Where can I go to find where my ancestors came from for free?

Question

Where can I go to find where my ancestors came from for free?

Answer 1

Try looking at a census record on Family History website, or if your library has access to Heritage Quest or Ancestry.com, try using their census search.

Answer 2

You don't "find" your family tree; you have to create it.

You can’t just go on some website and *poof*, your whole family tree is there, all completed and accurate and free. Considering the years it takes to do that, who is going to do that for you?

Genealogy is not that simple. It does not work that way.

First, you are not going to find anything on anyone who lived in the last 50-100 years. It is unethical to post anything on anyone living or that recently deceased as it protects the identity of the living from identity theft and scams. Professional genealogists know this.

Second, IF you do find anything on the internet of your family (probably starting around 1900 and going back), you cannot assume just because it is on the internet means it is accurate. The only way to know if the information you find is right is to do your OWN research from scratch. A lot of people out there copy and paste other people's bad "research" and don't verify anything. That is wrong.

Third, unless you have a great-aunt or someone who has already done some research and posted it on the net, then your family will not be on the internet. People don't usually go around researching trees of total strangers for no reason at all and just put it on the internet for that stranger to one day find their whole family tree in 5 clicks or less.

Fourth, genealogy is fun and rewarding, but also very difficult and challenging, like putting together a 10,000 piece jigsaw puzzle. And will take longer than doing that puzzle to do.

The best thing to do is to start by asking questions of your living relatives. Collect as much information as possible regarding names, dates, places, etc. and DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.

Then start an internet search as well as doing some research the old fashion way (going to libraries, court houses, cemeteries, etc.). If you find anything on the net, you need to try to reproduce the research yourself and see if you can find legitimate documentation of the individual, dates, or event in order to be sure the information is accurate. Trees on the net are to be used as clues and guidelines......not as gospel. Ask the poster about their resources and proof. Many times, you can find scanned copies of original documents such as census records. Otherwise, I would not take their word for it that what they have is right. As far as what sites to use, there are tons of them. You will need to just google for genealogy sites and sift through them. Some are free, some are not. All are subject to many errors, inaccurate, undocumented information that you will have to sift through and find what is right and what is not. You will probably end up using a combination of free and paid sites.

Last, you will not accomplish this overnight, in a week, month, or year. It is a LIFETIME hobby and passion, that, inspite of the countless hours you spend at it, it will never be completed. There is always another piece of the puzzle to find.

If you expect it to fall into your lap, all done and completed, and accurate, and FREE, with no work or challenge at all, then you are going to be disillusioned. Besides, that takes all the fun out of it.

Answer 3

We all used to live in trees. Try the Mormons, although they might ask for a donation.

Answer 4

I think you can get a lot of free info from the LDS (Mormons) if you exchange with them your known info.

Answer 5

Here's an article about the best free genealogy websites that you might want to check out:

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