Genealogy Web Sites

by Rhoda Miller, CGRS

Census records Ethnic groups General information General searches
People finders Repositories Social history

General Information

Suffolk Web (http://www.suffolk.lib.ny.us)
Contains links to your home library where you can access the Virtual Reference Collection that includes Ancestry Plus and New York Times Historical Newspapers.

Pedigree Chart (http://www.gale.ancestry.com/save/charts/ancchart.htm)
You can print out another copy of a pedigree chart.

Cyndi's List (http://www.cyndislist.com/)
Links to every imaginable genealogy topic. Start by scrolling down to Getting Started which has many, many excellent links. You will be able to explore forever!

Long Island Genealogy Events (http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gfli/calendar.html)
Lists all genealogy groups on Long Island, their meeting dates and basic information.

Brother's Keeper (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/brothers_keeper/)
Free genealogy software: makes great descendent charts.

 

General Searches

Ellis Island Passenger Manifests (http://www.ellisislandrecords.org/)
Passenger Ship Manifests 1892-1924

Ellis Island One Step (http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/eidb/)
This search engine for Ellis Island allows for more flexibility in name variations.

Family History Library (http://www.familysearch.org)
This is the link to the LDS catalog.

RootsWeb (http://www.rootsweb.com/)
Extensive databases-excellent for general name searches throughout the US.

Civil War Soldiers & Sailors (http://www.itd.nps.gov/cwss/)
Search by name for Civil War personnel. Links to other information about the Civil War; regiments, etc.

United Kingdom version of Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.co.uk/)
Includes 1891 Census for England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales as well as vital records.

Emigrant Savings Bank (http://www.genexchange.org/esb/index.cfm)
Excellent resource for Irish immigration and family information earlier than Ellis Island.

Census Records

1880 US, 1881 England, 1881 Canada (http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=census/search_census.asp)

1901 UK Census (http://www.pro.gov.uk/census/default.htm)

1901 Census searchable database for England and Wales

1910 Census ED finder (http://erosenbaum.netfirms.com/1910census.shtml)

1930 Census ED Locator (http://1930census.archives.gov/)
You MUST know an address and the cross streets to use this tool. It is helpful to know the nearest major street.

 

Ethnic Groups

Jewish Genealogy Society of NY (http://www.jgsny.org/)
Databases: WW I Draft Brooklyn Naturalization LDS records in Manhattan Jewish Burial Societies Cemetery Project

Italian Genealogy Group (http://www.italiangen.org/default.stm)
Naturalizations for Nassau and Suffolk Counties and Military Naturalizations, and Southern District Court of New York.

Irish Family History Forum (http://www.ifhf.org/)

JewishGen (http://www.jewishgen.org/)
Eastern Europe +

 

Repositories

New York Public Library (http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/index.html)
Good for city directories, maps, census, passenger ship records, naturalization index, and unique resources

NYC Municipal Archives (http://nyc.gov/html/doris/)
Information for obtaining vital records up to 1939. After that, go to the NYC Department of Health website.

NYC Department of Health (http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/doh/html/vr/vr.html)
Obtain vital records from 1939 to the present.

Vital Records Information – United States (http://vitalrec.com/index.html)

National Archives (http://www.nara.gov/)
Excellent for naturalization, passenger ship lists and military records. Now has out of town city directories for the 1930 census.

 

Social History

How the Other Half Lives (http://www.yale.edu/amstud/inforev/riis/title.html)
Study done by Jacob Riis in 1890 describing the tenement life in NYC. This is excellent social history of how immigrants lived on the Lower East Side of NY.

Oral History Questions (http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/oralhist.htm)

Timelines of a Lifespan (http://www.ourtimelines.com/)
Social, political, cultural events

www.ebay.com
Locates books, postcards, artifacts, and generally interesting information.

People Finders 

www.weddingchannel.com

www.knowx.com
Both of these sites will give you both names of a couple.

www.unclaimed.org
Searches for unclaimed property and bank accounts in every state by name.

www.anybirthday.com
Searches for birthday by name and zip code (partial OK).