free genealogy?

[opaldigger]

doe,s anybody in there know of any cheap or cost free genealogy societys that one can join

[ZinaRae]

Free sites:


http://www.searchforancestors.com/


http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=27399&o_lid=27399


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.findagrave.com/


Genealogy message board:


http://www.bbc.co.uk/messageboards/newguide/?board=history


http://forums.about.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?webtag=ab-genealogy&nav=messages&lgn...


http://boards.ancestry.com/


http://www.gensource.com/common/search.cfm


http://messages.yahoo.com/yahoo/Family___Home/Genealogy/


http://genforum.genealogy.com/


http://www.genealogyforum.com/messages/


http://www.progenealogists.com/messageboards.htm


http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/boards.php?boardId=56406&func=2&channe...


http://boards.rootsweb.com/

[wendy c]

Genealogy societies are NORMALLY focused on one geographical area (like Dallas county, Texas). I have a feeling that this is not what you are looking for.
If you are wanting to trace your ancestry, you don't need to 'join' something.. there are MANY places online where you can read about how to find your family history. Most people offer their favorite sites (the LDS site, rootsweb, ancestry)... while my approach is that you limit yourself, if you expect to use one "best" site.
There are thousands of free SITES, and the one I advise is www.cyndislist.com, because her site is a collection of other sites. No where does she suggest that you are best, by using her site only. She has an excellent beginner section that I HIGHLY recommend.
You are free to work your ancestry as much online with free sites as you choose. The only issue there is that you'll never know what you are missing, by never being willing to expand your search offline (for example, to court houses, or cemeteries that are not online).
After 25+ yrs of research, I can offer the fact, that 99% of the time, where I have found what others didn't, it was because I was willing to go the extra mile. It is NOT all online.

[to love is to live]

Two of my favorite free sites are:
www.rootsweb.com
www.familysearch.org
Good luck! =)

[Ted Pack]

You usually have just one choice, the county genealogical society. Ours is $24 a year.

The Mayflower Society, DAR, SAR, Daughters of the Confederacy, First Families of Virginia, etc etc are more expensive but have slicker magazines.

What state do you live in, and do you want a mentor or to meet widows who share your interest?

[Shirley T]

The above poster gave 2 good free sites.

However, your public library might have a subscription to Ancestry.Com which has lots of records and seems to be getting more all the time. 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.

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

Actually you need to see what all your public library has in genealogy.

A Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints(Mormon) Church is free to use but you need to call them to find out their hours for the general public. They have records on people all over the world, not just on Mormons. In Salt Lake City, they 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 anyones else either.

But the first thing you need to do is get as much information from living family as possible, particularly your senior members. Tape them if they will let you. It might be they are confused on some things but what might seem to be insignificant story telling might turn out to be very significant. Ask to see and make copies of birth, marriage and death certificates. Also depending on their religious faith, baptismal, first communion, confirmation and marriages certificates from their church can be very helpful.

While you are at your library and the Family History Center, you will probably have an excellent opportunity to talk with other researchers and that is how people learn by hearing about the experiences and ideas of other people.

Good Luck!