Genealogy Research: Planting Your Family Tree

The largest collection of genealogical lists on the Web today. So big it can be difficult to use.

Free online genealogy resource sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Search through millions of historical records, including census, birth, marriage, immigration, death, and other vital records. Also includes genealogy books, family histories, maps, and other related documents. The online Family Tree connects users to a shared database of more than 1.2 billion ancestors.

The supporting organization for thousands of surname discussion lists. Features many primary documents that have been transcribed or scanned by volunteers and made searchable such as obituaries, county histories, tax lists, etc.

Run by volunteers. Organized by county and state. Provides gateways to and email discussion lists for counties.

Another option for finding other people working on your family and to share information.

60 million records. Includes forums for discussion.

Marriage records have been a great help to many genealogy and family history researchers, providing valuable information and clues to an ancestor's or relative's marriage. Over the last few years, many people and organizations have been publishing marriage record archives on the Internet. Some with thousands of records, others with millions. Presented on this website are individual "State Guides" designed to show you where all the best marriage record archives and databases are found.

Perform passenger searches.

Clear, readable and understandable.

Includes some online indexes.

This resource was suggested by Amanda, Genealogy Research Workshop Student Volunteer, Hampton Public Library, New Hampshire. Family historians and genealogists prize the information that ship passenger lists have to offer. Although the information recorded on the lists was not made standard until the twentieth century, finding an ancestor or research target on a ship’s passenger list still provides valuable knowledge about the ancestor. The information on these lists include age, who they traveled with, what ship they took if they traveled first-class or steerage, what port they sailed from and what port they landed at, and their occupation when they took the journey. All of this information was typically recorded along with extra information like their physical description.

This resource was suggested by Amanda, Genealogy Research Workshop Student Volunteer, Hampton Public Library, New Hampshire. Most people have very strong attachments to their homes, but over time, they might also stop to consider who else has called the house their home. It's natural to wonder about the history of a home, especially if the home is older or unusual in style. Sometimes, new homeowners hear a story about their home's former residents from neighbors and begin to wonder how much of the story is true and what other secrets their home holds. Or perhaps the construction of the home is unusual or really well done and they'd like to learn more about who designed and built their home. Luckily, it's easier than ever to research the history of real estate holdings. Homeowners can start by compiling what they know or think they know about the house. New researchers should be warned, though, that sometimes, they've received bad information, and official records can even be wrong. For example, tax records might list the year a home was substantially renovated as the year it was built.

Genealogy is the study of family history. It includes details about how people are descended from an ancestor, how people are related to each other, where families are from, how they may have traveled from country to country, where they lived, what kind of work they did, and what sorts of lives they led. A family tree is a visual representation of a family's lines of descent. Some family trees include photos and other vital information. Researching a family's genealogy and making a family tree is a great way for kids and adults to learn more about who they are. It also brings history to life in a new way, making it possible to see how historical events impacted one family: the researcher's own. Genealogy is also a great way to sharpen research skills. The tools included in this site are resources available for kids and families working on their own family tree.