Many online genealogy sites take advantage of Americans’ typically high interest-level in researching their family history: put simply, the average genealogy website asks you to pay! The sites listed here, however, provide free access to their information.
Ancestor Hunt
This is Ancestor Hunt's page for locating obituaries. Browse for your (or your ancestor’s) home state to see where you can locate printed obituaries. Once you have found where a particular obit was printed, you may be able to visit a local library or request it through interlibrary loan here at Augustana.
Ellis Island Foundation - Passenger Search
Search here for ancestors who arrived in the United States via Ellis Island. To get beyond your initial search results, you will have to register—this is free. When you view documents—ship manifests, for example—the website will encourage you to buy them, but you don’t have to! Almost everything is viewable online: look for links that offer to enlarge the images for you.
Family Search (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints)
One of the best sources of genealogical information in the United States is the Mormon Church, which sponsors this site. Search by your family member’s/ancestor’s name to find free birth, death, marriage, and census records. In the list of results that come up, click on the name to get a complete record. Then, click “Pedigree” to get a family tree, or click “Family” to get information on the person’s parents and siblings.
Land Patent Search (Bureau of Land Management – General Land Office Records)
Records of the sale of U.S. government-owned land. First, you will have to enter your zip code. Then, enter the state and the name of the person you know of who (may have) bought land from the United States government; or, go to the “Standard” search tab and choose “All States” if you are not sure of the location. When the results come up, click on the name of the person you are searching: this will lead you to basic information about the sale. From here, click on the “Document Image” tab, and then click on a file type (pdf is a good choice). This will give you an on-screen image of the original document!
Nationwide Gravesite Locator (United States Department of Veterans Affairs)
For finding the gravesites of people buried in a national cemetary. You can search by cemetary, name and/or dates. The results will show the person’s full name and dates, the location of the grave, and military rank.
USGenWeb Project
Gateway site to state and local genealogy-related websites and organizations. Click on your state on the left-hand side of the page. From there, you can narrow down to your city or county. You may not find online information by using this site, but you will discover where to conduct research in or near your hometown. You might even find out how to contact a local genealogy organization to ask for their help.
OTHER SUGGESTIONS:
Realize that much genealogical information is simply not available online. Therefore, you should keep the following in mind:
- You may want to visit a local courthouse or genealogical society. USGenWeb, one of the websites listed above, will help you find the best sources of information in or near your or your ancestor’s hometown
- Your local public library is also a good place to visit. Many public libraries are accustomed to helping patrons do genealogical research. You may want to call your library ahead of time to double-check that they can help you
- If you find a citation to an obituary, especially in a small local paper, we probably won’t have access to that paper here at Augustana. Your local public library may have access to back issues of local newspapers; you can also try ordering the article through interlibrary loan in the Augustana library
- Finally, remember to use your family members as resources. Many of the more personal biographical details you are looking for—things like hobbies, the importance of religion in a person’s life, etc.—might only be discoverable by talking to people who can share your family’s stories
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Finding Government Documents
Government Information on the Web
This is a guide to finding United States government information on the web; it doesn’t give you the information directly but, rather, points you to various government websites that offer documents in full-text for free. This guide may be helpful as you search for additional information for this class, aside from what you need for the problem-solving papers and genealogy assignment. I particularly recommend the Government Printing Office’s website, GPO Access.
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Last updated November 11, 2009
Compiled by Stefanie Bluemle, Reference Librarian
