Genealogy Sites

An index to genealogy on the web.

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites

Cyndi's genealogy portal features links to more than 180,000 genealogy sites categorized and cross-referenced in over 150 categories. If it has to do with genealogy, it can be found here. Use Cyndi's List to locate any genealogical topic on the Internet.

Genealogy Mega Sites

Ancestry Library Edition **
... available only if you are in the library

Ancestry Library Edition contains online images of the complete U.S. Census from 1790 through 1930 with indexing for most years. While in the Library, users may view all of Ancestry's thousands of resources. Full-text entries for millions of obituaries reported in over 100 newspapers from around the world since 1990 are provided by the Bell and Howell Information and Learning Company. Ancestry Library Edition also includes many genealogy newsletters with how-to articles.

Access Genealogy

Access Genealogy offers clear links to a fantastic number of genealogy databases and sites. Its boxes of content lead you to state, country, surname, and topical sources as well as bookstores, CDS, and software. Its beginner's box links to Ancestry's free online forms, a Soundex converter, and a county locator for towns that then links to the USGenWeb project.

FamilySearch

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the Mormons) has released many of its genealogy databases on the Internet. You can search for facts about individuals before 1920, see who else is doing research on your family, or look at the Family History Library's catalog of books and microfilm. You can also view or order research guides and download software. To use microform from the Family History Library you must go to a Family History Center to place an order to borrow the film or fiche. Books do not circulate. In Stockton the Family History Center is located at 800 W. Brookside Rd., 951-7060. The Lodi Center is at 721 Ham Lane, 369-4148. The Manteca Center is at 6060 E. Northland Rd., 239-5516. Tracy's Center is at 1981 Chester Drive, 835-1816.

Beginner's Guides & Forms

Cyndi's List of Beginner Pages

Cyndi's List offers a long list of sites that offer beginner guides and tips.

Forms to Download from Ancestry.com

Ancestry.com offers some nice forms to printout from your computer. While most people use genealogy software to create forms from their genealogy databases, these are nice forms to use as working copies. If you simply "open" the form, an Adobe Acrobat version will appear on your computer for immediate printing. If you wish to purchase archival quality forms, go to the Everton's Genealogical Helper Web Site Bookstore, and look under supplies. Cyndi's List also suggests many more sites with free forms.

Census Data

Ancestry Library Edition 1790 to 1930 Census Images and Indexing **
... available only if you are in the library

The Stockton-San Joaquin County Public Library pays Ancestry Library Edition to make images of all the released U.S. Censuses available on Library computers. Most years are indexed as well. Note the separate link to AIS indexes that may cover years not yet indexed by Ancestry. All indexes have HIGH rates of error. Look through the records yourself if the index fails.

How to Use the National Archives' Census Microfilm Catalogs

The National Archives site includes online versions of its catalogs for selecting microfilm rolls for all censuses, 1790-1930. It also explains the Soundex system in detail and has an online database to find census rolls for 1930. For larger cities in the 1930 census, use Samuel Morse's site shown below.

Obtaining E.D. for the 1930 Census (Larger Cities)

Stephen P. Morse's 1930 Census page lets you find the enumeration districts that include a specific street in major cities in the 1930 census. It also has a soundex converter and a list of explanations for the occupational codes that appear on the 1930 census.

Soundex converter

This site will give the Soundex Code for any name entered. The soundex system is used to index the 1880, 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 censuses. The soundex code converts each surname to a letter and three digits based on how the name sounds when spoken. The National Archives dropped the Soundex program that used to be found here when it was discovered that it was not always accurate. This personal home page is purported to be more accurate. It allows you to enter a whole group of surnames at once.

1880 United States 1881 British Isles, and 1881 Canadian Census Records with Every Name Indexing

The Family History Library has created an every name index to the 1880 or 1881 censuses. Each entry links to a page of personal information about an individual and then to a group record for the "family" recorded by the census taker.

Canadian Censuses Available on Microfilm

Library and Archives Canada allows U.S. Libraries to borrow Canadian census microfilm from them. This page explains what is available and includes online indexes to find out which rolls to order for specific places. Click on Our Services and then Consulting Our Collection and Interlibrary and Inter-Institutional Loan for more details.

Thousands of Other Census Sites

Thousands of census transcription projects can be found on the web. Look under Census on Cyndi's List for links to many of them worldwide.

Commercial Sites

Everton Publishers Web Site

Everton's Genealogical Helper, now called Family History Magazine, has been the standard genealogy magazine for decades. This home page offers a beginner's guide, a link to its free e-mail newsletter, and articles from its magazine. Check its Genealogy Supply Store for a wide selection of genealogy forms and materials.

FamilyTreeMaker's Home Page

Family Tree Maker is one of the most popular genealogy software packages. On its home page it offers many free databases and tutorials. If you find your ancestor listed on some of FTM's CD-ROMs after doing a name search, check out the large collection of these CD-ROMs at the Lodi Family History Center, 721 Ham Lane.

Ethnic Sources

Guide to African-American Internet Resources

Detroit's Burton Library is recognized as one of the nation's best genealogy libraries. This table lists the Library's suggests for the best sites for African-American genealogy on the Internet.

JewishGen Inc.

JewishGen®, Inc. is the primary internet source connecting researchers of Jewish genealogy worldwide.

Native American Links

So many fine pages that offer help with Native American research exist that it is probably best to start with Cindy's List under Native Americans to get started.

Geography -- Locating Places & Finding Land Records

Federal Land Patent Records Site

This Bureau of Land Management site provides live database access to Federal land conveyance records for the Public Land States. Document images are provided to more than two million Federal land title records for Eastern Public Land States, issued between 1820 and 1908. Images of Serial patents, issued between 1908 and the mid-1960's are currently being added to this web site. Due to organization of documents in the GLO collection, this web site does not currently contain every Federal title record issued for the listed states. Records for other states (such as California) link the user to the states' land offices after showing records found.

Geographic Name Server

Enter a current U.S. place name at this site and it will give you basic geographic information on that place including, when available, name, state, county, longitude/latitude, elevation, population, zip codes and other remarks. It also gives the name of the USGS topographical map for the site and offers aerial photography of the location. Although a topographical map is also available here, the topo maps at Topozone.com are better.

Global Gazetteer

This site locates even small towns or villages throughout the world and then shows maps pinpointing the location as well as giving longitude, latitude and elevation. It also shows the current weather conditions at the nearest weather station!

Topozone.com

Topozone.com offers free, full-color topographical maps for the entire United States. Once a map is found it can be scaled to different sizes. You can also move around on the map. If you have trouble locating a map use the Geographic Name Server to locate the place. The Geographic Name Server will show the name of the USGS topographical map containing the place.

Immigration & Passenger Lists

Ellis Island Passenger Records Search Site

Between 1892 and 1924 over 22 million passengers and members of ships' crews came through Ellis Island and the Port of New York. Now you can research passenger records from ships that brought the immigrants and even see the original manifests with passenger names.

Filby's Passenger & Immigration Lists Index

Ancestry Library Edition includes indexing to Filby's Passenger and Immigration Lists Index: A Guide to Published Arrival Records of ... Passengers who Came to the United States and Canada in the Seventeenth, Eighteenth, and Nineteenth Centuries. Look under the heading Immigration Records for the title Passenger and Immigration Lists. The Library can attempt to order copies of the pages referenced in this index.

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild

Volunteers across the country are transcribing passenger lists from microfilm. This site contains the transcriptions created by USGenWeb volunteers and links to other projects.

Language Help

iLoveLanguages

iLoveLanguages is a comprehensive catalog of language-related Internet resources. The more than 2000 links at iLoveLanguages have been hand-reviewed to bring you the best language links the Web has to offer. Whether you're looking for online language lessons, translating dictionaries, native literature, translation services, software, language schools, or just a little information on a language you've heard about, iLoveLanguages probably has something to suit your needs.

Libraries & Record Repositories

Sutro Branch and the California State Library

The California State Library's online catalog includes most of the holdings of the Sutro Branch (San Francisco) Library, a major genealogy library. Your local library can obtain most of the materials available at the Sutro Library for you via interlibrary loan. Enter subjects such as TITUS FAMILY or WAYNE COUNTY (don't include the state until you know how the catalog abbreviates the state you need), or use the keyword index. Look for Sutro's call number below the author and title. Give your librarian the author, title, and call number for the material you want. Books from the State Library in Sacramento can often be borrowed as well unless they are in the reference or California historical collections. The State Library has a large collection of California City Directories and newspapers on microfilm available for interlibrary loan within California.

Interlibrary Loan from Genealogy of the Heartland

The Mid-Continent Public Library in Independence, Missouri has a catalog of books that it offers to other libraries on interlibrary loan. If you find books in this collection that you would like to see, write down the author, title and call number for each book. Give this information to your local librarian along with this note: Please submit an ALA Interlibrary Loan Request form to Interlibrary Loan Dept., Mid-Continent Public Library, 15616 East 24 Highway Independence, MO 64050, or fax to MCPL-ILL 816-521-7265. Do NOT use OCLC to request items since there is often a six to twelve month wait to fill a request. The MCPL does not charge for this service, but the borrowing library must pay return postage. ill@mcpl.lib.mo.us

Interlibrary Loan from the National Genealogy Society

Not many libraries will loan their genealogy books to other libraries. The National Genealogy Society has a large collection of material that it is willing to loan. Browse its online library catalog. Materials labels "SLCL - NGS Collection" are available for interlibrary loan. Print the catalog record for each book of interest and take the printout to your local public library. Ask your library to contact the St. Louis County Library, where the books are housed. The Library's OCLC code for interlibrary loan is ZAE. Two books may be requested at one time.

PERSI -- PERIODICAL SOURCE INDEX

The Periodical Source Index, or PERSI, is the largest subject index to genealogical and historical periodical articles in the world. PERSI is a comprehensive subject index covering genealogy and local history periodicals written in English and French (Canada) since 1800. The time period of the articles ranges from the 1700's to the present. More than 1.1 million index entries from nearly six thousand titles are represented by this work. The index is a subscription database at Ancestry.com. You may access the index for free via Ancestry Library Edition at any of our libraries or for a fee through Ancestry.com at home. If you want copies of the articles found, check with your local librarian about photocopies through Interlibrary Loan or contact the Fort Wayne Public Library, the producer of PERSI, directly with the form found at this link Click on "To Obtain Copies."

National Archives and Records Administration -- The Genealogy Page

Records maintained by the National Archives form a major part of the resources used by genealogists to trace their family histories. From the National Archives genealogy page, the researcher can identify these records and learn about their history and use. Among sources found here are the federal census, military records from before WWI, immigration and naturalization records, African American and Native American records created by the federal government, federal court records, and some post office and other federal employee historical records.

National Archives Microfilm Catalogs Online

Online catalogs are available that describe census, military, immigration and passenger list, American Indian, African American, and Federal Court records that are available on microfilm. Note the title of the microfilm collection. List microfilm roll number along with a description of what that roll includes: Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at New York, NY, 1820-1897, M237, roll 365, Sept. 2--17, 1872. Then check with your local library to see if this microfilm is available through the Sutro Library or use the online catalog for the Family History Library to find the alternate roll number to use to order the film through your local Family History Center.

National Archives and Records Administration's Pacific Branch in San Bruno

Here you will find the address, phone numbers, and hours for the National Archives branch in San Bruno along with a listing of its services.

Locality & Surname Searches

GENDEX

Gene Stark's index of names for all GenWeb sites includes links to data on nearly 40 million individuals collected from hundreds of web pages. It gives you the ability to locate and view data of interest to you on any of these databases, without having to go and visit each of the databases separately

GENUKI

This extensive collection of sources for genealogy in the United Kingdom and Ireland is maintained by a network of volunteers. It concentrates on primary source materials, detailed finding aids, and guides arranged in a logical order by country, region, county, and town. It also links to British genealogy societies.

RAND Genealogy Club

This site supports the Roots Location List, Roots Surname List and a Soundex converter, as well as many links organized either by type or by regional, ethnic, or religious groupings.

Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness

You can use this site to find genealogists from all over the United States (and some foreign countries) willing to help you in your genealogical research.

RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative

RootsWeb's own genealogy runs back more than a decade to the days of net.roots. RootsWeb folks have been involved since the early days of ROOTS-L and the Roots Surname List, and more recently were among the founders of the RAND Genealogy Club. They created the RootsWeb site to continue to support the genealogical community as the needs of the community outstripped the ability of RAND and other organizations to host the genealogical community on a guest basis.

San Joaquin Genealogical Society

The San Joaquin Genealogical Society is a non-profit, non-sectarian organization founded in 1952. Their purpose is to promote general interest in genealogy and history by individual and group cooperation and to cooperate with other similar organizations. They encourage the research and writing of genealogical books, papers, and lectures on subjects of genealogical interest through monthly meetings, workshops, seminars, lectures and field trips.

US GenWeb

In the US GenWeb project, volunteers from all over the United States have created local state and county genealogical web sites linked geographically at this address.

Full-Text Resources on the Web

Making of America Digital Library (University of Michigan)

Making of America (MOA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The UM collection contains 8,500 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints. When you find something you want to view you will see a scanned image of the actual page. Sometimes plain text is available too for you to download to your computer. Of greatest interest to genealogists at this time are some state and county histories and directories. Put in an ancestor's name or a place where the family lived. You can also browse the book list. The collection is not limited to Michigan sources. There are New York sources here, for instance, even though Cornell University has a MOA site too.

Making of America Digital Library (Cornell University, New York)

The Making of America project is a cooperative effort of the University of Michigan and Cornell University. At Cornell University, 267 monographs and 22 journals (955 volumes) with imprints primarily between 1840 - 1900 were selected, scanned, and made available through the present system. Of particular interest to genealogists are a few New York county histories and business directories and, more importantly, the complete 70 volumes of the War of The Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies and Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion. Enter your Civil War ancestor's name to see if he is listed in a report or has a letter in the collection. As with the UM collection, you will view scanned images of the actual documents, but plain text is usually available to download. There is no copyright on these materials. The collection is not limited to New York sources.

ARC -- Archival Research Catalog of the National Archives

Click on SEARCH to look for archival descriptions via keyword, media type, and/or NARA unit. In the ARC collection you will find reproductions of actual documents and photographs from the National Archives collections along with some indexes that used to be available only on microfilm. Genealogists searching for Cherokee ancestors will find this site most useful. While not complete online, ARC does include reproductions of many Cherokee census cards from the Dawes rolls and from the Guion-Miller census.

Vital Statistics -- Births, Deaths, Marriages, Obituaries & Burials

CA Death Records

This portion of the Rootsweb site enables you to look up California death information from 1940 to 1997. As with the CA Birth Records site mentioned above, often the less information you put in the better. For each name entered, you will retrieve the County of death, mother's maiden name, age at death, death date, and Social Security number of the deceased.

Funeralnet.com

This site is set up for persons in the Funeral Home and Cemetery industries, but it can also be of use to genealogists. You can access databases of funeral homes and cemeteries nationwide.

Social Security Death Index

The Death Index includes information about more than 50 million people whose next of kin collected death benefits from the Social Security Administration after 1961. The file currently runs through 1993.

Vital Search -- California Birth, Marriage, and Death Records

While this site has a commercial, fee-based segment, it is possible to look at indexing for many California vital records for free. You will have to enter your name and a valid e-mail address. When you start a search you will be hit with advertisements on the screen,.but you just need to click on "close this window" to get to the records you desire.

Available records include scanned images of the California state indexes for BIRTHS 1905-1939, 1940-1949; MARRIAGES (Bride's name index only) 1949-1959, 1960-1985; DEATHS 1905-1929, 1930-1939, 1940-2000. In each section look for the links or for information lower on the first page that explain column headings and give the county codes. (San Joaquin County's code is 39.)

Where to Write for Vital Records

This page contains information about where to obtain vital records from each state, territory and county of the United States. It can also be used as an entry point into local USGenWeb Projects and other local, Internet-based information for genealogists.