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50 Places to Find Your Family History Online

May 27th, 2010

Are you interested in learning about the history of your family? You can find out a whole lot just by searching online. Here, we’ll take a look at 50 of the best resources for genealogy research on the Internet.

General

These sites offer a one-stop shop.

1. Genealogy.com: Check out Genealogy’s data collections, community, and more.
2. RootsWeb: RootsWeb shares a variety of resources for finding genealogy information online.
3. USGenWeb: This site offers free genealogy websites for research.
4. USA.gov: USA.gov offers official information and services for family history and genealogy on this site.
5. Access Genealogy: Access Genealogy offers free resources and records.
6. Ancestry.com: Ancestry offers the world’s largest online resource for family history documents and family trees.

Search

Here you can use powerful search engines to find the information you want.

7. FamilySearch: FamilySearch is a collection of free family history, family tree, and genealogy search and records.
8. Genealogy Today: Genealogy Today has unique family history information, photos, and databases.
9. Family Tree Searcher: This site allows you to find family trees at five sites.
10. Find Your Family Tree: Find your family with the help of this search site.
11. GenealogyBank: Use GenealogyBank to explore your family in history.
12. FamilySearch: FamilySearch will allow you to search family history and genealogy records.
13. Ancestor Search: Ancestor Search offers a free genealogy databases search.

Family Facts

See family crests, name history, and lots more here.

14. Fleur-de-lis Designs: You can learn about descriptions and meanings from family crest symbols.
15. Family Surname History: Enter your surname and find out interesting facts about your family name on this site.
16. Make Your Coat of Arms: Find or create your own family coat of arms on Make Your Coat of Arms.

Communities & Tools

Use these tools and communities to find help in your genealogy research.

17. MyHeritage Genealogy Forum: Chat with other genealogy enthusiasts on these forums.
18. Geni: Collaborate with relatives to build your family tree.
19. AncientFaces: AncientFaces is a free family photo sharing community.
20. RootsWeb: Find information about your ancestors on RootstWeb’s genealogical mailing lists.
21. GenealogyForum: Get help with your research on GenealogyForum.
22. MyHeritage: Share your family tree with your relatives on MyHeritage.
23. RootsChat: RootsChat will help you find your family history, especially in Ireland and the British Isles.
24. GenForum: GenForum will help you find information about genealogy.

Births, Marriages & Deaths

You can find major life event records using these resources.

25. Obituary Central: Find obituaries and perform cemetery searches on Obituary Central.
26. Obitfinder: Obitfinder is your nationwide resource for obituaries and guest books.
27. Marriage Records: Marriage Records offers an instant marriage records search.
28. Department of Veterans Affairs: Search for burial locations of veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs.
29. Social Security Death Index Interactive Search: Use this site to find Social Security death records.
30. Find a Grave: Find the grave of ancestors using Find a Grave.
31. Birth Records Search: Find birth records in any state using this search.
32. Internment: Internment has cemetery records online.
33. GenWed: GenWed has marriage records online for genealogical research.
34. VitalChek: VitalChek has birth, death, marriage, and divorce records.
35. Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Search for war grave records on this site.
36. The Death Index: Learn about deaths from the Social Security Administration here.
37. BirthDetails: BirthDetails has a free birth records search.

Data & Archives

Find raw data in these resources and archives.

38. The National Archives: Genealogists and family historians can find information about their ancestors on this site.
39. State Archives: This site offers contact information and websites for state archives and historical societies.
40. Public Record Finder: Find public records with the help of this site.
41. Land Records: You will find resources and records for land entry case files.
42. Ellis Island: Search passenger records from Ellis Island here.
43. Military Service Records: Use eVetRecs to request military service records.
44. US Census Bureau: Find historical data on individuals from 72 years ago and earlier.
45. FreeBMD: This ongoing project shares records of births, marriages, and deaths.
46. IS Ports of Arrival: This guide will show you the immigration records and passenger lists from US ports of entry.
47. Naturalization Records: Use this site for naturalization records.
48. Census Finder: Census Finder is a directory of free census records.
49. Federal Bureau of Prisons: You can locate inmates released before 1982 on the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
50. US Federal Census Collection: This collection offers data from the US Census.