Update on Internet Sources
August 22, 2022
www.familysearch.org is a free website sponsored by the Church of the Latter Day Saints. You will need to register and sign in, but there is no charge (and some images are not available unless you are a church member or at a FamilySearch Library).
This website has a great many indexed databases and 5 billion searchable images and 13 billion searchable names. These are growing rapidly as a phalanx of indexers works on them. Among their prime databases are indexes to the US Census Federal and State Census Records, UK Census records, and Canadian Census records.
It also has a number of collections of images that come from microfilms and are NOT indexed. These are available for browsing one page at a time. Although they cannot be searched on the computer, they usually contain an index at the front of each microfilm or a microfilm of an index volume (such as an index to the Wills recorded in a specific county in a US State). While this may seem difficult, for many years this was the only way you could access information - by paging through a data source (like an original volume of wills) - and we were able to obtain lots of great information this way!
This is also an excellent place to look for databases and images from outside the United States.
This site also has posted genealogies. This includes an interesting project to create a master genealogy of mankind (no kidding) with crowd-sourced input to make information correct.
It also has books related to genealogy that are online. These can be searched and the relevant pages displayed. These can be very useful if there was an old genealogy published which is now off of copyright.
It also has genealogy Wiki site which provides excellent information regarding locations and topics. Probably the best genealogy information site. International as well as US. This is where you should start to find what's online in your favorite country, state, county, or province.
You may want to use the FamilySearch Center here in Santa Rosa. It's located at 1725 Peterson Lane. It's open 1-5 Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and 9-1 on Saturday. There are usually experienced researchers there who can help you. Phone during hours if you have any questions: 1-707-525-0399. See: Santa Rosa FamilySearch Center
Google remains the most powerful search engine available. There are many excellent information sites that can be found by a hearty search on
Google Books has millions of books available for searching. Some are off of copyright and can be viewed in their entirety for free. Others allow for previews which often provide useful information.
Google also has an outstanding Chat Bot: Gemini. It can be accessed at https://gemini.google.com/app
www.ancestry.com has more than 60 billion records including census records, birth and death information and immigration documents. It is far and away the most important website for genealogy research. If you're planning to do genealogical research more than once or twice a week, and you can afford it, you should consider a subscription.
There are some databases you can use for free from home. To search those, use this link Ancestry Free Databases.
Paid subscriptions
Access is by paid subscriptions ($22/month for a 6 month US subscription and $32/month for a 6 month world subscription – note that this price is frequently discounted). But the good news is that it is available for free in any Sonoma County Library using their computers or, if you have a laptop with WiFi, on your own computer used inside the library. It is also available free at the FamilyHistory Center.
In addition, there are over 1,000 databases on ancestry.com that are free. To access these there are two direct approaches:
If you find a database on Ancestry that looks interesting and ISN'T free, try these tricks:
Put the name of the database into Google and seeing if there is a free version online.
Go to archive.org and see if they have the database.
rootsweb.com was a workhorse of free information for many years. The mailing lists and message boards were quite valuable for finding and sharing information by family surname and geographic location. The information it contained is now available in separate US and World sites: www.usgenweb.org and www.worldgenweb.org.
There are databases for the US immigration records (see below). Most people find Stephen Morse’s website for accessing immigration information the best way to get this information! If you're going to explore immigration records, start here. NOTE: you will first have to create a login for Ellis Island if you want to see the original manifests from there).
These databases contains passenger lists for those who came through the major entry for immigrants during the heaviest immigration years, Ellis Island (1892-1924), but also the earlier entry, Castle Garden (1850-1890).and later immigrants (1925-1957).
www.ellisisland.org (1892-1924) and (1925-1957)
Steve Morse's website also has an unbelievable amount of information. You may want to scroll through it to see what's there. He has a lot of information for New York City; the US, Canadian, and British census records; and Jewish genealogy.
If you have a need to search a specific type of information, try Cyndi’s List
www.cyndislist.com has long been considered one of the best places to go. Cyndi’s List is a compilation of internet sites that focus on specific topics (for example, Civil War Unit Information).
Another site which is often better for finding family name websites is Linkpedium
Grave Sites – Findagrave (FREE)
These websites have information on grave sites in the US. Findagrave will also go frequently have a picture of a tombstone.
Other sites with cemetery information:
Many cemeteries are listed in the USGenWeb site under each individual county.
There is also a specific website HeritageHub which has a lot of obituaries. You can access it for free through the library. Go to https://www.sonomalibrary.org/elibrary/historical-research, sign in, and click on HeritageHub.
German Roots does a great job of linking German research, online vital records, and searchable military records.
A growing website that is trying to compete with Ancestry.com and does have some unique databases. The structure of the website is to allow you to create a "family page" which is free, but then to use the site on a broader basis requires a subscription. Subscription costs range from $129/year to $299/year.
Heritage Quest is another well known subscription website. The Heritage Quest Database includes a significant number of city directories. It also includes fully indexed and searchable, full-page online views of most US Federal Censuses (excludes 1830, 1840 and 1930). There are cases where you would want to search their census records since they are indexed by different people and their images may be better (normally you would use FamilySearch). The database also contains searchable text from Genealogy & Local History with a collection of over 25,000 family & local histories from US & Canada.
HeritageQuest can be accessed free inside your home using your Sonoma County Library card number. Sign into the library at https://www.sonomalibrary.org/elibrary/historical-research and click on Heritage Quest.
Website for historic information on the web. Includes ALL census images (unindexed) and many city directories. www.Archive.org
There are an increasing number of newspapers on-line, many for free. The problem is there is no easy way to identify and access them. The key is to identify the county and city that is most likely to have carried news of interest, to identify the newspapers that were active during the period(s) of interest, and to find where any archives can be found. One simple way to do this is to Google the name of the newspaper with the word "archives".
Having said that, there are a number of specialized websites to check:
Chronicling America (FREE)
The Library of Congress has a specialized website devoted to newspapers from 1880-1920, Chronicling America. This can be found at Chronicling America
The California portion of this has a separate website that may be easier to use at California Digital Newspapers
Other Free Newspaper Sites
Another site with information on free newspapers is www.elephind.com.
New York State Newspapers (and a number of other newspapers as well): http://fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html
How to find online Newspapers (very hard – try multiple sources)
Upenn guide to US newspapers online
Upenn guide to World newspapers online
http://www.researchguides.net/newspapers.htm
Wikipedia:List_of_online_newspaper_archives
Subscription Newspaper Sites
There are a number of websites that provide Newspaper searches and information for a subscription fee. Before signing up for one of these, be sure it has a newspaper covering the location and time period you are most interested in.
Newspaper Archives - http://newspaperarchive.com/advancedsearch
Newspapers.com - https://www.newspapers.com/ (this site is associated with Ancestry.com and included in some Ancestry subscriptions)
Genealogybank - http://www.genealogybank.com/
The DAR has a website of genealogy information which is searchable by “Ancestor” (= Patriot) or “Descendant”. DAR “patriots” include those who fought or contributed to the Revolution. It can be a productive way to find an ancestral tree because they "Descendant" category includes everyone who descended from the Patriot who has applied to be a DAR member. For a fee, you can often buy a copy of the documents used to verify the ancestry.
http://services.dar.org/public/dar_research/search/
Fold3 is a database primarily focused on military records. It also has a wide range of city directories. It can be accessed at the Santa Rosa FamilySearch Center.
A limited number of databases can be accessed for free. The link to search them is here: Fold3 Free.
www.americanancestors.org (New England) (Subscription)
This is the website for the New England Historical and Genealogical Society. It is very professional and probably a must for any serious researcher whose family came from New England. There are extensive Catholic church records for Massachusetts.
A limited number of databases are available for use free. You can find the list here: Free Databases on AmericanAncestors.
www.californiagenealogy.org site is designed to help you to find online genealogy data for California.
www.cagenweb.com is a member of the USGenWeb Project, CAGenWeb's mission is to provide a single entry point for all counties and towns within the state of California, where collected data is stored.
www.vitalsearch-ca.com are available for California birth, death and marriage.
www.interment.net/us/ca/index.htm can be browsed by county
Allen County Genealogy Library: http://genealogycenter.org is an outstanding library with a focus on the upper mid-Western area (Minnesota to Ohio to Kentucky).
www.jewishgen.org site has numerous links to websites to trace Jewish ancestry. It also can be useful for research in any Eastern European country, regardless of religion.
National Archives of the United Kingdom (FREE)
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk is the UK government's official archive, containing 900 years of history with records ranging from parchment and paper scrolls through to digital files and archived websites. The National Archives makes open records available to everyone online, continuously developing new tools to make history tangible for everyone.
Findmypast (Subscription, FREE at the FamilyHistory Center)
This is the go-to website for British research. www.findmypast.com. This site has grown substantially in the last few years.
There are some databases that can be accessed for free. Go to their website and click on the heading "Free Records".
The Library of Canada (FREE)
(http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/census/Pages/census.aspx) has free information on Canada. This includes the Canadian censuses for 1831 and 1835 (Quebec only); 1842, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901, 1911, and 1921. Also the 1906, 1916, and 1926 censuses of the prairie states.
National Archives of Ireland (www.nationalarchives.ie) (FREE)
Free access to the 1901 and 1911 census records. Indexed. (www.census.nationalarchives.ie)
Free access to the Tithe Applotment Books (http://titheapplotmentbooks.nationalarchives.ie/search/tab/home.jsp)
Ask About Ireland (www.askaboutireland.ie) (FREE)
Free access to Griffith’s Valuation records. Indexed.
German Roots does a great job of linking German research, online vital records, and searchable military records.
There's a website devoted to enslaved peoples sponsored by the New England Historical and Genealogical Society: https://10millionnames.org/
Don't forget Wikipedia. It has a wide range of articles which often give you insights into facts about your family.
There are many city directories online. The problem is finding where they are. Some suggestions: Heritage Quest (see above) and Archive.org.
How to find online City Directories
https://sites.google.com/site/onlinedirectorysite/Home/usa
You can also Google the City of interest and the word City Directory (e.g., 'San Francisco City Directory")
FamilySearch Center books: FamilySearch Book site
You can check out popular books for your Kindle through the Sonoma County Library using and ebooks repository like Libby. You sign into https://libbyapp.com/, enter your library card number to create an account, and then you can borrow an ebook just like you borrow a library book.
Living people can be researched at
www.411.com is the best place to do a national “white pages” search
Websites that help in mapping geography. The first is a website which shows the changes in county boundaries in all the US states. http://www.mapofus.org
To focus on a particular state, click on that state on the US map.
There is a great capability on this site for an interactive map that shows the development of the counties for each state. To reach that feature type www.mapofus.org/"name of state". So, for Virginia type www.mapofus.org/virginia. Once you get to the state site, scroll to the bottom. There will be a map showing the first year the state was formed. Click on Play and it will slowly go through the changes by year - or you can go the list of years below and it will describe what happened in that year.
another site with similar information is University of Pennsylvania: https://digital.newberry.org/ahcb/index.html
and the other helps in identifying the location of populated places and natural features
http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/
Map website that ties directly to Google for modern names of international locations
https://forebears.io/surnames allows you to see the world locations where a surname is most common
Those interested in having their DNA tested have four options.
www.Ancestry.com has a comprehensive DNA testing approach which his linked to its databases. If you are a subscriber to Ancestry.com you should consider using their DNA test. They have the most people in their database and an easy to understand method of analysis.
FamilyTreeDNA is a site dedicated to DNA for genealogy research. It has a lot of data.
23andme is primarily interested in medical DNA analysis, but does have some genealogy research support.
MyHeritage is a comprehensive genealogy site that has a lot of Europeans who have done DNA tests.
For more information on DNA you can check this site:
There's an outstanding App to translate between languages - Google Translate: https://translate.google.com/
Google will also offer you automated translation if the search page comes up in a different language than English.