Local genealogical society website administrator here . . YES. We have digitized so many of our materials. It's a lot of work and costs a lot to store and maintain. Ours are all free and we just hope researchers will be grateful and shoot a few bucks our way. To your other point - found an article about my great grandfather who spent his entire life in Michigan by happy accident (while on a research trip for something entirely separate) in Southern California Genealogical Society library. They have a tiny 1/2 shelf of Michigan materials, and I only looked on a whim, but so glad I did!!
I would add the local history museum to the list. Our museum has funeral home records, people biographies, fraternal organization records, and a lot of photos. We can also point you other resources.
Agreed! I was visiting a mining museum in Lead, South Dakota once and mentioned to a guy working there that my great-grandfather's brother had reportedly died in a mining accident at the Homestake mine, but I had never found any records of any kind on the brother. Turns out the guy had written a whole history of mining accidents and had a collection of newspaper reports that included mention of the brother! He also pointed me to the local library for the mine payroll records that showed both my grandfather and his brother collecting their pay.
@@sabrinaqualley5743 this is very encouraging to me due to the fact I have a great grandfather that I have no leads on just the three children that him and his wife had and one of those three was my grandfather. Thank you for mentioning this
You are my new favorite genealogy TH-camr! You have a great way of explaining things, great tips and I’m really looking forward to watching many more. 😊
Hi Amy, I just want to thank you for putting this video together. I am helping my wife research her ancestry and your video has been an invaluable guide.
Thank you so much for this! I want to start researching my family's history and this video was a great help! So far I've found the town my great grandfather was from which no one remembered. Thanks for your help!
I have been doing for 30+ years, this video was the best I have seen. It pointed me to areas that I have never thought of I should tell you I have 7400+ in my family tree .
This is one of the very best videos I’ve ever watched because all these sources are free and most of them I keep forgetting about! Never heard of DPLA though so new is very nice! Thanks a bunch!!
Thank you so much! I have been researching people in my tree for decades, but when I get back into the middle 1700s. Even death records in Tennessee as early as 1837, there is very little. I'm so glad to know about these other resources! I have always been on Ancestry, and I can't always find what I am looking for there.
The local genealogy societies can be awesome sources! One in the area where the majority of my South Carolina ancestors lived has many, if not all, of their old newsletters online, free for anyone to view. Maybe those in other areas do, too. Good luck to all of you!
Found out through genealogy tracing that our family are part of the South African Huguenot settlers 😮 There’s a museum near where we live which we recently found out hosts a lot of my ancestors “trek” (move) over SA from as early as 1688
I often stumble onto some of the free resources when Ancestry hits a wall. Thanks for sharing these names. I typically find what I need, then forget where I found it! I suppose I got lazy after college!
State courts, supreme court decisions, us congress library newspaper section, catastral registry, county property appraisers. For spanish related research PARES, french records has a lot digitized, Google books, state university libraries
Recently the Northern Nevada RR in Ely, Nevada announced that they had a bunch of documents on their website from the WW II time frame. I took a look and it's worth adding it to a list of websites.
Thank you so very much for these suggestions. Myself and a few distant cousins have been searching for info on our 3rd great grandparents. You gave me new places to look.
I just found you! My mom started our tree many many years ago, doing it by mailing letters! After she passed, I have continued and I need to use some of your suggestions. THANK YOU!!!
There is a Library a town over from where I live approximately 30 minute drive one way. I was amazed at the information that I located there due to the fact it's in Georgia. They have a large selection of information, reference material and Etc... for the New England area ie Massachusetts in particular. My mother's paternal and maternal family is from that area. It has really helped me to verify information that I had been handed that had been collected by my mother's maternal uncle. He had done a lot of traveling after he retired collecting genealogical information on that part of the family. In fact there is a family that I may be distantly related to down here in Georgia. I will be taking what information I have and letting the library get copies.
Seeing you bring up not just my home state of Illinois but the exact county and town I grew up in was weird lol. Thinking this might be a sign that I'm in the right place. Thanks for the content.
I’m Canadian so some of these may not apply to me but I think the first one maybe of help. Looking into my Irish ancestry. Thank you for doing the research
1. Internet Archive 2. State Archive, Library, Historical Society 3. State & Local Genealogy Societies 4. Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) 5. Linkpendium 6. Worldcat 7. FamilySearch Research Wiki
woohoo so great - thank you for this. i wonder if you might address research of ancestors during the early modern period in UK and Europe? personally i am interested in finding narratives about village life, day to day living, how they traveled and what it took to move after a war etc; the stuff historians write (likely in their native tongue). Beyond local libraries, what other resources could you point to that might be helpful finding this kind of info as well as records about ancestors? Doing genealogy research is so enriching and rewarding and am so appreciative of you sharing your knowledge here - i've got a few days work ahad with the leads from this video. thanks again.
Thank you. I have been wondering how I could, possibly, find my grandfather's information for the Odd Fellows Lodge, and grandma's for Rebecca's lodge.
Never heard of: Odd Fellows Lodge or Rebecca's Lodge. What are they all about? I know about the: Masons Eastern Stars Knights of Columbus Rainbow Girls.
Thanks Amy! Some great links, plus I really like your clear, concise explanations of what information they can provide and how to make the best use of them.
Once I started going back researching, and could not go straight back, but when I hit a dead end, I would go to a wife or husband and start again. I made it back to the 1st century, to someone call King of the West Bank. Along the way there was someone called Ruke the Rude, which sounds like a movie character.
Amy, I had 2 strokes in 2010, and my mom died 2 months later during my initial recovery, and my dad died early the next year. My sister and brother don't have any information about the family. All my aunts, uncles, and grandparents died before 2010. All I have is my maternal grandmother's Bible, and that is all besides my fragmented memories. How do I find locations of my ancestors? How do I find all my other ancestors?
Question, what suggestions if any, do you have when your ancestry has been hidden, lost or destroyed by colonization. Case in point, Blacks has a lot of Indian in their family tree and no African, therefore they search for records proving it but can’t be found because under the racial integrity act of 1924, it changed the state birth records from Indian to colored in the southern states and from Indian to negro in other states. That’s paper genocide, what recourse do I can have now to prove my native ancestry?
That's a tough situation. I would recommend checking out the work of Nicka Sewell Smith. (Her TH-cam channel is "Who Is Nicka Smith?" th-cam.com/users/whoisnickasmith) She has done fantastic work in that area.
I'm not quite sure I understand your question. The family tree would work for twins like they would work for other siblings. If you mean DNA, identical twins in the family could make things a bit more complicated for descendants to analyze, but other than that, I can't think of how twins would impact a family tree.
@@AmyJohnsonCrow well my father was an identical twin. I was filling in my tree on Familytree. I wondered about how each family would branch off but at the same time share a lot too. I'm new at this so it's a rookie question lol. I'm also Native American so that dead ends quick. Unless there's a source for that info I haven't found yet. On one branch 15 or 16 generations back to England. Keith's are quite interesting n so royal lol. Thanks 👍✌️😄🎭
One site had a religious quiz about what denomination you're in when I went there. I was messing around and tried a few but some of them were blocked. I believe the site was Geni. Maybe they're worried about who they share with??? More than one group was blocked if I remember, but with no explanation why or who... just a popup quiz that locks you out. Again... it's weird.
Are all these websites for UsA/ Americas ? My ancestors are from Belgium, France, Netherlands and Germany, how do I trace these without subscribing to a Euro based archive?
I have been trying to find information for my grandmother who was born in Italy in the 1880s, and I've hit a complete wall. I have found a bunch of information about my grandfather, and they married there, but nothing about her. What would you suggest I do?
The Pennsylvania Power Library archives even has the records of the state branch of the KKK! So maybe be prepared to learn some unfortunate things about your family history. I don't think any of my direct ancestors were in there but some of their cousins were.
Thank you so much for this video. Shall try it out. If I may add another one, especially for all people, who in which way ever having been a victim of the Third Reich or National Socialism. Out of the former International Tracking Service of the Red Cross developed the Arolsen Archives, which have several ten million data available free of cost. They also provide in-depth research through a special request form. Sincerely from Germany.
This is all fine for the American with roots for centuries, but mine are very shallow in this country. My parents were born in East Europe. I need Czechoslovakia. The worldcat thing though could be cool.
How can a person know if the searched/found person is actually his/her ancestor? Their is no dna, perhaps, from that person. Therefore you have nothing to compare with your own dna. I am searching for the parents of my paternal grandparents. I don't know either one of their names for certain. I have a copy of my grandfather's death certificate, but there is a mistake on it. It makes me leary. I'm not sure if I can trust the information.
The websites that I showed were US based, but contain records from around the world. (Less so with DPLA and Linkpendium, but always worth a look.) WorldCat and the FamilySearch Wiki have tons of resources from around the world; and there are societies, libraries, and archive websites outside the US.
With the exception of Linkpendium, all of the other sites that I mentioned either have records for countries outside the US or there are similar types of sites in other countries.
@@alannemeth3293 Every website I mentioned is free. You might need to pay to have a copy of a record sent to you or some societies will put some content behind a members-only paywall, but all of the ones I mentioned have free content.
@genealogywithamyjohnsoncrow - I saw you on NickNimmin channel. I am glad I connected with you. I found some great old movies on internet archives too. Thanks for sharing. I can now do more genealogy info the website you shared here are very helpful. DPLA and some of the other website to help me in other areas too. Thank you for sharing! It is greatly appreciated!
➡️ Want more genealogy tips? Check out my Research Tips playlist: th-cam.com/play/PL7Y4oPKUvwciJfcwARxeU-yjY7dxOcTlj.html
After about 10 years of research, at the California Archives, I found a brother of my Irish great-grandmother. Never give up.
Your great uncle?
Local genealogical society website administrator here . . YES. We have digitized so many of our materials. It's a lot of work and costs a lot to store and maintain. Ours are all free and we just hope researchers will be grateful and shoot a few bucks our way.
To your other point - found an article about my great grandfather who spent his entire life in Michigan by happy accident (while on a research trip for something entirely separate) in Southern California Genealogical Society library. They have a tiny 1/2 shelf of Michigan materials, and I only looked on a whim, but so glad I did!!
I wish I could give you 1000 thumbs up! Your videos and website are so informative and your presentations are easy to follow. Thanks so much!
I would add the local history museum to the list. Our museum has funeral home records, people biographies, fraternal organization records, and a lot of photos. We can also point you other resources.
Excellent suggestion, Joan!
Agreed! I was visiting a mining museum in Lead, South Dakota once and mentioned to a guy working there that my great-grandfather's brother had reportedly died in a mining accident at the Homestake mine, but I had never found any records of any kind on the brother. Turns out the guy had written a whole history of mining accidents and had a collection of newspaper reports that included mention of the brother! He also pointed me to the local library for the mine payroll records that showed both my grandfather and his brother collecting their pay.
@@sabrinaqualley5743 That's fantastic. Thank you for that. I will have to give it a try.
@@sabrinaqualley5743 this is very encouraging to me due to the fact I have a great grandfather that I have no leads on just the three children that him and his wife had and one of those three was my grandfather.
Thank you for mentioning this
@@sabrinaqualley5743 Wow! How cool is that! That is the stuff that makes them come to life!
You are my new favorite genealogy TH-camr! You have a great way of explaining things, great tips and I’m really looking forward to watching many more. 😊
Wow, thank you!
Thank you for your expertise. I have been doing ancestry research for 30 years but always learn something new from you.
I'm just beginning, thank you for this information. I look forward to using them.
You’re so welcome! Best of luck with your research!
Hi Amy, I just want to thank you for putting this video together. I am helping my wife research her ancestry and your video has been an invaluable guide.
I'm so glad it was helpful! Good luck with all of your research!
Thank you so much for this! I want to start researching my family's history and this video was a great help! So far I've found the town my great grandfather was from which no one remembered. Thanks for your help!
You’re welcome! Enjoy your family history journey!
I have been doing for 30+ years, this video was the best I have seen. It pointed me to areas that I have never thought of I should tell you I have 7400+ in my family tree .
This is one of the very best videos I’ve ever watched because all these sources are free and most of them I keep forgetting about! Never heard of DPLA though so new is very nice! Thanks a bunch!!
Thank you so much! I have been researching people in my tree for decades, but when I get back into the middle 1700s. Even death records in Tennessee as early as 1837, there is very little. I'm so glad to know about these other resources! I have always been on Ancestry, and I can't always find what I am looking for there.
Family search is also free and has A LOT of records and indexes to search for 😊
The local genealogy societies can be awesome sources! One in the area where the majority of my South Carolina ancestors lived has many, if not all, of their old newsletters online, free for anyone to view. Maybe those in other areas do, too.
Good luck to all of you!
Found out through genealogy tracing that our family are part of the South African Huguenot settlers 😮
There’s a museum near where we live which we recently found out hosts a lot of my ancestors “trek” (move) over SA from as early as 1688
@@UrsulaZA That is very cool! Part of my family was part of the Huguenots, too. :)
I often stumble onto some of the free resources when Ancestry hits a wall. Thanks for sharing these names. I typically find what I need, then forget where I found it! I suppose I got lazy after college!
State courts, supreme court decisions, us congress library newspaper section, catastral registry, county property appraisers. For spanish related research PARES, french records has a lot digitized, Google books, state university libraries
There's certainly no lack of resources to explore!
Thank you. We took notes. You have broadened our horizons.
Outstanding information. Thanks you immensely.
Recently the Northern Nevada RR in Ely, Nevada announced that they had a bunch of documents on their website from the WW II time frame. I took a look and it's worth adding it to a list of websites.
OMG! My family spent time around Ely in 1945!
Thank you so very much for these suggestions. Myself and a few distant cousins have been searching for info on our 3rd great grandparents. You gave me new places to look.
You are so welcome!
So glad that I stumbled across your website! Great information and so useful. I'll be back - regularly!
Amy .I love your show..But could you do more for Australia...
Thanks, Jennifer! If I knew more about Australian research, I would!
What a treasure trove of information! Thank you so much!
Glad it was helpful!
I like all of your videos, I enjoy watching them, I get good ideals from them. Thank you
Glad you like them!
I just found you! My mom started our tree many many years ago, doing it by mailing letters! After she passed, I have continued and I need to use some of your suggestions. THANK YOU!!!
Really helpful information. Thank you for the videos to share it.
You're quite welcome! I hope you make some great discoveries!
There is a Library a town over from where I live approximately 30 minute drive one way.
I was amazed at the information that I located there due to the fact it's in Georgia.
They have a large selection of information, reference material and Etc... for the New England area ie Massachusetts in particular.
My mother's paternal and maternal family is from that area. It has really helped me to verify information that I had been handed that had been collected by my mother's maternal uncle. He had done a lot of traveling after he retired collecting genealogical information on that part of the family.
In fact there is a family that I may be distantly related to down here in Georgia. I will be taking what information I have and letting the library get copies.
Thank you for the great information. I will be using these in my future research. You are doing a great job..keep it up.
Glad it was helpful!
Agreed she is informative and easy to listen to. 👍😁
Internet Archive is my go-to for county histories. Most of them include biographical sketches.
I thought I was pretty familiar with the best research aids, but you hit on some new ones for me. Thank you
Awesome! I hope you make some great discoveries!
This was great - I did not know about these. Thank you!! 👏👏
You're welcome! I hope you find lots of good things!
thank you for posting this. This is extremely helpful!
Seeing you bring up not just my home state of Illinois but the exact county and town I grew up in was weird lol. Thinking this might be a sign that I'm in the right place. Thanks for the content.
Thank you for these.
this was incredibly informative and helpful
I’m glad it was helpful for you!
Thank you Amy this info is just what I needed!
I’m Canadian so some of these may not apply to me but I think the first one maybe of help. Looking into my Irish ancestry. Thank you for doing the research
1. Internet Archive
2. State Archive, Library, Historical Society
3. State & Local Genealogy Societies
4. Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)
5. Linkpendium
6. Worldcat
7. FamilySearch Research Wiki
woohoo so great - thank you for this. i wonder if you might address research of ancestors during the early modern period in UK and Europe? personally i am interested in finding narratives about village life, day to day living, how they traveled and what it took to move after a war etc; the stuff historians write (likely in their native tongue). Beyond local libraries, what other resources could you point to that might be helpful finding this kind of info as well as records about ancestors? Doing genealogy research is so enriching and rewarding and am so appreciative of you sharing your knowledge here - i've got a few days work ahad with the leads from this video. thanks again.
Thank you for this...I ONLY research my family history using free resources!
Glad it was helpful!
Fantastic information. Hope you're doing well
Thank you for this. It is incredibly helpful 🙏🏻🙏🏻
Great info .... sharing
I'm new to genealogy and these videos are so helpful!
I'm so glad! I hope you're making some great discoveries and enjoying the journey!
Question two, what is the best way to continue a search once back to Europe (United kingdom) thanks again ✌️
Thank you. I have been wondering how I could, possibly, find my grandfather's information for the Odd Fellows Lodge, and grandma's for Rebecca's lodge.
Never heard of:
Odd Fellows Lodge or Rebecca's Lodge.
What are they all about?
I know about the:
Masons
Eastern Stars
Knights of Columbus
Rainbow Girls.
I'm so happy I came across your channel ❤
Thanks Amy! Some great links, plus I really like your clear, concise explanations of what information they can provide and how to make the best use of them.
Great reminder of those useful free websites. I am also a big fan of Cyndi’s List
Thank you
thanx 4 the useful info
Once I started going back researching, and could not go straight back, but when I hit a dead end, I would go to a wife or husband and start again. I made it back to the 1st century, to someone call King of the West Bank. Along the way there was someone called Ruke the Rude, which sounds like a movie character.
Amy,
I had 2 strokes in 2010, and my mom died 2 months later during my initial recovery, and my dad died early the next year. My sister and brother don't have any information about the family. All my aunts, uncles, and grandparents died before 2010. All I have is my maternal grandmother's Bible, and that is all besides my fragmented memories. How do I find locations of my ancestors? How do I find all my other ancestors?
Question, what suggestions if any, do you have when your ancestry has been hidden, lost or destroyed by colonization. Case in point, Blacks has a lot of Indian in their family tree and no African, therefore they search for records proving it but can’t be found because under the racial integrity act of 1924, it changed the state birth records from Indian to colored in the southern states and from Indian to negro in other states. That’s paper genocide, what recourse do I can have now to prove my native ancestry?
That's a tough situation. I would recommend checking out the work of Nicka Sewell Smith. (Her TH-cam channel is "Who Is Nicka Smith?" th-cam.com/users/whoisnickasmith) She has done fantastic work in that area.
Thank you for this video. I have a better understanding of where I can give my records to so that others can have access.
Glad it was helpful!
Cyndi's List should be puton the rotation also.
Do you know how to find information on someone who was in the early witness protection program?
Is there a site for ellis island
Question how does the family tree work with twins?? Thanks 😁😁
I'm not quite sure I understand your question. The family tree would work for twins like they would work for other siblings. If you mean DNA, identical twins in the family could make things a bit more complicated for descendants to analyze, but other than that, I can't think of how twins would impact a family tree.
@@AmyJohnsonCrow well my father was an identical twin. I was filling in my tree on Familytree. I wondered about how each family would branch off but at the same time share a lot too. I'm new at this so it's a rookie question lol. I'm also Native American so that dead ends quick. Unless there's a source for that info I haven't found yet. On one branch 15 or 16 generations back to England. Keith's are quite interesting n so royal lol. Thanks 👍✌️😄🎭
One site had a religious quiz about what denomination you're in when I went there. I was messing around and tried a few but some of them were blocked. I believe the site was Geni. Maybe they're worried about who they share with??? More than one group was blocked if I remember, but with no explanation why or who... just a popup quiz that locks you out. Again... it's weird.
Are all these websites for UsA/ Americas ? My ancestors are from Belgium, France, Netherlands and Germany, how do I trace these without subscribing to a Euro based archive?
I have been trying to find information for my grandmother who was born in Italy in the 1880s, and I've hit a complete wall. I have found a bunch of information about my grandfather, and they married there, but nothing about her. What would you suggest I do?
The Pennsylvania Power Library archives even has the records of the state branch of the KKK! So maybe be prepared to learn some unfortunate things about your family history. I don't think any of my direct ancestors were in there but some of their cousins were.
Thank you so much for this video. Shall try it out. If I may add another one, especially for all people, who in which way ever having been a victim of the Third Reich or National Socialism. Out of the former International Tracking Service of the Red Cross developed the Arolsen Archives, which have several ten million data available free of cost. They also provide in-depth research through a special request form.
Sincerely from Germany.
Wonderful ❤
What about Cyndi's List?
I was going for the overlooked sites. 😊
The thing is, some people might not know the name's of there ancestries or even ever meet them.
library of congress is another good free resource
I couldn't have said it better. like steve Buresh
This is all fine for the American with roots for centuries, but mine are very shallow in this country. My parents were born in East Europe. I need Czechoslovakia. The worldcat thing though could be cool.
The FamilySearch Wiki also has resources beyond just the United States.
Is this free free or 14 day free trial free?
All of the sites I mentioned in this video are free free! All you need is a way to connect to the internet 🙂
Nun of these work
How about finding European sites?
How can a person know if the searched/found person is actually his/her ancestor? Their is no dna, perhaps, from that person. Therefore you have nothing to compare with your own dna.
I am searching for the parents of my paternal grandparents. I don't know either one of their names for certain. I have a copy of my grandfather's death certificate, but there is a mistake on it. It makes me leary. I'm not sure if I can trust the information.
😊
Not "what" but "who" is stopping h...
you too can find out your mom and dad were cousins!
I love JewishGen and JRI-Poland
Sorry, I just went to one, went through all the steps and in through end they wanted to charge me
Which one did tried to charge you?
I can't remember but I probably just went to the wrong one
I guess these websites only pertain to the US.
The websites that I showed were US based, but contain records from around the world. (Less so with DPLA and Linkpendium, but always worth a look.) WorldCat and the FamilySearch Wiki have tons of resources from around the world; and there are societies, libraries, and archive websites outside the US.
You DO know that non-Christians are also interested in genealogy, right? Perhaps replace "church" with "house of worship". So much more inclusive.
Yes, I know that, and I've gotten better with my terminology in the almost two years since I made this video.
Sadly, so much is actually USA nor worldwide.
With the exception of Linkpendium, all of the other sites that I mentioned either have records for countries outside the US or there are similar types of sites in other countries.
You also could get some devastating news about your past. To be honest, i'm not that interested in the past. Let it lay,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
None of these sites are free the first thing they wany is money??????
@@alannemeth3293 Every website I mentioned is free. You might need to pay to have a copy of a record sent to you or some societies will put some content behind a members-only paywall, but all of the ones I mentioned have free content.
@genealogywithamyjohnsoncrow - I saw you on NickNimmin channel. I am glad I connected with you. I found some great old movies on internet archives too. Thanks for sharing. I can now do more genealogy info the website you shared here are very helpful. DPLA and some of the other website to help me in other areas too. Thank you for sharing! It is greatly appreciated!