Whats the best way to trace your family tree?  Without it costing a fortune.?
341984
work your way backwards....get info from your parents...there parents....and so on then you cqan go to anestry.com and ask questions there and also use the family history center in your local area
1177387
The very best is ancestory.com. You get a free 3 day trial with no obligation. I did it for 3 days and didnt pay a cent. This was about 6 months ago. I dont know about you but I found a lot of people in 3 days.\n It gives you all kinds of info. telephone, address even their frickin' social security #. All for free!
807335
www.ancestry.com - much of the site is free but you have to pay for many features\n\nhttp://www.rootsweb.com/ - this is one of the oldest and best genealogy sites and everything on it is free\n\nhttp://www.spatial-literacy.org/UCLnames/default.aspx - this site has profiles of surnames\n\nhttp://wc.rootsweb.com/ - you will find family trees on this site and you may find that some of your relatives are there.\n\nGenealogy is so much fun - I hope you have a lot of success!\n\ns
112369
Hi starrr,\nThere are several good web sites out there. Here's a few\nhttp://www.genealogy.com/\nhttp://www.ancestry.com/\nhttp://www.familysearch.org/\nhttp://www.rootsweb.com/\nhttp://www.accessgenealogy.com/\nhttp://www.census-online.com/\nFor more help go to the message boards and tell them who your looking for and most people are kind in there replies. Good Luck: Blueladybug
192755
i don't thank you can unless you are a relative. you can use some of the on line search sites. the deeper you go to find information the more it costs.(in my experience) so beware, i know, I've been there. try ancestry,com for starters.
269987
The study of family trees is called Genealogy. There is a category for it in Arts & Humanities.\n\nThis is a long, general answer to the question "How do I get started in Genealogy?", with some links. I save it and copy it in for convenience. It is convenient for me because I only have to type it once. It is convenient for you because you don't have to wade through 43 resolved questions to find it.\n\nGenealogy is the most popular hobby on the Internet for people over 40. As an example, Cyndi's List (cyndislist.com) is a web site with nothing but links to other genealogy sites. She has over 250,000 links, all cross-indexed and categorized.\n\nIt isn't very popular with young people because it takes a lot of patience and, unlike softball, it isn't a good way to meet members of the opposite sex.\n\nThe next two links are to the two largest free data bases on the Internet. Family Search (familysearch.com) is run by the LDS Church - the Mormons. RootsWeb World Connect (worldconnect.genealogy) is a collection of genealogical data that other genealogists have uploaded. \n\nTry your two surnames in each data base - your father's surname and your mother's maiden surname. That will give you a feel for how much research has been done on those two surnames. Even better, if you can, call your grandparents and ask what THEIR grandparent's names were - maiden name for the ladies. Their birth day and birth state will help too. Those 16 people are your great-great grandparents. Don't expect to find yourself or your parents. Most genealogy sites are limited to dead people.\n\nMost Yahoo! users are 20, give or take 10 years. Most people have children between the ages of 20 and 40, which averages to 30 years per generation. So, if you were born 20 years ago, your mother and father were born 50 years ago, your four grandparents were born 80 years ago, your eight great-grandparents were born 110 years ago and your sixteen great-great grandparents were born 140 years ago. (Those are averages; your results will vary. If you can get the names of all 16 of your great-great grandparents, you should be able to find at least one or two by name in one of the data bases.\n\nThe fourth link (superpages) is a web-based phone book. It will tell you how many people with your surname have listed phone numbers in the US.\n\nThe last link (begingen.html) is a page on my web site with some hints for beginners. There is a page there on "How to Start", with links for further reading.
1076178
DNA technology is fast developing. You can now trace your paternal relatives. Give it a couple of years you can trace your maternal lineage too.
131564
This is a long, general answer to the question "How do I get started in Genealogy?", with some links. \n\nGenealogy is the most popular hobby on the Internet for people over 40. As an example, Cyndi's List (cyndislist.com) is a web site with nothing but links to other genealogy sites. She has over 250,000 links.\n\nThe next two links are to the two largest free data bases on the Internet. Family Search (familysearch.com) is run by the LDS Church - the Mormons. RootsWeb World Connect (worldconnect.genealogy) is a collection of genealogical data that other genealogists have uploaded. \n\nTry your two surnames in each data base - your father's surname and your mother's maiden surname. That will give you a feel for how much research has been done on those two surnames. Even better, if you can, call your grandparents and ask what THEIR grandparent's names were - maiden name for the ladies. Their birth day and birth state will help too. Those 16 people are your great-great grandparents. \n\nMost Yahoo! users are 20, give or take 10 years. Most people have children between the ages of 20 and 40, which averages to 30 years per generation. So, if you were born 20 years ago, your mother and father were born 50 years ago, your four grandparents were born 80 years ago, your eight great-grandparents were born 110 years ago and your sixteen great-great grandparents were born 140 years ago. (Those are averages; your results will vary. If you can get the names of all 16 of your great-great grandparents, you should be able to find at least one or two by name in one of the data bases.\n\nThe fourth link (superpages) is a web-based phone book. It will tell you how many people with your surname have listed phone numbers in the US.\n\nThe last link (begingen.html) is a page on my web site with some hints for beginners.
61509
That was such an awesome answer.  Don't forget though that not all public records are online.  You will need to write letters the old fashioned way to health departments, genealogy societies, libraries, cemeteries, churches, schools, etc. for birth, death, marriage, land, cemetery, obituary, baptisms, etc. records. \n\nBefore accessing public records, or while waiting for them, interview as many family members as possible about as many family members as possible. These records aren't public, but they are easily lost through forgetting and through death. The public records will wait for you, these won't.
562027
These may help get you started. The study of family history is called "Genealogy", and Yahoo! Has a category for it over in Arts & Humanities.\n\nhttp://www.cyndislist.com/\n(240,000+ links, all cross-indexed.)\n\nhttp://www.familysearch.com\n(Mormon's mega-site)\n\nhttp://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi\n(450,000,000+ entries, of varying quality)\n\nhttp://www.usgenweb.net/\n(Subdivided into state sites, which all have county sites.)\n\nhttp://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi\n(Social Security Death index - click on "Advanced".)\n\nhttp://find.person.superpages.com/\n(US Phone book, for looking up distant cousins)\n\nhttp://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?ln=\nSurname meanings and origins\n\nThree warnings: \n\nThere isn't a magic site that will take your name in and give you a 12-generation pedigree. Genealogy takes time.\n\nYou won't find living people on any of the sites except the phone book one. You will have to find your grandparents' or great grandparents' birth dates and maiden names somewhere besides the Internet.\n\nThe free sites are supported by advertising, just like TV. You can't watch the Super Bowl without seeing a beer commercial, and you can't surf for dead relatives without seeing an Ancestry advertisement. Don't complain about advertisements. They bring you the "free" sites. There's no such thing as a free lunch.
674354
Record as much information as possible from relatives and family records, such as birth, marriage and death certificates, old bibles, newspaper clipings, photographs, diaries and letters.\n\nconstruct an ancestor chart which includes all the relevant data collected so far. Include as much information as possible regarding individuals with full name, the place and date of birth, marriage or death, education, occupation, spouses and children. This will help you define the gaps in your information and determine what you will need to research about particular names, places, events and relevant dates.\n\nIn order to verify and expand your chart, consult original documents:\nbirth, marriage, death certificates\nchurch records\ncemetary records\nimmigration and citizen ship documents\nemigration and passenger lists\ncensus records\nland ownership and tax records\nschool and employment records\nmilitary service records\nwills\n\n* A library can give you information about certain localities, time periods, individuals and groups of people or where you can locate the documents available elsewhere.
102405
the library or geneologgy websites will cure this problem my friend!! Family heritage is available on many websites under search engines these days.\nThere is an Ancestory website on line also.
1066682
You can do some free research starting here:  http://www.familysearch.org/  It has tons of information, lots of helps, and can direct you to genealogy libraries nearby.
376934
go to myheritage.com that site should help. \n\nthere is also ancestry.com but you have to pay for that I think.
192680
there is a free service through Ancestry.com, they offer limited resources.  For full service, you have to pay.\n\nI was able to work up a very extensive family tree for several generation by using the free service.  You can't find the "lost" ancestors, but there is a huge pool of people who are on the sites, thanks to the Mormon church registry.\ncheck here:\nhttp://www.uftree.com/\nhttp://genealogy.about.com/library/free_charts/bl_family_tree.htm\nhttp://www.ancestorhunt.com/
24591
Wow 1800s? That's probably gonna make your search harder but you can try http://www.zabasearch.com or you can try genealogy and ancestry search websites. Zabasearch is free but some of the genealogy and ancestry websites charge depending on how much information they have. Another resort will be to check with your local library. They often have genealogy and ancestry records and they can be of help to you. Good luck with your search.
813082
I save this and paste it because the same questions come up a lot:\n\nWhat are good free sites for genealogy?\nDoes anyone know about the {surname} family?\nHow can I trace my family tree, for free?\n\nSometimes in the genealogy category, \nArts & Humanities -> Genealogy. \nSometimes elsewhere. The fourth time I typed in three of my favorite links I realized it would be better to make a good list and save it. Since this is a general answer, some of the paragraphs may not apply to you. If you search or browse the resolved questions in the Genealogy category, you can find more links from other people. \n\nTwo warnings:\n1) It takes time. Compiling a good family tree is like writing a term paper for a high school history class.  You have to do research.\n2) Most of the genealogy data on the web is about people born before 1900, to protect living people's privacy. You'll have to find your grandparents (or great grandparents) off the web. \n\nHere are some large free sites. \n\nhttp://www.cyndislist.com/\n(240,000+ links, all cross-indexed.)\nhttp://www.familysearch.com\n(Mormon's mega-site)\nhttp://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi\n(450,000,000+ entries, some excellent, some bad, most in between)\nhttp://www.ancestry.com/learn/facts/default.aspx?ln=\nSurname meanings and origins; no specific individuals, but fun.\n\nThese are for the USA only. \n\nhttp://www.usgenweb.net/\n(Subdivided into state sites, which all have county sites.)\n(Canada has a Canadian Gen Web, with sites for each province.)\nhttp://ssdi.genealogy.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/ssdi.cgi\n(Social Security Death index - click on "Advanced".)\nhttp://find.person.superpages.com/\n(US Phone book, for looking up distant cousins)\n\nThese two are for the UK & Ireland only:\nhttp://www.genuki.org.uk\nhttp://www.freebmd.org.uk/\n\n\nIf you get serious, you should probably buy a genealogy program. I like Roots Magic. Family Tree Maker is very popular. Both are $29 in the USA, but you can sometimes find old versions in discount bins at software stores.\n\nhttp://www.tedpack.org/begingen.html\nhas some tips for beginners.