Genealogy Resources at HCL

Getting Started and Getting Help

Genealogy Glossary
Another good online glossary of important terms and concepts.

Branching Out Online
Intended "for those new to genealogy or new to the Internet..."

Genealogy Instruction Beginners, Teenagers, and Kids
This site is designed for anyone who wants to begin doing research on his or her family's history, including beginning genealogists, adults, teens, and youngsters. It includes information on how to get started, where to go, whom to ask questions of, books to read, and a glossary of terms (see previous listing).

ROOTS-L Resources: Info and Tips for Beginning Genealogy
The ROOT-L Mailing List's (see below, Section VII) page with help on starting out in your quest for genealogical information.

Surnames.com Where Do I Begin?
An article with step-by-step instructions on how to get started in genealogical research; the article includes links to sites where you can obtain the necessary forms and information to begin your research.

Treasure Maps, the How-to Genealogy Site
Genealogy site aimed at novices.

Vital Statistics, Census Data, Birth And Death Records

Cemetery Junction: US Directory
All of the cemeteries are listed alphabetically by state, and can be searched by name. You can also jump from any page to any other state in the United States using the quick index on the right.

Cemetery Records Online
This site offers more than 292,000 records from over 1,800 cemeteries worldwide, focusing primarily on the US.

American Family History Information Center
This site's purpose is to "bring the immigration records on ancestors who came to this country as long as a century ago to one's fingertips."

FreeBMD
"FreeBMD stands for Free Births, Marriages, and Deaths. The FreeBMD Project's objective is to provide free Internet access to the Civil Registration index information for England and Wales. The Civil Registration system for recording births, marriages, and deaths in England and Wales has been in place since 1837 and is one of the most significant single resources for genealogical research back to Victorian times."

Genealogical Research at the National Archives
Includes information on Genealogical and Biographical Research and Beginning Your Genealogical Research; plus links to:

• Print and Online Sources that Answer Frequently Asked Questions
• Census Records
• Clues in Census Records, 1790-1840
• Clues in Census Records, 1850-1920
• The Fate of the 1890 Census
• 1930 Federal Population Census
• The Soundex Indexing System
• How to Use NARA's Census Microfilm Catalogs
• Immigration and Naturalization Records
• Military Records
• Civil War Records
• Civil War Union Court-Martial Case Files
• Confederate Pension Records
• Spanish-American War Records
• World War I Records
• State-level Lists of Casualties from the Korean Conflict (1951-1957) and the Vietnam Conflict (1957- )
• African-American Research
• Freedman's Savings and Trust Company Records
• Women
• Women in Naturalization Records, 1802-1940, Part 1 and Part 2.
• Women Soldiers of the Civil War, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
• Microform Catalogs and Finding Aids

New Jersey State Archives - Access
Lists what types of records are available and at what cost.

Social Security Death Index
This site affords you access to over 50 million records from Social Security death-benefit-payment records.

Census Bureau's Genealogy Page
Includes a FAQ for genealogy.

Vital Records Information: Foreign Vital Records Links
Here you will find information on how to obtain vital records from a range of foreign countries.

Vital Records Information for the United States
This site contains information about where to obtain vital records (such as birth, death and marriage certificates and divorce decrees) from each state, territory and county of the United States.

Searchable Indexes for Commercial Data Products

Sites listed in this section are commercial in nature and will most likely want to sell you genealogical software or databases. A site's inclusion in this list does not constitute the library's endorsement of the product that site may be selling. But most of these sites offer other useful links and/or free services as well, and are worth exploring and assessing on your own. Some will offer free trial subscriptions to their products so you can make an informed decision as to their worth.

Ancestry.com
A source of both free and subscription-based databases, Ancestry.com gives you access to 1500 databases, informative articles, and a variety of other resources specifically for genealogists and family historians. The site offers a free 10-day trial subscription to its fee-based databases, as well as access to a number of other features (gazetteers, maps, links) for which there is neither time limit nor fee.

Family History Network
You can become a member and be allowed to search genealogy information that has been provided by 150,000 other avid genealogy researchers. Information is in a number of databases, many of which have the name and address of the researcher to contact. New databases are added weekly to On-Line Search. These databases will help you trace your family tree. As a Member of On-Line Search, you will have: Access to unique databases; access to 15-20 new databases each week; and exclusive access to Professional Researchers.
There is a Guests Area of On-Line Search, where you will find databases and links to help you get a start on the search of your family tree.

Family Tree Magazine
Discover, preserve, and celebrate your family history. A source of free downloadable forms, free e-mail, newsletter, and a resource guide. Subscription to Family Tree Magazine also available.

Family Tree Maker's Genealogy Site
This is a good site the main purpose of which, however, is to sell you the Family Tree Maker software. Nevertheless, there are free features on the site such as links to assistants like:

• A Step-by-Step Genealogy "How-To" Guide: Steps for starting out, aids and ideas for all levels of research.
• A Research Directory: Contact information for counties, states, libraries and archives.
• Online University: Self-paced classes covering a variety of genealogy topics.
• Biography Assistant: Ideas for capturing family stories on paper or video.

Meta-Site and Mega-Sites

Sites listed in this section will link you to many different kinds of genealogical information and can be considered portals from which to begin any investigation. You can use these sites as a home base from which to start on one aspect of your search and then return to begin a new aspect; or you can pick and choose from the links and features these sites offer while blazing your own trail through cyberspace.

About Genealogy
About.com's mega site for genealogical information

Cyndi's List Of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
A mega-site containing over 106,050 links categorized & cross-referenced, in over 150 categories. (These numbers change frequently.)
From the Cyndi's List FAQ:
What is Cyndi's List?

• A categorized & cross-referenced index to genealogical resources on the Internet.
• A list of links that point you to genealogical research sites online.
• A free jumping-off point for you to use in your online research.
• A "card catalog" to the genealogical collection in the immense library that is the Internet.
• Your genealogical research portal onto the Internet.

• Census and Lists: Census, Directories, Population
• Court and Legal Records: Guardianship Records, Naturalization and Citizenship Records, Probate Records
• Family Histories and Genealogies: Ancestral File, Biographies, Collected Works, Family Databases, Personal Narratives
• Key Genealogical Sites: Key Genealogical Internet Sites
• Land and Property: Deeds, Deed Registers, Land Surveys, Homestead Records, Manor Records
• Libraries: Family History Library Catalog, Family History Centers, Archives and Libraries
• Migration: Emigration and Immigration, Internal Migration, Colonization, Passenger Lists
• Military: Military Histories, Military Records
• Royalty and Nobility: Heraldry, Nobility Records
• Surnames and Family Organizations: Family Names, Surname Histories, Surname and Family Organizations
• Vital Records: International Genealogical Index, Births, Deaths, Marriages, Divorce Records, Baptisms, Christenings, Burial, Church Records, Civil Registration

A well-reviewed and free portal site that is a comprehensive jumping-off point to access family information on the Web. You can type your surname into the first box on this page, and get a list of matching pages that pertain to your family name or explore the gateways to various genealogical search engines--from general worldwide tools to specific services for Irish surnames or Scottish clan names. Site has over 40,000 Resource Listings and has been featured or mentioned as a must resource by Yahoo! Internet Life as well as the Tallahassee Democrat, American Journalism Review NewsLink, Time, and the New York Times.

Genealogy Home Page
A wide-ranging index of genealogy resources.

Genealogy Links
Consists of "over 9,000 links; most of them to online surname searchable records such as ship's passenger lists, church records, cemetery transcriptions, military records and censuses for USA, UK, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Europe, Canada, Australia & New Zealand."

Genealogy Pages
A Genealogy portal.

Genealogy Today
A collection of links and tips.

GENUKI
A site that is a good source for information on genealogical topics in the UK and Ireland.

RootsWeb
Description from the RootsWeb site:

The RootsWeb project has two missions:

1. To make large volumes of data available to the online genealogical community at minimal cost.
2. To provide support services to online genealogical activities such as USENET newsgroup moderation, mailing list maintenance, surname list generation, etc.

RootsWeb's own genealogy runs back more than a decade to the days of net.roots. RootsWeb folks have been involved since the early days of ROOTS-L and the RootsWeb Surname List, and more recently were among the founders of the RAND Genealogy Club. We created the RootsWeb site to continue to support the genealogical community as the needs of the community outstripped the ability of RAND and other organizations to host the genealogical community on a guest basis.

UK Genealogy
This site is a portal for UK genealogy research.

USGenWeb Project
A free site that provides Internet websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. From the USGenWeb "About this site" page:

The USGenWeb Project consists of a group of volunteers working together to provide Internet websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. The Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free access for everyone. Organization is by county and state, and this web site provides you with links to all the state websites which, in turn, provide gateways to the counties. The USGenWeb Project also sponsors important Special Projects at the national level and this web site provides an entry point to all of those pages, as well.
Although the basic unit of organization for The USGenWebProject is at the county level, State Websites include very important information as well, including such resources for postings of unknown county queries, family reunion bulletin boards, state histories, and maps showing the changing county boundaries, among others. Many states also have ongoing projects as diverse as the transcription of Civil War regiments or the reuniting of families with lost photos, bibles, etc.

WorldGenWeb Project
Description from the WorldGenWeb Project home page:

The goal of the WorldGenWeb Project is to have every country in the world represented by an online web site and hosted by researchers who either live in their own country or who are familiar with their country's resources. The WorldGenWeb Project is a not-for-profit volunteer genealogical organization dedicated to the free access of genealogical information by anyone in the world.
The WorldGenWeb Project is divided into 15 world regions. Each region is divided up by countries and each country is divided into individual provinces, states, or counties.

New Jersey Genealogy Sites (Including County Sites)

Hunterdon County New Jersey Genealogy Site
This site contains, among others things:

• links to web sites containing stories and histories of Hunterdon County locations; an index to posted queries (which is also the surname registry) where you can see who else is searching what you may be interested in, or you can post your own questions;
• information on subscribing to a Hunterdon County Genealogy Mailing List, NJHUNTER-L;
• a listing of people willing to look up information in a variety of different sources;
• links to Hunterdon County Information (the 1834 Gazetteer of New Jersey with descriptions of places in Hunterdon County as they existed in 1834; the 1895 Atlas for New Jersey; Churches in Hunterdon County);
• a birthdate Calculator that will determine the date of birth given the date of death and the age in years, months, and days; a list of Historical Societies and Libraries in Hunterdon County; and more.

New Jersey Family History Centers
An incomplete, yet nonetheless helpful, list of Family History Centers in New Jersey. This site is not endorsed by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and some information may be incomplete or incorrect.

Family History Centers
(The official list from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Select United States from the drop-down menu; then type "nj" in the state/province text box.)

New Jersey GenWeb Project
Contains links to sites with genealogy information for all NJ counties, as well as the following features:

• New Jersey Genealogical Resources
• A clickable county map of New Jersey
• A site search engine
• USGenWeb Archives: New Jersey Table of Contents
• Unknown County Queries

In June, 1996, a group of genealogists organized the New Jersey Comprehensive Genealogy Database Project (NJGenWeb). The idea was to provide a single entry point for all counties in New Jersey, where genealogical data about each county could be easily found. In addition, the data on all county sites would be indexed and cross-linked, so that a single search in the master index could locate all references to a given surname across all pages and databases associated with the project.

City, County, State and National Genealogical or Historical Society Pages

Genealogical & Historical Societies in New Jersey
A very thorough list of relevant societies, museums and libraries, this page gives you contact information and hotlinks you to those institutions that have their own web sites.

National Genealogical Society
Founded in 1903, the Society has a new Web site featuring tips on getting started, information on a soon-to-come online class, and an online bookstore, among other offerings.

Society Hill: A Directory of Genealogy and History Societies
Society Hill is a comprehensive directory of genealogical and historical societies on the Web compiled from numerous sources on the Internet and consolidated into a single directory. (At present it covers the US, Canada and Australia.) It indexes all of the societies by state and/or territory, and it is completely searchable. You can also click you way in by state and view all of the genealogical/historical societies in an alphabetical list.
There are scores of listings for the state of New Jersey. If you go in by state the site also gives you useful facts about the state, such as when it entered the union and a hotlink to its official state home page. A very useful site.

Society of Genealogists (UK)
The Society of Genealogists offers a unique combination of research material, guidance and support for those interested in family history and the lives of earlier generations. It is a charity whose objects are to "promote, encourage and foster the study, science and knowledge of genealogy".

Genealogical discussion groups and Usenet Newsgroups

New Jersey Mailing Lists
A very extensive list of genealogy-related mailing lists that focus on New Jersey or sections of New Jersey, this site includes information on how to subscribe and how to post a message to each list.

ROOTS-L Mailing List
ROOTS-L is a mailing list for people who are interested in genealogy. As of early 1999, it has over 10,000 subscribers. This web site gives instructions on how to subscribe to the list. It also includes a searchable message archive with messages going back to 1987. This site also has a number of useful files and databases.

Miscellaneous