Family Tree Tips

Did you find a family tree online that includes your ancestor? Click here for a list of Web sites for family trees.		Search the Federal Census for family names that you know. Click here for Federal Census Tips.

Is the information in the tree well-documented? Click here for more on documentation.		Download the tree, but verify the information. Click here for more on documentation.

Download the tree into your family tree software. Click here for more on family tree software.

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Online Family Trees

This might sound discouraging at first, but there is a good chance you will not be able to find your ancestor in an existing online family tree. It all depends on someone else having researched your genealogy and posted the family tree to one of the sites on the Internet. Nevertheless, it is always worth a try to find existing trees. Here are the sites with the most family trees for you to search. Each will open a new browser window so that you can continue to refer to this page if you are unable to find trees online or if you determine that the documentation of the online trees is insufficient.

Another option is to try the Family Tree Searcher. At that free site, you can enter you ancestor information just once to search each of the sites listed above.

Finally, Ancestry.com has an interesting interactive feature that will automatically search their extensive data for matching information as you add to your family tree online.

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Documentation of Family Trees

If you are able to find a family tree online, be careful to examine the documentation that goes with the tree. Unfortunately, many trees are not documented well. Just because a tree is posted online, does not mean it is accurate. You should not take it a face value. Instead, you can treat online trees as "big hints" for places to look.

	One of the best ways to verify much of the information in family trees is to use the Federal Census along with birth and death records. Click here to go to Federal Census Tips.
	Get a book on what makes for good documentation in family trees. Click here for Genealogy Book Tips.

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Advanced Research

This site is designed to provide the basics in researching your genealogy. It emphasizes the use of the Federal Census, Social Security Death Index, online family trees, and birth/death records. There are, of course, more sources of information. If you are looking for advice on additional sources, click here to go to Genealogy Search Advice. That site will provide you with customized research advice based on what you already know about your ancestors.

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