Im Curious?

Question

I want to find out who my ancestors were and where they came from...i know theres ancestry.com but thats too expensive...is there any free website that will help you find your ancestors and what they did and where they are from??

Answer 1

Violet provided you with a very good way to start.  I might add ask to see, and if you have a way, make copies of birth, marriage and death certificates family might have.  Depending on the religious faith, baptismal, first communion, confirmation and marriage records can be helpful. See if anyone has any old family bibles.

Tape your family if they will let you particularly your older members.  It might turn out they are confused on some things but what might seem to be insignificant story telling might turn out to be very significant. People who do this say they go back a few years after doing research and listen to the tape again and hear thiings they didn't hear the first time around.

Don't expect to find it all on line.

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

Personally, I think Ancestry.Com is best for its records. 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.

A Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints(Mormon) Church has records on people all over the world, not just Mormons.

You need to find out their hours for the general public by calling them or visiting their website at FamilySearch.org.  FamilySearch.org is free as well as Rootsweb and both have good instructions on the how tos of genealogy.

In Salt Lake City, the Mormons have the world's largest genealogical collection. Their Family History Centers 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 anyone else either.  They are very nice and helpful.

Answer 2

I find these free sites very useful:

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://usgenweb.org/

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/

http://www.cyndislist.com/

I would definately suggest first going to  http://www.tedpack.org/yagenlinks.html for really helpful tips on how, where and what to search for plus more links to free sites.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

Ask parents anyway, and just get their best answer. You might also ask if any of their friends from their childhood are still around. They may have info too. You can also go to your local library and look up history. On ebay I've found many counties birth, death and marriage histories available on cd. If you know what county they are from and the average years, you could get lots of info from that. I don't think it was very expensive.

Good luck. Finding your family history can be very exciting. My son is just starting to wonder about all of this and is tracing his family tree. (It's already been done by several others in our family, but he's LOVING finding the info on his own!)

Answer 4

Most library system provide "FREE" access to Ancestry.com and other genealogical database from their computer terminals either at the main branch and often from local branches.

Check with your local library "in person".  While you're there check out a copy of "Unpuzzling Your Past" by Emily Anne Croom ...one of the best easy to read book on genealogy research. There are many other fine books and guides available through your library that will help you get started "the right way" in researching your family history.

I mean "history"...don't just look for dates and names of ancestors...learn the actual history about their locations and times ....this will bring their story and your heritage alive...it will also help you find accurate information on your relatives.

Ask your reference librarian at the "main" branch to guide you to the various genealogical resources within your library system ...computer programs, books, classes and "ask" for list of genealogy societies in area, archives, etc.  Reference librarians live to be ask to help.  You may be fortunate enough to have a library that has a special department set aside for genealogy research.

To begin the process become familiar with the following sites:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.pandia.com/   [learn how to use the various search engines/portals available online to maximize your results]

http://www.clusty.com/    [an excellent search engine]

And, last, remember: "Verify everything for yourself.

Please, don't accept any information as fact without clear and specific "proof"....this means don't believe everything you hear from a relative [this includes parents], don't accept without question everything you read on a census form, obit, death certificate, social security application record.....use these as "clues"...not absolute proofs....remember there are degrees of  proof....all records are subject to human error.

Answer 5

cheapest way is to ask your parents and grand parents and so on.

Answer 6

Are your grandparents still living?  Don't ask "where did we come from".  Ask, and document the responses, to these questions:

1. write down each of your parents full names (including your mother's maiden name).  Write down their birth dates and location; marriage date and location; date of death if either has passed on and location; the full names of all their children including you, and all the same dates and information for each child.

2.  Ask your parents for THEIR parents full names (including their mothers maiden names).  All the same info regarding dates.  The names and all the same info for dates for each of your grandparents brothers and sisters.

3.  If any of your grandparents are still living, get them to also help with #2 above......and continue back by asking them all this same info about THEIR parents (your great-grandparents).

4.  Also, ask your grandparents about their grandparents and whatever info they know regarding names, dates, etc., on their grandparents.  Do this before your grandparents get to the point that they can no longer remember anything.

Once you get back this far, you MAY be able to start finding stuff on the internet.  You will not find anything on anyone still living, or anyone more recent than your great-grandparents.....and maybe not anyone more recent than your great-great-grandparents (your grandparents grandparents as stated in #4 above).

Also, two important reasons for getting info on all the great-grandparents brothers and sisters are this:  One is that when you find someone, you have to be able to make sure it is YOUR ancestor and not someone else of the same name.  You can use the names of a person's siblings as a way to verify.  What are the odds that 2 families would have all family memebers having the exact names and same ages as another family?  And the second reason is maybe one of those other siblings descendants have already started the reasearch and posted it online.  By knowing who those people are will help you follow the trail back to the point where YOUR line intersects and from that point back, you will have the same ancestors.

This is a very basic, generic start.  You will learn more as you go.

Answer 7

You can search the Mormon Church database for free.

Good Luck!

Answer 8

Rootsweb is a good start if someone has posted a tree. Genealogy isn't free but it doesn't have to be expensive.

Answer 9

ancesters.com