www.americaslibrary.gov/cgi-bin/page.cgi (1) (2) (3)
The Library of Congress has wonderful stories from America's history to help you get a feel for the times in which your ancestors lived.
memory.loc.gov/ (1) (2) (3) (4)
American Memory is a gateway to rich primary source materials relating to the history and culture of the United States. The site offers more than 7 million digital items from more than 100 historical collections. (Check the Collection Finder).
For example, you might find a civil war era photo to dress up a story about a civil war ancestor.
memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/gmdhome.html (1)
The Geography and Map Division of the Library of Congress has digitized a portion of its 4.5 million items and placed those images on the web. The collection is divided into seven categories: Cities and Towns; Cultural Landscapes; Transportation and Communication; General Mags; Conservation and Environment; Discovery and Exploration; Military Battles and Campaigns. (Free)
www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/index.html (1) (2)
Digitized historical maps of the United States, including early Native American tribes, exploration, military, and settlement maps. (Free)
lcweb.loc.gov/rr/news/oltitles.html (1) (2)
Links to dozens of period newspapers for more than three centuries of indexed announcements, death notices, photographs, and other new items.
www.theoldentimes.com (1)
Scanned collection of 18th-, 19th-, and early 20th- century US newspapers.
The database encompasses 12 million immigrants processed through Ellis Island, 5 million other Port of New York immigrants whose first- or second-class tickets enabled them to skip the Ellis Island ordeal, and 5 million ship's crew and other non-immigrant passengers. (Free)
www.nara.gov/genealogy/ (1) (2) (3)
You won't find the original records online. However, you can find a description of the records available and how to access them.
- Pre-Federal Records
Census Records
Income Tax Records/Civil War Years
World War I Draft Registration Cards
Deaths US Citizens Foreign Countries
etc.
www.civilwardata.com/ (1)
Since 1993 Richard Dobbins has entered into a sophisticated computer database, by hand, millions of personnel records from some 170 different sources. They detail induction dates, promotions, combat service, discharge status, causes of death, and more. The Union database is about 85 percent complete; the Confederate records are only about 25 percent complete. ($25.00 per year)
carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi/PhotoDB.html (1)
Search for photos of soldiers, battles, and towns. Even if your soldier isn't shown, the database may include a photo of his regiment or of one of the places he fought. (US Military History Institute - Free)
www.migrations.org (1)
Links to online migration and genealogical sources, plus searchable database that collects and analyzes migration data and provides migration patterns for genealogical, historical, and educational research. (Free)
www.sos.state.il.us/departments/archives/databases.html (1)
Searchable records of your Illinois ancestors include: Public domain land tract sales; Illinois War of 1812 veterans; Civil War veterans; statewide marriage index, 1763-1900; etc. (Free)
This site contains more than 1.9 million cemetery records from more than 3000 cemeteries worldwide. A search by surname will return a list including the name and location of the cemetery, and in some instances, the tombstone inscription. (Free)
This site will generate a timeline for any date from 1000 AD to the current year. It may give you a better feel for the events that shaped your ancestor's life. (Free)
Check this site when you find in an ancestor's probate that a wagon was sold at auction for $26.85 and you want to know whether that was a lot of money or not. Just enter an amount, the starting and ending dates for comparison. (Free)
www.cs.williams.edu/~bailey/genealogy/ (1)
www.familytreemagazine.com/forms/download.html (1)
www.pbs.org/kbyu/ancestors/charts/ (1)
PAF 5.1 has an unheralded built-in feature that lets you export the families and individuals you've plugged into your PC and view them on Palm-OS PDAs. To download PAF 5.1, go to www.familysearch.org, click on Order/Download Products, then Software Downloads - Free.
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}