100 Best Free Online Genealogy Websites

Do you like to search for genealogy records for your ancestors for Free? Duh. I have about 100 websites that I use, some frequently, some infrequent. Some have digitized records in their collections. Some have links to collections that can be searched or browsed. Some include transcribed records. And some have useful genealogical educational information. […]

64 Genealogy Items to Collect from Your Home

Are you just starting your genealogy research? Are you going to write your autobiography or a bunch of family stories? Maybe you are going to write a biography of your grandmother? In any case, you are surrounded by genealogy-related items in your home (or in your grandmother’s home)! Here’s a list of the kinds of […]

United States Genealogical and Historical Societies

Some great places to start researching genealogy records are in genealogical and historical societies. There are many national ones that span multiple states, and each state has them. Each society has collections and records available that will aid in your research. Some are accessible for non-members and even more are accessible for those who have […]

16 Places Where You Can Find Genealogy and Family History Books

One resource that should be used more by family history researchers is genealogy books. There are hundreds of thousands of local history, family history, and genealogy books that have been published. A large percentage have been digitized, and even more, are on library shelves and can be borrowed –  either from a local library, a […]

Easy Cousin Relationship Chart

Determining a “Cousin” Relationship between two people is quite easy if you have a proper chart. Many of the charts can be confusing. To obtain a one-page Quicksheet pdf of an Easy Cousin Relationship Chart, download it by clicking on the Download button: For all the previously published Quick Reference Guides, click on QuickSheets. 

Where to Find Online City Directories

City and business directories are available online from all over the U.S. and Canada and are what I consider another important (and underutilized) set of information that can assist you in advancing your family history and genealogy research. Where can you find online city directories? Download the Quicksheet PDF I have put together a Quick […]

24 Reasons to Research Institutional Records and Where to Find Them

Institutional records are another class of collections that should be part of one’s genealogy research repertoire. Although most of your ancestors may not have spent time in an institution, I’ll bet that almost every family tree has several that have. So they are worth your effort to research. This Quicksheet discusses the many types of […]

25 Lodges, Clubs, or Secret Societies Your Ancestor May Have Been a Member Of

One of the more interesting parts of our ancestors’ lives that we often discover only via their obituary, is their membership or attachment to a fraternal, ethnic, religious, or service organization or society. Here is a list of 25 of the more common ones in the United States. The link (in blue) will take you to […]

17 Things You Can Find in Criminal Records

Another type of genealogy record that provides tremendous value is criminal records. Some of our ancestors, unfortunately, got in trouble with the law. And records were kept from arrests through court cases to prison documents. Now, more and more of these records are being digitized or transcribed and are being made available online. Here is […]

22 Types of Populated Places in the United States

When looking for our ancestors in the United States we typically look for a “city” name, a “county” name, and the state. Did you know that not every state uses the term “county” to describe that administrative/political subdivision? And did you know that in some states there are independent cities that are not a part […]