Is there any way to find out your genealogy/ancestry/family tree online?

Giovanni Malool: Alexis, even if you pay for a subscription to Ancestry.com, you would still have to do the research unless someone in your line, possibly a cousin you don’t even know, has already done the research an posted it online somewhere and even then you would want to verity their sources. So, start with this tutorial for those who are new to family research at http://rwguide.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ ; everyone starting out in genealogy should understand the basics and this tutorial covers them. After you complete the tutorial, the following is a basic plan and generally only requires the tools that you already have like your computer and Internet service provider. So, start with your birth certificate, which has your parents, and then ask your parents for copies of their birth certificates, which will have your grandparents on them. Then if you grandparents are living, continue the process. At some point, you will experience a problem depending on when you gra! ndparents or great grandparents were born, in that; birth certificates did not exist before the early 1900s. You need to get back to 1930 with personal records because those types of records are not available to the public for 50 to 100 years depending on the jurisdiction in which they are held and census records which are quite valuable in tracing our ancestors movements are not available before 1930 at this time.By copying or ordering these documents, you have gone to relatively little expense and you have three generations plus yourself and you have it documented with primary documents. That will give you 2 parents, 4 grandparents, and 8 great grandparents names to start researching. Now, you can use death certificates, marriage records, census records, immigration records, church records, court records and many other sources to research your ancestry. Your public libraries will most likely have both Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest free for anyone to use while at the lib! rary and with a library card you should be able to use Heritag! e Quest at home. Another free online resource is the LDS/Mormon site, which has many free online records and original documents on their pilot site at http://pilot.familysearch.org/recordsearch/start.h... . They have also just added a new Beta site that has a few more databases, which you might find useful http://fsbeta.familysearch.org/s/collection/list . In addition to their online records, they have Family History Centers where you can go for personalized help with research and look at microfilm and while they will not do your research for you they will help you, a lot. They only charge if they have to order something specifically for you or you need photocopies and their charges are minimal. Look on the home page of their website to find a location near you and call to check hours of operation. http://www.familysearch.org/eng/Home/Welcome/home.... …this website is also where the Social Security Death Index is located. Additionally, USGen Web is another free online r! esource at http://www.usgenweb.org/ . This site is packed with how-to tips, queries and records for every state and most counties within those states. Then, there is Rootsweb at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ a free site hosted by Ancestry.com where you can search for surnames, post queries on the message boards and subscribe to surname mailing lists.Also, be sure to check each state that you need information from as many have their own projects, for example, the state of Missouri has a great website that has many free source documents online at http://www.sos.mo.gov/mdh/ and South Carolina has many free wills and other court documents at http://www.archivesindex.sc.gov/onlinearchives/sea... Also, Family Tree Magazine’s 101 Best Websites, 2010 http://familytreemagazine.com/article/101-Best-Web... You may have to register for their free newsletter to access this list but you will find that helpful also.And the only site that is included on this list which has some link! s that are free and some that are fee is Cyndi’s List but it will be ! well worth your time to look through the list for the free websites because of their quality: http://www.cyndislist.com/ Also, you can come back here for help with specific questions or search our archives for more “ genealogy sources”....Show more

Marco Stolarz: the first thing I'd do is go to a library with a staff with a wide knowledge of genealogy. If you don't use the library (I hadn't been in 20 years before I started research) I went to the www.ellis island . org site. I feel this is a good start. Yes, there are always 'pop ups' at many free sites that you just ignore, asking you to join for a fee. I NEVER have paid any fees to go to a site, buy have maneuvered my may around to access other free sites. Many sites do , however, require you to have a password to access them, you don't have to pay though. I keep a set of notecards with each sites password (you can use the same password for each site so you don't get confused). Know then, that some ! of these sites start sending you e-mails with info on other related sites. As always, revert back to my first sentence for the best advice I can give....Show more

Jonie Lauria: You start at home and asking family,look at all the documents that everyone has in their house...have a look at this website http://www.familytimeline.webs.com/ t will tell you how to start, I links page will give you free charts and forms you can download and print and fill in with all the information you find, it explains about family stories and how these can help you do the research, so before you start looking on the internet and can't find anything or just start copying other peoples research that you don't know is correct or not...start the correct way.......it will teach you then about your family and make it easier for you to find ancestors you don't know...Show more

Ellis Cellar: Start by reading the introductory paragraph on this first website. You need to research your own f! amily first so that you know your family names and will actually recogn! ize a connection to someone famous when you find it.http://www.genealogytoday.com/genealogy/answers/Am... http://genealogy.about.com/od/famous_family_trees/...http://www.genealogy.com/famousfolks/index.html...Show more