Heritage Album

i want to trace my Family Tree?

i am looking for a free / cheap way of Researching my Family Tree i have info dating back to 1853, but have come to a blank after that. i want to go back as far as possible. thanks

Public Comments

1. Unless you want to sit looking through record books hoping you will find something their is no free way of doing it.
2. Rootsweb.com is a free site with a lot things posted by other researchers. Especially under the World Connect section, and you should have enought info to get somewhere Or you can find a local genealogy center (Library, or Mormon place) which would have more info, and give you access to the best site on the net, for free Ancestry.com
3. Such sites in general aren´t good, but you might be lucky to find a good one by googling it and then search every site that appears. I could for 3 or 4 times helped some folks here at Y!-A this way. Can´t know how back they got to as we had no more contact.
4. Ancestry.Com is not free, but your public library might have a subscription to it you can use for free. Ancestry.Com's real value is in its original source records. They have all the U.S. censuses through 1930. The 1940 and later are not available to the public yet. They have lots of military draft and enlistments records as well as a good many immigration and other records. They have transcribed the records but you can view the original images. There are errors in their transcriptions, particularly censuses, but when you view the original you will have pity on the transcribers. Just distinguish the difference between their records and subscriber submitted family trees. You have to be extremely cautious about information in family trees on ANY website, free or one you have to pay to subscribe. The info can be helpful as clues as to where to get the documentation, but nothing else. You frequently will see different info on the same people from different subscribers. Then you will see the absolute same info on the same people from different subscribers, BUT that doesn't mean it is correct. A lot of people copy without verifying. If you disagree on something someone has posted on family members, the owners of the websites will tell you that is between you and the other subscriber. A good free source is a Family History Center at a Latter Day Saints(Mormon) Church. They have records on people all over the world, not just Mormons. In Salt Lake City, they have the world's largest genealogical collection. Their FHCs can order microfilm for you to view at a nominal fee. I have never had them to try and convert me or have I heard of them doing that to anyone else that has used their resources. Just visit their free website, FamilySearch.org, to get their hours for the general public to the nearest Mormon FHC. Your first free source is your own family. Websites as a rule will not have info on living people as that is considered an invasion of privacy and can lead to identity theft. Interview your senior members and tape them if they will let you. People who do this state they go back and listen to the tape again after doing research and hear things they didn't hear the first time around. I won't say that they won't be confused or wrong on some things. Fiind out if any has any old family bibles. Ask to see and make copies of birth, marriage and death certificates. Depending on the religious faith, baptismal, first communion, confirmation and marriage records from their church can be helpful. Here is a link with links to various websites, some free and some not. http://www.progenealogists.com/top50genealogy2008.htm