Find my family tree for free?

Question

Iwas just wondering where I can find my family tree for free? If anyone knows or has any sugeestions I would really like to hear them.

Answer 1

put your basic information into genes reunited and see if anyone is researching your family in your hotmatches and nick there research

Answer 2

You have to research it.  You just can't put in a name and bingo up pops your family tree.

The only way that any of your family would be in an online family tree is if some relative or someone that married into your family has researched it and put it online.

Also, you cannot take as absolute fact everything you see in family trees on any website, free or paid.  The information is subscriber submitted and mostly not documented or poorly documented. Even when you see the same information repeatedly by many different subscribers on the same people that is no guarantee at all it is correct.  A lot of people copy without verifying.  The information can be useful as clues as to where to get the documentation.

In addition, you will have a hard time finding info on living people in family trees online as it is an invasion of privacy and can lead to identity theft.

I feel Ancestry.Com is the best for its records.  It isn't free but your public library might have a subscription to it you can use.

They have all the U.S. censuses through 1930.  The 1940 and later are not available to the public yet.  They have immigration records, military records and others.  They also have indexes to vital records of many states.

A good free source is a Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints(Mormon) Church.  They have records on people all over the world, not just Mormons.  In Salt Lake City, they have the world's largest genealogical collection.  Their Family History Centers can order microfilm for you to view at a nominal fee.   Just call them or vist their free website at FamilySearch.org to get their hours for the general public.

I haven't had them to try and convert me or send their missionaries by to ring my doorbell.  I haven't heard of them doing that to anyone else that has used their resources.  They are very nice and helpful.

But first thing you should do is get as much info from living family as possible, particularly your senior members. Tape them if they will let you. They will probably be confused on some things but what might seem to be insignificant story telling you wouldn't write down might eventually turn out to be very significant.

Find out if any family has any old family bibles.  Ask to see and make copies of birth, marriage and death certificates and depending on the religious faith, baptismal, first communion, confirmation and marriage certificates can be valuable.  You will find parent info on almost all of those.

While you are at your library and the Family History Center, you will probably have an excellent opportunity to talk with other researchers and sharing ideas and experiences is how we all learn.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Although various posters may offer to look up your census records for you, only you will know enough information early on to make sure that such information is correct.  After all, genealogy is not an exact science but a series of educated guesses about your family's past.  First of all, make sure that you have compiled enough information through family records (birth certificates, marriage licenses, wills, deeds, and family bibles) to point you in the right direction.  You may need to write to local county clerks for marriage licenses and birth certificates, even though many localities are beginning to put these sources online. Only at this point, will you need to consider looking at census records, which although sometimes inaccurate, will help verify earlier data and perhaps point to additional generations of ancestors.

Although subscription-based Ancestry.com and Heritagequest.com have digitized United States Federal Census records, public access to US Censuses from 1790 to 1930 (the last year currently available) is free-of-charge and unlimited at any government document section of most American public and university libraries.  Moreover, most libraries offer their patrons free access to Ancestry.com as well.  Of course, the USGenWeb Census Project just may have access to the census records you need since volunteers have been transcribing census records and placing them on the Web since 1997: http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com  

Free access to British census records is also available: http://www.ukcensusonline.com/index.php  

Finally, familysearch.org, the Latter Day Saints web site,  also offers free-of-charge genealogical data: http://www.familysearch.org

Answer 4

Yes, there are many avenues for "free search", from visiting your local courthouse to contacting your locan Genealogical Society.

First, I wish to convey to you that no matter the source (periodicals, such as the "Mayflower Descendancy", books or websites, ALL ARE FILLED WITH ERRORS! (I really do NOT believe that some of my ancestors were born in New York State BEFORE the "Pilgrims" arrived and before Jamestown!)  So, check everything and see how reasonable they are.

Well, then, here is MY list:

Oh, yes!  I want it, and I want it now, and it must be free.  Does that about sum it up? (I hope so, because that is what I always want...)

You should start by asking all your living relatives about family history.  Then, armed with that information, you can go to your public library and check to see if it has a genealogy department.  Most do nowadays; also, don't forget to check at community colleges, universities, etc.  Our public library has both www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com free for anyone to use (no library card required).

Another place to check out is any of the Mormon's Family History Centers.  They allow people to search for their family history (and, NO, they don't try to convert you).

A third option is one of the following websites:

http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.geni.com/

Cyndi's has the most links to genealogy websites, whether ship's passenger lists, ancestors from Africa, ancestors from the Philippines, where ever and whatever.

Of course, you may be successful by googling: "john doe, born 1620, plimouth, massachusetts" as an example.

Good luck and have fun!

Check out this article on five great free genealogy websites:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article...

Then there is the DNA test; if you decide you want to REALLY know where your ancestors came from opt for the DNA test. Besides all the mistakes that officials commonly make, from 10% to 20% of birth certificates list the father wrong; that is, mama was doing the hanky-panky and someone else was the REAL father. That won't show up on the internet or in books; it WILL show up in DNA.

I used www.familytreedna.com which works with the National Geographics Genotype Program.

http://www.geocities.com/griffith_histor...