Roots Web/Ancestry
Rootsweb is the oldest and largest free genealogy web site. (Rootsweb bought the Ancestry site. Many, but not all searches on one site also return information from the other. But, you may still want to run the same search on both sites just to be sure.) Be sure to check...
- Getting started at Rootsweb
- Metasearch
(1)
(2)
- Entering a name in the Metasearch (1) submits it to several (2) (but not all) of the various databases on the Rootsweb site.
- Surname Helper
(1)
(2)
- World Connect
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
- The WorldConnect Project is a wonderful source of data (1). However, you need to try different strategies to find out what works best in your situation.
- As a first attempt, you might fill in as much information as you know about an ancestor (2). In this case, I only found one matching record (3), and it was submitted by my cousin, Jack Martin. I already had all of the information in this database. Much of it came from me in the first place.
- It might be better to just enter a man's name and his wife's first name (4). (The person submitting the data may not have know the wife's maiden name.) In this case, I got many more matching records. Most of the records were for the wrong family. However, one record which appears to be for my family was submitted by a man named Robert Hills (5). While I suspect that I have more and better information about the Minor family, I expect that he will have much better information about the Hills family. In fact, in perusing his family data, he has information on the Hills family eight generations further back (6) (7) (8) than anything that I had before. And since it gives his email address, I can contact him and offer to exchange information.
- I then tried the same thing with Josephine HILLS MINOR's grandmother Mary HOWE WHEELOCK. One of the entries here (9) (seefurth) extended my information about the WHEELOCK line some eight or nine generations further back than I had previously known.
- Finally, I tried grandfather Miles Sturges (a). In addition to the information from my cousin Jack Martin, there are two other entries that appear to be for my grandfather (b). Both databases are from the same person. When she uploaded her databases, she also checked to allow others to download GEDCOMs of her data (c). The GEDCOMs can either be downloaded several generations at a time or all in one .zip file (d). However, the names, birth places, birth dates, and other personal information of living people have been removed from the databases for security reasons. So I will still want to contact her to get as much information as possible.
- Research Templates - Surnames
(1)
(2)
(3)
- Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild
(1)
(2)
This is a volunteer organization, founded in 1998, that transcribes and uploads ships' passenger lists to the Internet. To date, the ISTG has transcribed lists of more than 3000 ships and 1.5 million passengers. The site is updated monthly. (Free)
- US GenWeb Project | Archives
(1)
(2)
The US GenWeb is a volunteer effort to make as much genealogical data available on the web as possible. You will also want to visit the GenWeb site (www.usgenweb.org/ to find out what information is available for your state or county or town. However, you will also want to search the archives located here on Rootsweb (1). (Free)
- Social Security Death Index
(1)
64 million records contain information about those whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration from 1937 to Sept 30, 2000, although most records are from 1962 and later.
ROOTS-L:
Genealogy Mailing List
At last count, RootsWeb hosted 22,118 genealogy mailing lists, on topics ranging from surnames and US counties to research techniques and ship passenger lists.
Depending on the size and activity level of a list, you'll receive anywhere from dozens of e-mails a day to one or two a month. Mail mode - you'll receive a copy of every e-mail sent to the list. Digest mode - several messages are combined and sent as a single e-mail.
Roots-L is the oldest mailing list on the Internet. Also check...
- RootsWeb Surname List (RSL)
(1)
(2)
- ROOTS-L Library
(1)
- U. S. Civil War Units file
(1)
- United States Resources
(1)
(2)
- ROOTS-L Messages and Archives
(1)
(2)
(3)
Another Ancestry site, FamilyHistory.com works much like GenForum. It hosts more than 130,000 message boards divided by surnames, geography, and research topic.
Next...
© 2001, Leroy D. Sturges
( This document was last updated on
)
){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}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}