Free genealogy seems unachievable, and Subscription-based access appears to be the only method to get family tree data. Before getting a second mortgage, check out these free genealogical websites.
❖ Browse the FamilyTreeNow Database
To compile a comprehensive profile of an individual, FamilyTreeNow.com searches through billions of public information such as vital statistics, census data, and military service records. You may begin your search by going to the homepage and typing in the first name, last name, city, and state of the lost family member. Depending on the information that has been made public, a standard free search may reveal an address, phone number, place of employment, email address, and even the names of your family member’s spouse and children. No sign-up or membership is required to get the most recent contact details.
❖ Get Down to the Bottom of the Internet
Pipl is an alternative to Google that crawls into the “deep web,” or websites that the search engine’s index does not include. In addition to traditional public records, this method involves searching via a person’s social media accounts, company databases, and personal sites. Enter your ancestor’s name into the search bar to find them. A free search can see the individual’s name, residence, phone number, employment, age, and education level. Pipl also collects photos, making it easy to verify whether or not a potential match is a long-lost family member.
❖ Free Genealogy Websites
Free genealogical records keep rising. Click the Databases to access Southern state statistics, military catalogs, small-town newspapers, and the Cherokee Guion Miller Roll. This site is a must-bookmark for Native Americans.
❖ FamilySearch
FamilySearch is the internet’s most extensive free genealogical database, with new upgrades highlighting Italy, South America, and U.S. vital records. You may record your results in family trees and a “Memories” gallery. You can also obtain research aid from the wiki.
HeritageQuest.com
Ancestry.com powers HeritageQuest. However, Ancestry.com does not control HeritageQuest.com. HeritageQuest.com is accessible via participating libraries. This cooperation has extended its six collections into an “Ancestry.com lite,” comprising the U.S. census, military and immigration data, and municipal directories. Once logged in, locate search and scroll to the bottom to access U.S. and overseas records.
Genealogy Olive Tree
Genealogy Olive Tree is a 1996 website that has evolved into a collection of how-to assistance and databases. It’s best for passenger records, historical groups like Palatines and American Indians, and less-common data like orphans and almshouse inhabitants.
RootsWeb
RootsWeb is a free site that offers how-to articles, surname and U.S. location databases, mailing lists, pedigree files, and more.
USGenWeb
USGenWeb is a volunteer site that just turned 20 and became mobile. Its state, county, and special initiatives remain thriving.
❖ Newspaper Archives
The Newspaper archives you can use when searching for a family member include:
Digital California Newspapers
This collection has 640,000 issues, 7.3 million pages, and 44 million stories on California family members. You can search or explore the UCR project by tag, county, date, or title.
America chronicled
This Library of Congress initiative digitizes U.S. newspapers from 1789 to 1924 and provides a library directory.
Elephind
One-click searches 200 million-plus newspaper articles for ancestors. Elephind searches large and small collections (including Chronicling America) and includes Australian materials.
GenDisasters.com. This site gives a record of your family member who perished in railway accidents, fires, floods, shipwrecks, and airline crashes, among others. Furthermore, you can find transcribed newspaper stories of disasters by keyword, state, or year.
❖ U.K. Genealogy Websites
FreeUKGenealogy Volunteers transcribed 274 million birth, marriage, and death records (1837–1992), 49 million parish registers (the 1500s and later), and 39 million census entries (1841–1911).
GENUKI
GENUKI is a virtual library of U.K. and Ireland genealogy material. Maps, how-tos, a church database, and FAQs help with research.
❖ Genealogy sites in Canada
The Canada genealogy sites that can be used to search for a family member are:
Canadian Archives
This site offers free Canadian censuses, immigration lists, vital data, and land and military information.
❖ Genealogy websites for Ireland
The following genealogy resources for Ireland can be utilized to look up a family member:
❖ Irish Archives
This collection comprises 1901 and 1911 census data, census survivals (1821–1851), census search forms (1841–1851), Tithe Applotment Books (1823–1837), Soldiers’ Wills (1914–1918), and Calendars of Wills and Administrations (1858–1922).
❖ British Library
The British Library contains free pictures of birth, marriage, and burial registrations from most Catholic parishes in Ireland and Northern Ireland from the 1700s to 1880. Click on registers.nli.ie’s map to explore by the parish.
❖ Danish genealogical websites
The resources below can be used to find a family member in Danish genealogy.
Statistics Denmark
This collection of Danish censuses, probate, and emigration documents is searchable in English.
❖ Genealogy websites in Norway
You can use the resources listed below to search for a family member of Norwegian ancestry.
Digitalarkivet
This collection includes Norwegian enumerations, church documents, emigration statistics, historical pictures, property and probate records, and more. Start by clicking digitized archives.
❖ Free CEE genealogy sites
Eastern European Family History Federation
The site has a map library, databases, and how-to manuals.GenealogyIndexer.org. You can search approximately 2 million Central and East European family history pages, including historical directories, Holocaust monuments, military listings, and educational sources.
Genealogy websites in French
GeneaNet
This site has archives, a genealogical encyclopedia, uploaded trees, and many connections.
❖ German genealogical websites
You can look for a family member with German ancestry using the resources indicated below.
German GenWeb
Google Translate can let you access this German site’s email lists, forum, society pages, digitized books, gazetteer, WWI casualty database, and research tools.
❖ Jewish genealogical websites
You might use the resources listed below to look for a family member who has Jewish ancestry.
Israel Genealogy Research
Israel Genealogy Research is a two million-plus document spanning the Ottoman period to the early 1950s. They include Jewish communities in Israel, North Africa, and the Middle East.
❖ JewishGen
JewishGen Family Finder has 500,000 surnames and town entries. The record includes the Family Tree of the Jewish People has 7 million names, 6,000 Jewish communities, a 54-nation gazetteer, and 3.6 million Holocaust victims.
Dutch genealogical websites
Cyndi’s List
Cyndi’s List has more than 332,000 classified genealogical links in 213 categories.
Evernote
Evernote is a digital scrapbook that enables you to store web pages and genealogical findings on one device and then access them on all your devices.
❖ GEDMatch
On GEDMatch, you can match your DNA findings with genetic family members from AncestryDNA, 23andMe, MyHeritage DNA, or Family Tree DNA’s Family Finder.
To find a family member, you can begin by utilising the search, mapping, and translation tools on Google.
❖ Internet Archive
On Internet Archive, there are millions of library materials and California and Portugal collections. Wayback Machine may locate early internet genealogical pages. Geocities?
One-step website
Clever Steve Morse
Clever Steve Morse has mastered versatile search formats for genealogical resources, including censuses and passenger lists. (Subscription sites charge to see matches.)
The world’s largest social networking site is beneficial for discovering family members and exchanging information. Family Tree Magazine and other genealogical groups have pages.
Geni
With Geni you can start your online tree, search 114 million profiles, and invite family members to contribute.
Pinterest is an online scrapbook/digital tagboard that has been helpful for family historians sharing old photographs and documents.
Treelines
Treelines provides a narrative approach to online family trees, letting you transform pedigree charts into traditional tales.
WeRelate
The Foundation for Online Genealogy’s wiki-style initiative called WeRelate has more than 2.8 million ancestors.
WikiTree
More than 850,000 genealogists from across the globe contributed to this family tree. Don’t be afraid of sharing: As you go back in time, family history becomes less private on WikiTree.
❖ Library and archive freebies
Library of Allen County
This Indiana-based library has the nation’s second-largest online genealogy collection. The library includes Native American, African American, military, and family Bible records.
ArchiveGrid
ArchiveGrid searches 7 million archive record descriptions from 1,400 organizations. ArchiveGrid contains Documents, personal papers, family histories, and other resources that may reference your ancestors, as well as an interactive map that shows nearby archives.
Online Slavery Library
Online Slavery Library UNCG project includes judicial and legislative petitions, enslaved person “deeds,” insurance records, and “wanted” advertising. North Carolina is the emphasis; however, the UNCG project includes all.
The DPA
The DPA searches for more than 45 million digitized materials from libraries, archives, and museums. FamilySearch’s free digital history book collection is also searchable.
HathiTrust
With HathiTrust, you can access this digital library’s 17 million books and 6 billion pages using credentials from a partner institution, such as a university. But there’s also public access.
National Union Catalog
The national library’s online resources include the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections and its comprehensive catalog.
National Archives genealogical
With the National Archives genealogical, you can learn about the National Archives’ genealogical riches, obtain records, and see historical maps and images. Archival databases include WWII enlistments and passenger records for German, Irish, Russian, and Italian immigrants.
Midwestern Genealogy
Mid-Continent Public Library in Independence, Mo, has one of the nation’s most significant genealogy collections. Online features include an RRB pension index.
Digital Collections
Digital Collections, NYPL has more than 900,000 scanned prints, photos, maps, manuscripts, movies, and other objects live here. Maps and atlases alone make the site worthwhile.
WorldCat
Using WorldCat, you can find your family history in 2 billion materials in 10,000 libraries. Just enter the name of the person you’re looking for in the search bar to pull relevant results. Do everything you can to limit your search to a specific geographic area. You can locate a family member in any of the 50 states. Still, the search results may be overwhelming if they have a prevalent name.
Conclusion
If you have family members, you’d want to connect with on Facebook. You can easily do so by searching for their name using simply their first and last initials. You may broaden your search to include the institution or organization where the ancestor most recently worked or went to school. If the family member may have changed her name after marriage, this can help you find her. Facebook sites like “Finding Long Lost Family” are devoted to assisting people in reconnecting with long-lost family members. Putting up a profile with information on the lost kin is all required. You may ask your Facebook friends for help if you need to find out any details.
