Home > Public Death Records > How Can I Assess BIRTH And DEATH Records, MARRIAGE Records And Other PUBLIC Records For FREE …?

How Can I Assess BIRTH And DEATH Records, MARRIAGE Records And Other PUBLIC Records For FREE …?

January 11th, 2010 Leave a comment Go to comments

I’m trying to track down my family history. Mama can only tell me so much, and then it’s a dead end. All the older folks in my family are gone, and the public records at the courthouse only go so far. Mama is also ill, so she gets short-tempered if I ask her too many questions. I have to almost catch her when she’s in a reminiscent mood … and THEN I’ll have to be ready with a tape recorder, or I’ll miss a lot of what she’s got to say.

I can’t find a good online site that’ll give me anything! I can, of course, pay for the records I need just to get the names and the dates that I’m looking for … but it’ll cost me a pretty penny! Some of these records won’t be in the free archives for a few more years, since they wait 50 years after the person’s death to release them to the public for free.

If it were a simple thing like tracing one family lineage, I probably wouldn’t have much of a problem. But I’m talking centuries of scattered slaves with no Census Bureau records, as well as Native American ancestry … and I don’t even know what tribe!

It’ll be REALly interesting to find out if I’m related to a certain public figure with whom I share a last name … maybe one of his ancestors owned one of mine?

But, Alas! I don’t exactly know where to start!

Wendy provided you with some valuable advise. You will incur some expenses as she said and cyndi’s list is an invaluable resource. There is a site I recently found that will provide you with some public records for many local courthouses:
https://www.virtualgumshoe.com/resources/index.asp?CATEGORY_ID=90. Many public records for various counties are available. I’ve been able to obtain copies of actual documents (without visiting the courthouse or paying a fee) for my tree. Even my marriage record is listed on my county site!
It’s great because most public records will cost you and these are available on-line. Not every county is listed here but there are many. If you can obtain any tidbits of information from your Mama write them down. Gather up everything you can. A great site to help you begin learning how to research and organize the information you collect and gather is http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Family-and-Relationships/Genealogy.html?xa=1.
There are many genealogical sites that are free. One thing you should remember about the information you find that others have compiled is – you must research the historical records for yourself for accuracy. The compilers’ may have just copied what others have found. Make sure the information is correct by viewing official documents, i.e., marriage, birth, census records, etc. yourself. Here are some very good free sites:
http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp FamilySearch.org is a non-profit service sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You can also download free software that will help you keep your family tree organized.
http://usgenweb.org/. This site has been created by a group of volunteers that are committed to keep genealogy free and have provided a website for genealogical research in every county and state in the United States.
http://rwguide.rootsweb.ancestry.com/. RootsWeb is also a great site. It’s funded by Ancestry.com. It provides links to ton’s of additional sites as well.
http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/index.asp . Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. Genealogy Learning Center. This site has also has some great getting started tips and free downloadable charts and forms.
http://www.myheritage.com/. Is free, private and secure. You can create a web site, build and save a family tree, share photos and videos and much more.
http://www.geni.com/home. You can build your family tree and invite others to join via email and expand your tree. You can add photo’s and video’s.

  1. Adair
    January 11th, 2010 at 21:05 | #1

    You CAN’T. "Public" does NOT mean "free". The expense of archiving, storing, and maintaining these records, including building facilities, computers, staff. Those people don’t work for free.
    References :

  2. wendy c
    January 11th, 2010 at 21:21 | #2

    with all respect..
    start with understanding that research can, and does, involve some costs. You will break down every wall by not lumping things in a basket.. ie, you need to find a marriage record for a couple in Tarrant co, Tx in 1874 or a death record for grandma in Birmingham, Ala in 1957. EVERY RECORD is unique.
    Documents at the court house are public.. but you still have to spend gas money and time to get there, and it may be the other side of the country.
    http://www.cyndislist.com/beginner.htm
    However, there are MANY other types of records that you will use (census, Bible, school, family pics, tombstones, so forth).
    References :

  3. ?
    January 11th, 2010 at 21:49 | #3

    Wendy provided you with some valuable advise. You will incur some expenses as she said and cyndi’s list is an invaluable resource. There is a site I recently found that will provide you with some public records for many local courthouses:
    https://www.virtualgumshoe.com/resources/index.asp?CATEGORY_ID=90. Many public records for various counties are available. I’ve been able to obtain copies of actual documents (without visiting the courthouse or paying a fee) for my tree. Even my marriage record is listed on my county site!
    It’s great because most public records will cost you and these are available on-line. Not every county is listed here but there are many. If you can obtain any tidbits of information from your Mama write them down. Gather up everything you can. A great site to help you begin learning how to research and organize the information you collect and gather is http://www.findingdulcinea.com/guides/Family-and-Relationships/Genealogy.html?xa=1.
    There are many genealogical sites that are free. One thing you should remember about the information you find that others have compiled is – you must research the historical records for yourself for accuracy. The compilers’ may have just copied what others have found. Make sure the information is correct by viewing official documents, i.e., marriage, birth, census records, etc. yourself. Here are some very good free sites:
    http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp FamilySearch.org is a non-profit service sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You can also download free software that will help you keep your family tree organized.
    http://usgenweb.org/. This site has been created by a group of volunteers that are committed to keep genealogy free and have provided a website for genealogical research in every county and state in the United States.
    http://rwguide.rootsweb.ancestry.com/. RootsWeb is also a great site. It’s funded by Ancestry.com. It provides links to ton’s of additional sites as well.
    http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/index.asp . Ellis Island Foundation, Inc. Genealogy Learning Center. This site has also has some great getting started tips and free downloadable charts and forms.
    http://www.myheritage.com/. Is free, private and secure. You can create a web site, build and save a family tree, share photos and videos and much more.
    http://www.geni.com/home. You can build your family tree and invite others to join via email and expand your tree. You can add photo’s and video’s.

    References :

  4. bastropcc
    January 11th, 2010 at 22:01 | #4

    Depending on the state, the records ARE available online and free. Texas, California, Florida are ones I know about. I found my birth information in one state and marriage in one of the others.
    One good place to start is http://www.usgenweb.org then go to your state, then county. Depending on who the coordinator is for that county, depends on whether there is good information on the site. I coordinate one of those counties and went to the courthouse and took pictures of all the birth, death, marriage indexes and put them online. In addition the Vital Statistics office released their database for my state and it’s online.
    So where to start?
    I’d pay for a subscription to http://www.ancestry.com. This will get you a lot of information, like the social security death index, birth, death, census, etc.

    Looking for Indian records: http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/howtosearch/index.htm

    Looking for slave records: this will be hard as the slave census records only list the sex and age of the slave. Now if your family lived in the same area in 1870 and 1860 you might be able to find them IF they had their slave owner’s last name. Otherwise look online for the WPA Slave Narratives. You might find that one of your relatives gave a history of their or their parents slave life to these people that went around during the early 1900s. These are on Ancestry, if you have a subscription.
    other sites:
    http://www.gencircles.com
    http://www.genforum.com
    http://www.familysearch.org (look for their beta page as they are putting actual images of records online)
    http://www.census-online.com/links/

    Good Luck and if you get stuck, give a holler here with the name, location and dates and we can help
    References :

  5. heaven_and_earth69
    January 11th, 2010 at 22:06 | #5

    you can go to your library to access ancestry.com.what area is your family from?if i can help i will
    References :
    ancestry.com,rootsweb,usgen

  6. Kelsey
    January 11th, 2010 at 22:37 | #6

    For public records, I would recommend http://www.crimcheck.com. They have an extensive public records database that you can use for free! Good luck!
    References :
    http://www.crimcheck.com

    http://www.easybackgroundchecks.com

  7. Janice S
    January 11th, 2010 at 23:25 | #7

    try familysearch.org: usgenweb.net :Heritage Quest is free at home on line through your local library in many locations. You can go to a Family History Center Of the Latter Day Saints Church and search their records for free. A small fee is charged for copies. They have a lot of their records available at the FHS and they usually have very helpful volunteers to help and they don’t preach any religion to you. I love the centers for genealogy help and have used two of them. Check your phone book and call for time and location as they are mannned by volunteers.
    References :
    Personal knowledge and use

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