Searching

These are some websites I found very helpful while going through my search for my ancestors.  Some of them you have to sign up or pay, but most you don't!

1. BYU Library — Many historical books are available in digitized format.
2. BYU-I Library — This is the school’s Family History page with many great resources.
3. CyndisList.com — This free web site provides links to other family history web sites by categories. It is the “card catalog” to family history on the internet. Search by subject, surname, or place.
4. Findagrave.com — This website allows you to search for images and indexes of headstones, submit images of headstones, and request images of headstones from volunteers.
5. Fold3.com — Thousands of scanned images and documents from the National Archives in Washington DC. The records include original military records, immigration and naturalization records. It is a fee-based website, but we have free access through BYU-Idaho’s website.
6. FreeBMD.org.uk — Birth, marriage, and death indexes for England and Wales for the period 1837–1983.
7. HeritageQuestOnline.com — This website helps enable students to search the US census, search local and family history books, directories, surname books, and Revolutionary War records of their ancestors.
8. Library of Congress — Search a huge collection of biographies and genealogies.
9. Linkpendium.com — Links to genealogy information by state.
10. Mocavo.com — A search engine that only looks at genealogy-related web sites. The World’s Largest Free Genealogy Search Engine.
11. RootsWeb.com — This free website serves to connect people so that they can share genealogical research by way of the World Connect Project, surname lists, message boards, mailing lists, and more.
12. USGenWeb.org — This volunteer project provides family history websites for every county and state in the United States. Other projects they are developing include archive, census and tombstone databases. Try the project state pages to find a website for a county of your choice.
13. WorldCat.org — The world’s largest network of library content and services.
14. Wiki.familysearch.org — Research Wiki: free family history research advice for the community, by the community.
15. WorldGenWeb.org — This volunteer project provides family history websites for every country in the world. Click an area of the world and then the desired “GenWeb Project.”
16. WorldVitalRecords.com — World Collection Comparable to ancestry — many records and cheaper. Many databases and growing — includes core sources plus newspapers, immigration, military records, and many others. You can browse 39 countries, and receive a free weekly newsletter on family history research. It is a fee-based website but we have free access through BYU-Idaho’s website.