Share your Family History
Share your findings and collaborate with others to facilitate your own research.
Post your Family Tree
One of the best acknowledged ways of using the internet to find out more about your family is to use the Web as a bulletin board by posting your family tree and registering your family surnames.
Many genealogists are not just looking for details on their families, they also hope to make connections with other researchers and family members. Post your family tree and/or surnames and have other researchers find you.
-
Ancestry Member Trees
A collection of millions of individual family trees created by members of the Ancestry.com. Information contained in these trees may include: dates and places of life events, source information, attached records from the Ancestry databases, and rich content featuring photos and stories. Ancestry.com users have submitted this information to be viewed by all other Ancestry users. You may be asked to become a member but Ancestry member but membership is free. You may be asked to become a member, but membership is free.
- RootsWeb World Connect
A huge Registry - over a million entries on file. Search the RSL or submit your own surnames in this gedcom registry
- RootsWeb Surname List
A huge Surname Registry - over a million entries on file. Search the RSL or submit your own surnames in this surname registry.
- US GENWEB Project
Most states have a query or surname registry. Add your surnames and your URL.
- World GENWEB Project
Most countries have a query or surname registry. Add your surnames and your URL.
Find Unknown Cousins
One of the more exciting experiences for a genealogist is to find some one else researching the same family. Not only is there the joy of being introduced on-line to a new cousin, but there is the added benefit of being able to pool your genealogical research. Sometimes that cousin may hold the key to your most elusive problem or a hold just a very small piece needed to finish a perplexing puzzle. They may have family pictures, stories, bibles or letters to share or have completed some research on a line that you haven't yet begun. And not only can you pool past research, now it is possible to share future research.
But how do you find these elusive and unknown cousins who hold such possibilities and give a sense of family connection? Well, these databases allow you to connect with other genealogists working on the same family tree.
These search engines are supported by some of the largest and most respected genealogy sites on the web - Ancestry and Rootsweb and are free. These search engines have millions of surnames submitted by genealogists. Each of these search engines has a unique database, so your best chance of finding another researcher is to search them all.
Start with the furthest back ancestors that you know and search for each surname. When you get the results from these search engines, check to see if any match your ancestor's geographic location and the dates. These entries are your potential cousins. Drop a note to each researcher through the databases stating where you found their name, along with a little about your ancestor with location and dates, and ask if there could be a match. Your results will probably have a lot to do with how rare or common the surname you enter is, how many generations back you are searching and just plain luck. Does this work? Yes! I have found unknown 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th cousins, and other cousins where we have not yet figured out the relationship - all using this method.
When you have searched all the databases, don't forget to submit your own surnames and family trees to each database so you can be found at a later date. Every day more people are using the internet to begin their genealogical quest. Let that new online cousin find you by making sure your name is available on these researcher databases.