I hope all my genealogy hunters had a great and productive memorial weekend. Were you able to talk and record some war stories from your veteran relatives? Maybe you have questions about their stories and want to prove them and don't know where to start?
Finishing out my top 13 free websites:
• news.google.com/archivesearch
This website generates a lot of results. There are ways to narrow the results down. It is all in the way you search. The best way to search is "Surname," birth date, death date, county and state lived in. You can also sign up to have Google alert you when these search parameters are present. If you do find something useful, please be sure to reference the article in your papers. Also, be sure to read the help section of this website. It is located at the end of the page.
• findagrave.com
First thing is to register and become a member. You can also send away for a free findagrave.com bumper sticker. Second, search your surname to see if your ancestors are in findagrave. Remember, findagrave is all volunteer entries. Someone searching your surname may have entered the information or there are volunteers who will go to cemeteries, take pictures of the grave and download the information into findagrave.com. You can also download cemetery information into findagrave once you find their graves. This websites has other features such as finding a particular cemetery in a certain county and state. Explore and get to know this free website, it is full of wonderful information. Just a note: Findagrave.com has been bought out by Ancestry.com which is a paid subscription and can be accessed through your local library. Findagrave.com is still a free site but the database is included when you search ancestry.com.
• georgiaarchives.org is a free website for the state of Georgia. It provides marriage records on microfilm from 1822-1904 for Newton County. Georgia Death Certificates for 1919-1927 and Georgia non-indexed death certificates for 1928-1930. This free website has a lot more information to offer. Go to georgiaarchives.org and click onto Virtual Vault.
• internment.net is another free cemetery site similar and in addition to findagrave.com. It states that it is generated by ads so be very careful with what you click on when you arrive at this site. This site counts on volunteers to enter the information from cemeteries and states that some of the transcriptions are from cemeteries no longer in existence which makes it a valuable free genealogical site.
I have rated each one of these 13 free websites from 1-10, with 1 being OK but free and 10 being great. I hope you find time to go into each and every one of these free sites. If you find another one and there are thousands, please email me and let me know so we can share with all my genealogical readers.
• usgenweb.org - 9
• worldgenweb.org - 9
• werelate.org - 7
• cyndislist.com - 8
• familysearch.org - 9
• raogk.org - 8
• rootsweb.ancestry.com - 8
• accessgenealogy.com - 5
•newspaperabstracts.com - 7
• news.google.com/archivesearch - 5
• findagrave.com - 8
• georgiaarchives.org - 9
• internment.net - 7
Ellen Blakeslee is a professional genealogist living in Covington. You can email her with questions about genealogy at genealogy.loveofthehunt@gmail.com.
