| As the Webmaster of a genealogy website, I'm | | | | records, including military rosters, regional |
| often asked if it's possible to find family tree data | | | | resources, links to biographies and surname |
| that doesn't come with a price tag. My answer is | | | | registries, and obituaries. In addition, you can |
| yes! My favorite no-fee sites are: | | | | request a no-charge lookup from the many |
| 1. FamilySearch.org This popular site now has over | | | | volunteers associated with this site; the volunteers |
| 1 BILLION names in its online database. Search by | | | | will look up your surnames in both genealogy CDs |
| surname (last name), spouse's name, parents' | | | | and genealogy books. |
| name or place. Includes no-fee access to the | | | | 7. Search and view millions of names that have |
| 1880 United States census, 1881 British Isles and | | | | been uploaded by other family tree researchers-all |
| Canada censuses, as well as the Social Security | | | | without a charge. New policies have instituted a |
| Death Index. | | | | small fee for use of the "smart matching" |
| 2. Perhaps the best place for beginning American | | | | technology, but all searches and viewing of data |
| research. With a Website for every single county | | | | remain without a cost. |
| in the United States, this site provides no-charge | | | | 8. Interment.net No cost search of close to 4 |
| access to items like county histories, biographies, | | | | million names in more than 8,000 cemeteries |
| court records, census transcripts, and historic | | | | world-wide. If you are hitting a brick wall in your |
| photos. Each county site is managed by a | | | | research, be sure to search for the surname on |
| volunteer, so the amount of information varies | | | | this site as you may find a burial notice in a state |
| dependent on the volunteer's efforts. | | | | or area that you have not yet researched. Special |
| 3. EllisIsland.org Want to find your immigrant | | | | collections include some National Cemeteries and |
| ancestor? Head to this Website. No charge access | | | | flooded cemeteries. |
| to database containing 25 million ships' passenger | | | | 9. Sometimes the quickest way to climb your |
| records covering entry through the Port of New | | | | family tree is to connect with other people who |
| York and Ellis Island from 1892-1924. This site | | | | are researching the same names. This Website |
| was first launched on April 17, 2001, and has | | | | has more than 83,000 genealogy queries posted; |
| received over 6 billion hits. | | | | these are posts by people who are searching for |
| 4. Search more than 385 million names in | | | | a specific surname. It's possible you'll find an |
| researcher-donated files. Download ancestor and | | | | Internet cousin or two on this site. Sharing |
| descendant results, view individual records and | | | | research is an excellent technique for getting |
| sources, and contact people who are researching | | | | faster results. |
| the same surname. Although Rootsweb is now | | | | 10. One of the oldest genealogy sites on the |
| owned by Ancestry, this database has no-fee | | | | Internet, and filled with no-fee searchable |
| access. | | | | databases. This site is huge (more than 1,7000 |
| 5. More than 2 million links to genealogy resources. | | | | pages and almost 1,500 databases!) so take some |
| Includes links to both surname Websites, and | | | | time going through the site so you don't miss out |
| regional resources by state. Includes links to | | | | on any family information. Includes ships |
| mailing lists, clubs, message boards, personal | | | | passenger lists, church records, military records, |
| surname pages, and cemeteries. | | | | city directories, and links to Native American |
| 6. This fascinating site is loaded with genealogy | | | | genealogy sites. |