Family History Websites

Many, many, family history and genealogy websites are available on the Internet. Some are free; others vary in cost from inexpensive to very expensive. If you choose to join one or more of these sites, make sure that it will meet your needs before you spend a lot of money.

www.familysearch.com is a great place to start. I have shown you some examples of the site in this blog, and will continue to use this as my main family history site. FamilySearch is free to all -- it always has been and will always continue to be free. No obligation. No unwanted advertising. FamilySearch is provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (www.lds.org, www.mormons.org).

One of the first large databases available online is Ancestry.com. Established in 1996, it quickly became a "go-to" site for genealogy enthusiasts. The first time I sat down at ancestry.com, I found my maternal grandmother's line back to the Mayflower. I was so thrilled that I immediately paid for a year's subscription, and remained a paid subscriber until recently. I now get a free membership :)

Ancestry and FamilySearch have some shared information, and some different information. The two search engines are also different. I don't know enough about search engine technology to explain, but often a search will fail on one site while being successful on the other. Using the two sites together give you the best source of information. I record all of my finds in FamilySearch, however, because I like the family tree interface better on that site.

Several months ago, Ancestry and FamilySearch became partners, meaning that they will be sharing their databases. If you are a member of the LDS Church, you can become a free basic member of Ancestry. See https://familysearch.org/partneraccess for more information.


www.findmypast.com has a lot of newspaper records and vital records that are searchable. A quick search for "Karl Vetter" finds his marriage record: http://search.findmypast.com/record?id=r_650820078%2f1. Using the newspaper record search, I found this tidbit:

Why was my grandmother listed as "Lois Carstens" instead of "Lois Field"?  Why was my grandmother, a life-long resident of Iowa, listed as "From Mitchell, SD"? How did they meet? Genealogy often raises two questions for every one answered. More on this tomorrow. At least we now know that they were married in Havre, not Helena, because Karl was "managing the Larson Show hospital." Later research will show that shoe making was a family trade for the Vetters.


If you have Washington State ancestry, check out http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Home. Many Washington State records are available for free here. A quick search through marriage records found this (http://www.digitalarchives.wa.gov/Record/View/05B47F47936C5FC1A6CF5FE0B80B4431).
This is my sister's marriage license. It contains my father's signature as a witness. I also notice that the license was not filed for six months -- does that mean they weren't legally married? :) It also shows that Donna and Laif will celebrate their 43rd anniversary tomorrow. Happy anniversary!

Tomorrow: More about Karl Vetter and Lois Field.