Click here for a list of professional researchers at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City

FamilySearch.org

FamilySearch.org is probably the most important web site for genealogists. FamilySearch.org is maintained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) to support their religious belief to identify and give blessings to their ancestors. The Mormon church is very generous with their genealogical research facilities, making them available to both members and non-members. The Family History Library Building in Salt Lake City contains the world's largest family history library. There are over 3,700 family history centers in more than 88 countries which are branches of the Family History Library. These family history centers are an important physical resource for genealogists around the world.

FamilySearch.org supports a number of collaboration e-mail lists. By joining a list, you can send and receive messages from people with similar research interests. The lists are organized by any topic including surnames and places.

In addition to providing actual data such as the 1881 census information, FamilySearch.org also provides instructive information on how to do genealogical research. All of their online records can be searched, by going to their Search web page. The types of online records are described below. Because this is a web site dedicated to genealogy, their search facilities are intelligent about names. For example, when you search for a name like Kate, the results will often return records for Katherine, Catherine, Kitty, etc.

• The Ancestral File database contains approximately 35.6 million names.
• The International Genealogical Index database contains approximately 600 million individual names. An addendum to the International Genealogical Index contains an additional 125 million names.
• The Pedigree Resource File database contains 36 million names.

1880 United States, 1881 British Isles, or the 1881 Canadian Census

Searching all of these censuses at once is a unique resource. Much of the English speaking world of 1880-1 is represented by the combined 3 census database. If you don't know the location of a person in this timeframe, searching this database will likely find them.

The only information we had to a relative was "when west and never hear from again". By using this census, I think that I found him. See the Wow page for more details.

Pedigree Resource File

A computer file that contains names; family relationships; and birth, marriage, and death information for millions of people. The information in this file will appear as it was originally submitted and will not be merged with information submitted by others.

Make your family history information available to others by contributing your own family information to the Pedigree Resource File.

Ancestral File

A computer file containing names and other vital information (such as date and place of birth, marriage, or death) of millions of individuals who have lived throughout the world. Names are organized into family groups and pedigrees. To allow for coordination of research, the file also lists names and addresses of those who contributed to the file.

IGI International Genealogical Index

A computer file of several hundred million names of deceased persons from throughout the world. It also lists some vital information, such as a birth or marriage date and place. Many names in the index come from vital records from the early 1500s to 1885. Others have been submitted by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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