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Ancestry.com has added a new membership called Family plan. It allows you to add up to 4 other family members to have access to your account. This is different from the DNA invite which allows you to give access to your DNA. This new plan allows family to sign in and use all the resource. To learn more about this click on the link: Ancestry® Family Plan Memberships

Many do not realize that of All Saints Day and All Souls Day are two different types of celebrations, but do have a common thread, they all are about “Those Who Have Died Before Us.”  Yes, these do have a Christian background to their history.

Catholics all around the world mark November 2 as All Souls’ Day. The day is celebrated annually and commemorates all baptized Christians who are thought to be stuck in the intermediate state of purgatory. While people who have committed mortal sin are believed to go to hell, those who have died with the guilt of lesser sins stay in purgatory to cleanse their souls.  All Saints Day is November 1^st when the Catholic Church honors its saints and martyrs.

All Souls’ Day is a part of the “Allhallowtide” season. Allhallowtide begins on Halloween, on October 31^st and continues with All Saints’ Day on November 1, and then All Souls’ Day on November 2. The date of All Souls’ Day was made universal back in the end of the 1200s.

This day was chosen to succeed All Saints’ Day, which is when a feast is held to commemorate those members of the church who have found a spot in heaven. Following this celebration, the church then prays for those souls who are believed to be suffering in purgatory.

It is believed that the prayers of the faithful on earth can help in the cleansing of the souls in purgatory, thus helping them to be able to ascend to heaven. All Souls’ Day is considered to be a day of prayer and remembrance. Churches hold masses for the repose of the souls of the dead on this day.

Different cultures mark the day differently. While North Americans usually perform extra prayers and light candles for the departed, those living in parts of Latin America visit the graves of their ancestors. They sometimes also leave food offerings for the departed souls.

All Soul’s Day is known by many different names around the world. It is called the ‘Feast of All Souls’ and ‘Defuncts’ Day’ in countries like Hungary, France, Italy, and Ecuador, and in the Mexican culture, All Soul’s Day is known as Dia de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead.

For those of you have done your DNA testing on 23andMe.com, you may want to read this article and then change your password.

https://www.wired.com/story/23andme-credential-stuffing-data-stolen

 
 Well you should have a pretty good start of on you family tree with all the information that you know about yourself, your parents, and maybe even your grandparents your family tree is starting to look pretty good. 
 
In this part we will break down a list sources that you can use to find information about members of your family tree.  
 
There are four areas of sources that we will be looking at:  
Documents 
Oral History 
Public Records 
Internet research 

Starting with Documents:  
You may have access to a collect of family documents such as letters, certificates, deeds, wills, awards etc. Each of these can be a wealth of information. Especially if they are from older ancestors, like grand parents or great uncles.  Photographs, family photo albums and even bibles can be a source. 
 
Oral History:  
You started out with your own oral history in a matter of speaking. You interviewed yourself and draw upon the information that you could remember.  You will need to sit down with others in your family, such as your parents,  aunts, uncles or older siblings and ask them for information. You may not have to opportunity to sit down face to face with someone, because they live too far away, so you may need to correspond with them via the phone, the internet or postal mail.  Not everyone is willing to share personal information, so be patient and thank them even if they don’t want to share.  You may want to read my article on how to interview a relative.  Some relative may have documentation that could be helpful to you. Don’t ask to borrow , instead ask if they would mind if you took a photo with your phone or camera. If using a digital camera, be sure that it is legeable to see or read.   
 
Public Records: 

These are things like birth, death and marriage records, deeds, census and military records to name a few. Churches has baptismal, marriage and burial records. City/town clerk offices carry birth, death, marriage records and land deeds.  Another form of public information is newspapers publish obituaries, memorial services, birth announcements, engagement and wedding announcements. Some libraries have a genealogy section that contains city directories,  and books that list family trees and other genealogical  information. Some have newspapers and census records on microfilm. Many states have a vital information office where you can look up birth, death and marriage records by year. Check with your city/town clerks office, local library and churches that you have in your area.  
 
 

Genealogical Associations are a very helpful source. You will need to check to see if there is one in your state.  These usually have many resources, such as books and microfilm records. Some have members that can help you with looking up information and some even have researchers that can do research for you.  They normally have an annual membership fee or a one time visit fee.  

Another place that can be very helpful for information is cemeteries. Some of them have a care taker that can be helpful in finding a grave. Some cemeteries have written  records.  Many times the cemetery is owned by a church, so they may be the record holder.  See my article on grave site seeking for more information.  

Internet Research: 

Since the creation of the world wide web, the access to genealogical information has been growing by leaps and bounds. Many government and state offices have records available on line. There is usually a fee associated  either a cost per document.  
There are a ton of genealogy websites that have  large data bases of many of the public records and many family trees that have already been created. Check out my article on overview of the top 5 genealogy websites. Many of these have a subscription or member fee.  The important thing to remember is when using resources on the internet that you may sure they are a reliable  resource.  
 

I hope that this information was helpful in understanding what you need to have for tools, what information that you should collect and where you can find the information you need to preserve your family tree.  

 Part 2 of beginners guide to genealogy 

What type of information Do you Need to collect 
 
Now that we have all the tools that will make this easier, let’s look at what type of information are we collecting. When you look at a family tree, you are looking at history that was written by your ancestors and by you and your descendants. Everyone no matter how short or long of a time they have spent on this earth creates a moment in time. They existed and that is all that is needed to make a mark on history. Yes some ancestors may have made great strides in life, that make their time on this planet a little more grand.  
There are certain  facts that are needed  in order to prove the connection to your lineage. Those are dates of birth, marriage  and who their parents and children are.  There are other facts that make the connection more complete such as  where they lived, what they did for a living,  deaths, and burial sites, etc. We will get into to this a little more in-depth shortly.   
So as you can see there is a lot of information that needs to be collected and kept in an organized fashion or you may get very confused as mix up dates and people’s information which would be a disaster.  
It is very important that you keep a good documentation on where you get your information from. This will help you to verify that the information is correct. If you have a question or conflict in information you can look back at that source to confirm its accuracy.  We will get more into this in Part 3 of Where to go to find your information. 

Here is an example  of some of the information you will be collecting to create and preserve your family tree. You will be starting with your own information and then adding the ancestors and then the descendants that you know.  

• Date of Birth your and where were you born (location) 
• Were you baptized? If so, when, where and who are your godparents. 
• Any other religious rites? When and where, performed by who?  
• Names of both parents and where they were from (nationality), their dates of birth, death and marriage(s) divorce(s). 
• Dates of  your marriage(s) and locations (if married in Church, who was present) 

• Name of  your spouse(s) and their parents, date of birth and where they were from 
• Names of your children, dates of birth and death,  and where. 

Other forms of information that can be added: 

• Education, where you went to school, college 
• Military information, what branch of the service, when, what was your rank, and where stationed? 

• Occupations, who you worked for, when, where  and what was your job title? 
• Sports, types, when and for how long, where  
• Achievements, or awards 
• Locations you lived, own or rent? 
• Accidents or life changing events (earthquakes, floods, etc) 

There can be other pieces of information you know or come across that will give an even better picture of yourself or someone else in your family tree. As you can see there is a lot of information that you can collect.  
 
I am assuming that you have decided what family tree you are working on, meaning your father’s surname or your mother’s maiden name. It is best to work on one family tree at a time. But if in your research you come across something on another of your trees, start a file and be sure to label it clearly what family tree it belongs to.  

Once you have completed your own information then do your father, then your mother, and then your siblings, collecting all the same information that you collected on yourself from the above list. You will be going back in your ancestry first to as far back as you can with the information that you know.  There will be things that you don’t know. That’s ok,  we will be covering other ways to find information in part 3. 

Depending on whether you are entering this information into a genealogy software program on your computer, in a word processing document or hand writing it on a pdf or notebook will determine how easy or difficult it will be to keep your information organized. As I mentioned early and will cover in more depth, always list the source where you got your information from. If it was from your memory then put down, yourself as source.  If it was from your mother or father then write down oral or verbal source from them.   
*As a side note to help with your organizing, if you are using PDF forms, be sure to number the pages and write the surname at the top of the page. If you are using a word processing doc or note, you will need to create a cataloging number system to things in order. Number each generation and sub number and letter each descendant. An example of this: 

1. Yourself 

2. Your first born child 

3.  Your second born child 

3.i their birth born child 

4. Your third born child 

In part 3 we will cover where do you go to find your information.  

Part One – What you need to start your Ancestry Search 

 
What is a Family Tree?  

A family tree is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. It is a graphical representation of your ancestors.  A family tree is a description of the descendants of a particular person or of the ancestors of a particular person.  It is usually in a chart that maps lineage, of a particular person, as far back as records allow. It is often, but not always provided in a graphical, branching form that somewhat resembles the trunk of a tee and its branches. Its function is to layout, more clearly than paragraphs of text can, the relationships of various relatives to each other and the person at the root of the root the tree. A family tree can begin with the most current generation and work its way backwards, or with the oldest known generation and wor  its way forward  

In many countries, particularly in the US, finding out what your family tree is represents pride in knowing where and who you came from. Family trees are useful for information purposes, for documenting inherited medical and genetic conditions, for helping resolve lawsuits over inheritances, and for preserving family stores and history, which can be helpful for younger generations to get to know their ancestors on a personal level.  

 The history of family trees probably goes back almost as far as the history of mankind. Family trees were probably originally used to prove ones relationship to certain persons for reasons of status, royalty or even just identification. Surnames such as Johnson were used to identity someone as john’s son. The Greeks used family history to prove to be descent from a god or goddess. Hebrew males had to prove descent from Aaron in order to become a member of the Levitical priesthood. In some societies, your life was vastly different if you could prove your were descent from royalty.  You may want to read  learning the history of  surnames. 

 
The meaning of Genealogy in the Merrian-Webster Dictionary: 
Genealogy noun ge·ne·al·o·gy \ˌjē-nē-ˈä-lə-jē also -ˈa-lə- also ˌje-nē-\  

1. 1 :  an account of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or from older forms 

2. 2 :  regular descent of a person, family, or group of organisms from a progenitor (see progenitor 1) or older form :  pedigree 

3. 3 :  the study of family ancestral lines 

4. 4 :  an account of the origin and historical development of something 

So you will be creating an account of the descent of your family  

This is the first part of a 3 part series on Genealogy Research for the Beginner. In this article  I will share with you tips on what you need to  have for tools when you begin your family tree search, what information you will be looking  to collect  and where you can find information to assist you in preserving your family tree.    

Seeking and collecting your information about your family tree can be exciting, fun and very rewarding. As you begin to piece things together you will see how they tell a story about your family.  But collecting all this information can be a bit overwhelming, because there is so many different types of data that can come from so many different sources. That is why it is so important to keep your information well organized.  In this first part we will be discussing what tools that you need to help keep your information organized.  

Some of these tools you may already have on hand. Depending on how elaborate you want to get and how far you plan on going with your search for your family tree you may need to purchase memberships, subscriptions to websites, genealogy software. There may also be traveling expenses depending on where you live and if you want to go to a source, like traveling to an out of state relative, library, city clerk office, or cemetery etc.  

This article is assuming that you have a computer or laptop and have access to the internet. 

A dedicated notebook will be useful for times when you can’t use your computer. In fact, you will probably fill up several notebooks.  A 3 ring binder can come in handy for keeping printed articles or printed PDF forms.  
 
You do not need to  have genealogy software, but it can make your work  a lot easier and more organized.  You may want to read my review  article on the top 3 genealogy software programs.   To make collecting data easier and as an extra tool, I have 3 PDF forms that you can use. These help you to be sure that you have collected all the information needed.    

I have  included a PDF checklist at the end of this article that you can print out, so that you will be able to keep yourself on track.   

Besides keeping your information on your computer, you will need a place to keep physical documents, such as certificates, photos, dvds, cds or letters. This is where a pocket folder or storage box will come in  handy.  You may end up collecting birth or death certificates or military records etc.  So whatever you use will need to be large enough and durable and you will want to make sure that you keep this in a dry safe place.   
 
The information that you store on your computer should also be backed up after each time you add to it. If you are using a genealogy software program you should make a backup according to their instructions. If you are using a word processing program, then you should make a copy of the files to a usb stick or upload them to a cloud server.  This way if anything happens to your computer you will not lose your work.   
 
You can use the above PDF forms as a way to collect your information. You can print them out to fill them in. The printed forms will be helpful to use if you are on your computer using a genealogy website as research or if you are interviewing a relative or traveling to a research location.  Once you are  home and on  the internet you can easily transfer the information into your genealogy software or keep the printed forms  in a 3 ring binder.  
 
Another tool that can very helpful, but is not a necessity is a digital camera. This doesn’t have to be anything special, your smartphone can work just fine. This will come in handy when you go to relatives and they have documents or photos that they aren’t willing to let you.  

One of the most important things to remember is that you need to keep your information organized and in a safe location.  

Here is the checklist for what you need to start your Ancestry Search: 
 
___ Notebook  
___ 3 ring binder 
___ Storage container 
___ PDF Forms 
___ Computer 
___ Printer  
___USB drive 
___Genealogy Software (optional) 
___Cloud storage (optional) 
___ Digital camera (optional) 
 

There are many websites that you can search for information. Many of them have a monthly or an annual subscription fee which can get quite pricey. There are some that are free.  

It depends on how serious you are about seeking out your ancestry and how much you can afford. It is best to start with free sites and information and then move into the paid sites if you have a choice. 
 

In this blog article I will review the top 15  genealogy websites. I will explain what each  site offers for they memberships,  how much it costs and which ones are  free. 

Ancestry.com 

This website is the most well known and possibly the largest membership genealogical research site. This site is continually being added to.  

• They have U.S. and Canadian census records, city directories, newspaper, probate records, yearbook photos, vital records (birth, death, marriage and divorce)  Military collection, immigration records, ship manifests, tax records, a ton of family trees, passport records, draft registration records and more.  
• They have a search field that you can enter a name in to to search their databases. A list showing you  everything comes up that has a connection to the  person’s name. 
• They have a two week free trial with a credit card and will bill you automatically if you don’t cancel before the end of the two weeks.  

• They  have a three types of memberships: U.S. Discovery, World Explorer, and All Access which includes all of Ancestry’s databases, Fold3, and Newpaper.com Basic. You can sign up for a monthly membership starting at 19.99 for U.S, 34.99 for World, and $44.99 for All. The 6 month membership starts at $99. for U.S., $149 for World, and $199 for All Access.   
• You can get a membership for a specific area such as census records for  $16.50 per month for 6 months or $19.99 for a month. 

Archives.com 

• This site has a collection of 1.3 billion digital documents  with 50,000 new records being added daily. They have 4.8 million photos, newspapers and vital records!  

• They have many divorce records from San Diego, CA 1979-1999, passenger records for eastern Canadian ports before 1865; the death records from Eagle Count, Colorado from 1913-2000. They also have Florida divorce records from 1980-2009.  There are War of 1812 veterans from Maine, soldiers that were held prisoner by the Japanese 1941-1945,  Gorgas Hospital Mortuary records 1906 to 1991 and US newspaper obituaries from 2004 to 2009.   
• They offer a 14 day free trial with a credit card. Their monthly membership is $9.99 plus tax.  

• This site have a comprehensive, categorized and cross referenced list of links that point you to a ton of  genealogical research sites online.  
• There are over 900 categories connecting to over 332,000 individual links to a variety of websites that are all to assist you in doing family history research.  This is a nice site to explore.  
• This site is free, but the websites that are linked to may not be free.  

FamilySearch.org 

• This site is  provided by the Church of the Latter-Day Saints out in Salt lake City, Utah. It is a free site and has family histories, family trees and several types of records from all over the world.  
• They have  government records, churches and other public researchers, including SSDI records. 
• They provide  document digital  images of census, birth, marriage and death records. They also have records on Canadian Births starting at 1661, marriage records  for Mexico and France and Civil war pension cards.  
• They have a program call Family Search Pilot. 
• They have an app that you install on you ipad, tablet or phone. 

• Lots of information and it is all free.  

FindMyPast.com 

• This site has lots of features including 8 Billion  digital records and adding new records every week. They have UK census records that go from 1841 1911. There are military records that cover the British World wars One and Two.  Church records dating back to 1538 on births, baptisms, marriages and deaths. There is 24 million migration records.  An unusual listing of civil servants in the UK from 1752 to 1948. 

• There is  complete records for U.S. Census 1790-1940. BMDs records including land, court and valuation records, Newspaper records, both historical, U.S. & World more. 
• There is a place to register and import you family tree in a GEDCOM file. 
• You can build your family tree online and store all of your discoveries safely, including images, records and even voice recordings. 
• They do offer a trial membership period so you can do check to see if you have any ancestry documents there. 
• They have a Starter Subscription that has 2 options: 1 month for $9.95 per month and 12 months for $2.91 per month. These are limited to: US BMD records, US immigration records, US newspaper articles, UK/Ireland census records plus access to family tree records. 

• Their Premium Subscription options are 1 month for $19.95 or 12 Months for $19.96 per month, which includes access to 1939 Register. They also have a Prefer PayAsYouGo option which for 90 days you get 60 credits for $10.95, or 300 credits for $37.95 or 900 credits $82.95. Records cost between 5 and 60 credits to view. Once you purchase a record you can view it unlimited times for the 90 days. 

Find A Grave.com 

• This site is a great resource for finding graves. They have 162 million  of grave records.  

• You can browse by location, date or persons surname. 
• There are many photos with grave information, interesting monuments and epitaphs. 
• You can join and contribute.  
• These are cemeteries from all over the U.S. 
• This site is free 

Fold3.com 

 
This website has access to military records, including stories, photos and personal documents of the  men and women who served.   

• They have an Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial page where you can leave a tribute, a story or a photograph. There is over 58,256 veterans that were killed or missing in the Vietnam War. You can also search for a soldier and see their name and what has been posted for them. 
• There is also a lot of information about WWII veterans, WWI, the War of 1812, Revolutionary War, Civil War, Mexican American and Early Indian Wars 

• There is access to US Historical records,, military records and genealogy records. 
• You can start your own memorial page. 
•  This site is connected to Ancestry.com 
• There are membership options: Premium membership is $79.95 a year, or 7.95 per month. There is a free 7 day trial. There is also a free basic membership with access to limited areas.  

Genealogy.com 

• Genealogy.com is basically a forum site. It originally posted in GenForum. This site is a part of Ancestry.com. 
• They have a very large forum base. You can join their forum for free. 

• They also have a large database of articles. 
• They have a search field where you can type in your surname and any forums or articles with that name will come up. 
•  Their Genealogy topics include: general genealogy, Immigration, Emigration and Migration, Military services, Religions, Wars and miscellaneous.  

• This site has all types of data on the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.  
• Their collection has over 6,690 transcriptions.  
• They some items that you  normally don’t find such as, funeral cards, railroad employees and business cards. They even have rosters from numerous fraternity lodges and civic organizations. They have cemetery records, insurance claims, church records and employment records. 
• They do have a mobile app that you can install on your device. 
• There is a registration process for access  

 
This site has over 7,000 newspaper titles from all 50 states, which include obituaries, birth, marriages, over 1 billion newspaper articles. These newspaper range from 1690 to today. 

• There is  membership options: 30 days trial for $9.95 and after the 30 days join for monthly membership for $19.95 per month or Annual membership for $5.83 per month after trial. You can join without doing the 30 day trial for the same prices.  

 Kindred Konnections 

• Their collection is not as large as Ancestry.com, but they state they have some 123 million names on record, which is quite significant.  
• They have records from all US States, Canada, Asian and European nations.  

• The have census records, obituaries, cemetery records, baptism and parish records, birth, death and marriage records and more.   
• They have a free search engine field that you can check if there is any information on the ancestors that you are researching.  
• If you prefer to keep your family tree off line, you can get free genealogy software – Legacy 9 Family Tree download through their site.  
• They also have other free perks such as Free Genealogy Newsletter, view  newsletter archives, Register Your Search with Notify Me, Genealogy Resource help and search the US Social Security Death Index.   
• You can open a free account and build your family tree online with pictures, create your own family newsletter, upload and display your family tree and more.  

• Their paid subscription  has more options: 10 days for $10, 1 month for $20, 3 months for $45, and 1 year for $120.  They also offer a  31 day full access free trial.  

US GenWeb Project 

• This website is a free site that is filled with a variety of  genealogical projects. 
• There are several links to different topics  that are related to each state. 
•  Under each state you will find are cemeteries, census listings, photos, state archives, names and locations of family history centers, and genealogical and historical societies for that state. 
• When you add a surname or town in that state in the search field you will  see what information  is available. 
• As it states, this website is always free.  

The Olive Tree Genealogy 

• This is a blog site has been around since 1996 and has some great links of resources. They have naturalization records, military records, church records, German, American Indian, Canadian, and American Genealogy records. They also have records on Orphans, land, Quakers, Huguenots, Mennonites, almshouse and census records.  Last but not least they have passenger ship lists with names, dates and ship names arriving to the US ports for nearly two hundred years! Nice site to explore. 
• This site is free, but the websites that are linked to resources are not all free.  

US National Archives 

• The US national Archives is made up of federal government documents that go back to before creation of this country. You can find information on passports, military records, federal court records, federal prisoners, immigration/citizenship, land, and census records.  
• They also have a section  for Chinese, Eastern European, African- American, etc ethnic records.  
• They have a copy of the declaration of independence, the constitution, the Bill of Rights, World War II photos and more  

• They have a catalog guide for genealogist  
• The is a registration  and not all of their records are free to access.  

World Vital Records 

• This website has databases that cover many of the European documents that include, German immigration from 1850- 1897. Russian immigration from 1834-1897, Hungarian and German censuses; 60 million biographies from the Godfrey library , Scotland death records from 1747-1868 and the Newspaper Archives collection with some 800 newspapers across the world dating from 19th century.   
• They have nearly 300 million military records. World vital records offers a massive selection of just US resources from 1790-1940 and more. 
•  They offer a free 7 day trial. 

There are many websites that you can search for information. Many of them have a monthly or an annual subscription fee which can get quite pricey. There are some that are free.  

It depends on how serious you are about seeking out your ancestry and how much you can afford. It is best to start with free sites and information and then move into the paid sites if you have a choice. 
 

In this blog article I will review the top 15  genealogy websites. I will explain what each  site offers for they memberships,  how much it costs and which ones are  free. 

Ancestry.com 

This website is the most well known and possibly the largest membership genealogical research site. This site is continually being added to.  

• They have U.S. and Canadian census records, city directories, newspaper, probate records, yearbook photos, vital records (birth, death, marriage and divorce)  Military collection, immigration records, ship manifests, tax records, a ton of family trees, passport records, draft registration records and more.  
• They have a search field that you can enter a name in to to search their databases. A list showing you  everything comes up that has a connection to the  person’s name. 
• They have a two week free trial with a credit card and will bill you automatically if you don’t cancel before the end of the two weeks.  

• They  have a three types of memberships: U.S. Discovery, World Explorer, and All Access which includes all of Ancestry’s databases, Fold3, and Newpaper.com Basic. You can sign up for a monthly membership starting at 19.99 for U.S, 34.99 for World, and $44.99 for All. The 6 month membership starts at $99. for U.S., $149 for World, and $199 for All Access.   
• You can get a membership for a specific area such as census records for  $16.50 per month for 6 months or $19.99 for a month. 

Archives.com 

• This site has a collection of 1.3 billion digital documents  with 50,000 new records being added daily. They have 4.8 million photos, newspapers and vital records!  

• They have many divorce records from San Diego, CA 1979-1999, passenger records for eastern Canadian ports before 1865; the death records from Eagle Count, Colorado from 1913-2000. They also have Florida divorce records from 1980-2009.  There are War of 1812 veterans from Maine, soldiers that were held prisoner by the Japanese 1941-1945,  Gorgas Hospital Mortuary records 1906 to 1991 and US newspaper obituaries from 2004 to 2009.   
• They offer a 14 day free trial with a credit card. Their monthly membership is $9.99 plus tax.  

• This site have a comprehensive, categorized and cross referenced list of links that point you to a ton of  genealogical research sites online.  
• There are over 900 categories connecting to over 332,000 individual links to a variety of websites that are all to assist you in doing family history research.  This is a nice site to explore.  
• This site is free, but the websites that are linked to may not be free.  

FamilySearch.org 

• This site is  provided by the Church of the Latter-Day Saints out in Salt lake City, Utah. It is a free site and has family histories, family trees and several types of records from all over the world.  
• They have  government records, churches and other public researchers, including SSDI records. 
• They provide  document digital  images of census, birth, marriage and death records. They also have records on Canadian Births starting at 1661, marriage records  for Mexico and France and Civil war pension cards.  
• They have a program call Family Search Pilot. 
• They have an app that you install on you ipad, tablet or phone. 

• Lots of information and it is all free.  

FindMyPast.com 

• This site has lots of features including 8 Billion  digital records and adding new records every week. They have UK census records that go from 1841 1911. There are military records that cover the British World wars One and Two.  Church records dating back to 1538 on births, baptisms, marriages and deaths. There is 24 million migration records.  An unusual listing of civil servants in the UK from 1752 to 1948. 

• There is  complete records for U.S. Census 1790-1940. BMDs records including land, court and valuation records, Newspaper records, both historical, U.S. & World more. 
• There is a place to register and import you family tree in a GEDCOM file. 
• You can build your family tree online and store all of your discoveries safely, including images, records and even voice recordings. 
• They do offer a trial membership period so you can do check to see if you have any ancestry documents there. 
• They have a Starter Subscription that has 2 options: 1 month for $9.95 per month and 12 months for $2.91 per month. These are limited to: US BMD records, US immigration records, US newspaper articles, UK/Ireland census records plus access to family tree records. 

• Their Premium Subscription options are 1 month for $19.95 or 12 Months for $19.96 per month, which includes access to 1939 Register. They also have a Prefer PayAsYouGo option which for 90 days you get 60 credits for $10.95, or 300 credits for $37.95 or 900 credits $82.95. Records cost between 5 and 60 credits to view. Once you purchase a record you can view it unlimited times for the 90 days. 

Find A Grave.com 

• This site is a great resource for finding graves. They have 162 million  of grave records.  

• You can browse by location, date or persons surname. 
• There are many photos with grave information, interesting monuments and epitaphs. 
• You can join and contribute.  
• These are cemeteries from all over the U.S. 
• This site is free 

Fold3.com 

 
This website has access to military records, including stories, photos and personal documents of the  men and women who served.   

• They have an Interactive Vietnam Veterans Memorial page where you can leave a tribute, a story or a photograph. There is over 58,256 veterans that were killed or missing in the Vietnam War. You can also search for a soldier and see their name and what has been posted for them. 
• There is also a lot of information about WWII veterans, WWI, the War of 1812, Revolutionary War, Civil War, Mexican American and Early Indian Wars 

• There is access to US Historical records,, military records and genealogy records. 
• You can start your own memorial page. 
•  This site is connected to Ancestry.com 
• There are membership options: Premium membership is $79.95 a year, or 7.95 per month. There is a free 7 day trial. There is also a free basic membership with access to limited areas.  

Genealogy.com 

• Genealogy.com is basically a forum site. It originally posted in GenForum. This site is a part of Ancestry.com. 
• They have a very large forum base. You can join their forum for free. 

• They also have a large database of articles. 
• They have a search field where you can type in your surname and any forums or articles with that name will come up. 
•  Their Genealogy topics include: general genealogy, Immigration, Emigration and Migration, Military services, Religions, Wars and miscellaneous.  

• This site has all types of data on the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.  
• Their collection has over 6,690 transcriptions.  
• They some items that you  normally don’t find such as, funeral cards, railroad employees and business cards. They even have rosters from numerous fraternity lodges and civic organizations. They have cemetery records, insurance claims, church records and employment records. 
• They do have a mobile app that you can install on your device. 
• There is a registration process for access  

 
This site has over 7,000 newspaper titles from all 50 states, which include obituaries, birth, marriages, over 1 billion newspaper articles. These newspaper range from 1690 to today. 

• There is  membership options: 30 days trial for $9.95 and after the 30 days join for monthly membership for $19.95 per month or Annual membership for $5.83 per month after trial. You can join without doing the 30 day trial for the same prices.  

 Kindred Konnections 

• Their collection is not as large as Ancestry.com, but they state they have some 123 million names on record, which is quite significant.  
• They have records from all US States, Canada, Asian and European nations.  

• The have census records, obituaries, cemetery records, baptism and parish records, birth, death and marriage records and more.   
• They have a free search engine field that you can check if there is any information on the ancestors that you are researching.  
• If you prefer to keep your family tree off line, you can get free genealogy software – Legacy 9 Family Tree download through their site.  
• They also have other free perks such as Free Genealogy Newsletter, view  newsletter archives, Register Your Search with Notify Me, Genealogy Resource help and search the US Social Security Death Index.   
• You can open a free account and build your family tree online with pictures, create your own family newsletter, upload and display your family tree and more.  

• Their paid subscription  has more options: 10 days for $10, 1 month for $20, 3 months for $45, and 1 year for $120.  They also offer a  31 day full access free trial.  

US GenWeb Project 

• This website is a free site that is filled with a variety of  genealogical projects. 
• There are several links to different topics  that are related to each state. 
•  Under each state you will find are cemeteries, census listings, photos, state archives, names and locations of family history centers, and genealogical and historical societies for that state. 
• When you add a surname or town in that state in the search field you will  see what information  is available. 
• As it states, this website is always free.  

The Olive Tree Genealogy 

• This is a blog site has been around since 1996 and has some great links of resources. They have naturalization records, military records, church records, German, American Indian, Canadian, and American Genealogy records. They also have records on Orphans, land, Quakers, Huguenots, Mennonites, almshouse and census records.  Last but not least they have passenger ship lists with names, dates and ship names arriving to the US ports for nearly two hundred years! Nice site to explore. 
• This site is free, but the websites that are linked to resources are not all free.  

US National Archives 

• The US national Archives is made up of federal government documents that go back to before creation of this country. You can find information on passports, military records, federal court records, federal prisoners, immigration/citizenship, land, and census records.  
• They also have a section  for Chinese, Eastern European, African- American, etc ethnic records.  
• They have a copy of the declaration of independence, the constitution, the Bill of Rights, World War II photos and more  

• They have a catalog guide for genealogist  
• The is a registration  and not all of their records are free to access.  

World Vital Records 

• This website has databases that cover many of the European documents that include, German immigration from 1850- 1897. Russian immigration from 1834-1897, Hungarian and German censuses; 60 million biographies from the Godfrey library , Scotland death records from 1747-1868 and the Newspaper Archives collection with some 800 newspapers across the world dating from 19th century.   
• They have nearly 300 million military records. World vital records offers a massive selection of just US resources from 1790-1940 and more. 
•  They offer a free 7 day trial. 

Can clues to our ancestry be hiding in our shoes?  Some believe the outline of our feet might be able help us trace our family heritage. 

What can the shape of your foot or the length of your toes say about your ancestry?  

By looking at the shape of our feet, we can possibly make a guess at what the origins of ancestors might be. This theory says there are essentially five major foot shapes: Egyptian, Roman, Greek, Germanic, and Celtic feet. Each group has a particular outline and arrangement of toe lengths, which hint at the population origin. To learn more check out this article By GenealogyBank  in their November 15, 2018 newsletter. 

Foot Shape Ancestry: What Your Toes Can Tell You

One of the ways to do genealogy research is through interviewing a relative.  There is a lot of information that you can learn from interviewing older members in your family history.   

Your parents, grandparents or even aunts and uncles can be a wealth of knowledge. They may have had the opportunity to meet or even got to know ancestors that you didn’t.  So through their oral recount, you can collect some very good facts.  
 
Story telling has been a tradition in many families and these stories can be very interesting and filled with a lot of information that you might not be able to find elsewhere.   They add  emotion and feelings to your family history. 
 
The difficult part of oral genealogy research is that it can’t always be verified.  Though if the person you are interviewing can give you dates and names you may be able to research this information farther and confirm it.  As we all know sometimes storytelling can become embellished to make it more exciting or important. Here are few  tips on the interviewing process: 

• Contact the person you would like to interview and set up a time to meet with them.  Depending on if you have to travel a great distance, you may want to be sure to set plenty of time with them, so that you don’t have to go back to finish your interview. If you live close by, then you might be able to set up a series of meetings.  

• A day or two before the interview, contact the person to be sure that your meeting is still set. With older people, they sometimes have good and bad days and may not feel up to meeting and you will need to reschedule.  
• Depending on the person you are interviewing, it may be helpful for them to have a copy of the questions you are going to ask them in advance.   This gives them time to think about things. You may also want to ask if they have any photos or memorabilia that they would be willing to show you in relation to the questions you will be asking. 
• Again, depending on the person or your relationship you have with them, you may want to think of something to give them as a token of thanks for letting you interview them. It can be   something as simple as a box of chocolates or a gift card to a local store or restaurant. This will let them know how much you appreciate them and their time. 
• You will need to decide how you will record the information from this interview. Do you plan to videotape it, audio record it or simple take notes?  If you plan to video or audio record you will want to check with the person ahead of time to see if they are ok with this method. Some people are very intimidated about having themselves videotaped or audio recorded.  Audio recording is somewhat less intimidating.  Either of these two forms of media make a great addition to your family history. The advantage of video or audio is that you capture the person and their voice.  Video or audio recording saves you from worrying about missing information as the person is talking, if you are taking notes.  
• Putting together a list of questions to ask helps keep the conversation more in line with the information that you are interested in. Put down as many questions are you can think of. You may not be able to get all of them answered, but having too many questions is better than if you run out and get home to realize that there was other information you should have asked.  The list of questions is also helpful when the interviewee begins to stray off the subject.  

If that happens you can politely bring them back on course with asking the same or another related question.  

• If you are videotaping it will be important to set up your camera on a tripod. You will need to make sure that you are close enough to the interviewee to get clear audio and have good lighting.  It is best is there are as few distractions as possible, such as the TV or a radio playing.  
• To start an interview, make sure that the person you are interviewing is comfortable and relaxed.  Start with some light conversation and thanking them for taking the time to meet with you. Keep in mind that older people can tire easily, so you may need to take short breaks.  Be sure that they have something to drink, especially if they have been talking for some time. 
• Depending on the time that you have set for your interview and the length of the answers given will of course depend on how many of your questions you will get answered. So be sure to put your most important questions start.  If the conversation leads to questions that you don’t have on your list, do ask them if they are important.  
• You may want to ask If they have any photos or documentation, etc. This will help verify what they are saying and save you from having to try to find verification elsewhere. Don’t ask to borrow any photos or documents, but instead ask if you can take a photograph with your camera or phone.  Older people can be very attached to these types of things and don’t want them out of their possession. Things like war metals, letters, certificates, documents, photos, etc., can help verify the oral information that they are sharing.  

• Once you are coming to the end of your interview time, you will want to double check your list of questions. You can also ask your interviewee if there is anything else that they can think of that may be important to add to your family history.  Thank them and present them with the token gift you have for them if you haven’t already given it to them.   
• Be sure that they have your contact information, if they think of anything else that they can connect you.  

Everyone is different and every interview is unique.  Collecting family history through oral interviewing can be very interesting. Learning about someone’s life on a personal level is an honor.   Some of the things mentioned are pretty obvious, but you would be surprise how things can get over looked.  Please contact me if you have any questions.  
 
Wishing you all the besting in your seeking. 

There are so many choices these days when it comes to creating and organizing your genealogy information. There are websites that offer an online genealogy  services for storing your family tree, for usually a fee. There are a several  free open source software programs out there like Gramps, ScionPC and MyHeritage Family Tree builder,  if you don’t need a lot of features and or are on a tight budget.  Then there is genealogy  software that you  purchase and install on your computer. These come in either a download format or a cd version that is shipped to you.   Of course there still is the old fashion way, which was used before the time of the home computer or laptop, pen and paper.  
 
Well in this article we are going to compare some of the features  of  3 popular genealogy software programs  that you can purchase and install on your computer. These can be downloaded or shipped.  
 

Legacy Family Tree 9 – $34.95-$99.95 
Legacy Family Tree is a powerful genealogy program that creates over 25 charts and 20 reports to help you visualize your family line and share your research with others.  It has many tools researching, charting and organizing your family tree. It has an in-app browser that allows you to research your family online directly from the software, and when you find new information, the program can import it directly to your family tree.  Legacy can export and import GEDCOM files offline quickly, which is useful when you work other genealogists.  The program also connects to the web via popular sites like  Ancestry.com, FamilySearch.com, My Heritage.com and Findagrave.com.  
 

In addition to the classic paper charts, Legacy lets you create a full webpage to display your family history. This is a good feature if you are considering starting a genealogy blog or want to share your work with your family.  The index and research tabs come in handy when your family tree starts to get large. The index allows you to access individuals and their information.  It also has an enhance multimedia feature. Errors are flagged with red warning symbols so that you can clearly spot any mistakes that may have been entered. There is  web hints feature in this latest version.  

This software is available on CD or as a download. There are also several bundle options. And if you already have an older version you can upgrade for less.  This is compatible with Windows 

Legacy is easy to use and they have FAQs section to help answer any of your questions. 
 
Pros: Easy to use, has over 25 charts and 20 reports, has a useful web hints feature to help guide your research.  and can create research forms.  
Cons: This program doesn’t give the options to display same sex marriages. However, a planned to rectify this.  

Family Tree Maker  Deluxe  2014– $69.95 

Family Tree Maker is a very popular and well known software program.  has a clean and easy to use interface with enough features to help you find and store thousands of family members in one place.  The program guides you through importing and exporting GEDCOM files and creating  charts of your family history.  

Family Tree Maker connects to Ancestry.com’s extensive database and community and to MyHeritage.com. One of its optional  star features. Tree Sync, synchronizes the trees you create in the software with your Ancestry.com account. When you make changes in the software, the changes carry over to your online profile.  This is especially useful if you’re a member of the Ancestry.com’s active community. Family Tree Maker is not compatible with FamilySearch, so you can’t search that site directly from within the software. 

You can import GEDCOM files into the program. This is the most common file format that software  and online family tree databases use for sharing information between program..   

Family Tree Maker give you access to a physical map of your ancestors migrations and origins.  You can view your map in 2D 3D, aerial or road view.  

This program alerts you if you enter any information that may be wrong. For example, we if a child’s birthdate is very close to its mother’s or if the mother age is under 13 years old at the time.   

You can add same sex marriages in the program.  It is tricky though to connect same sex couples, since the program adds a spouse of the opposite sex by default.  You have to add individuals separately and then connect them as spouses.  

Family Tree Maker has 10 types of printable charts and 27 reports. You can these publications to create full books about your ancestry.  Family Tree Maker has an extensive sourcing, reporting and research features accessible through clearly marked tabs. This software comes in  both Mac and PC operating systems.  

Pros: The multiple web – enabled features keep you connect to popular genealogy search sites like Ancestry and My Heritage. Does have the ability to enter same sex marriages.  

Cons: It does not support in- program searches of FamilySearch.com. Only  has 10 charts. The developer Ancestry has discontinue further updates for this program as of end of 2016.   

Family Tree Heritage 9 – $39.99 – 59.99 
Family Tree connects to the top genealogy sites such as FamilySearch, Ancestry and Rootweb.  And you can easily add any genealogy site to this program.   
Family Tree has a web hints feature. Adjusting errors in your tree in bulk is one the advantages of this package. Another benefit of this program is the merging of two trees. This is easily done with Family Tree Heritage 9.   
A ditto tool is provided that will enable you to attach numerous people to the same source. So this can save you a lot of time when you are citing your records. 

There is also no in-app browser, so a separate window is needed when search online. This can lead to confusion when you switch between the two programs.   

Pros: Great for printing out records, can add any genealogy websites to this program. 
Cons: no in app browser. Same sex marriages is not supported. You are not able to sync your tree to the web in order to enter any found information.  Comes in Windows or Mac platforms. 
 

There are several other genealogy software programs available. Out of the three that I reviewed, I feel for the money, Legacy Family Tree 9 gives the biggest bang for the buck at $39.95.  Family Tree Maker 2014 is no longer being updated as of 2016. Legacy has pretty close to the same features as Family Tree Maker. It connects to Ancestry.com. FamilySearch.org and MyHeritage.com, prints books and wall charts.  Family Tree Heritage definitely has less features than Legacy and is priced pretty much at the same price.       

Depending on what is important for you to have in your genealogy software, I would suggest that you go directly to each of their websites and any other software programs that you may be interested in and check out their full list of features that they offer and then decide.  

Hope this info was helpful. Happy Seeking!