Genealogy

Websites for this Topic | Research guides and databases

Databases

Databases with the image may be used from outside the Library.
All other databases are available in the Library only.

Heritage Quest
Federal Census records, family and local histories, and other primary source materials are available.

ProQuest
Full-text articles from the Chicago Tribune and the historical Chicago Tribune.

Reference USA
The Web-accessed version of American Business Disc provides business and residential data.

Websites

Tutorials	Census Records
Comprehensive Sites	Genealogy in Illinois
Surname Searching	Miscellaneous Sites
Social Security Death Index (SSDI)	Genealogical Software
Vital Records	HeritageQuest Online
Obituaries & Cemeteries	Books about Online Genealogy

TUTORIALS

Online aids to help you get started in genealogy.

www.familysearch.org/eng/home/welcome/frameset_information.asp
FamilySearch’s “How to Start Your Family History”

http://rwguide.rootsweb.com/
In addition to the basics, RootsWeb includes guides on topics such as countries/ethnic groups and different record types.

www.ancestry.com/learn/start/main.htm
Explains how to get stared with your family history research.

www.ancestry.com/learn/learning/main.htm
Takes you beyond the basics.

http://il.proquest.com/products_hq/gen101/default.shtml
A Genealogy 101 quick course.

http://www.byubroadcasting.org/ancestors/
Ancestors, the PBS series, offers four lessons introducing you to family history research.

COMPREHENSIVE SITES

These Web sites link to a broad range of genealogy topics.

www.cyndislist.com
Cyndi Howells has created the most comprehensive listing of genealogy websites in existence. This is the first place to go, especially when researching a new topic. There is a topical and alphabetical index.

www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/WebSites/frameset_websites.asp
This topical list is compiled by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It provides links to numerous genealogy Web sites.

www.genhomepage.com
A well-organized site that has genealogy links and information on topics such as libraries, events, genealogy software, and world-wide genealogy resources.

www.rootsweb.com
A free genealogy site that is sponsored by Ancestry.com.Hosts tens of thousands of websites for genealogists. Roots Web includes links to genealogy search engines and databases, and to genealogy mailing lists.

SURNAME SEARCHING

This is the place to start. Type in a surname and see what you find. Much of the data from these Web sites are from secondary (compiled) sources; someone has already found information about the person(s).

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp
The FamilySearch Web site of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints lets you search for your ancestor in several different indexes at the same time.

http://www.familytreemaker.com/iffintro.html
Known as Internet FamilyFinder, this commercial site allows you to look for a name(s) for free, but to access the data (if there is any), you must pay.

http://www.genserv.com
A commercial site that is only available to paying subscribers. You submit your family genealogy to the GEDCOM database and pay a fee to access data. A GEDCOM is a standardized computer file that contains all or parts of your genealogical database. The standardized files minimize manual input by allowing people to share their data. The page at www.genserv.com/gs3/samplecount.html allows you to send a surname whereby an email reply is sent to you indicating how many people with that name are in the system. These requests are free and unlimited.

http://www.ancestry.com
A commercial site where some data is free, but the rest is available to subscribers only.

http://www.cyndislist.com/surn-gen.htm
Cyndi’s list of links to surname Web sites.

SOCIAL SECURITY DEATH INDEX (SSDI)

Search by surname for people who have died after 1962, the year the Social Security Administration began recording the death index on the computer. Birth and death information will be provided. You may also order a copy of the person’s original application for a social security card which may provide additional genealogical information.

http://members.aol.com/reginamari/ancestry/ssnfaq.html
Frequently Asked Questions about obtaining a copy of an ancestor’s social security card application. This FAQ has answers to questions such as: Why you might want to order an application; How to find an ancestor’s social security number and order an application; What type of information you might glean from an application; and How long it will take to receive an application. Samples of a few of the handwritten applications show the detail of the information provided.

http://www.genealogy.com/ifftop.html
Genealogy.com’s Family Finder searches for thousands of Web sites for your ancestor. The results link you to likely matches from the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) database, Virtual Cemetery, international and passenger records, census microfilm images, and more.

http://www.cyndislist.com/socsec.htm#SSDI
Cyndi’s list of social security death index databases online. Try them all, especially if a name you are looking for does not appear on the first site you choose. The sites vary somewhat in data that is presented and in the format.

VITAL RECORDS

Birth, marriage, divorce, and death certificates.

http://www.idph.state.il.us/vitalrecords/index.htm
Illinois Department of Public Health’s Vital Statistics Web site with links to general information and application forms for obtaining copies of Illinois birth, marriage, divorce and death certificates.

http://www.cookctyclerk.com/sub/vital_records.asp
Cook County Clerk’s Office, Bureau of Vital Statistics Web site with links to information and application forms for obtaining copies of birth, marriage, and death certificate issued in Cook County.

http://www.co.dupage.il.us/countyclerk/generic.cfm?doc_id=623
Contact information for the DuPage County Clerk. Certified copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates are available from the County Clerk and from the State of Illinois. Certified copies of birth and death certificates are also available from the DuPage County Health Department.

http://www.cyndislist.com/usvital.htm#states
Cyndi Howells’ links to sources for obtaining vital statistics information in all 50 states.

OBITUARIES & CEMETERIES

Online obituaries are not a good source for archival material. However, more recent death notices may be found.

http://chicagotribune.com/news/obituaries/
The Chicago Tribune’s obituary archives. They only archive the past month on the website.

http://www.usnpl.com/
This is a rather comprehensive site of links to U.S. newspapers from small towns and large cities. Check each paper to see if they have obituaries online and how far back they are archived.

http://findagrave.com
Want to see where “old blue eyes” or Al Capone is buried? This site will lead to you burial information, including photographs of the graves. You can find both famous and non-famous people.

http://www.interment.net/
Links to cemetery directories and records in the United States and abroad and other types of burial information.

http://www.daddezio.com/cemetery/junction/index.html
A directory of cemeteries in the United States.

http://www.cyndislist.com/obits.htm
Cyndi’s links to obituary sites, including information on funeral homes, cemeteries, etc.

CENSUS RECORDS

One of the indices to the U. S. Census records from 1880–1920 is the Soundex system. In order to use the index you must convert the surname(s) to a letter and number code. The following sites will automatically do the name conversions for you.

http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/soundex/soundex.html
Site hosted by the creators of the Soundex system, the National Archives and Records Administration

http://www.searchforancestors.com/soundex.html
A surname to Soundex calculator.

http://www.familytreemaker.com/00000061.html
Census record abstract forms for the 1790–1930 U. S. censuses. These forms tell you what information you can expect to find on each of the censuses. They are useful for recording data from microfilm copies.

http://www.cyndislist.com/census2.htm
Cyndi’s links to census information in the United States and abroad.

GENEALOGY IN ILLINOIS

http://www.dcgs.org
The DuPage Genealogical Society’s website is a great resource, with information about DuPage County history and how to obtain local genealogical information. The Society also holds meetings, classes, and an annual conference.

http://ilgenweb.rootsweb.com
Illinois genealogy and history links.

www.rootsweb.com/~ilgenweb/links.htm
The comprehensive site Illinois Gen Web has links to genealogical sites specific to Illinois and its counties and cities.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~ilsgs/index.html
The Illinois State Genealogical Society, with Illinois genealgoy links and information about the Society’s activities.

www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/services.html
Information about doing genealogy research using the Secretary of State’s department of Illinois State Archives. The archives include census records, military records, military service records, WWI draft registration records, land sale records, veterans’ homes, pensions, and burials records, and vital records information. Some of this information can be searched for in the online databases (www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/databases.html).

http://archives.archchicago.org/genealog.htm
A genealogical information guide from the Archdiocese of Chicago tells you what records you can obtain from their archives.

MISCELLANEOUS SITES

http://www.usgenweb.org
A national project staffed by volunteers culling genealogical Web sites pertaining to each of the 50 states and counties therein.

www.ellisisland.org
Between 1892 and 1924 over 22 million passengers and members of ships’ crews came through Ellis Island and the Port of New York. On the American Family Immigration History Center Ellis Island Web site, you can research passenger records from ships that brought the immigrants, and even see the original manifests with passenger names.

www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHC/frameset_fhc.asp?
PAGE=library_fhc_find.asp
The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has branch libraries (Family History Centers) across the United States. The Centers provide access to most of the microfilms and microfiche in the Family History Library to help patrons identify their ancestors

www.archives.gov/research_room/genealogy/
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) genealogy site provides general genealogy information and information about using the records that are available in NARA’s archives. Research topics include military records, immigration records, Native American records, census records, and African American research.

GENEALOGICAL SOFTWARE

The library owns version 5.0 and the 15th edition of the Family Tree Maker computer program (call number CD-ROM/929.1/FAM), which is available for check out for a two-week loan period. This program includes a guide to getting started in genealogy. It will also help you organize your genealogy data. Family Tree Maker contains the FamilyFinder Index with more than 170 million names from the U.S. Census, as well as the Social Security death index (U.S., 1937–1997), with approximately 55 million names.

Other computer programs for genealogy research will also help you to organize your research, print pedigree charts and family group sheets, and share your files with others via the GEDCOM (Genealogical Data Communications). These programs are available for purchase as retail or shareware; information about the different programs that are available is located on Cyndi’s List and other genealogy sites listed above.

HeritageQuest Online

One of the online databases to which the Library subscribes is HeritageQuest Online. Created by ProQuest Information and Learning, HeritageQuest Online is a valuable research tool for beginning and advanced genealogists.

Included are: the complete page images and indexes for the 1790–1930 U.S. Federal Censuses; a collection of over 25,000 family and local history books; PERSI, a subject index of over 1.6 million geanealogy and local history articles; Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files; and more.

BOOKS ABOUT ONLINE GENEALOGY

All are available at the Carol Stream Public Library and can be checked out. Many other general books about genealogy are also available in the non-fiction area beginning at call number 929.1.

The complete beginner’s guide to genealogy, the Internet, and your computer genealogy program (c2001), by Karen Clifford
929.10285/CLI

Genealogy online, 7th edition (c2003), by Elizabeth Powell Crowe
929.10285/CRO

Plugging into your past: how to find real family history records online, by Rick Crume
929.10285/CRU

Getting started in genealogy online (c2006), by William Dollarhide
929.10285/DOL

Genealogy basics online: a step-by-step instruction to finding your ancestors through the Internet (includes CD-ROM) (c2000), by Cherri Melton Flinn
929.10285/FLI

Genealogy online for dummies (includes CD-ROM) (c1998), by Matthew L. Helm and April Leigh Helm
929.10285/HEL

Cyndi’s List: a comprehensive list of 40,000 genealogy sites on the Internet (c1999), by Cyndi Howells
R/929.1/HOW [in Library use only]

E-genealogy: finding your family roots online (c2000), by Terry Stephens Lamb
929.10285/LAM

The complete idiot’s guide to online genealogy (c2000), by Rhonda McClure and Shirley Langdon Wilcox
929.10285/MCC

The genealogist’s computer companion (c2002), by Rhonda McClure
929.10285/MCC

Genealogy via the Internet: tracing your family roots quickly and easily: computerized genealogy in plain English, second edition (c2003), by Ralph Roberts
929.10285/ROB