Genealogy website?

Question

Is there a reliable genealogy website that I can visit and not pay to access my family tree and see who my ancestors were? I don't know anything about who my ancestors are so I would need to start from scratch..any suggestions?

Answer 1

Unless you have some distant cousin or someone who connects to your family tree that has already done extensive research AND happened to have posted that research on the internet, you are NOT going to find your family tree on the internet, all completed, ready for you to view in 5 clicks or less of the mouse, AND all be for free.  It does not work that way.  AND there are not people sitting around doing genealogy of the world and researching family trees for every total stranger out there and putting the tree on the internet for that total stranger to find with no effort at all.

Starting from scratch means that you have to do ORIGINAL research, (not find someone else's on the internet), which means you need to discover and create the paper trail.  Start with yourself, your birth certificate.  Your parents and their birth certificates, and their marriage license.  Go back from there, obtain cemetery records, land and court records, wills and probate records, etc.  You will need to visit various records rooms of the courthouses in various communities your family was known to be from, church and parrish records, cemeteries, etc.  Make copies of everything and document all that you find out and learn.  It will not be easy or fast.  It is a lifelong hobby / search / journey.  It will never be complete.  There is always some info or person to try to find.  AND, most of all it is NOT free.  Whether you pay for a subscription to a genealogy site, pay to make xerox copies of records you find at the library, pay for gas, travel expenses, etc., to visit various places to get records, etc.  There is always an expense involved.

Answer 2

One site I came across was MyHeritage.com. Looks like you do have to create an account, but the service is free.  This site also has a section with beginner tips, and suggests working backwards from what you already know.  They also have a very extensive message board section, where you can chat with others who are in the same boat as you and get some tips for how to start out.

Another site to try is RootsWeb. This site is the oldest and largest genealogical community online, and includes searchable databases, mailing lists, message boards, and more (and is also free).

I would also suggest asking for information at your public library (since I am a librarian-in-training!).  They would have the resources to direct you to a local genealogy society.  Our public library has a Local History and Genealogy Department, and you can contact the librarians there via email with questions about family history.  Once you find out where you think your family is from, contact the public library in that area – they are bound to have information.  They usually have old newspapers on microfilm or in a digital database, and just even locating an obituary can be a huge step – they can provide lots of information about a person.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

www.familysearch.org

www.rootsweb.com

You have to sign up for these but they are free of charge

Answer 4

Sorry! There is no easy way,you just have to start from your own generation and work backwards

http://www.cyndislist.com/

This might put you on the right road.

Answer 5

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.Rootsweb.com/

http://www.genforum.com/

Answer 6

Adair's answer is excellent. If you think you are going to find your family tree online, you might be in for a big disappointment.  One thing you won't find living people in the online family trees as that is considered an invasion of privacy and can lead to identity theft.  You might find some of your family lines but it  is important you verify it with documentation.

The trees are not put on the sites by the owners of the websites or some experts working for them, but by subscribers, folks like you and me. There are errors.  

You will see different info on the same people form different subscribers. Then you will see repeatedly the same info on the same people from different subscribers but that is no guarantee at all it is correct.  A lot of people copy without verifying and they usually have a lot of info that isn't correct.

Look for websites with records not necessarily family trees. Ancestry.Com has both and isn't free but your public library might have a subscription to it.  They have all the U.S. censuses through 1930. The 1940 and later are not available to the public yet. They also have U.K. censuses.

They have immigration and military records and indexes of 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 FHCs can order microfilm for you to view at a nominal fee.  

I have never 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 anyones else that has used their resources.

Cyndi'sList.com is a website that list a multitude of websites helpful in genealogy.

Answer 7

www.ancestry.com