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Step 1. Large Surname Databases - Search your Family Name and Find

FamilySearch
This is the premier surname database in existence, representing the first appearance of the International Genealogical Index database on the Internet. Previous to this, it has appeared only in CD-ROM form, available at Mormon Family History Libraries or in other selected locations. The IGI database now includes Africa, Asia, Birtish Isles, Caribbean, Central America, Continental Europe, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Mexico, North America, Norway, Ocean Islands, South America, Southwest Europe, Southwest Pacific, Sweden, and World Miscellaneous.

The IGI or International Genealogical Index portion of this database is unique in that it covers more than 285 million names, about half or less of which are drawn from actual parish and other records for christenings/births and marriages. Other databases consist of mostly of contributed records and no other database can't even approach this number of names drawn from actual records. This is also the only database where names are extracted from actual parish records in England, Germany, and many other countries. To see whether a record has been contributed or drawn from an actual parish record, click on the film number at the bottom of the record.

The Ancestral File is also included and this consists of more than 35 million names of ancestors contributed by Mormon Church members and many others.

The opening screen of Familysearch represents the "Ancestor" search which is an all- inclusive search and searches the IGI, the Ancestral File, the Pedigree Resource File, and relevant Websites as well as several other databases . It will display the first 25 matches from each of the 20 world areas. It will also display the first 25 web sites where that surname is mentioned on the Internet. To see more than 25 matches, click on desired item and you will be shown the rest of the matches.

To do a separate search of the IGI, or Ancestral File, click on the type of database you want from the left margin . In the IGI search you will have options for type of event - birth/christening, marriage, death (very few death records as yet), and region of the world.

Be sure not to neglect a Surname and also a Place search of the Family History Library Catalog. This will tell you about books and microfilms on your surname and also on the place where your ancestors resided. If you find a desirable film, you can then order it from the Family History Library nearest you.

The online version now has most of the capabilities of the original CD-ROM version found in Family History Libraries. It now has limited capability for a parent search as well as an individual search. To do a parent search, enter the full name of the father, and at least the first name of the mother. Parent searches are important because sometimes no birth or marriage record exists for a person, but a record exists for him or her as a parent. The CD-ROM is superior in several ways. Only the full name of the father needs to be entered in a parent search. The CD-ROM version also arranges results in chronological order while the online does not. Internet Family Finder Largest surname database index online with over 171 million names, about 63 million of which are contributed by amateur genealogists from their own family trees. (This huge database of names contributed by amateur genealogists is known, by itself, as World Family Tree). The remainder of the content in Internet Family Finder includes matches for your name found on a search of other Internet genealogical databases and personal home pages, etc. and also matches from almost all U.S. Census indexes (1790-1870), Social Security Death Index (SSDI), and a variety of other records put on CD-ROM by Familytreemaker, Inc. Valuable for identifying ancestors, and for determining whether your ancestors appeared in any U.S. Census. Any further information on persons indexed must be obtained by purchase of a CD- ROM or by use of a paid lookup service. Family Tree Maker Lookups.(See Ancestral Findings for limited free searches of certain CD-ROMs. Choose type of materials - Census, World Family Tree, etc. - and click on specific record to get option for free lookup).
Ancestry.com Global Search
(Also see Advanced Search where you can limit by locality, etc.) One of the best and largest of the surname databases with 100 million names. Consists of contributed family tree records and many types of actual records in electronic form. An excellent feature is that all of the following are free and immediately available: contributed family names, family trees, and information from the Social Security Death Index. (Annotations for 50,000 books of individual family histories in Library of Congress, formerly free, is now available by subscription only). Other pluses are that this surname search is the only one to cover the valuable PERSI (an index to genealogical periodicals), though the actual index entries are available by subscription only. Don't neglect this search for these valuable advantages. Also searches other categories of records including some vital records, 1790 Census for a few states, some military, court, land and other records. These records, however, are very spotty with coverage only for certain states and the full record is available by subscription only. For up-to- date information , see the list of Free and Fee databases.
Rootsweb Worldconnect Surname Search
Rootsweb is dedicated to providing a completely free genealogical database (contributions are encouraged, however). There are some 132,000 separate message/mail lists and at present there is no search covering them all but one is being developed. However, the main message/mail list is ROOTS-L covering over 4 million individuals. Search by surname with options for place of birth and death. For persons listed gives all known information, which may include spouse, children, parents, and source when known.
Has a second type of search called Surname Resources which includes a wide variety of materials including primary sources, family trees, personal web sites, etc., etc. There is also a third surname search called the RSL Database (969,005 entries) where one can search a surname by location and migrations. For example, by listing a place for your surname you can get surnames with a migration pattern including that place - for example, by listing Canada, you will get Barnes - Canada - Il - Ia. You can then find a family line with the same migration pattern and can then identify a submitter and see all the surnames contributed by that submitter.
A fourth search is an inclusive one covering all messages posted on other major message boards, including Genconnect, other genealogy sites, plus some personal web pages, and available online records. Types of online records included are Bible, biographies, birth, cemetery, church, courts, death, directories, first families, genealogy and history indexes, land, marriage, migration, military, naturalization, newspaper, obituary, pension, tax lists, vital records, and wills. Don't neglect this interesting and valuable search. Inclusive Search Kindred Konnections
Consists of 22 million names and family trees in an ancestral archive. Useful because names can be narrowed by dates for better identification of ancestors. Further information on family trees is available by subscription only. Gendex Search
This database consists of more than 8,234,405 names and family trees taken from genealogical sites on the Internet. Gives as much information about each name as is available including dates and places, sometimes more information than Internet Family Finder provides. Names can be soundexed. Many family trees are immediately available. Others must be obtained by purchase or subscription, depending on where they were taken from. A valuable search.
Geneanet Search
Has about 48,058,579 entries from around the world. Can be limited to searches for persons living before 1900. Search draws from contributed records, genealogical sites on the Internet, books and manuscripts, and official records. Results arrange surnames by date and also give place. Sometimes leads to actual online records. Other times the only information given is the Web site where the information was found or the submitter's name and address, e-mail, etc. To search on different countries, click on Country Search. Useful for searching internationally and for this early period.
The Computerized Ancestor Search
A database of about 730,000 names collected by Yates Publishing Co Browse through surname entries of your choice. Arrangement is alphabetical by first name and for each, gives available information which may include spouse, date, and place. Does not place individual in family tree but gives the name of spouse, if known. Gives address, e-mail, etc. of submitter.
Ancestral Findings
This site is unique in that it provides one free search per day of genealogical CD- ROMS produced by commercial vendors, including Family Tree Maker. This is a very helpful service when only a brief check in one of the CD-ROMs is needed. Choose type of CD-ROM needed - census, World Family Tree, passenger lists, birth records, etc., etc. Then click on specific record to get instructions for free search. Particularly useful for accessing one name in World Family Tree CD-ROMs. Requests are limited to one CD per day with 2 complete individual names. No requests are accepted for all of a particular surname.

Other Surname Databases (by Knobloch. Choose General Surname Searching)

Step 2. Message and Query Boards - Post Your Ancestors' Names and

Genconnect
Choose a country, and for the U.S., a state and county. Then select "Post a new message"
Or scroll to the bottom of the page and choose Surname Boards. When you get to your surname board take the option "Post a new message." Genconnect

Genforum
Choose Surname Boards or U.S. (no counties - States only) or Countries. When you arrive at your surname or locality, choose "Post a new message." Genforum

Rootsweb Message Boards
Now associated with Ancestry.com. To post by locality, go to state and then click on "Counties".

Roots-L
Rootsweb has combined its mailing lists with Genconnect's message boards. Messages from Rootsweb mailing lists have been archived back through 1988. Go to this site to check messages for your surname. Roots- L. There are also locality mailing lists for the US States, arranged by county with some state areas and special interest groups such as Pennsylvania Dutch, and for foreign countries Locality Lists . There are a variety of other special mailing lists, including ones for medieval names, German names, and French names. Special Mailing Lists (Choose "Other" category). All in all there are said to be some 19,445 different lists. At the present time there is no way to search the archived messages in all the lists in one search. However, you can search one list at a time. Select a list of interest Select Special List and search that list. Search Special List
In order to post messages on all but the general ROOTS-L, you must register first as described here. (If you register for a list, you will generally receive all of the messages on that list. You may also post messages on that list). To post messages on the general message board, ROOTS-L, read How to Post and e-mail your posting to ROOTS-L@rootsweb.com.

There are other message boards and query sites also and the sites below provide links. .
General Query and Message Board Links from Cyndi's List
Locality Specific Query and Message Board Links from Cyndi's List (scroll down)
Genweb Locality Specific Queries and Message Boards (scroll down)

Step 3. Locality: Search by Place for Ancestors' Names

Another good option when you need to search for ancestors in a particular location in the United States, is to use printed county history books. The State Library Genealogy Department has an excellent collection of county histories. Other large libraries have good collections of county histories, especially the Fort Wayne, Indiana Public Library and the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Some county histories are also being added to online collections of genealogy books such as Genealogylibrary.com.

Step 4. Search for Online Records of All Kinds

Other databases having extensive online records provide indexes and some records free but charge a fee for viewing most actual records. For example, see Family Tree Maker CD-ROMS and Books, (For paid lookups see Paid Lookups), , and Ancestry.com. Free Databases and Member Databases.

World archives of Online Records
World Archives of Online Records
Limited as yet to Caribbean, Mediterranean, South America, and U.K. Useful site

Step 5. Search for Books Written About Your Family Name

Step 6. Search by Type of Record: Birth, Death, Marriage, Military,

Step 8. Obtain Census Data

Threre are a number of sites for free census look-ups. Census Lookups has a cumbersome procedure but they will search any year of any U.S. census. A better free census lookup site Census Lookup. Another free census lookup site is Free Census Lookups This site features volunteers who will look up census material on CD-ROM disks that they have, many of which may just be indexes.

If you do not find the Census you want online, it may be available here in a library in the Central Ohio area on microfilm.
For information on this see Federal and State Population Censuses. Another option, if the census you need is not available locally, is to rent a roll from the National Archives. First you must determine the roll number. To see a list of all Census microfilm rolls available by county, see Census Microfilm Roll List or use printed copies in reference. After getting the roll number, rent it from NARA

Purchase Microfilm Copies.. To purchase FamilyTree Maker Census CD-ROM indexes as a batch for the entire U.S., separately, or to purchase actual online images see FamilyTreeMaker site. For other places you may purchase online Census images, see Online Census Image Publishers. See also other companies, Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest.

Step 9. Contact Vital Records Offices
Vital Records Offices
Excellent site . Links to home pages of vital records office. Includes all states and counties. Some offices even have request form which may be printed for later use, and a few actually have searchable databases of names.
Ohio Vital Records Office
All information about how to obtain vital records for Ohio. Also links to the Ohio Historical Society home page.
Foreign Vital Records
Links to a variety of online vital records for countries of the world.

Step 10. Take Advantage of Lookups, Free and Paid

U.S. Surname Distribution
U.S. Surname Distribution
This unique database will tell you where in the U.S. people with your surname live. Enter any surname and a map of the United States will come up showing the distribution of people with this surname around the country. Contains the 50,000 most common surnames. For example, some surnames occur in 1 out of 10,000 persons.

Step 11. Metasites: Explore Genealogy Links Pages

More Options Additional print resources for genealogy.