Taking a FREE Course and Learning About Genealogy

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Why is genealogy so popular? Compassion in learning the history of our ancestors which helps us gain a greater understanding of how they lived in the past.

This is a very important step for anyone thinking of or is new to starting their family tree. 

Are you contemplating taking a genealogy course? If the answer is yes! Read on…

Get the basics and learn how to research the right way. Learn more about your ancestors and where you came from. Understand what you are undertaking; focus and prepare your way before starting any family tree research.

First and foremost, learn the basics of genealogy. Tracing your family tree will be an exhilarating and fascinating journey while you dig deeper into your past.

Taking a course will help you understand the genealogy research process and how to interpret the information you find. Learn how to uncover the past and record your family history. 

Discover different research strategies. Learn how important surnames are and what challenges genealogists have with name variations and name changes. 

Develop a strategy to accomplish your goals and objectives; evaluate the results, and share that information with others. 

Discover where to look, who to contact, and how to make your family history come alive!

Learn about the main source types that include civil, church, census and military records. Learn how to use these different kinds of data in research. 

Record your findings. Bring your family tree to life by properly citing any documents, maps, letters, photos, etc and attaching to the person you are researching. Protect your document.

Remember, learning how to prepare your family’s genealogy the correct way will be – challenging and personally rewarding for you. Leave a legacy for your descendants, a genealogical history that they will be proud of and display. 

Research for FREE genealogy courses that are available! 

Below are eight website links to help you get started:

  • Udemy – Free Introductory Course to Genealogy –  A pre-research course to introduce you to genealogy. Sign up for a FREE account and enrol for this FREE beginner course.
  • FamilySearch Learning Center – Has a wide range of FREE genealogy courses available for learning.
  • Lisa Lisson – Where To Find Free Genealogy Courses – It’s Easier Than You Think! An article with 11 website links to ‘Free genealogy courses and webinars are a great way to improve a researcher’s genealogy research skills and increase the chance of finding your ancestors.’
  • Future Learn – Genealogy: Researching Your Family Tree – FREE Course – Dive into your family ancestry and learn how to create a family tree on this online genealogy course.
  • Family History Daily – 7 Places to Find Free Genealogy Courses and Webinars Online – Links to seven websites offering FREE structured genealogy courses or helpful webinars that cover modern research methods that will open your eyes to a whole new world of genealogy discoveries.
  • Legacy Family Tree Webinars – Check out the FREE Library (also a dropdown box from 2010-21) for various topics and also available in other languages as well.
  • Genealogy.com – Genealogy Learning Center – Trace your family’s history for FREE on Genealogy.com as they will guide you along with how-to articles, genealogy guides and other resources. An excellent resource with lots of different subjects covered.
  • Learn Web Skills – Researching Your Family Tree – FREE interactive tutorial where you can study subject headings in whatever order you would like. A good starting course to begin with.

If you feel the need to pay for genealogy courses in the future – by all means, as it is your prerogative. But in the meantime, be frugal – save yourself some money and enrol in some FREE courses first. 

What are you waiting for? Select a FREE course today and learn some basic genealogy. Get started on your Family Tree.

I hope that you found this article informative. 

Good Luck!

Your Legacy: Making Your Family Tree For Free

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Have you ever wondered and asked yourself “How can I make my family tree for free?”.  This is a very common question among beginner family historians. Genealogy can become a very expensive hobby so here are some ideas to get you started and create your family tree for FREE!

Download a free family tree software package

You can create a family tree on paper but with today’s technology of computers, it makes more sense to do it on your computer. And you can do it for FREE! Below is a list for you to check out:

  • Family Tree Builder: from My Heritage which is a very good free genealogy software
  • Family Tree – Ancestry Photo Manager: a FREE photo organizer to consolidate photos, videos, thumb drives, etc into a single unified library.
  • RootsMagic: Essentials is a FREE genealogy and family tree software – very popular with genealogists
  • Legacy Family Tree 9.0: FREE – setting a New Standard while supporting a wide range of reporting features.
  • Family Historian: FREE – rated as the BEST Family Tree Software in 2020, it is great for beginners.
  • Gramps – Genealogy Software: FREE – developed for Linux and UNIX-like operating systems, but it is also available for Windows and Mac OSX. Gramps is an open source software using free tools and services from GitHub.

There are lots of them available on the Internet so you will have to do some initial research. Next you will have to select one that you would be most comfortable with using. Download one software genealogy program to get yourself started and remember this tool will give you the ability to create an awesome family tree.

You may want to start your family tree with an online family tree research program. Below is a list of 5 that I would recommend you researching and deciding on one. It’s hard to make a selection with so many out in cyberspace so this my shortlist for you to make a selection from.

Creating your online family tree

  • Ancestry.com: Create a FREE Online Family Tree to discover your family’s past. Has over 12 billion historical records in their database. Build your online family tree. Once you have your tree started you can always upgrade to one of their paid subscription services and get more detailed information on your ancestors.
  • My Heritage: Family Tree – With My Heritage you can also make a FREE Online Family Tree. If you downloaded the Family Tree Builder mentioned above you can merge the data from your standalone computer software version to the online one. The site provides you with free online family tree search capabilities, tutorials on how to make your tree and billions of international, searchable genealogy records to discover your ancestors. MyHeritage also has an awesome photo enhancer that can colourize old photos, something to check out. An excellent choice if you want to build your online family tree.
  • Findmypast: Family Tree – UK based with a new look. Findmypast online family tree builder, you can easily build a family tree and access it anywhere. In addition to the benefit of digitally preserving your family history research, Findmypast offers you accurate ancestor search results thanks to their genealogical society partners. Their search filters are quite nice, too, as they narrow your ancestor search results to save you valuable time. Build your online family tree. 
  • Family Tree Now: Offers you a FREE online family tree building experience. With one of the largest collections of genealogy records (census records, birth records, death records, marriage & divorce records, living people records and military records), you’re sure to find some long lost ancestors by using their search features. The best part about the Family Tree Now family tree builder is that you will never be charged fees to search,  view details or fill in your tree. It has the ability to search billions of genealogy records 100% FREE to find your ancestors. A GREAT choice to build your online family tree. 
  • Family Tree by FamilySearch – Free Online Tree: largest collection of free genealogy records in the world owned by Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Only has an Online version with full syncing capabilities with the FamilySearch app and partial individual person syncing with Family Tree Maker and RootsMagic. Has a huge variety of printable charts, forms, keepsakes, maps and more… You can easily share and collaborate with family and other community members. Family Tree – Family Search has an extensive online support, learning center, research wiki. A GREAT choice to build your online family tree. 

You have to start somewhere and to begin your tree it is always best by starting with yourself and work back. 

I would highly recommend for you to download my FREE PDF ‘22 Steps in Researching Your Family Tree’. It is the ‘22 Steps’ that is required for you to use as a guide when you start your tree.

Interviewing your parents, grandparents and other relatives

This is an important step in making your family tree–interviewing relatives. Remember it’s free and it is best to get these facts before it’s too late! Better to get this information as soon as you start. 

Sit down with your parents, grandparents and other relatives and find out as much information as they know-names, dates, places-about their parents and their grandparents. These interviews should definitely help you with your family tree back to your great-grandparents or even your great-great-grandparents! If possible, and with permission gather photos, documents, videos, etc. The information you gather during this phase in your research will be the building blocks to your tree. 

Searching for ancestors on free family tree websites

Many family tree websites require you to have a subscription and many have a FREE one available to start. There are a handful of excellent websites that can help you get started:

1) FamilySearch.org – One of the best places to start searching for your family tree. Search for each of your ancestors from your family tree who have passed away by name and with any other identifying information (birth date, death date, etc.)

2) Cyndislist.com – With more than 250,000 links to genealogy websites, this is a must-stop for any person trying to make their family tree. Browse through the links related to your family surnames-you may find websites with information that can help you expand certain of your family lines.

3) GenForum and Ancestry Boards – There are thousands of message boards for surnames where you can post as much information as you have on each surname from your family tree and see if there are others also researching the same line who may be able to help!

4) Family Tree Magazine list of 25 beginner-friendly websites which will get you started.

Visiting a local Family History Center

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is very involved with genealogy and has over 30,000 congregations in more than 160 countries and territories. In Family History Centers volunteers can give you free advice on how to make and research your family tree. These volunteers can also help you search for microfilms that you can look at to find your ancestors in records from all over the world.

Sharing your family tree

After you have followed the steps above to make your family tree for free, share what you have found with other family members. Consider making a family tree website so that others who are researching similar lines may find parts of their family tree for free!

So, what are you waiting for – go ahead and get started – be the detective and solve your family history!

Don’t forget, download my FREE PDF ‘22 Steps in Researching Your Family Tree’.

Free Genealogy Search – A Step in Your Family Ancestry

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If you’re interested in rediscovering your family’s history, then you should conduct your own research or hire a genealogist to do the search for you. However, you have to consider that hiring a genealogist right away can be very expensive as well as researching for your family’s ancestry alone. It will also take quite a long time to get to your goal on finding the root of your family’s history.

If you think about it, there is a much cheaper way to start searching for your family’s history. Although it will only offer limited results, it is a great way to start your search for your family’s history. It will also save you a lot of time and money because it’s free and it’s available on the internet. The internet contains thousands of different genealogy related websites. You will find a few websites that will offer free genealogy search. Although these free genealogy websites will only offer limited information, it will serve as a great start to find out about your family’s genealogy.

Also, free genealogy search websites will serve as a stepping stone on your search for your ancestors. With this kind of website, you will never again have to leave your home and search public libraries for old newspapers and old public records that may contain information about your family’s history. Here, you can search for your relatives and obtain copies of available documents for free – right in the comforts of your own home.

Since free genealogy search websites don’t contain all the information you need, you can consider gathering what information you can and once you meet a dead end in your search, you can say that it’s time for you to hire a genealogist to do the work for you. You can provide them with all the information you gathered and the genealogist will pick up where you left off. This will lessen the fee for their services as you did some work for yourself. However, the cost will also depend on how far back you want your family tree to be. Always remember that the farther back in the past your family tree is and the harder it is to find documents, the more expensive the fee for the genealogist will be.

Free genealogy search websites are only there to give you a bit of push on your search for your ancestors. You have to remember that free genealogy search websites only contains limited information. And, if you want a more comprehensive search and a proper family tree, you should consider hiring a genealogist to do the work for you.

Professional genealogists know what documents to find and where to find them. They will also furnish you a copy of the original documents and will make a family tree for you if you want them to.

Searching for your genealogy is a fun activity. So, start uncovering your family’s mystery by searching for the preliminary information first in free genealogy search websites and continue with a more comprehensive search with a genealogist.

A great website and article for further reading and to help you in your research is on “Family Tree” article ‘Best Free Genealogy and Family History Websites’ By David A. Fryxell.

This is an awesome resource for anyone who wants to get started in their research.

Good Luck!