Genealogy Resources For Family Researchers

If you are interested in researching your family's ancestry, resources are always helpful. Whether you are searching for information on that elusive family ancestor, looking for family ties or just need some tools to assist you in your search, any help is welcomed. Here, I have attempted to assemble a small collection resources to help in your quest.

The following collection of the downloadable files are in the Adobe PDF (Portable Document File) format.

You will need to have the Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 3.0 or better) installed on your computer before you can view or print these forms.

If you do not have this program installed on your computer, you can obtain a free copy of the Adobe Acrobat Reader from the by clicking on the icon below. From there, follow the online prompts and you can download a copy of this program directly from their website.

(Note: you should have an active connection to the Internet when downloading and installing the software. Download times and installation will vary depending on your computer and connection to the Internet.)

The following basic collection of blank forms was created by Family Tree Magazine (http://www.familytreemagazine.com) and made available as free, downloadable files. Each can be used to document essential information one would need for a complete, thorough and comprehensive research.

Below is a more detailed and comprehensive collection of blank census forms offered through Ancestry ("dot" com) (http://www.ancestry.com).

NOTES:

(1) The 1800 and 1810 Federal Census used the same form.

(2) Most of the 1890 Federal Census was destroyed by fire. Only partial records of the original census remain. However, efforts have been made to restore lost census data as "replacement" information. To date, the following is what remains of the original 1890 Census:

Alabama—Perry County
District of Columbia—Q, S, 13th, 14th, RQ, Corcoran, 15th, SE, and Roggs streets, and Johnson Avenue
Georgia—Muscogee County (Columbus)
Illinois—McDonough County: Mound Township
Minnesota—Wright County: Rockford
New Jersey—Hudson County: Jersey City
New York—Westchester County: Eastchester; Suffolk County: Brookhaven Township
North Carolina—Gaston County: South Point Township, Ricer Bend Township; Cleveland County: Township No. 2
Ohio—Hamilton County (Cincinnati); Clinton County: Wayne Township
South Dakota—Union County: Jefferson Township
Texas—Ellis County: S.P. no. 6, Mountain Peak, Ovila Precinct; Hood County: Precinct no. 5; Rusk County: Precinct no. 6 and J.P. no. 7; Trinity County: Trinity Town and Precinct no. 2; Kaufman County: Kaufman.

(Source: Ancestry.Com)

The list below offers a few genealogy resources that can be found online. This is not a complete list, but is a good start.

Brother's Keeper (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Brothers_Keeper/) Shareware. Free to download and try from official website. $45.00 for fully registered version. This is a good, basic program with many features. It is well worth checking out.

Personal Ancestral File (http://www.familysearch.org) Freeware. Offered through The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints (The Mormons). Select "Order/Download Products" and then choose "Software Downloads - Free". This program offers many features and is well suited for the genealogical information contained in the site's online database. PAF is easy to use.

Family Tree Maker (http://www.genealogy.com/soft_ftm.html) Retail. This popular genealogy program is offered through this site ($29.99 for the program only) or locally available where computer software is sold. In the latter case, FTM is also offered as part of comprehensive set (with additional data CDs containing hundreds of genealogical files). Prices vary according to packaging. Additionally, FTM integrates with the Genealogy.Com website for comprehensive searches. It is easy to use and offers features to help you organize and publish your family ancestry. Please note that this program will occasionally urge you to upload and share your family information on the Genealogy.Com website.

Genealogy Research (http://www.learnyourgenealogy.com/) - Features genealogy articles that will help you research your family genealogy. This site is loaded with great information to help you get the most out of your research and sports dozens upon dozens of valuable links!

Rootsweb (http://www.rootsweb.com/) - Sponsored by Ancestry.Com, Rootsweb is a free genealogy site that offers online search for family ancestors, useful information as well as a number of links to other resources. The "World Connect" option will link you to their free database search. Searches are displayed in a table format so you can compare and choose results that match your search.

GenCircles (http://www.gencircles.com/) - is an independent, free genealogy site that has become quite popular. Becoming a registered user is free and searching the site's database is also free. GenCircles features "Smart Matching" that lists other genealogical data files that closely match your search.

Family Search (http://www.familysearch.org) - is the official genealogy site of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints (The Mormons). This site offers genealogical data files that are free to search. The available files are those collected by the Church as well as those submitted by family researchers. Information submitted about individuals are indexed using the Ancestral File Number (AFN) system the Church uses to catalog entries. Please note that the Church does not check and cross-reference information submitted about an individual and, therefore, an individual may have multiple Ancestral File Numbers.

Genealogy.Com (http://www.genealogy.com) - Sponsored by MyFamily.Com, Inc., Genealogy.Com is a subscription site. (See site for current subscription levels and rates.) This site offers a wealth of information online as well as software data bundles on CD that can be purchased. This site uses interactive windows to graphically display selected family data files and allows searching with the file.

Ancestry.Com (http://www.ancestry.com) - is also sponsored by MyFamily.Com, Inc. Ancestry.Com is also a subscription site. (See site for current subscription levels and rates.) Like Genealogy.Com, a wealth of information is found here. You can make a cursory search for free, but you must register (free or subscribe) before seeing any details of your search.

Cyndi's List (http://www.cyndislist.com/) - If you cannot find what you are looking for and find that your are fresh out of ideas of where to look next, this site is the "mother' of all genealogy resource sites. With nearly a quarter of a million indexed and cross-referenced links, this site has everything the family genealogist needs! If you can't find what you are looking for on this site, it is probably not available anywhere!

US GenWeb (http://www.usgenweb.org/) - is a volunteer organization that provides online genealogical resources, by state, for researchers. The home page offers a lot of valuable information as well as links to GenWeb home pages of each state.