Three Free Ways
to reach websites that require
an expensive subscription

You can find lots of free access.

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 MILITARY RECORDS
WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FOR?
WHAT KIND OF RECORDS ARE THERE?
HOW TO REACH THEM.

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How to Reach Internet Records for Free
below

In Texas you can get a sign-in at any public library for the TexShare Databases. Try the sign-in for your area ( It is the zip code you are in (5 digits) and the select the slide bar menu for the library of your town or city.) It opens a lot of free databases. You have access to lot of other subjects.


Go to this page after signing in https://texshare.net/subjects , select Genealogy and History. It will open a list of things free that will help you do genealogy. Be sure to explore all of their other databases to! It will give you an access for all kinds of subjects.

You can look for articles and obituaries, the ProQuest has a lot of searchable information.
And the Fold3,  has a lot of information and databases, especially military records.

*You'll note the name "library edition" on 'free' websites, they are great for finding information, but do not offer a personal login, you are unable to make 'bookmarks' and you have no place to enter your own genealogy. That is their only drawback. But we are after records!!!

*There are similar programs for each state. If you do not live in Texas then visit your library's web page and look for or call to get the name and sign in for that.
 You may already have a login if you have school age children. This resource access is used to work on homework or other assignments.

See the note at the bottom of this page for tips on being ready for it!

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You can go visit a FamilySearch Center . It is free and the staff can help you with anything. You can also get free copies and have access to many databases you normally have to subscribe to (expensive!)

Find one near you, with over three thousand of them in the US.

The websites you can use for free there (at home they are each a hundred dollars  or more a year!)
Use this list and make a list of who you want to look for. It is easier to plan the trip! Make each minute count.

Digital websites available free at all FamilySearch Centers

Newspaper databases in a FamilySearch Center

Newspaper.com (largest of all newspaper databases)

NewspaperArchive.com  (another large source)

19th century British library newspapers

The Times (London) - contains birth, marriage, death notices from all over England.

19th census US Newspapers

British Newspaper Archive -(British and Irish newspapers)

Genealogy Bank - lots of genealogical information & it has a huge obituary collection.

ProQuest Obituary Listings - more than 10 million!

Genealogy websites in a FamilySearch Center

Ancestry.com

My Heritage.com  all about genealogy

American Ancestors (Covers New England)

Genealogy Bank - lots of genealogical information

paper Trail - US pioneers who crossed the plains, journals, histories. 1800- 1899.

Foreign databases in a FamilySearch Center

Find My Past. com - Lots of record sets and it has an emphasis of British & Irish records.

Arkiv Digital (Swedish Church Records- color images)

SVAR  - researching Swedish records. click top right hand link to view in English.

Famnet - New Zealand Roots

Genealogy Quebec - records from Quebec, Canada

Geneanet  - Continental Europe

TheGenealogist.co.uk  A variety of UK resources

Civil war & Military databases

Fold3 - Genealogy data in general & it has the most military records (US)

The American Civil War Research Database

the American Civil War - Letters and Diaries

Images of the American Civil War

Images of the Civil War

History & Maps

Historic Map Works -  Maps and city directories

Historical Abstracts - (US and Canada) History

America History & Life -Searches "US Books, Academic Journals, Newspapers, and Magazines"

JSTOR  - Academic Journals, letters and images. For history study .

Social and Cultural History - Letters and diaries online

Original Sources - World & US History

Oxford English Dictionary

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Note about free trial*Be prepared for that free trial !*This brings up the most important tool you need for any free or any physical brick library or website online.
You need to make a note book. Not fancy, it's for your eyes only. Or keep it on a phone or tablet, keep lists of information you need. Just scribble notes to keep track of what you want. After you find what you want you cross the list off!

The types of lists you want;

• keep a list of obituaries you need.
• Look for newspaper articles about your family and where they lived.
• Little town newspapers cover reunions and often gives a list of who was there and where they came from for the event. That same info will follow up after a funeral.
• Look also for columns in the nearest county seat or large cities, their newspapers often have a section telling the local news in local smaller towns.
• You want to locate military files, enlistment articles and military unit stories, school photos and records, maps and insurance maps, birthdays, retirement articles, disaster stories relating to the town or city your family was in. Articles list courthouse public notices, divorces, marriages, deaths and estate notices, licensing, deeds and other historical information.
• Collect family business' advertising.
  
• Club meetings may give you a source to search for lineal organizations, DAR, UDC, SAR and so on, They appear in many articles during the year. That means they have an organized family file they joined the group with,  you want to find their linage in the groups main pages or in books by the organizations.  
• Same for the Masons and Odd Fellows and other fraternal groups. That means articles and members information is in the local newspapers and keep watch in obituaries for a lodge or group to at a funeral and maybe pallbearer etc. Church articles and photos may have your family in the articles. I have even stumbled on family recipes that were shared in the newspaper articles a hundred years ago. They were in local paper articles of the homemakers, economy, canning clubs, & extension clubs.
• Knowing personalities and hopefully finding photographs can be really fun.
• You need the notebook to save a lot of time when trying all the free stuff, and its handy to go into a any free website or library. You know what you want and, you want it all and fast!
• Don't get free access and miss something you really needed. Of course you can keep it electronically in your computer, but it will be necessary in a paper library or to go to a FamilySearch Center. You know what you want and anyone helping you will see the clues you have and help, making it more efficient way to research .