U.S. Resources
- USGenWeb ProjectGenealogical research resources organized by county and state, created and maintained by volunteers throughout the nation.
- Resources for Genealogists and Family Historians at the National ArchivesArranged by research topics or types of records available to search. From the Research Topics pages, you will find links to pages throughout the website with articles, finding aids, and other information to help you prepare for your genealogical research at the National Archives.
The records most commonly used by genealogists include:
-- Military Service Records
-- Immigration Records (Ship Passenger Arrival Records)
-- Naturalization Records
-- Passport Applications
-- Land Records
-- Court Records (Bankruptcy, Civil, Criminal and Court of Appeals Records) - Historical Societies DirectoryDirectory of societies listed alphabetically by state and searchable by name. Includes links and addresses.
- ArchiveGridProvides access to detailed archival collection descriptions, making information available about historical documents, personal papers, family histories, and other archival materials. It also provides contact information for the institutions where the collections are kept. ArchiveGrid data is primarily focused on archival material descriptions for institutions in the United States.
- NARA's Immigration Records (Ship Passenger Arrival Records)The National Archives and Records Administration site explains where to find passenger lists and immigration records and provides several links to immigration resources.
- Ellis Island American Family Immigration History CenterSome free access to records for more than 22 million immigrants, passengers, and crew members who came through Ellis Island and the Port of New York. Coverage: 1892 to 1924.
- MayflowerHistory.comIncludes passenger lists and genealogies, history of the trip, and some original documents by and about the Pilgrims.
- Census OnlineVarious links to census-related information from all U.S. states. Information is divided by state and then by county. Includes links to federal censuses and indexes, state and territorial censuses, tax lists, voter lists, military pensioner lists, and other items of interest to historians and genealogists.
- Social Security Death IndexFreely available from ancestry.com. See "About Social Security Death Index" below the search box for details. 1935 - recent.
- Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps OnlineLink to online collection of Sanborn maps held by the Library of Congress
- A Guide to Researching the History of a HouseFrom HomeAdvisor. From the website: If you live in a house that’s more than a few decades old, you might wonder about its history. What were the circumstances surrounding its construction? Who lived there before you moved in? You might even wonder about the evolution of the home’s structure as it has undergone home improvement, or you might have a morbid curiosity about whether or not your home has a sordid past. With the help of online resources and public records, much can be learned about the history of any property.
International Resources (most include U.S. material) and Specific Country Sites
- Ancestry Library Edition
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Genealogy collection from ancestry.com that includes census data, vital records, directories, and photos.
- Ancestry Library Edition (Lexington Public Library)Access at the Lexington Public Library. Available only to customers inside LPL locations.
- FamilySearchFree resource. Created and maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
- AncientFacesPhotographs of ancestors uploaded by people from around the world.
- BillionGravesCollects and provides images of headstones with their GPS locations so users worldwide can access those records. Requires free registration.
- Find A GraveFinal disposition information from around the world as a virtual cemetery experience. Includes gravestone photographs.
- Google Books Search
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Good place to look for full-text of county and family histories.
- Legacies of British Slave-ownership
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Umbrella for two projects based at University College London tracing the impact of slave-ownership on the formation of modern Britain. Includes [especially in the notes fields] names of U.S. citizens who were awardees for the claims on the loss of slaves in British Territories. At the core of the completed project is this online Encyclopaedia of British Slave-ownership containing information about every slave-owner in the British Caribbean, Mauritius or the Cape at the moment of abolition in 1833. Entries include information about the activities, affiliations and legacies of these men and women, with a particular emphasis on the "absentee" owners based in Britain.
- JewishGen: Jewish GenealogyConnects researchers of Jewish genealogy. Includes a Discussion Group, Family Finder (a database of over 60,000 surnames and towns), Infofiles (comprehensive directory of information resources, organized by both topic and country) and a variety of other databases, such as the ShtetlSeeker.
- CubaGenWebCuban Genealogy Center Resources
- Ethiopia GenealogyFrom FamilySearch.
Nearby State Resources
- Historical Societies DirectoryDirectory of societies listed alphabetically by state and searchable by name. Includes links and addresses.
- ILGenWeb ProjectIllinois genealogy resources.
- INGenWeb ProjectIndiana genealogy resources.
- MOGenWebMissouri genealogy material.
- Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953Name index and images of Ohio death certificates. Free from FamilySearch. Requires free registration to view scanned documents.
- Pennsylvania Gazette"The New York Times of the 18th century."
"Benjamin Franklin's Newspaper" (1728–1750),
"The French & Indian War" (1751–1765),
"The American Revolution" (1766–1783),
"The New Republic" (1784–1800).
The Pennsylvania Gazette Collection, while almost completely composed of articles from The Pennsylvania Gazette, also contains approximately 2900 articles from the publication the Pennsylvania Packet and a dozen or so articles from the Maryland Gazette.
- Pennsylvania Genealogical Catalogue
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Primarily a listing of marriages, deaths and obituaries from The Village Record, published in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
- TNGenWeb ProjectTennessee genealogy resources.
- VAGenWebVirginia genealogy resources.
- WVGenWeb ProjectWest Virginia genealogy resources.
- USGenWeb ProjectFind other states' genealogy resources.