How to find information on your ancestors?

Question

I am looking for my ancesters but can't spend a lot of money. Please Help!

Answer 1

My ancestors?

Or yours?

Either way, the same search methods can be employed.  Try:

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.

Answer 2

Familysearch.org is free

Genforum.genealogy.com is free

Ancestry.com is a subscription site, but many of their links are free as well. You can even pay by the month now.

If you know a little about you family history already, you can contact the county or state genealogical library.

If you are really interested in genealogy Ancestry is worth the money.

Answer 3

ancestry.com

Answer 4

I agree with the first person.  http://www.familysearch.org/ is totally free.  Even their PAF program is free.

Just remember, (Garbage in Garbage out) while you are inputting your family information make sure you check the documentation for yourself.  I have found many mistakes and had to pay for the documentation just to find out who was right.

I have found http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ to be useful

Answer 5

You could try an excellent completely free site  here's the address

www.familysearch.org its amazing.

Answer 6

Look for a local genealogy library.  There is a really nice one near my home that is run by our public library, so it is free to the public.  Try looking in your home town or the nearest city.