If you are new to "hunting for your missing links", I am providing some of the sites I have found to be helpful, informative or just plain interesting! Please understand that there are so many helpful and informative sites out there that I could dedicate at LEAST one entire website just listing them. It is not my purpose to "exclude" any of those sites, but rather, list those I found to be of particular help or interest to me. I am sure that you have found or will find many more sites that (in some cases) may be of greater help to you.
There are few things in this world that will "drive me to distraction" faster than to feel "stupid, inept or simply incapable of understanding something new or different". If you are like me, I'd like to give you a few "helpful hints" that I wish I'd had when starting out on this odyssey! First of all, in your research you will see listings for PAFs or Gedcoms. What, I asked myself, could this POSSIBLY mean? A new life form or a secret code for which you must join the right club? Simply put, a PAF is a "Personal Ancestry" File. The Gedcom, "Genealogical Data" is pretty much the same thing. In order to "download" and open one of these files from the net, you must have some form of these programs on your system. If you haven't purchased a "Family Tree" making program, you can download the "Personal Ancestry" program from the LDS site, it's FREE, complete and VERY user friendly.
The following are some of the web sites that have proven to be of great help in my "hunting" of the all too elusive "missing links"! I have tried to list them in some form of categories, however you will find MANY of them "cross over" from one category into another.
Genealogical Research:
http://www.familysearch.org/ This is the LDS Site & Has one of the world's most extensive records collection . My first breakthroughs came from this site
http://www.gendex.com:8080/display?page=surnames& This is a great site based on surnames.
http://genforum.genealogy.com/surnames/ This site is a "Surname" Bulletin board.
http://www.ancestry.com/ A true "Staple" in anyone's hunt.
http://web.mountain.net/~wfmoney/cd/linkspage.html Listings with sites for just about everybody!
http://www.GenWeb.org/ One of the first sites I found. This is the basis for a World Wide Project and offers vast amounts of information and resources.
http://www.genealogy.org/ Another excellent genealogy site.
http://www.citynet.net/mostwanted/ As it says, this is the site for those "hard to find" folks!
ftp://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/census/ Invaluable Census records!
The British Isles, Germany and Russia
http://www.ireland.com/ancestor/index.html A GREAT site for checking out those Irish Ancestors
http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Shores/7348/ A good source for British and Irish surnames
http://www.stratumtechnology.co.uk/heritage/heritage.htm Same as above
http://www.britishislesgenweb.org/ Same as above
http://www.pro.gov.uk/finding/easysearch/defaultnext.htm Same as above
http://www.genexchange.com/gesr/nominateform.cfm Wonderful, informative site for Germany
http://www.rootsweb.com/~deurhepf/index.html German sources
http://www.rootsweb.com/~deurhepf/index.html Same as above
http://www.carpatho-rusyn.org/ Beautiful, fact filled with difficult to find information on those who emigrated from certan areas of the Carpathian-Russian areas.
http://istg.rootsweb.com/1900/index.html Immirgrant Ships Transcribers Guild, lists the ships and passengers
Historical Sites
http://battle1066.com/ This site is absolutely beautiful! Glen Crack has created a world in which you can view the "Battle of Hastings" of 1066 and the time and people surrounding it.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ote/knight.htm Information about the Knights who accompained William the Conqueror
http://www.insurenet.co.uk/users/1066ad/roll.htm This is on the Roll of Battle Abbey. If you're looking for information on William the Conqueror, make sure you look here!
http://www.3dcafestore.com/3dcafe/camcolligmac.html Take a trip back in time!
http://www.cablenet.net/pages/book/ The "Domesday Book" of William the Conqueror
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/ma01.htm Colonial America
http://somd.com/culture/history/cecilius-calvert.htm Lord Calvert, Colonial America
http://www.libs.uga.edu/ University of Alabama
http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mss/guide/toc.html Library of Congress, yes it's YOUR library, please visit!
Heraldry
http://www.designsofwonder.com
http://www.digiserve.com/heraldry/
Artwork
http://www.clipartcastle.com/ If you enjoyed the artwork found on my site, visit this site!
Hope you enjoy the links!
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