Internet Sites for Research

Internet Sites for Genealogy Research
By Shirley D. Webb

Free Sites

https://sites.rootsweb.com

This website is one of the oldest free internet sites for genealogists. Although Rootsweb has merged with
Ancestry.com, their original free websites continue to be without cost.
Of particular interest to the new genealogist is the Roots Surname List (see who else is researching your surnames),
the County and Surname Mailing Lists (where you can subscribe and exchange information of mutual interest), the WorldConnect pages where researchers post their genealogy databases and Rootsweb's Social Security Death Index site. The URL above is for the “Home Page” for Rootsweb where you can access all of the
abovementioned sections of their website.

http://usgenweb.org/

The USGenWeb is a free genealogy website which has a genealogy webpage for
every state and county in the U.S.A.

On the left of the Home Page is a list of the states in the USA. Click on the state of your choice, then the Home Page of that state will have a list of its counties to access for whatever genealogical data is available there. Volunteers handle all aspects of the USGenWeb including each State's Coordinator and all County Coordinators.

These County USGenWeb pages are required to have – at a minimum – a Query Page (for posting your inquiries about your ancestors in that county), a Look-up Page (where volunteers will look-up information on county genealogy information) and links to the Archives and the State's genealogy pages. The State and County “Archives” are also maintained by USGenWeb where volunteers post data such as cemetery information,
census indices or census data and marriage records for that particular county.

Message Boards

Message Boards are a popular way to exchange genealogy data with other researchers. Message Boards are different from Chat Rooms….you post a query or answer one already posted and wait to get an answer. Most Message Boards have a place to opt to be informed when an answer to your query is posted.

The following are the two most frequently used Message Boards:

http://boards.rootsweb.com/?o_iid=33216
http://www.genforum.genealogy.com/

Chose a surname board or a county board for reading messages and/or posting your own inquiry. These boards are free. They are hosted by commercial genealogy companies, Genealogy.com and Ancestry.com

National Archives and Records Administration
http://www.archives.gov/index.html

The Home Page for National Archives and Records Administration is listed above. The National Archives
has all of the Federal Census microfilm at each of its nationwide locations. Go to
http://www.archives.gov/publications/microfilm-catalogs/census/1790-1890/ for listings of the
census film numbers and soundex film numbers. Then go to http://www.archives.gov/locations/regional-archives.html
to get the location, hours of operation and e-mail addresses for the 17 branches of the N.A.R.A.
located throughout the country. The Texas branch is located at Fort Worth, Texas

Address:
501 West Felix Street , Building 1
Fort Worth , Texas 76115-3405
Mailing Address:
P.O. 6216
Fort Worth , Texas 76115-0216

Phone:817-334-5515
E-mail: [email protected]
Fax: 817-334-5511

Subscription Sites

Ancestry.com
http://www.ancestry.com/

Ancestry.com has merged with Genealogy.com and now calls itself "The Generations Network" (TGN). This is the most widely used subscription genealogy website and has the most on-line data. A limited part of its data is available without charge Sometimes a free trial period is offered before charging your credit card. Ask about that before signing up.

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