How to Find a Family Tree for Free

A family tree lists a family's ancestory.

A family tree charts the genealogy of your family. It lists your parents, brothers and sisters, their parents and siblings, and so on, until you have an easy to follow list of your ancestors. Of course, a family tree is only as accurate as the information you have available to add to it. Finding your ancestors requires only a little common knowledge about your family history to set you in the right direction for charting your past.

Instructions

1. Check family records. Starting here allows you to find all the information that may be hiding right under your nose. Family records include birth and death certificates, obituaries, newspaper clippings, scrapbooks, old photographs and the family Bible.

2. Look for immigration records if your ancestors immigrated from another country. Federal census schedules are a good starting place. Beginning in 1920, look back every 10 years to track your family names.

3. Sign up for an online genealogy website such as Tribal Pages, Genealogy.com or Ancestry.com. These sites allow you to plug in what information you have, and then search national databases for additional information. They also are free.

Tips & Warnings

• There is a plethora of free software available to make charting your family tree a breeze.

References

• Ancestry: Kip's Tips
• Ancestor Search: Getting Started in Genealogy

Resources

• Trbal Pages
• Geneology
• My Heritage Downloads