarding African-Americans including marriage records, directories, family histories, newspaper articles, slave records and more. Recently they have added, thanks to their army of full time staff and dedicated volunteers; Birth Records for Negroes and Mulattoes for Fayette County, Philadelphia for the years 1788 – 1820, Death Notices and Obituaries from Monroe County, Alabama for the years 1891 – 1914.

47. JewishGen Family Finder

This is a free, practical website featuring thousands of databases, valuable research tools and miscellaneous other resources designed to assist anyone with Jewish ancestry with tracking down ancestors. The databases include Ancestral towns, Jewish surnames, Holocaust database, Gazetteers, Ellis Island database and various religious records. JewishGen currently holds over 20,000,000 records, all collected, compiled and transcribed by a staff of tireless volunteers from a variety of countries from around the world. There is an option to donate should you choose to do so, but the site is entirely free for anyone to use.

48. Japanese Immigrants to the United States 1887-1924

Maintained by Brigham Young University, this website allows you to search records of first generation Japanese immigrants to Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho. The records have been transcribed from census, cemetery records, obituaries and local histories, and the site operates on a name search basis; so you will have to know your ancestors name to search for them here.

49. Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records

This government website provides access to Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States, which also includes image access to over 5,000,000 Federal land title records that the Federal Government issued from 1820 to present. There are also some images relating to survey plats (part of the official record of a cadastral survey) and field notes (the narrative record of the cadastral survey) that date back to 1810. This site is very useful if one of your ancestors at anytime purchased or received land from the Federal Government, as those records will be included here. You will however have to pay for a certified copy of any original documentation you might wish to order.

50. Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild

This website has two sections; The ISTG Compass, and The Adoption Experience. The ISTG Compass is designed as a guide to assist you in your research of immigrant related data. Up-to-date information is available regarding ships, ship images and descriptions, passenger lists, ethnic and emigrant databases, and various resources such as libraries, archives and museums both on and off-line. There is a thorough descriptive of each site, and some additional international maritime records and information.

The Adoption Experience is geared towards those whose lives have been somehow touched by adoption. This section is relatively new, in fact it is still under construction, but there are already ample resources for anyone wishing to reunite with long lost relatives, whether a birth parent or an adoptee.

51. Ellis Island Free Port of New York Passenger Records Search

The free Ellis Island Free Records Database allows you to search immigrants who entered the U.S at Ellis Island or the Port of New York between 1892 and 1924 with links to transcribed records and digital images of those documents. You can search by names, year of arrival, year of birth, town of origin and the ship name.

52. Bremen Passenger Lists 1920-1939

The Bremen Chamber of Commerce established an Information Office for Emigrants in 1851 where all ship captains had to deliver their passenger and cargo lists. The lists for the period 1875 – 1908 were unfortunately destroyed because of a lack of filing space, while more for the period 1920 – 1939 were lost during the Second World War. Fortunately the ones hosted on this website were stashed away in a salt mine with some other archives for protection, and were given over to the Moscow Archives at the war's end. In 1987 and 1990 they were returned to the Bremen Chamber of commerce who has graciously made them available for searching online.

53. Civil War Soldiers and Sailor System

This website hosts a computerized database which contains basic information about servicemen who served for both the Union and Confederacy in the Civil War. There are presently 6.3 million names in the database, and other information to be found here includes Regimental Histories and information on particular battles during the Civil War. The site plans to add additional data regarding soldiers, sailors, regiments, and the battles they took part in, as well as POW (Prisoner of War) and Cemetery Records.

54. Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Anyone looking for ancestors who my have been killed while serving in the armed forces of any Commonwealth nation – Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, England, Scotland or Wales – during the two World Wars will appreciate this excellent website. The database (“Debt of Honour Register”) contains the names of the 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth nations who were killed or died during World Wars I and II as well as the names of the 23,000 cemeteries, memorials and other international locations where they are remembered. You can also search the register for info on the 67,000 Commonwealth civilians who were killed due to enemy action in World War II.

55. DAR Genealogical Research System

The DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) Genealogical Research System is a collection databases that was created in recent years with a view to organizing the vast quantity of data that the DAR has gathered since its was founded in 1890. One of the highlights is the Ancestor Database containing the names of Revolutionary War Patriots whose identities and service records have been verified by the NSDAR. The information includes birth dates, birth places, places of residence, names of spouses, type of service, rank and the state served in. Previously you had to request them to do a look up for you in order to find out if your ancestor was included in their database, but now you can do the search yourself, and for free!

56. Free Genealogy Lookups – One per Day

The Ancestral Findings website of North Carolina allows you to request one free search per day. Follow their rules and be nice about it and they will search birth, marriage, census, military, state and other historical records for you, absolutely free.

57. National Archives Genealogy

This is the online catalog of the U.S. National Archives. There are thousands of resources available online, scanned documents, transcribed documents and where to find the originals. These records include birth, death, military, maps and more, and there is an exclusive section especially for Family Historians containing a wealth of resources such as Immigration and Naturalization records, Land records, and even Bankruptcy records.

58. Australia's World War Two Nominal Roll

The World War Two Nominal Roll was developed in order to honour and commemorate the brave men and women who served Australia during this conflict either in her defence forces or the Merchant Navy. This site contains data from the service records of those one million individuals. Records can be searched by specifying name, place of birth, place of enlistment, service number or honours. If you find your ancestors record here, you can print out a certificate on your own printer, but keep in mind that this is not an original document. Another thing to consider is that individuals and their families were given the opportunity to be excluded from the online database if they wished.

59. Free Genealogy Translations

This website is part of FranceGenWeb and provides free translations. If you are in need of having a foreign document translated into your language this is the place to come to. The text is all in French, but it is easy enough to use. You simply choose the language you need translated and you'll be taken to a form that's in both French and English.

60. Library and Archives Canada Genealogy and Family History

This is the Family History section of Collections Canada, and is well laid out and especially geared towards genealogical research. You can search for your ancestor in their huge databases composed of; Birth, Death and Marriage records, Census and Enumerations, Immigration and Citizenship records (Passenger lists, naturalization records etc.), Land records, Military records, Directories, Police records, Post Office records, Local histories, Church and Cemetery records, and, believe it or not, more! You can search for records by typing a name in their search box after which you can view the record online.

61. GeneaBios

GeneaBios is a small website where researchers have posted biographical information about particular individuals. To date their records include free biographies that have been posted by visitors to their site as well as links to free biographies at other websites. This isn't a particularly large database, but it is constantly growing. If you can find an ancestor here, you're in for a treat because there is lots of detail included in most bios.

62. National Archives of Norway

Digital Archives of parish registers, real estate registers, photos, and tips on how to trace your ancestors in Norway. This website is available in English or Norwegian and information dates back to 1801. Other highlights of the site include digital image and sound files as well as the Digital Inn – a section housing sources and documents which have been digitised by institutions, associations or persons other than the National Archives of Norway.

63. British Columbia Archives Genealogy

This website contains summaries or scanned copies of original documents in the archives. If you need to see the original document, download a price list. But you can access a lot of data without having to pay for it. The data dates back to 1872 when BC became a province.

The website also contains a Genealogy section that features published material such as Family Histories, Biographies, Clergy Lists, Telephone Directories, Military Records and Voter's Lists. There are also Government Records such as Birth, Death and Marriage Registrations and Land Grant Records, while they also have an excellent collection of Newspapers, Sound Recordings, Digital Images, Paintings, Drawings and Cartographic (Map Related) Records.

64. Canadian County Atlas Digital Project

Here you can see digital images of maps created between 1874 and 1881 for Ontario Counties. Included with the maps are the names of subscribers and their businesses and in some cases their portraits.

Started in July 1998, the County Atlas pilot project originally contained a mere ten atlases. There have since been two developmental phases which saw the completion of the Ontario map, and now totals forty-three atlases. The website has a searchable database with the property owners' names appearing on the township maps located within the county atlases. All of the maps have been scanned in, and feature links from the owners' names contained in the database.

65. Australian War Memorial

Australian War Memorial is an excellent place to locate information about the part Australia played in the world wars. This is the official website of the Australian War Memorial Museum, so you have access to documents and artefacts online. There is a description and a transcription of each document online but if you want to see the actual document up close, you have to pay for a reprint.

They have recently added Family History section which the above link will take you to. Their collections contain lots of information relating to the military service of various individuals. If you are looking to locate information about relatives who may have served in any of the wars in which Australia has participated in since the mid nineteenth century, you will find a host of links that will direct you to valuable resources on this site.

Their collection includes the Roll of Honour which commemorates and records those who were killed during the war, Personal Service Records, the Commemorative Roll which memorializes Australians who died as a result of or during wars or other warlike operations in which Australians were on active service but who were ineligible to be included in the Roll of Honour.

66. National Archives of Australia

Here you can search and view records online and there are over 8 million of them to choose from. Searchable records include posters, photographs, documents, maps, and sound and film recordings. A valuable part of this website is their Record Search Forum where you can collaborate your records search with other researchers. In the Name Search section you can search particular groups of records such as Military Records, Immigration Records, and even Aboriginal Tribal Records. You can further hone your search by looking only in sub-categories such as Court Martials, Civilian Service Records, Security and Intelligence Records, Copyrights, Patents and Trade Marks and many, many more.

67. Library of Virginia Online Catalog

The digital collection of the Library of Virginia includes; Photo collections, Map collections, Public Works Records, Court Records (Chancery Records Index), Cohabitation Registers (a register of African Americans living together as Husband and Wife in 1866), Confederate Disability Applications, Revolutionary War Bounty Warrants and much more. A very interesting collection of records for sure!

68. Le Dictionaire Genealogique

This is a seven volume French Canadian Genealogy published by the Reverend Cyprian Tanguay. His work includes the genealogies of early French Canadian families dating from 1608 to about 1760.

69. Kentucky Vital Records

This compilation of state records includes the Kentucky Death Index for 1911 – 1986, Kentucky Marriage Index for 1973-1993, and the Kentucky Death Index for 1987- 1992. The information has been taken from the State of Kentucky's Office of Vital Statistics, albeit funding has not been made available to update the database so it remains as is. Another thing to keep in mind if using their search engine is that the number of returns for each search is limited as their search engine cannot process a high volume, so you'll want to search as specifically as possible to minimize the number of matched returns.

70. Canadian Genealogy Centre

Several free genealogy databases are available for search online here, including; Births, Death and Marriage indexes, Census Reports, Military Records, Immigration and Citizenship Papers, Land and Employment Records. The most recent addition is the 1871 Canada Census Report. This website also serves as a gateway to other genealogy websites containing Canadian Genealogy Search Information.

71. German Military Grave Registration

This free database contains the names of missing and dead soldiers from both World War I and World War II. You will be required to register before you can search and view your results. Registration is free. Oh and you'll have to be able to read German. Don't be intimidated however as the link above takes you right to their search engine – there at least you can type in your ancestor's name, and if you get a return or two it might be worth using Google Translate. I would recommend only translating two or three words at a time, as Google Translations of phrases are not always so accurate. It might take a bit longer, but the translation will be more accurate, which might be worth the while if it helps find a lost relative.

72. Utah Cemetery Burials Database

This database is housed at the Utah State History website and contains records of over 650,000 in over 350 cemeteries. You can search by name, by location, or search the State Archives for Death Certificates. Other online sources here include a digital photo collection, manuscripts, markers, and monuments.

73. Index to the Enciclopedia Heraldica Hispano-Americana of Alberto and Arturo Garcia Carraffa

This work totals 88 volumes and is supplemented by ongoing updates carried out by an army of tireless volunteer genealogists. The first two volumes outline Spanish Heraldry, but the Diccionario Heráldico y Genealógico de Apellidos Españoles y Americanos, (a compilation of over 15,000 names and respective genealogical histories) begins in Volume Three. You can do a comprehensive search of the list of Spanish and Spanish-American names to find out exactly where in the work the article about your Spanish heritage exists, and also view the corresponding Heraldic Crests or histories.

74. Distant Cousin

DistantCousin contains an online collection of genealogy records and images of scanned historical documents from many different sources. Here you will find data from obituaries, census records, city directories, school yearbooks, ship lists, military records, and much more. There are more than 6 million records in total sourced from over 1,500 collections. The site is free to use and there are no fees or memberships required. Recently they have added the 12th Infantry Collection which contains, photos, rosters and other information on that particular military division, the 1921 Rhode Island Directory, and the 1924 Nashville Tennessee Directory to name a few.

75. Danish Emigration Archives

This is the National Collection of Books and Documents on Emigration History in Denmark. It was established in 1932 with a few to recording the History of Danish people who immigrated to other countries. Their collection consists of diaries, manuscripts, private letters, photos, newspaper clippings and biographies. These lists hold the name, age, year of emigration, last residence, and the original destination of the emigrant. The records span the years 1869 to 1908 and contain over 394.000 names.

76. Greenville County Government Historical Records Online

This collection is a result of collaboration between the Greenville county Library System and the Greenville County Government. They have indeed done well to provide an awesome center of high-resolution digital resources that will be appreciated by genealogists and other historical researchers alike.

They plan to continue their efforts at making historical records accessible online, and have plans to eventually include; Will Books, Jail Records, Minute Books and more, so it is well worth bookmarking this site and checking back regularly.

It is an exceptionally well organized online database of records that go way beyond the usual birth, death, marriage records, and presently also includes ; deeds, district court records, wills and probate records. Most are scanned and viewable online, but others are transcribed or their indexes are searchable.

77. FreeREG Search UK Parish Registers

This website provides a free online search of burial, baptism, and marriage records transcribed from UK non-conformist and Parish registers. There are also two companion sites accessible from this site; FreeBMD – where you can browse birth, death, and marriage indexes dating from 1837, and FreeCEN – where you can search Census indexes. The FreeREG database contains over 16 million records, FreeBMD has a total of 261,403,593 records, and FreeCEN contains the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, and 1891 census reports. Oh, and they are always looking for volunteers to help with the transcriptions!

78. GenCircles

This site features the Global Tree a project designed to build a vast searchable database of genealogical data. The uniqueness of this site is that you can interact with your own data as well as with other genealogists. You simply upload your GedCom file and connect with others researching other branches of your family tree. If you don't have a GedCom file, you can still register for free and contribute information and find information about your genealogy. They guarantee the integrity of your data, and through their Matching technology can help you to find others who are pursuing a similar line of research.

79. A Very Grave Matter

This is a website containing a collection of photographs and historical information about cemeteries and gravestones in colonial New England. Cemeteries from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont are featured in this free database, which is an extremely interesting historical collection. Within their pages lie the stories and histories of merchants, doctors, lawyers, judges, sea captains, governors, clergy , Revolutionary Patriots and Loyalists, pirates and privateers, British soldiers, slaves, Civil War generals and more. Donations are welcome, but use of the site is free.

80. Pennsylvania State Archives

Scanned or transcribed card files of veterans and service medal applications for; National Guard, Civil War, Mexican Border Campaign, World War I, Spanish American War, Revolutionary War and Militia Officers are featured on this site, compliments of the State of Pennsylvania. Names, ranks, ages, birth places, physical descriptions, marital status, causes and places of death (if applicable), dates served, and much more can be found in their records.

81. Historical Directories

Historical Directories is a digital library of trade and local directories for Wales and England dating from 1750 to 1919. The collection consists of excellent quality reproductions of relatively rare books which can be valuable tools for researching both local and genealogical history. They have also incorporated material from a variety of institutions, making this quite a comprehensive collection of historical data. You can search the database by location, decade, or by entering a keyword.

82. The Olden Times

This website has scanned images of actual newspaper clippings of announcements of births, deaths, and obituaries. Recommended searches are by Place Name, Topic (Court, War, Ship etc.), Dates (year only), and Newspaper Names. The website is constantly being worked on with a view to improving it (it is run by a solitary individual) so may be another one worth bookmarking and checking back regularly. There is a lot of extra stuff that is interesting too like vintage recipes, cartoons, old advertisements and postcards.

Make sure that you don't overlook offline sources such as your local Provincial or State Vital Records and libraries, as well as Genealogical Societies and Family History Centers. They will not only give you a place to start your genealogy search, but can provide valuable assistance in locating published family histories and information on your ancestors.

If you know a really good website out there that didn't make it on this list, email me (melanie at obituarieshelp.org) so I can include it, but make sure it is completely free – I'm always looking for free information available online because I want everyone to get started without investing a dime.

Leave your comments below to let me and others know what you think of these resources.

There you have it, 40 more websites with Absolutely Free Genealogy Resources and Records –we'll try not to wait another two years before we do it again! Happy Ancestor Hunting!

It’s never too late to get hooked on genealogy research, but what if you could have started when you were a child or teen? Just imagine all the information you could have gathered at family reunions, from aunt Bessy, or the pictures you could have had of great, great grandma before she passed away?

I write this out of regret for not having spent more time asking questions when I was younger, when my grandparents were still alive. They came from the “old country” and spoke several languages, visited many countries, had friendships and knew everyone in their small communities back home, escaped capture during war, although now, I don’t even know which war it was!

In my family, no one thought to preserve the history, my mom thinks there is a distant cousin who might have some records, but she’s not even sure if this cousin is alive anymore. So far, I have not been able to track her down.

And when I was a kid, listening to these stories, I thought I had nothing but time. But sadly, now, I’m older and I have no way of getting back those stories. My daughter may never share my passion for genealogy, but that’s not stopping me from planting the seed. I’ve downloaded a free printable family tree that we filled out together and she spent time coloring and drawing pictures on. But there is more that I intend to do.

The only way to get young people interested in genealogy is to share your love of it with them. While you may never get children and teens to spend a sunny afternoon in a dusty records repository, it will be a lot easier to give them a video camera and some ideas for what questions to ask and they can start their own video genealogy research. In addition to creating a Family Documentary, researching free genealogy websites and buying subscriptions to genealogy websites, here are 5 ways to get kids interested in Genealogy.

Here are the top 5 ways to get kids interested in genealogy:

1. Dig out some old photographs.

Those old dusty photos that no one looks at anymore are a perfect starting point for getting kids interested in Genealogy. Generally, kids are fascinated with old pictures of schools, clothes, houses, streets, toys, and old photos of you or a relative.

Photos make something real to kids, pictures of great grandfather in his WW1 uniform will engage a child more than any story, document or family tree chart. And seeing their parents or grandparents as children is probably the best link to the past. When they realize that you were once a kid, and what life was like in your old house, things start to get really interesting for them.

To kids, old is a relative term. An old photograph could be one taken less than a decade ago. But here is a great website, The Unwritten, developed by kids where you can get a brief history of photography and some pointers to help kids learn how to date photographs.

2. Meanings of Names.

Look up the meaning of the child’s first name or last name at babynames.com. Or do a search for the different versions of your family name. There are lots of websites that have the meanings of names, first names especially, like there is also a website that analyzes names

A particular favorite of mine is the Hamrick.com website where you can enter in a surname and see a U.S. map showing where people of that name lived.

The Connecticut State Library has compiled a list of Nicknames common in the 18th and 19th century that kids will find interesting.

3. On this day in history…

Do a little research to find out how your family fits into history. Did any major world event happen on the same date as a birth, marriage or death of someone in your family? Google the date and see what comes up.

Another way to find out how the family fits into history is to make history personal. If kids are studying about a particular period in history, or an event such as wars, immigration, the Great Depression, find out about how your family participated in the event. The history of your hometown and old newspaper articles from your local library are sure to offer a clue as what your family did or was doing at the time.

Maybe your family was offered land to go west during the Great Depression, or lived in a sod hut under ground. These are all things that make genealogy interesting for kids.

Or create a timeline of events during a certain period in your family history.

4. Download and fill out a family tree chart.

You can get a kid friendly one from Obituaries Help.org and fill it out together, let them draw on it or download the 5 generation picture pedigree chart, they can either draw portraits or cut and paste real pictures of the family into the family tree chart. Post it on their bedroom wall so they have a constant reminder of where they came from.

5. Take a Trip.

Nothing makes genealogy more interesting that a trip to a place where the family was from. Perhaps there are some old artifacts from that era in the museum or maps of the area as it was and how it is now. Sometimes simply taking a trip to see a relative who has artifacts, stories and photos can be all it takes to get a kid interested in genealogy.

It really doesn’t take much to awaken that genealogy beast inside all of us. The one that yearns to know, where did I come from? With a little creativity and a little research you can make genealogy interesting for kids.

But don’t do it all in one day… too much of a good thing might not be the best way, always keep them wanting more…..

How did you get your kids interested in genealogy?

With a pen, some paper, a camera and tape recorder, she began to search through the books to find any information she could about her mother, father, grandparents and great grandparents.
She spent many a summer day, in that records repository, searching and reading, recording and searching some more until her lungs filled with dust and she just had to stop. She stepped out of the gloomy darkness of the repository into the searing heat, her eyes blinking against the bright sun…..

Things have come a long way in a short time. Now our curious genealogy researcher can access many of those same records online from the comfort of her home.

Last week, I wrote a post about my favorite free genealogy websites that have records and I mentioned that I would write about my favorite paid subscriptions sites.

As promised, here is my top choices for subscription or paid genealogy sites. All of these are membership-based sites that allow you to access their databases after you sign up and pay a fee. The fees range in price and some have shorter sign up options. There is also a huge range in the amount of data you can access.

In the end, you’ll have to decide which ones fit into your budget and which ones you think will give you the best options. I’ve written full reviews of all of these so look for them in the coming weeks in the reviews section of ObituariesHelp.org.

My top paid genealogy websites. These are the ones where I think you get the most for your money:

1. One Great Family

This is my favorite website for keeping track of family records. It’s the most advanced, but easiest to use online genealogy tool out there. The data is cross-referenced so if you enter in as many people as you can into your family tree. You could wake up one morning with hundreds more names added to it! It’s amazing.

It connects you to branches of your family tree you may not know exist. And because it’s so popular, chances of finding someone else with your ancestry is very good. You can also find out if you’re related to someone famous.

The difference is that One Great Family doesn’t store your information, it searches other family trees with similarities so eventually, you’ll be able to see how your family is connected to every other family in the world. Very exciting.

There is a 7-day free trial, and you give them your credit card that they charge after the 7 days. An annual membership is only $5.00 USD a month right now, down from $6.67 USD/month. You can upload your existing GEDCOM files or enter in names and dates you know. The more you enter the easier it is for the system to match you with other family members.
Give it a try, if you’ve tried family tree software and other family tree websites out there, you’ll know what I mean when I say this is the most advanced, yet easiest to use online genealogy tool out there.

Read a full Review of One Great Family

2. Ancestry.com

With the biggest name in online genealogy, a membership to Ancestry.com allows you to access to over 27,000 record collections with billions of names. Transcribed or scanned records can be viewed online. The data comes from the US, Canada, UK, Germany, France, Sweden. They have a free monthly newsletter that describes new collections, and news in the world of genealogy research.

A yearly membership is about $13.00 USD – $25.00 USD a month, depending on the records you need to search. But for people who make it a point of searching once a week for records that you can print out and review later, it is really worth it.

You can try it out for 14 days for free, but you have to give them your credit card. It will be charged after the 14 days. If you wish to cancel, you have to call an 800 number that only works in the US. So if you are outside the US, you may incur long distance charges to cancel your membership.

Read a full Review of Ancestry.com

3. World Vital Records

World Vital Records is the second big name in the online genealogy world whose collections compare to Ancestry.com but their prices are way cheaper and they have way more Canadian and World records. They’ve consolidated the data from 42 different membership services into one big database. So you get a lot for your money.

Plus they have a 30-day money back guarantee so you can actually use the full service for 30 days before deciding if you want continue or not.
World Vital Records allows you to search their records by the usual, birth and death, census, court, directories, military records and so on, but you can also search by place or by recently added databases, so you’ll only get recent search results.

They also have a free weekly newsletter that I highly recommend you sign up for. Their newsletter is full of great search tips, articles, tutorials to help you learn more about online genealogy, and more.

Read a full Review of World Vital Records

4. The Origins Network

Search your Irish, British, or Scottish ancestry back to the 1400’s and then get copies of birth, death, marriage and other records. Scottish records are free to access. They’ll let you do a free search of the Irish and British records, but you’ll have to join before you can view the transcribed or scanned documents.

The bonus is that you can by a three-day membership for about $13.00 USD so you can do a lot of searching and printing in those 72 hours and take your time reviewing it all. Then you can decide to buy a monthly (about $18.00 USD) or annual (about $78.00 USD) membership.

If you have British or Irish Ancestry, this membership is definitely worth it.

Read a full Review of The Origins Network

5. Newspaper Archive

Newspaper Archive is one of those subscription sites that puts your family history into perspective and gives you those stories that make your ancestors come alive.

It has over 250 years work of newspapers, scanned, indexed and searchable online. If you want to find news stories, announcements, classifieds or anything that your family might have done, you can read it in the scanned newspaper.

Doing a simple search for a name can come up with stories about your family you would never have known. I found out my grandfather helped to rebuild a home that was destroyed by a tornado. His picture was in the paper with the family whose home was destroyed, standing in front of the house they rebuilt.

Those kinds of finds may not have exact or accurate records, but they make your ancestors lives real and you find out what kind of people they were. Even if you don’t see your ancestor’s names, you will find out what was happening in their community at the time of their lives, which helps to put perspective on what life was like back then.

An annual membership is about $10.00 USD a month and gets you access to newspapers from the mid 1700’s to the present.

Read a full Review of Newspaper Archive

6. Footnote

This is an excellent website that has scanned original historical documents and an online community willing to share their knowledge and research. There are several collections at footnote that you won’t find anywhere else, including the American Wars, US Presidents and naturalization documents. Everything is scanned and viewable online. Some are even free to browse so you can see the quality of images and the range of information you’ll be able to find.

The best part is the members. The members share their images, stories, personal accounts, and family histories to make history more than just facts and events. But don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of facts and events for you to search through, in addition to the connection of people who make this a really great website.

Membership is about $7.00 USD a month and allows you to keep a personal database of images and data that you can make notes on, you can create your own web pages, have a gallery of your favorite images and share images with family and friends.

There is also a free membership that lets you search, create a gallery of free images. The free membership is pretty good too, but of course, to take full advantage of unlimited access to all 60 million images, you’ll want to get the paid membership.

Read a full Review of Footnote.com

So now many of those records you find in dusty old repositories are available online and more and more records are becoming available every day. I’m not saying you won’t ever have to spend a day in the dark storage of some repository in some remote place, but before you start packing, try these sites out first. You may be pleasantly surprised by all the gems of information available online.

Comment below to let me know what your thoughts are about my choices and what exciting nuggets of news you’ve found out about your ancestors!

There are a million websites that have information about genealogy, census records, and family tree research. Some are free and some expect you to pay a membership fee. When you are just starting your family tree research or when you are a little strapped for cash and don’t want to make an investment for something that might just be a hobby, there are alternatives to subscription genealogy websites.

Don’t sign up for a subscription genealogy website just yet, get your ancestry search started at these resources first. Besides, some subscription genealogy sites are worth the price of admission and others, not at all. Look for an honest evaluation of these subscription sites in the coming weeks. A lot of that same information is available for free, you just have to know where to look.

Here are the best free genealogy websites where you can get some good solid information about your family tree, ancestors and get your genealogy research off on a running start. With these resources, you could be researching for months!

It bugs me when websites claim to be free, only to have a hidden cost involved, or expect you to pay to view certain document.

I’ve eliminated so called free websites that have a free index but you have to pay to read the original scanned document, I’ve even eliminated free websites that are simply a list of links to other paid websites. If there is any cost involved to view the information online, you won’t see that website on this list. The only thing you’ll have to pay for is if you want original or certified documents sent to you. In that case, you have to pay postage, copy and other administrative fees.

What you are getting here are truly FREE genealogy websites with no strings attached. I’ll tell you about some of the other ones in another post, the ones with strings, and I’ll let you know what I think of them too.

Update October 22, 2010: Before you get started checking out these websites, you’ll want to download a family tree template to fill in your ancestors’s names. I’ve updated my free printable family tree template pages to include over 20 different styles and generations of family trees.  Plus there is a helpful guide that teaches you how to research your family history.

Here are the best of the truly FREE genealogy websites in no particular order:

1. Family Search

Family Search is one of my favorite genealogy websites. It is maintained by the Latter Day Saints (LDS) and they are committed to keeping genealogy free. It is completely run by volunteers so there is no hidden fee or cost to join or access their database. You can even volunteer your time to enter data into their archives.

2. Our Timelines

This is a really cool website where you can find out what was happening historically during the lifetime of one of your ancestors or yourself. Just enter the person’s name and the years of birth and death and the program generates a timeline of historical events that happened during that person’s lifetime. It’s a great way to find out what life was like back then.

3. Archive.org – The Way Back Machine

This website lets you search old websites that may have moved or been taken off line. They have over 150 billion cached copies of old archived websites. For Genealogy search, you can find free scanned copies of family and local histories. Just click on “Texts” and then click on “Additional Collections” then choose “Genealogy”

4. U.S. Geographic Names Information System

Search documents pertaining to over 2 million geographic locations in the United States. Federally recognized locations, National Parks and geographic coordinate, by state, or by county.

5. Native American Genealogy

Free information about America’s Native Americans and Canada’s First Nations People. This database includes several Roll Indexes as well as DNA and Tribal Histories. An excellent free resources for genealogists and historians.

6. AfriGeneas Library

This is a database of transcribed records if African-Americans including marriage records, directories, family histories, newspaper articles, slave records and more.

7. JewishGen Family Finder

This is a free searchable database of ancestral towns and surnames currently being researched by Jewish Genealogists worldwide. The site is maintained by JewishGen which is a not for profit corporation that accepts donations to keep running. However, using the database is completely free once you create a profile and register.

8. Japanese Immigrants to the United States 1887-1924

Much of the data in this collection focuses on first generation Japanese immigrants to Wyoming, Utah, and Idaho and has been transcribed from census, cemetery records, obituaries and local histories.

9. Bureau of Land Management General Land Office Records

This is a free government website that allows you to research about parcels of land. For example, if your ancestor obtained a piece of land from the U.S. government any time between 1820 and 1908, you can find that original document here. This is one of those websites that you’ll have to pay for a certified copy of the document, however, viewing the document online is free.

10. Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild

Dedicated volunteers are tirelessly transcribing ship passenger lists with a million passenger records to date. All online, all free.

11. Ellis Island Free Port of New York Passenger Records Search

The free Ellis Island Free Records Database allows you to search immigrants who entered the U.S at Ellis Island or the Port of New York between 1892 and 1924 with links to transcribed records and digital images of those documents. You can search by names, year of arrival, year of birth, town of origin and the ship name.

12. Bremen Passenger Lists 1920-1939

All other passenger lists from 1875-1908 were destroyed and any other lists were lost in World War II. But these lists were hidden in a salt mine during the wars and have been transcribed and are available online for you to search.

13. Civil War Soldiers and Sailor System

Find basic facts about United States servicemen who served in either Union or Confederate Armies during the Civil Wars. Search millions of soldiers by name, regiment, cemetery, battle, and even if they were a prisoner.

14. Commonwealth War Graves Commission

This website is an amazing resource for anyone who had ancestors serve Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom in World War I or World War II. You can search records, they call it the Debt of Honour Register, for casualty records and cemetery records. And all the information is free.

15. DAR National Society

Daughters of the American Revolution Society will do free look-ups for you! If you want to know if your ancestor is recognized by the DAR as a Revolutionary Patriot, complete the form online and their volunteers will look up that information plus, names, spouses, rank, service, state and pension information too.

16. Free Genealogy Lookups – One per day

The Ancestral Findings website of North Carolina allows you to request one free search per day. Follow their rules and be nice about it and they will search birth, marriage, census, military, state and other historical records for you, absolutely free.

17. National Archives Research Catalog

This is the online catalog of the U.S. National Archives. There are thousands of resources available online, scanned documents, transcribed documents and where to find the originals. These records include birth, death, military, maps and more.

18. Australia’s World War Two Nominal Roll

You can view transcribed service records for Australia’s men and women who served in World War II. They will even reproduce a certificate for you that you can print, but it’s not the actual document.

19. Free Genealogy Translations

This website is in French but is still easy to use. Choose the language you need translated and you’ll be taken to a form that’s in both French and English.

20. Library and Archives Canada

Collections Canada has assembled all Canadian archived databases and records for births, deaths, marriages, census, immigrations, land, military and other records. Enter the data you know into the search boxes and view actual records online.

21. GeneaBios

GeneaBios is is a small website that genealogists have used to post biographical information about certain individuals. To date their records include free biographies that visitors have posted and links to other free biographies on other websites. It isn’t a huge database, but it’s growing. If you can find an ancestor there, you’re in for a treat because there is lots of detail included in most bios.

22. National Archives of Norway

Digital Archives of parish registers, real estate registers, photos, and tips on how to trace your ancestors in Norway. This website is available in English or Norwegian and information dates back to 1801.

23. British Columbia Vital Event Indexes

This website contains summaries or scanned copies of original documents in the archives. If you need to see the original document, download a price list. But you can access a lot of data without having to pay for it. The data dates back to 1872 when BC became a province.

24. Canadian County Atlas Digital Project

Here you can see digital images of maps created between 1874 to 1881 of Ontario Counties. Included with the maps are the names of subscribers and their businesses and in some cases their portraits.

25. Australian War Memorial

Australian War Memorial is an excellent place to locate information about the part Australia played in the world wars. This is the official website of the Australian War Memorial Museum, so you have access to documents and artifacts online. There is a description and a transcription of each document online but if you want to see the actual document up close, you have to pay for a reprint.

26. National Archives of Australia

Search for records and then view the record online. This is an online catalog of the National Archives of Australia where you can search records, photographs, maps, and recordings with digital images online for the public to view.

27. Library of Virginia Online Catalog

Contains images of land patents, land grants and surveys online. They have an online catalog of land patents issued prior to 1779 and some records dating as far back as 1692.

28. Le Dictionaire Genealogique

This is a seven volume French Canadian Genealogy published by the Reverend Cyprian Tanguay. His work includes the genealogies of early French Canadian families dating from 1608 to about 1760.

29. Kentucky Vital Records

This compilation of state records are available for free search online. Search the Kentucky Death Index for 1911 – 1986, Kentucky Marriage Index for 1973-1993, and the Kentucky Death Index for 1987- 1992.

30. Canadian Genealogy Centre

Several free genealogy databases are available for search online. This website also serves as a gateway to other genealogy websites containing Canadian Genealogy Search Information.

31. German Military Grave Registration

This free database contains the names of missing and dead soldiers from both World War I and World War II. You will be required to register before you can search and view your results. Registration is free. Oh and you’ll have to be able to read German.

32. Utah Cemetery Burials Database

Free searchable database of over 650,000 burials in over 350 cemeteries. Search online to find the burial details of your family in Utah.

33. Index to the Enciclopedia Heraldica Hispano-Americana of Alberto and Arturo Garcia Carraffa

Over 15,000 names with their genealogical histories are included in this 88-volume work. You can do a comprehensive search of the list of Spanish and Spanish-American names to find out exactly where in the work the article about your Spanish heritage exists.

34. Distant Cousin

View scanned images of historical documents and search the online archive of genealogy records from several sources including newspaper obituaries, census records, city directories, school yearbooks, military records and more.

35. Danish Emigration Archives

Over 350,000 records of Danish emigrants is available online. You can search their database and read transcribed records that include names, dates, occupations, ticket information and more. It helps if you can read some Danish.

36. Greenville County Government Historical Records Online

A really well organized online database of records that go way beyond the usual birth, death, marriage records to include deeds, district court records, wills and probate records. Most are scanned and viewable online, but others are transcribed or their indexes are searchable.

37. FreeREG Search UK Parish Registers

Find baptism, marriage and burial records transcribed from parish and non-conformist church registers in the UK. The transcribed records are viewable online.

38. GenCircles

Upload your GedCom file and connect with others researching other branches of your family tree. If you don’t have a GedCom file, you can still register for free and contribute information and find information about your genealogy.

39. A Very Grave Matter

This is a website contains a collection of photographs and historical information about cemeteries and gravestones in colonial New England. New England, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont Cemeteries are featured in this free database. Donations are welcome, but use of the site is free.

40. Pennsylvania State Archives

Scanned or transcribed card files of veterans, service medal applications for National Guard, Civil War, Mexican Border Campaign, World War I, Spanish American War, Revolutionary War and Militia Officers.

41. Historical Directories

This is a digital library of high quality reproductions of rare books online. These books are local and trade directories for England and Wales from 1750 – 1919. You can search directories, browse or read pages from the books or print selections for your genealogy search.

42. The Olden Times

This website has scanned images of actual newspaper clippings of announcements of births, deaths, and obituaries. There is a lot of extra stuff that is interesting too like vintage recipes and such.

You can also search your local Provincial or State Vital Records and your local libraries. They also give you a place to start your genealogy search, and to find published family histories.

If you know a really good website out there that didn’t make it on this list, email me (melanie at obituarieshelp.org) so I can include it, but make sure it is completely free – for this post, I’m not interested in sites that have lists of links to subscriptions sites or lists of indexes that you have to pay to see the document. I want free information available online. I’ll talk about great paid websites soon, but for now, I want everyone to get started without investing a dime.

Leave your comments below to let me and others know what you think of these resources.