Geneology

Genealogy
Starting a Family Genealogy


Starting a Family Genealogy 
Working on one’s family tree continues to be very popular and with the growth of the Internet, finding information is becoming easier than ever. The traditional sources such as historical societies, government records, and old newspapers are available, but you must live close to the source or be able to travel there to make use of the information. Using the Internet is a great way to do research without ever leaving your home, and the array of resources available to you is unbeatable. 
The sites I have listed below are few, but each contains hundreds of links for you to try. You can spend a long, long time going through the information available there. Most of the sites are free, but I did list some which have a fee for use. You can decide which is best for you. Good luck in your endeavor! 
A good site to start with is The Genealogy Home Page (http://www.genhomepage.com). This site is actually a collection of many other sites dealing with genealogy. It’s North American Genealogy Resources link has information from the US Census Bureau, the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, and the Connecticut GenWeb Project, among hundreds of other sites. Each state has links as well. You could spend a long time going through the resources here.
Another excellent site is FamilySearch (http://www.familysearch.org). This site is run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and has an enormous amount of information. One of the best features of this site is information on how to start your family history. Their guidance will save time and organize your efforts. This site also lists Family History Centers which are branches of the main facility in Salt Lake City. At these locations you can use microfilms and microfiche of their collections. The closest location to us is in Manchester. The hours of operation and location is listed on the web site.
Take a look at Cyndi’s List (http://www.cyndislist.com), a collection of over 225,000 links to genealogy sites. This excellent site offers not only genealogy links, but links to “Internet Stuff You Need To Know”. How to look for information, and even a section on how to build your own genealogy home page.
There are also many links to archives which cost money to access, but may be worthwhile for your searches. The NewspaperArchive http://www.newspaperarchive.com is one such choice. It has collection of millions of pages of information. You can try the free offer to see if this site appeals to you, then buy into the whole collection if you want.
Another pay site is the Ancestry Surname Central Hub (http://www.surnamesearch.com). Once again, you can try it free for seven days to see if it has any extra value to you.
Contact the CHS Archivist at either of these email addresses to start your search.


 
Coventry Historical Society, Inc.

P.O. Box 534 Coventry CT 06238 

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