|
| Genealogy on the InternetWith the holidays coming up quickly, our thoughts are turning toward spending time with family and friends. Researching your family tree online can make it easier to find relatives you never knew you had, just in time to send them a Christmas card! ancestry.com is one of the oldest and best, and many of their services are free. If you require more information than what is provided, a small membership fee gains you access to their huge database and genealogy links. Their information contains over 700 million names, and is international. rootsweb.com is a totally free, and was the first genealogy site to go online. It searches 40 different databases concurrently for the name you enter. The format is a little bit confusing, but the information is worth the hassle. They have a thorough help section, and links to smaller databases and information sometimes not found elsewhere. If you need a place to set up your own family tree, they offer unlimited webspace just for that purpose! The Social Security death index is one of the most helpful databases I’ve come across in my research. Rootsweb.com and most other sites will have a link to this one. It lists the birth and death date, SSN, state of birth, city and state of death. If you do find something useful, you can send for a copy of the application form. This is very helpful when you are having trouble with someone’s maiden name or parents names. ohiohistory.org, the Ohio Historical Society’s website has a wealth of information to help the family tree investigator. Military rosters, civil war documents, newspaper index, even the Ohio death certificate index for 1913-1937 so far. ogs.org is the online home of the Ohio Genealogical Society. You must be a member to access much of the data, but it can be worth the price if you need the information. scioto.org assists you with your genealogy search on a local level. You will find one terrific resource at this website. They have links to the OhGenWeb project for the entire state. Several historical and genealogical websites are listed for our area, including Adams, Jackson, Lawrence, Pike, Ross and Scioto counties which reside on their server. I’d like to thank the webmaster and everyone involved in the project, their site helped me in my own family tree research. sciotocountyohio.com isn’t really a genealogy site, but the historical information found there is invaluable. For example, did you know Scioto County used to be a part of Virginia? Visit them to read more. portsmouth.lib.oh.us/lclhist.html is home to the Portsmouth Public Library’s historical department. Although the information itself isn’t online, they do provide a complete list of the types of information they have in print. zoomnet.net/~mramey/cemetery.html lists many local cemeteries and inscriptions from the gravestones. Look up your family name here, and then research to see if they may be lost loved ones. politicalgraveyard.com/geo/OH/SC.html is devoted to politicians who were either born, lived, or died in Scioto County. If you’re related to a famous senator, try looking here! southernohio.com is my personal website which is a tribute to our heritage. As time permits I will be adding historical information, pictures of old postcards I have, photos from the flood, etc. The original single-page site is still online at geocities.com/heartland/hills/3403 for now. With all these utilities to work with, what used to take years can take a fraction of the time. If you already have your research complete, why not take some time to share it with others? You never know, you may find it’s not such a big world after all. |
|