Where would the best place on the Internet....?

Question

ok so i just met my uncle and i would like to find my family tree bit i dont know where to look.. so i was wondering if any1 knew a good place to look is.?

Answer 1

He (and your father and rmother) are your best source. If they remember their grandparents, you have YOUR great-grandparents. I'll paste my stock answer here, but I suspect you'll lose interest at the part about 100 hours.

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

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 in the USA,

AND most of your ancestors were in the USA,

AND you can get to a library or FHC with census access,

AND you are white

Then you can get most of your ancestors who were alive in 1850 with 100 - 300 hours of research. You can only get to 1870 if you are black, sadly. Many young people stop reading here and pick another hobby.

No web site is going to tell you how your great grandparents decorated the Christmas tree with ornaments cut from tin foil during the depression, how Great Uncle Elmer wooed his wife with a banjo, or how Uncle John paid his way through college in the 1960's by smuggling herbs. Talk to your living relatives before it is too late.

You won't find living people on genealogy sites. You'll have to get back to people living in 1930 or so by talking to relatives, looking up obituaries and so forth.

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.

So much for the warnings. Here is the link.

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

It has links, plus tips and hints for each of these sites:



http://www.cyndislist.com

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/f...

http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.c...

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.usgenweb.net

http://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/defa...

http://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-b...

http://find.person.superpages.com/

http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/d...

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

http://www.genforum.com

http://boards.ancestry.com/

http://searches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/lis...

I used to put short tips in the stock answer. Now Y!A limits the size of an answer. You'll need the hints. Use the link.

Answer 2

UK answer.

Ancestry.com has a free trial on offer at the moment.

Answer 3

The internet has only been around maybe 25 yrs.. and families have been around for centuries.  The internet is only ONE tool, to research your family.  

If you are speaking of living persons.. don't expect to find that online anyway (for both reasons of privacy, and risk of id theft).

The answer to where to find your family is WHEREVER the records might be, and there really isn't a best place.

http://rwguide.rootsweb.ancestry.com/

This is just one of MANY online guides to understanding how to find your history.  It is not finding your "tree".. it is explaining how to do it.  

Once you start knowing how to find records (and why they are critical), then you will move on to finding historical records, some online, some not.

My own personal advice is that "finding your family tree" online misses the whole point. The fun is in the search, not what someone else might have posted (which can be wrong, anyway).  The REALLY big achievement is when no one else has the answer, and you figure out what the answer is.

edit-

glad to hear about meeting the Uncle. One thing I have found is that researching family is often a wonderful way to restore lost relationships, and sometimes even heal feuds.

Answer 4

It depends what country he is from. If its Ireland go to

http://mysecretireland.com  (and 100 other sites that ARE FREE)

The main thing is not to pay for it, the info is available and most governments give it out for FREE.

Answer 5

google - Family tree

i would be more specific but i forgot the name of the website sorry

Answer 6

Try www.ancestry.com.  At least it's free.

Answer 7

Check out this website=)