US/World Resources

Free Resources
  • Ellis Island
  • Castle Garden
    Two database sites allowing you to search immigration records from two major historical ports.

  • FamilySearch
  • FamilySearch is a website produced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints, containing a lot of genealogical records. 
  • FreeBMD
    An ongoing transcription of the United Kingdom Birth Marriage Death index

  • JewishGen
    Databases of records from Russia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Germany and other nations, focusing on Jewish communities. 
  • Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness
    An index by state and county of volunteers willing to look up obituaries and local records, as well as take photographs of tombstones, only charging for copying fees and in some cases mileage. For vital record lookup, don't forget to check the county where the state capitol resides, because there are often statewide records there. Sometimes local counties might be more restrictive on access to records than the state archives are, even though the records are identical.

  • FindAGrave
    A resource for creating and finding memorials to your ancestors.
  • RootsWeb
    Social Security Death Index, Surname message boards and mailing lists.

  • National Archives Archival Databases
    The National Archives has Enlistment records for military personnel, lists of prisoners of war, passenger lists, and other information.

  • Online Directory Site
    An index of available City, County, and Rural Directories. Operated by Miriam Midkiff of the Ancestories genealogy blog, the website was created in May of 2009, and is a work in progress. The ultimate goal of the website is to be complete for US and Canada. 
  •  Numerical Listing of World War II APO's between 1942-1947
  • For security reasons, during World War II, US Overseas Army Personnel often weren't allowed to include their location in letters home - Just the APO (Army Post Office) number.  This listing can help you decode where your relative was stationed.  

      Subscription/Pay Sites

      • Ancestry
        A large collection of databases including the US Census indexed through 1930; Birth, Marriage and Death Records; Military Records; Immigration Records.

      • Fold3 (Formerly known as Footnote)
        Databases include, but are not limited to, Civil War, WWII, and Naturalizations

      • GenealogyBank
        Historical Newspapers (1690-1977), Obituaries (1977-current)