The Genealogist

Free Databases to Help You Create Your Family Tree Website

When you make the decision to trace your family roots, you may not initially understand the vast amount of research that has to be done on order to expand your familial history beyond that of your great-great grandparents.

With a family tree website, you have tools available to you that make the process run smoothly – and at a much faster pace than if you were keeping records offline for you and your heirs.

Many family tree website services offer built-in research tools for their members. But with genealogy, you always want to use multiple tools because you never know when one might pick up on a small detail the others didn’t produce.

Heritage Quest, located at http://www.heritagequestonline.com/, is one tool you can use for free with a library card as your access to the database. You can search Census records, databases about the Revolutionary War and Freedman’s Bank, and gain access to information published in book on people and places described throughout history.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission at www.cwgc.org makes it easy for you to access information on over 1.7 million men and women who were casualties during the two world wars.

At www.interment.net, you can search databases of cemeteries from all over the world. You can also submit your own transcription of information. This is a good idea because someone else in your family that you don’t yet have added to your own family tree could be searching these records and your information could lead them back to you.

The links go on for miles at www.worldgenweb.org because you can search all over the world, for different types of information. The site is run by volunteers, so it’s helpful if you contribute to the site as well as take from it so that others can benefit from the research you’ve already done and vice versa.

Once you visit the various free genealogical resources the ‘net has to offer, go back to your family tree website home and populate it with the new information you’ve discovered.

Always be sure to check back and see what new data has been added to both free and fee-based tools that you use because you never know when the missing piece of a puzzle with fall in place one day and your family tree will be complete.

Five Starter Ingredients You Need to Launch a Family Tree Online

When you finally make plans to get an account on a family tree website, you’ll need to have five basic elements in place to help you branch out in the right direction. As your genealogy efforts take root, your family tree will grow at a more rapid rate when others contribute their knowledge.

The first thing you want to include when building a page on a family tree website is some basic information about your family name. You can tell where you are now, what information you know to be true, and what stories are just speculation.

Second, you want to include pictures for your family tree website. They can be of you and your immediate family, close relatives, deceased family members, and ancestors you believe were a part of your family but aren’t yet sure about.

The third thing you want to include on your family tree website is a little bit of information about each family member. It’s okay to start with just a name, but distant relatives will want to learn more – like what career path they chose, how many children they had, or major accomplishments they gained in life.

This kind of detailed information helps make your family tree website more than just a static page of dates and names. It makes it an interesting gathering place for people who could possibly be your kinfolk.

Fourth on your list of must-have ingredients for a family tree website is information you’re still seeking. What gaps are left in your research that you’re hoping someone else can fulfill?

Do you need contact information or to flesh out the dates and times events took place in your family’s history? Broadcasting it on a family tree website can help others know what they need to do to pitch in.

Last on your getting started list for the family tree website should be to include a directory of family members. Gather the names, ages, and phone numbers of relatives that don’t mind having their information within the account and assure them that you’re guarding their information from the general public if you’re managing the site yourself.

Consider the building of your family tree website a potluck reunion of treasured relatives you haven’t seen in years (or ever)! Allow everyone to contribute to the mix and you’ll soon find your genealogical research overflowing with valuable information that you can share with your own heirs one day.

Genealogy Videos and Free Genealogy Search

A site well worth checking out is The Genealogy Videos which is packed with informative, interesting and useful videos for you to enjoy.

You will also want to check out the dedicated Free Genealogy Search Engine.