The most common question I’m asked these days is, “Is it online?” And amazingly enough, it certainly may be online. Since 2004, when the
first every name index to family members in censuses from 1850 onward was posted by Ancestry.com, we’ve come a long way in just 10 years.
Ancestry.com has continued to add amazing databases both for the U.S. and countries around the world. Ancestry-Library Edition, available at most local branch libraries, allows you free access to this window on the world. Now Familysearch.org has grown to be
a powerful free website that you can access at home for these same census records for the U.S., England, Canada, and some European countries.
Marriage records, which are critical for distinguishing between males with the same name and for determining lineage, have expanded
into the 20th century on both Ancestry and FamilySearch.
Cemetery records, which used to be very elusive, are now multiplying on www.findagrave.com. Military deaths and the Social Security
Death Index continue to be well reported on Ancestry.com.
Military records dating from the Revolutionary War are on www.fold3.com, a pay-for-view site that is available for free at the National
Archives – Denver Branch in Broomfield. Ancestry Library Edition is also free at the National Archives.
Both Ancestry.com and FamilySearch. org feature family trees – self-built records of family lineage – that can offer clues to your
family history. But always check out any clues to verify the information. Finally, there are county histories online. Enter “Whatever
County Mystate History” into www.google.com – using the actual name of the county and state you’re interested in. You will frequently
find county histories published before 1923. Use the Control + F keys to search for your surname.
Will everything eventually be online? That seems to be the goal of many genealogy sites. Familysearch. org is working to put full text
of wills online in the next few years. Stay tuned!
Carol Cooke Darrow, CG, is a certified genealogist and past president of the Colorado Genealogical Society. Check out their website at CGS Website for information about free beginning and special interest classes at the Central Denver Public Library.