Free Genealogy Resources

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Free Genealogy Resource for California

Recently I was doing some research into California records in an effort to trace my husband's great grandmother who passed away there. Along the way, I came across a transcription of Early California Wills, which was published by the DAR in 1952.

The transcription is broken up into six volumes. Volume 1 covers Los Angeles County wills from 1850 to 1885. Volume 2 picks up where the first left off and covers 1885 to 1890. Volume 3 covers wills in San Diego County from 1848-1899.

Volumes 4 and 5 offers bonuses. Volume 4 offers wills from Placer, Shasta and Yuba Counties. It also has Shasta County births, marriages, deaths and divorces from 1927 and Placer County marriage licenses from 1852 to 1856. Volume 5 has Kern County wills 1876-1899 and marriage licenses 1850-1900.

Volume 6 has wills from Santa Clara and Solano Counties. It doesn't say what years are covered.

Clicking on the volume will take you further down the page where there is information on the volume, transcribers, and an overview of the book. It appears that each page is transcribed separately. Clicking on the page takes you to the information on that page.

This is a great free genealogy resource for those researching California ancestors. Information varies between entries, but from scrolling through, it looks like some have the names of parents, spouses, children and even in-laws. I'm not sure if this is common, but I did notice one entry that had a note about the spouse's later marriage as well. Makes sure to check who the executor and witnesses are as well. These may be family members or close acquaintances.

South Carolina Resource

While researching some of my family from South Carolina recently, I came across the Online Records Index for the South Carolina Department of Archives & History. This free genealogy resource offers a number of great tools to help you with your family tree research.

At the time of this post, there are over 300,000 items available in eight record groups. These records groups are Records of Confederate Veterans 1909-1973, Criminal Court Records, Index to Multiple Record Series ca 1675-1929, Legislative Papers 1782-1866, National Register of Historic Places, Plats for State Land Grants 1784-1868, School Insurance Photographs 1935-1952 and Will Transcripts 1782-1855. Each of these main eight record groups contains or or more series within them. For instance, the index to Multiple Record Series has a plat collection, judgment rolls, memorial books, petitions to practice law, a militia enrollment and more.

To search this free genealogy resource, just scroll down and click on Enter On-line Records Index. The search screen allows you to search by record group (can also search all at once), up to two individuals, location, topic, document type and date range. You also have the option of using Soundex for name search, which can be helpful if your ancestor's name may have been spelled more than one way.

Clicking the show advanced search functions button doesn't really offer much more search options. Instead, it adds an additional field where you can choose the series and a selection box to choose whether results are sorted sequentially or chronologically. You also have the option of selecting a second location or topic for your search.

When typing in an individual's name (surname first), you will notice that a drop down appears with names. You can either type in the individual that you are looking for or select the name from the drop down. Both the location and topic boxes will provide a drop down as well.

The results screen has four columns. The first column lists information about the record such as the series, reel, film and item. The second column provides a description of the item. the third column has the date. The final column is where the images are linked. Not all results will have online images available.

For those results that do have online images, they are free to download or print, provided they're not for commercial use and you cite the source when you use them. Results without online images can be ordered from the archives. There is a limit of ten documents per request. A price quote will be given once your request is received.

Free Genealogy Resources for Hawaii

Today I visited the website of the Hawaii State Archives. Even those I have no ancestors from the state (at least that I know of at this point), I was curious about what they have to offer. Those who do have Hawaiian ancestors will be pleased to hear that they have several digital collections.

The page is broken up into four sections-search, indexes, records and other resources. The search will look through all the digital collections that are indexed by name with the exception of the genealogy index, Mahele book, map and library catalog, and photographs.

The Indexes section has a Genealogy Index, Government Office Holders 1843-1959, Chinese Passenger Manifests Index, Japanese Passenger Manifests Index, Portuguese Passenger Manifests Index, two Land Indexes by name 1838-1918 (A, E, U only in one and R-Z only in the second), and a Name Index 1790-1950 (A-Bishop Only).

The Genealogy Index can be searched or browsed. The results will give you the specific location of the document, the name(s) and a link to an extract and actual image of the document. This particular index is a wealth of free genealogy resources with marriage records, divorce records, probates and wills, and naturalization, denization and passports.

The Government Office Holders Index can be searched or browsed. If browsing, you have the option to browse by name or office. The index is incomplete and doesn't offer a lot of data.

You can search or browse all of the passenger manifests indexes. Once you find the name you are seeking, click on the PDF icon for more information. This may include the person's full name, age at time, marital status, date of arrival, ship name and place they emigrated from.

The Land Indexes are incomplete. They are broken into two separate indexes, one for surnames beginning with A, E or U and one for surnames beginning with the letters R-Z. Again, this can be searched or browsed. Click on the PDF icon for more information such as date, land patent number, lot and location.

As with some of the other indexes, the Name Index is a work in progress. At this time, only A through Bishop is available. The PDF icon will show you a card which has various miscellaneous information about the individual. Available information varies by card.

The records are broken up into Judiciary Records, the Mahele Book, Photograph Collection, Tax Ledgers 1847-1900 (Hamakua and Hilo), Vital Statistics 1826-1929 (Molokai, Niihau, Kauai and some of Maui) and World War I Service Records.

The Judiciary Records collection is very limited. At the time of this post, it only has two probate case files. The description of the collection notes that more will be added as they are requested.

The Mahele Book is a PDF file. For those not familiar with the mahele, it was the division of lands between Kamehameha III, the chiefs, and the konohiki. This division occurred between January 28, 1848 and March 7, 1848. For a fuller description of the transactions documented in this book, I would suggest checking out the Hawaiian Kingdom Government's page on the history of land titles. Keep in mind that the book is a handwritten record and locations are given by their traditional names, not necessarily by what they are called now.

The Photograph Collections has 290 items. You can browse through the photographs 9 to a page or search by keyword. It includes pictures of various landmarks around the state and people. If your ancestors owned a plantation in Hawaii, you may get lucky and find a picture of it since there are several plantations in the collection.

You can search or browse by name the WWI Service Records. Information in this database was compiled from enlistment records. This free genealogy resource can offer information on the ancestors date and place of birth, service related injuries, residence and more.

The Tax Ledgers are organized by date or location. They open as a PDF file. They contain the individual's name, age, residence, type of property, property value and exemptions. The majority of the ledgers are in Hawaiian, but some offer English as well.

The Vital Statistics Collections spans the years 1826 through 1929. Currently, there are birth, marriage and death records for Kauai, Niihau and Molokai. There are birth and death records for Maui with a few marriages as well. You can search or browse by name or location. If you don't find your ancestor's name when browsing, it's recommended that you search the name as well as it may be indexed incorrectly.

Last but not least, the Other Resources section links you to the library catalog.

North Dakota Resource

The North Dakota State University Libraries Institute for Regional Studies and Archives offers a number of free genealogy resources online. These include Cass County Civil Cases and Divorces 1870s-1942, Cass County Marriage Licenses 1870s-1944, Cass County Probate Records 1876-1949, the 1885 Dakota Territory Census, the Fargo Forum Newspaper Index 1879-1995, the Fargo Forum Obituary Index, the North Dakota Biography Index and the North Dakota Naturalization Records Index. There are a few other miscellaneous records as well.

The Civil Cases and Divorce database can be searched by the name of the plaintiff, defendant or attorney. You can filter by year or select to search only the divorces. The results screen will list, when available, the plaintiff and his attorney, the defendant and his attorney, date, type, case number and case notes. It appears that the divorce results offer more information than the civil cases.

Marriage licenses can be searched by bride or groom's name. If you're not sure of the spelling, you can choose the begins with or contains options for the name. The result screen gives you the name of bride and groom, marriage date, license number, and, in some entries, notes.

Probate records are searchable by name. Like marriage licenses, you have the begins with or contains options for the name. Once all matches to your search load, you can look at the individual's name, case number and notes. In most cases, it appears the notes column offers death date and location.

The 1885 Dakota Territory Census can be searched by name, nativity or county. Just below the search box is the option to browse by occupation, a nice feature to this free genealogy resource. If you're not sure how your ancestor is listed in the census, but know his occupation, this can be helpful in locating them. When available, the results page will give you name, age, relation to head, occupation, nativity, address, city, enumeration district and county.

You can search the Fargo Forum Newspaper Index by keyword, including names. Results can be narrowed by giving a specific year to look in. You can also choose a year range. This index will give the title, author (sometimes), newspaper, date, page, index terms and notes. Be sure to take a close look at the index terms. They can be clicked on to find more articles with the same terms, which can be helpful in finding all articles associated with your ancestor.

The Obituary Index is searchable by name, city and publication date. If you're not sure of the exact publication date, you can opt to search before only those appearing before or after a specific date. When your search is complete, you will have a list with the name, age, city, state, publication date, page, paper and comments. The comments column appears to indicate where on the page you can find the obituary. Currently the index covers October 1892 to 1909 and November 1982 to 1995, but it is an ongoing project so if you don't find your ancestor initially, keep checking back.

The Biography Index can be searched by name or publication. When available, it gives the individual's name, title, birth year, death year, publication name, call number, page number and illustration. Clicking on the publication will return an alphabetical list of all biographies included in it.

The last free genealogy resource is the Naturalization Records Index. It includes over 212,000 names. You can search by name, country of origin or county. On the results screen, you will find the individual's name, country of origin, papers, date, county, volume, page and comments. In the papers column, 1st refers to a declaration of intent while 2nd refers to the actual naturalization.

If you would like to order the actual record found in any of these databases, go back to the original search screen and scroll to the bottom of the page to find the information page hyperlink. It will let you know the cost and what you need to do to order a copy for yourself. From what I can tell, it appears that the copies are fairly inexpensive.

Delaware Resource

The state of Delaware has two free genealogy resources available online in the public finding aids section. The first is the Bastardy Bonds Database. The second is the Probate Records Database.

When children were born out of wedlock in Delaware, the father was required to file a bastardy bond. This was to ensure the child's welfare was provided for so they would not become a burden on the county. The bonds were administered by trustees. These bonds can yield a wealth of information including parents' names, date of birth and sex of the child, names of sureties and witnesses, amount and conditions of the bond and residence information for the mother. In most cases, the child's name is not given.

The Bastardy Bonds Database can be searched by father, mother or child's name. It doesn't appear that you need the full name. I was able to search by surname only. The initial results screen will give you the father's name, mother's name, child's name (if available), child's date of birth and county. The county is abbreviated with SC indicating Sussex County and KC indicating Kent County.

To the right of the result is a details hyperlink. Clicking on it will take you to another screen which lists what folder, container and series the bond is stored in. It also gives the parents' names, information on the child, and comments/notes.

The Probate Records Database covers all three Delaware counties from around 1680 to circa 1925. This free genealogy resource searches the index of deceased individuals for whom the file was originally created. You can search by last name, first name, date, race and county, or any combination of these. The race option is only available for Kent and Sussex Counties.

You can use a partial first name, as short as a single letter, if you have input a full last name. If you are not sure of the spelling of the last name, you can put the first letter of it and leave the first name box blank to search all surnames beginning with that letter. In the year box, you can search a year or year range. Keep in mind that the database does require the full four digit year.

The results screen will give you an alternate spelling for the surname to check and then list all the records that match your search inputs. It will list the name, date, race (if available) and county.

If you find your ancestor in either of these databases, you can request the records from the archives. Information on requesting records can be found here. Scroll all the way to the bottom of the page to download a request form. It doesn't appear that there is a search fee for requests. However, there is a copy fee.

Alaska Resource

The Alaska State Archives has a couple helpful free genealogy resources for those with Alaskan ancestors in their family tree. The archives hold naturalization records 1880-1972, pioneer home residents 1913-1980, probate index 1883-1960, teacher records 1917-1959, World War I veterans 1913-1923 and vital statistics 1816-1998. Only two of these resources are available online at this time. You can submit a research request to the archives for lookups in the other collections. There may be a fee for this service.

The Naturalization Records Index offers quite a bit of information, more than you normally expect to find with an index. It gives you the name, alias, country, type, location, date, record type, precinct, case number, residence and occupation. It is a large PDF file so will take a few minutes to fully download. It is organized alphabetically by surname.

The Probate Index is also organized alphabetically by surname. It gives you the name of the individual, case number (when available), precinct, case type, date and information where the actual file is located.