Any recommend free sites and pay sites for research?

[KennyD]

Can anyone recommend specific websites that are useful in searching out data? Both free and pay? If I am going to pay for a service I would like to seek out the ones that are most useful.

If it helps, I am primarily focusing on ancestors who immigrated to PA in the early 1900s.

Thank you,
Ken

[VaDeb]

Paid - ancestry.com But you can use it for free at many libraries and LDS family history centers.

Free:
www.familysearch.org

Heritage Quest is availble for free from many libraries with as long as you have a library card.

Debbie

[nuccia]

Debbie,

Do you know if you have a library card and have access to a college your university library, can you access Heritage Quest from your home computer? Does anyone know? Just curious...

[VaDeb]

Hi Nuccia,

My local library has heritage quest and I can access it from home for free. They also have America's Obituaries and Death Notices online that I can access from home.

Debbie

[wldspirit]

Don't overlook local genealogy societies, they also have free access to many paid databases. My society has not only local and state records...but records from other states as well.
They also sponsor bus trips to major archive and library centers out of state. It's been a great support system and every month they bring in a new speaker on various topics.....great way to network.
wldspirit

[nuccia]

Thanks Lisa and Debbie! I actually have a library card from my College since I'm enrolled as a part time student so I have access to their library. I'm really excited to see if they have Heritage Quest and if I can access it from here. Lisa loved it.

Lee, great point about the genealogy societies. I would never even have thought of that. Now that ancestry won't be available at FHC for free anymore people may have to look at these other options.

Biff linked another site that is available for a fee at ancestry but is free from the archives. I've seen it before and thought it would be appropriate to post here..

For WW2 Army Enlistment Records..

http://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-desc ... WR26&bc=sl

[KennyD]

Thank you everybody.

[Biff83]

Biff linked another site that is available for a fee at ancestry but is free from the archives. I've seen it before and thought it would be appropriate to post here..

For WW2 Army Enlistment Records..

http://aad.archives.gov/aad/series-desc ... WR26&bc=sl

Besides being free, this site will also provide the individual Army serial number, a crucial piece of information in requesting and/or verifying military documents.

[VaDeb]

One nice thing about ancestry.com is how many data bases are available in one place. I think it is the most comprehensive site out there, but it isn't cheap. As pointed out, many of these are available for free, but each in a different place. Some counties have census records, but only their county and only certain years. http://www.usgenweb.org/ is a source like this. What is there depends on the volunteers of that site.

Ancestry.com is not necessary for genealogy research, it is just a tool that speeds it up and makes it easier. There is always the "old" way, that existed before the internet made genealogy easier. You go and utitilize on site records, micro film for census and so on. You write for each individual record. This method means you HAVE to know the location of each record.

What I see in so many posts of folks requesting help is the lack of doing basic research. There is a tendancy to skip the birth, marriage and death records of the generations nearest to them. It is easy and tempting to start with the great grandparents, born in the 1880's in Italy and want to go from there. Yes, ancestry.com makes this easier. If you don't know where great grandma lived in 1910 a quick search of the census provides an answer (depending on the indexing and accuracy). Then onto immigration records. All this can be done without the internet, but it is harder and takes longer. This research without actual birth, marriage and death records can lead to mistakes and wasted research time. I really belive that these records enrich your family history.

Debbie

[wldspirit]

I second that sentiment Deb.......no matter how many times you telll someone how vital it is to collect ALL US records first.....the tendency is to skip it and jump across the ocean.......but collecting your US info first gives you "the big picture"...had I not gathered death and obituary information, I would not have discovered important clues in my research and confirmed what I already knew.
Following these simple steps in the process could help in avoiding mistakes in research down the road.....
wldspirit

[nuccia]

Ladies, I couldn't agree more. Not sure about you all, but I did this very thing, too skipping over all the vitals and not sourcing any of my information only to find myself going back over everything again properly. We never realize how much info we actually have right under our noses, even before we get to the computer, the FHC, or writing away for anything. Pictures, memory cards, parents birth, marriage, death, naturalization records, etc. And pictures! What a wealth of info there. The back most often has some piece of information on it that can be useful down the road.

So many times I hear people say, "I did my Family Tree", or "I had someone do my Family Tree" and I wonder...Technically, I guess it depends of what a person is looking for. Working on your Family's History is a ongoing/never ending hobby. Just because you put down some names and dates and hang it on your wall doesn't mean that its finished nor does it mean that its correct. It might look good though.

Just my thoughts...

[aristides]

btw, I am not sure whether the information is out yet. But, ancestry.com is pulling most of its free service from the LDS family history centers on 4/1/07. I am not sure why and I don't know, if they will negotiate a deal. But, as of now they are gone on April 1. No joke intended.

pmm