Fast & Free Family History on Family Search

A good free source of genealogical information I've used a lot recently is FamilySearch.org. It is a resource from the archives of the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City. You can register on the site if you are inclined, but you can also do searches without registering. This site has a fairly powerful search engine, but as you can imagine this an international collection with millions of indexed records and more being added monthly. Sometimes a search comes up empty handed though you know there has to be something there. I have found some tricks to working with this site that have enabled me to find information when it has already told me there is none there.

Before I go through my method of using this site, however, I should say that this is a wonderful source of death records after 1890. You can see and download the actual record and often glean some useful information from it. This is also true for many census records. Unfortunately, some of the census records you will find take you to another site on which you must pay to view the record.

1. Go first to www.FamilySearch.org.
2. Click on Records Search in the menu bar at top of home page
3. Go to Search Pilot
4. A new window with a form will open. Fill out the relevant information
5. Before hitting Search, look at the options at the bottom right next to the search button.
If you are fishing for info, click the down arrow and then click on "exact, close, partial."
6. Now hit search

A list of possibilities will pop up and you have several options at this point that are time savers but that may lead to some vital information. How many times have you opened a census record for example and scrolled down the dimming handwriting to discover that this is not your person at all? That won't happen on this site. With each hit listed you have the following possibilities.
1.You can view the information provided for each hit on the screen to decide if this your guy or what you are looking for.
2. If you are unsure you can mouse over the name and a pop up will give you more information on the hit.
3. Maybe this is Grandpa Joe, but maybe not...click on the individuals name and a side bar will slide open with more details from whatever record you are looking at.
4. Many but not all of these indexed records have the image available for viewing and in many cases downloading. If the image is available there will be an icon by the name on the original list, and also on the right hand side of the sidebar that has just opened.

Free, fast family research. It's a resource I like.
copyright 2009 Susie Williams

Questions, advise, corrections email me at itsfamilyresearch09@gmail.com.