Besides Ancestry.com, is there a website that allows you to research your heritage without having to pay?

Question

My last name is Fuzell and I'm trying to find out where it came from (anybody with Fuzell in their last name?) I think it might have originated from Fusel maybe? Anyone even heard that name before? I don't know if it'll help at all but I'm Jamaican-Irish...

Answer 1

www.cyndislist.com is a list of thousands of places whre you can research.

Which can be meaningless.. since the ones that matter are those that explicity relate to your father; his father; his father. You are right that it might be a variation, even maybe from Feuzel.  Being Jamaican/ irish wont apply, unless Jamaica is where your father was born.. for the simple reason that  it is then where you need to look for the pertinent records.

ONLY by using actual records will you be able to locate some documentation that your father's grandfather was from  <fill in the blank>.  There are also Fussels, Fusels in the US in 1880. Those won't help, unless you determine that they are your actual relatives.

What I am trying to explain is that any name is NOT always related, or from the same origins, and without searching the ancestors themselves, you can go in circles. You have to start with your father's birth record (which is probably not online) to document his origins, and who is father (mother) were.. and keep going.  You cannot rely on all-purpose sites, with family trees.. you need to zoom in on the sites that are directly involve records of where your ancestors were. One step at a time.

edit-

NO. Ellis Island will have records of persons who came through Ellis Island (built in the late 1800s).  That will not include any persons who immigrated prior to when it was built ("first immigrants").  Unless your father immigrated in that time frame, you have no reason to search there.

Answer 2

http://www.ellisisland.org/ has some vast records of the names of the first immigrants to the USA.

Answer 3

Often you can at least find a photo or two at DeadFred.com.

Answer 4

There are a few places to check,  and making your family tree usually just takes registering at the sites free.

Familysearch.org

rootsweb.com

genealogy.com

You can also check message boards on all the sites, google or use yahoo by typing in Fuzell genealogy, or descendents of first name last name.  You'll may be surprised to find others trying to connect also.

Hope that helps. Bonnie