Pro Genealogists has named the top 50 genealogy websites of 2008. Ancestry pulls in the number one spot and Find my Past wraps up the end of the list. The good news is the majority of sites listed are free! Check out the full list here.
Love Google Maps? Check out Map Your Ancestors where you can plot your ancestors immigration routes. You can save your tree and publish it publicly or privately, check out an example by viewing mine here.
Have you noticed any trouble lately with the invitation functionality for your Ancestry tree? I have, and it’s a little frustrating but there is a work around. If the guest signs up for a free ancestry account and you extend the invitation to their account they can usually access the tree without any problems. The problem is, Ancestry hides the free account sign up page for users who do not have an existing tree.
So here it is, the Free Ancestry Account Signup Form.
Need a helping hand with your family tree? If you are hitting a dead end and want a second opinion, or just need a vital record lookup please contact me and I’ll see what I can do to help. Please include as much information as you have about the individual in question and the specific information you are looking for.
The United State Federal Census is a great resource for household information. If you’re looking for something specific though, it can be a little tricky to remember the differences between each round. No census year is identical, so I’ve come up with the chart below that compares each census year and the data available.
The 1890 Census is not included in the chart as it was almost complete destroyed by a fire (less than 1% remains). These few surviving records are still available and there are some alternative sources you can use as well. Check out The National Archives for more information.
For anyone who may be interested I’ve setup a generic account that can be used to view my family tree. Just visit Ancestry and log in with the username “waifnet” and the password is “password”. Enjoy!
So now you’ve gotten to the point where your family tree is pretty extensive and you’d like to share it with family. The best way to do this if your tree is still a work in progress is to share out your tree online. This works out great for relatives who use the internet, but if your grandma is anything like mine she probably prefers something a little more old fashioned. Depending on the application you are using there may be an integrated publishing tool you can utilize to create a family tree book. Most of these are geared towards simply printing your research, so you’ll have to do some extra writing if you want to publish a book detailing the history of your family in conjunction with your pedigree.
FTM and Legacy both have publishing functionality you can use to do this. You can use a wizard to generate your pages and then customize them as needed and print them out at home for binding. But if you want to end up with a real book you’ll need to look at publishers. There are several out there that specialize in private publishing:
Modern Memoirs also handles private publishing, but they have a minimum order requirement of 100 books.
Creative Continuum offers not only publishing services, but they will also help edit and advise you creatively on your work.
By now you should have your basic tree and the tools you need to organize it. Now you get into the fun part: using research tools to discover new generations. This can be tricky, but it’s incredibly satisfying when you crack a difficult line or get back to the first ancestor who immigrated. There are so many tools available to help you research it can be overwhelming when you first start out. Here is how I usually start research:
1. Vital Records
As we talked about in the last post, Ancestry and Worldvitalrecords are great services that can help you search an extensive number of records in one place. If you don’t want to fork over the cash the 1880 federal census is free, also the USGenWeb Census Project has a tremendous amount of free census records. Check out Deathindexes.com for the obvious, and see if the county your ancestor resided in has a Rootsweb page
2. Cemetery Records
Usually I use cemetery records to confirm a line that I may not have solid sourcing for just yet or grab some missing birth and death dates. If you’re looking to collect additional names your ancestors are most likely buried next to immediate family members… unless they really disliked each other.
Interment is a great resource for free cemetery records located both in and out of the united states, also check the Rootsweb Cemetery Project.
3. Family Trees
Keep in mind when using other trees as a research aid, that the person managing the tree may or may not be diligent about backing up the names with sources. Just because you find one tree that has broken through to the next generation, doesn’t mean it’s true. Always check to see what sources they have referenced, and if none are listed see if you can contact the owner for more information.
Familysearch maintains the International Genealogical Index, which basically constitutes thousands of family trees. Sometimes the sourcing leaves something to be desired, so I wouldn’t consider it gospel, but it will help you out if you’re hitting dead ends. World Connect and GenCircles are good sites to take a look at also.
4. Message Boards
If all else fails, ask for help (and give it when you see others in need). The boards I frequent the most are: Ancestry (free accounts have full access to the boards) and GenForum. The surname boards are usually the best places to start, unless you’re unfortunate to have the last name of Smith. If that’s the case, you have my sympathy ;).
5. Google
It hasn’t become a verb for nothing. I can’t tell you how many times googling an ancestor has lead me down the right path for discovery.
You’re probably getting tired of hearing this, but again these are just starting points. There are a tremendous amount of websites out there devoted to genealogy research, but these are the ones I’ve found to be the most useful when beginning research on a fresh line. Know of a great one that I missed? Leave a comment below about it…
So now we know about some of the free options for building your tree, but what if you want a tool that will incorporate your family tree with some advanced research tools? Not to say that there aren’t some great free research tools out there (like the 1880 census and LDS) but using a tool that offers up all public records can make research much easier.
Standalone Options:
Even though these options don’t require an internet connection, all come with the ability to connect on an as needed basis to lookup records and other public trees. This works out well for anyone who is going to be carting around a laptop to grandma’s house where an internet connection is not available.
Family Tree Maker 2008 - $40
Ancestry.com makes this software, so it allows you to manage your tree locally and sync to your online tree, as well as take advantage of ancestry’s research tools (which of course, are more plentiful if you subscribe). The user interface is very friendly and beyond the basic tree building functionality it also has integrated maps to illustrate where your ancestors came from, a web clipper to help gather information from other sites and timelines. The one draw back of the 2008 version is it does not come with a nine month subscription to ancestry.com like Family Tree Maker 16. If that is something you’re really interested in (and you should be considering the price of subscription) you can still find version 16 on Amazon.
Legacy 6 - $30
Legacy is probably the best piece of software to use if you’re just starting out. Not only does it let you build and research your tree, but it actually walks you through research step-by-step by analyzing information about each family member and suggesting the best places to look. Another great feature is a full fledged publishing tool that allows you to create a family tree book (a big advantage over FTM that requires you purchase an add-on). Legacy has a basic version that you can try out for free here, then upgrade later if you’d like.
Web Options:
Ancestry.com - $150/year for U.S. & $300/year for World
This is what I use, so I’m probably a little biased, but I’ve yet to see another online tool that offers as much research functionality with a great tree builder. You have access to all of these records for the US or World, depending on your subscription: Census, Birth, Marriage, Death, Military, Immigration, Directories, Court, Land, Probate. Also you have access to a huge collection of other family trees, pictures, maps, stories, and publications. It’s worth every penny.
World Vital Records - $6/month - $80/2 years
I’m cheating a little here, because worldvitalrecords is not known for tree building functionality, but I want to take into consideration those of you who already have the tools to build the tree, but now need a service that will offer up extensive records for your research. WVR is extremely economical considering what you get, which is every record ancestry offers (with the exception of ancestry family trees, and member submitted stories & photos) plus the Quintin CD Library, World Gazetteer Collection, and you have access to international records for the same price. A nice little bonus for purchasing the 2 year membership is you get free tree building software.
I hope this helps if you’re looking to make a decision on purchasing software or a service to aid your research. This is just a starting point though, if you are interested in seeing a comparison of features for more applications check out a report card here.
Pen and paper are a must for recording the first few generations, but once you get beyond the great-grandparents you’ll need to start looking at software or an online application to organize your research. There are a plethora of applications to choose from, but no one wants to try on each one to find the perfect fit. The best way to try out multiple applications easily is to build your tree using a tool that allows you to export to GEDCOM format.
GEDCOM is a widely used file format used to store family tree research. Most online services and software will allow you to import/export GEDCOM files. Unless you love data entry, this is extremely important to look for when you start trying out different applications. Find out your first choice doesn’t feel right? Just export to a GEDCOM file and import it to plan B. This also will allow you to backup your research easily.
Looking for something a little more streamlined? Applications like Family Tree Maker (which is partnered with Ancestry.com) allow you to manage your research locally then sync the data to your online tree with one click. If you find that you prefer a software/website combination that are not partnered with each other don’t worry. If both tools will allow you to import/export files in GEDCOM format then you’re good to go.
Free Standalone Options
Most applications do have a free trial version that either scales back functionality, or expires. To get the most robust functionality for free the best options are open source:
Free Web Options
Now just about all online family tree applications offer some sort of free base package, but the available functionality may be limited. Personally I love Ancestry.com, I used it before upgrading to a premium package and the level of functionality was just fine for starting out. Here are a list of free options you can check out:
These free options are a great way to experiment with various applications to decide what features you like, but once you get serious you may want to consider trying out some of the tools that require a subscription or one-time fee. Check back later for “Finding the Right Tool (part two)” and we’ll talk about what exactly you can get for the money…
A genealogy blog designed to teach you the simple tricks and tools you can use to discover your roots.
