How to Start Researching your Extended Family History Online

Many websites can help you research your family history. Family history is like making a paper chain; you find one tidbit of information and add it to all the other tidbits. Soon you too will have your own family history to share. It is always a work in progress this is one project that never ends and is best shared with family and friends.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Documents for writing down family history
• Your immediate family tree to get started.

1. 
    

   There is nothing more exciting then finding out one of your relatives was married to the first governor of Massachusetts, or finding out the governor's first wife jumped from the Mayflower to her death when finding the world was raw uncivilized land. The following websites can help you start your extended family history research.

2. 
    

   It would be important to find a family history program to store your information and share with other people of interest. I use My Family Heritage Tree Builder. It starts out as a free program and once you reach 400 people you can buy a basic membership to add more. It automatically does smart matches for you, connecting your work with others in your family history!

3. 
    

   Rootsweb is a website supported by Ancestry.com. It is the oldest and most user-friendly free sites on the web. It will help you trace your family tree, give you links to databases that has information to records such as social security death index, forms and charts to help you organize your work. You can print or download the pages for storage in a file or keep on your computer.

4. 
    

   Th Ancestry-rootsweb disease website links you to a glossary of terms some which are no longer used on death certificates.

5. 
    

   The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a huge database of free information. It is a great one-stop place for getting a lot of your research accomplished. This site includes Personal Ancestral File software, can be downloaded to organize and record your family information. It also offers ideas for researching, as well as a search place for a Family History Center nearest your location.

6. 
    

   Abouts.com: Genealogy on Tracing Your Family History is a great website that explains how to get a background check of your family medical history and the benefits of putting a history of your families medical issues together for generations to come.

Tips & Warnings

• Check your source with 2-3 different reference such as birth certificate, death certificate, gravestone rubbing, cemetary records, or other government sources.
• Not everything you find will be a legitimate source.

Resources

• Rootsweb Ancestory Site
• Glossary of Ancestory Disease Terms
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Comportone
• About.com: Tracking Your Family Medical History
• USGenWeb Project
• Mid-Continent Public Library Gen Forms
• Family Tree Magazine Free Forms
• Database for Your Family Tree
• Free Genealogy Charts

[admiller]

on 5/4/2009 Thank you for the awesome resources.

[JeanneGrunert]

on 3/15/2009 Thanks for the insights and places to try - sounds great!

[Thims]

on 2/16/2009 Wow! Nice resource list! I going to have to check out Rootsweb.

[Biscuit4u]

on 2/1/2009 Now that sounds like a fun idea. Thanks.

[harrietcat]

on 1/27/2009 Thanks! My Aunt has been really into this and I also enjoy jumping off the work she's done to see for myself. 5*