Links for genealogy research

Links for Genealogy Research

Check your public library for free use of Ancestry.com and other premium sites.

NOTE: almost all of these sites are free, $$ denotes membership necessary.

Two of the Most Popular -and indispensable-Websites:

Familysearch.org   the Mormon church holds the largest genealogical data base in the world - it is estimated to be completely digitized within the next year. Use of their website, data bases and centers is free to everyone. If records cannot be viewed online you will be directed to visit one of their Family History Centers.
To find one in your area follow this link: www.familysearch.org/locations/

Ancestry.com Membership required; before paying an extra fee for their European membership, look at the FamilySearch.org catalog where you might find the same records free. $$ ancestry.com

General and International Research Tools (Italian sites below)

US National Archives
Tools, records, charts, detailed historical accounts of some US records - learn how to use US records effectively
www.archives.gov/

This link points to the pages that describe and explain US government records
www.archives.gov/research/genealogy/index.html

Steven Morse’s One Step Pages  This site contains tools for finding immigration records, census records, vital records, and for dealing with calendars, maps, foreign alphabets, and numerous other applications. Versatile
stevemorse.org/

Jewish Genealogy - JewishGen is a comprehensive site with classes, links, data bases and insights into doing your Jewish family research
www.jewishgen.org

Eric Feinstein - Jewish Genealogist - An exceptional, experienced professional.
www.genealogybyeric.com/

Britain, Wales and Ireland - FindMyPast - announced as the best British and Irish record collection available online $$
www.findmypast.com/

UK General Registry Office - Order Documents Online
www.gov.uk/order-copy-birth-death-marriage-certificate#other-ways-to-apply

German Genealogy Internet Portal
www.genealogienetz.de/index_en.html

What Do All of the Census Abbreviations Mean?
www.thoughtco.com/what-do-census-abbreviations-mean-1422760

What Do Those Annotations on Passenger Lists Mean?
www.thoughtco.com/us-passenger-list-annotations-and-markings-1422263

A New Look at Passenger Manifests
stephendanko.com/blog/268

Ellis Island
www.libertyellisfoundation.org/

Researching the History of a House

A Guide to Researching the History of a House
www.homeadvisor.com/r/a-guide-to-researching-the-history-of-a-house/

Genealogy Studies

Family Search - free at familysearch.org  website, maintained by the Mormon Church, provides excellent free learning opportunities and links to outside sources in their wiki
www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Main_Page

Family Search - free videos at familysearch.org Large library of video lessons - genealogical studies of all varieties
www.familysearch.org/ask/landing?search=Getting%20Started&show=lessons&message=true

Brigham Young University - free
Visit Youtube and search for BYU genealogical videos to see their many offerings

1. BYU's library of genealogy webinars on Youtube - free
  www.youtube.com/results?search_query=byu+genealogy

2. BYU offers a free online webinar every Thursday at 5:00 Eastern time, see their schedule here:
sites.lib.byu.edu/familyhistory/wp-content/uploads/sites/31/2019/01/winter-2019.2.pdf

American Ancestors - New England Historical Genealogical Society - free
Excellent  webinars on youtube
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=american+ancestors

Some of the below offer free webinars but consider paying for those that are especially insightful

Legacy Family Tree provides enormous amounts of educational materials both free and by subscription (free and $$)
familytreewebinars.com/

National Institute for Genealogical Studies $$
www.genealogicalstudies.com/

Ancestry Academy has a large library of videos covering all facets of research as well as topics
by record type and locale. Paid membership may be necessary.
ancestry.com/academy

Italian Genealogy

ITALIAN RECORDS-free

Antenati website- Italian
www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/?lang=en

Familysearch catalog - use place name
www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/search/

General Italian Research

Italian Genealogy - links, forums, articles. Excellent source for beginners as well as experienced individuals.
www.italiangenealogy.com/

Italian White Pages, in Italian. Has several uses: find correct spellings of surnames, locate individuals, determine surname variants
www.paginebianche.it/

Surname Mapping in Italy   Find your surname and its incidence by provinces and towns; switch to the US map
www.gens.info/italia/it/turismo-viaggi-e-tradizioni-italia#.XEyvG1VKiiM

Surname Mapping worldwide Surname mapping, demographics and name variants
forebears.io

Family Search - under the SEARCH tab, click on CATALOG and search by location. Digital images online or go to your local FHC
familysearch.org     This link should bring you directly to the catalog

antenati.san.beniculturali - Italian based site in both Italian and English. A bit slow. Digital images of Italian records by location. (search FamilySearch.org before using this site)
www.antenati.san.beniculturali.it/

Old Maps of Italy
www.oldmapsonline.org/en/Italy

Libraries - Digital

Look for books, manuscripts and journals held around the world. Read online, download or borrow. Inquire about  Interlibrary loans at your public library.

Google Books
books.google.com/

HathiTrust
www.hathitrust.org/

Internet Archive
archive.org/

Open Library
openlibrary.org/

Maps and Mapping

Library of Congress, Sanborn maps "The Sanborn map collection consists of a uniform series of large-scale maps, dating from 1867 to the present and depicting the commercial, industrial, and residential sections of some twelve thousand cities and towns in the United States, Canada, and Mexico."
www.loc.gov/collections/sanborn-maps

The Newberry Library Dr. William M. Scholl Center for American History and Culture: interactive maps showing how county boundaries changed over time for each state from its inception.
publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/

NY Map Warper: see old maps and produce current-day overlays of some
maps.nypl.org/warper/

Census Interactive Maps - visualizations of census data over the years with "Census Data Mapper", population maps, employment maps, "Rural America - a story map", track health insurance, poverty, employment, etc.
www.census.gov/geography/interactive-maps.html

Surname Mapping worldwide Surname mapping, demographics and name variants
forebears.io

Barry Lawrence Ruderman, Antique Maps, Inc. "We are dealers in fine and rare original antique maps and atlases dating from the 15th to 20th centuries."
https://www.raremaps.com/

Newspapers Online

The Ancestor Hunt - Links to newspapers by state and Special US Collections; Canadian papers plus Australian, European and Historical Caribbean. Lots to see on this site!
http://www.theancestorhunt.com/

Bowling Green University - EUROPEAN newspaper archives- A guide to free Internet sources of historical newspapers
libguides.bgsu.edu/c.php?g=227439&p=1507130

Library of Congress, Chronicling America - free
chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/

Newspapers.com - membership but worth the cost $$ "11,800+ newspapers from the 1700s–2000s"
www.newspapers.com/

US Government Sites

Library of Congress
Largest library in the world. " Contains 17 million catalog records for books, serials, manuscripts, maps, music, recordings, images, and electronic resources in the Library of Congress collections."
www.loc.gov/

The US National Archives
Explore genealogy resources related to specific topics:

www.archives.gov/

US National Archives - Prologue Magazine online "Prologue magazine brings readers stories based on the rich holdings and programs of the National Archives across the nation—from Washington, DC, to the regional archives and the Presidential libraries. Access many of  our articles online." - www.archives.gov

www.archives.gov/publications/prologue

US Dept of State - Bureau of Consular Affairs
Locate files of US citizens who died abroad

travel.state.gov/content/travel.html

ORDER COPIES OF RECORDS ONLINE AT THESE US SITES:

USCIS - United States Citizenship and Immigration Service   Obtain citizenship application records online
www.uscis.gov/

Social Security Administration - online request for computer extract of social security card application, Form SSA-711
secure.ssa.gov/apps9/eFOIA-FEWeb/internet/main.jsp

New York Naturalization Records - order here online - Records held at the NYC branch of NARA
www.archives.gov/nyc/finding-aids/naturalization-records.html

The above link also points to the area where these records, nationwide, can be ordered:

               Census Pages Court Records Immigration & Naturalization Records Land Files
      WWI Draft Registration Cards     Military Service and Pension Records Native American Records

Links for Genealogy ResearchCheck your public library for free use of Ancestry.com and other premium sites.

Links for Genealogy Research

Check your public library for free use of Ancestry.com and other premium sites.