Where can I go to find out who my ancestors were?

Question

I have already tried ancestry.com

It didn't help much. I need a good website to find out who my ancestors were for free.

Answer 1

The only way to find accurate information about your ancestors is to look at primary sources... records that were created by your ancestors, or about your ancestors, during the time they were living.  Some examples include birth, death and marriage records, census records, court records such as wills and deeds, church records and military records.  These records can be found in the archives, libraries and courthouses where your ancestors lived.

Lucky for us, many of these records have been put online.  Some have been scanned and the images uploaded to websites such as Ancestry.  Others have been transcribed (copied word for word) or abstracted (summarized) and published in books or posted on websites.  More and more records are being put online every day. But there are still billions of other records that still aren't available online.  At some point, every genealogist will have to leave their home and travel to the archives, libraries and courthouses in the location where their ancestors lived.

People who have done a lot of family research know from experience how much time and work it takes.  So they're eager to share what they've found, to save others from repeating all that work.  (Genealogists are really a very nice bunch of folks!).  Many people post their family trees online... either on a personal website, or by submitting the info to one of the large public databases such as Rootweb's WorldConnect, Ancestry's OneWorldTree, or the LDS's Ancestral File.  

Most people these days start their genealogy quest by searching these databases for their ancestors.  And indeed, this can be a great help!  However, it's important to remember that these family trees were put together by people, and people can sometimes make mistakes.  So it's best to think of these published family trees as a starting point.  Look at the information, and then go out and find the primary sources that will prove whether the information is accurate or not.

Answer 2

If you did the free trial for Ancestry but didn't find anything, you either didn't know what to do or your ancestors weren't in the USA.

Here is a condensed version of my stock reply. Y!A is blocking long answers, in their wisdom.

There are over 400,000 free genealogy sites. I have links to some huge ones, but you'll have to wade through some advice and warnings first.

Researching your family tree is harder than posting on MySpace. It is about as hard as researching a term paper in a History class. You don't have to be a Ph. D., but you won't do it with five clicks. Many people stop reading here and pick another hobby.

If you didn't mention a country, we can't tell if you are in the USA, UK, Canada or Australia. I'm in the USA and my links are for it. If you are not, please edit your question to add a country. Or, better yet, delete it and ask again, this time putting in the country. Genealogists from the UK answer posts here too. They are more experienced and more intelligent than I am. I'm better looking and my jokes are funnier.

You won't find living people on genealogy sites. Don't look for yourself or your parents. Crooks can use your birth date and your mother's maiden name to steal your identity. If your parents were married in June and your oldest brother was born 4 months later, it isn't anyone's business, which is another reason living people's dates are not on public sites.

Finally, not everything you read on the internet is true. You have to be cautious and look at people's sources. Cross-check and verify. The US Census, to take one example, routinely has people a year or two older or younger than they really are; sometimes 10 years.

So much for the warnings. Here is the link.

http://www.tedpack.org/yagenlinks.html

Off the Internet, some public libraries have census image subscriptions. Many Family History Centers do too. FHC's are small rooms in Mormon churches. They welcome anyone interested in genealogy, not just Mormons. They have resources on CD's and volunteers who are friendly. They don't try to convert you; in fact, they don't mention their religion unless you ask a question about it.

Answer 3

If searching for ancestors was easy, everyone would know who their ancestors are, all the way back to Adam & Eve (or that silver-tipped Chimpanzee, whichever story you belive in).  In the meantime, try these:

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.

It takes a lot of time; a lot of effort; a lot of patience.  Not all "family trees" can be traced...Records are incomplete; records are full of errors.