Free Genealogy Websites -- But Sometimes It Pays to Pay!

Randy Seavers issued a Saturday Night Genealogy Challenge this weekend: "Your Top 10 Free Genealogy Sites."

My summary page for "Genealogy--Free or Fee?" shows many top picks for free genealogy.

The Ancestor Hunt by Kenneth Marks

One free website I'm adding to my list is The Ancestor Hunt, a very useful website by Kenneth Marks (on Twitter at @marksology). 

As shown at top, the site links to free genealogy resources (arranged by U.S. state and Canadian province) such as newspapers, birth-marriage-death records, photos, school yearbooks, directories, immigration, divorce, and lots of other categories!

Here's a sample of what these state-by-state links look like. Definitely worth taking a look and clicking for the state where our ancestors lived! Be sure to look at all the headings. There's a lot here, thanks to Kenneth Marks.

When It Pays to Pay

Sometimes I need information that I just can't find for free. Direct line ancestors (parents, grandparents, great-grannies, etc) are a key priority. If those key vital records aren't available for free, I order and have them in hand for careful scrutiny. More than once, I've noticed tiny details that changed my understanding of an ancestor's life! And, as my friend Linda Stufflebean points out, the free version of a record may not have all the info that is available on the original version ordered for a fee.

I also pay for birth, marriage, death, and other records when I need to find out (or confirm) a maiden name, get an exact date, or see info that my ancestor actually wrote. This includes original photocopies of my ancestors' Social Security applications (SS-5). 

In general, vital records tend to get more expensive as the years go by--if they are available at all. Some states are restricting access, unfortunately. If I want that record and it's not available for free, I'm going to buy it now and keep it.

Before I send money, I always look at a blank copy of the record to be sure I understand what will (and won't) be on it. If I'm hoping to learn an exact birth date but early marriage records show just an age or state whether bride/groom are over 21, I may look for a different record to obtain the birth date.

A Genealogy Record Actually Got Cheaper!

Prepping for my "Free and Almost Free Genealogy" talk this week, I double-checked the cost of sending for an ancestor's Social Security (SS-5) application. 

Although there is a fee for obtaining SS-5 documents, they are filled with detail. Don't bother with the "computer extract" which usually doesn't have all the details on the actual application. Go straight for the "photocopy of original application" even though it costs a little more. You want to see the original with your own eyes!

When I couldn't find my great-grandma's maiden name any other way, I paid to get my grandpa Isaac's Social Security application. 

As shown directly above, Isaac applied for a Social Security card on December 1, 1936, giving the following info on his application:

• First name and surname
• Home address
• Employer name and address
• Current age AND birthdate AND birthplace (including country)
• Father's full name
• Mother's given and maiden name
• Sex, color
• Date of application and signature 

The price of obtaining this SS-5 has varied over the years. Two years ago, it was $24 for the photocopy. 

Today, as shown at top of this post, the cost of a photocopy is only $21. Rarely does a genealogy record get cheaper. If you, like me, want to get more info about an ancestor who had a Social Security account, I encourage you to spend the money to see the photocopy. IMHO, the investment can be quite worthwhile. Here's the link to get started.

Tuesday's Tip: Genealogy--Free or Fee, part 3

Sending for a Social Security application is not cheap. And yet I've sent for several, during my Genealogy Go-Over and earlier.

Here's an example from 2009. I wanted to confirm my maternal grandfather's home town and parents' names. At the time, these applications weren't indexed or available anywhere else. Today, you can often see some application info on Ancestry or other sites.

Above is what I received for my money eight years ago. Yes, Theodore (Teddy) Schwartz (1887-1965) was born in Ungvar, Hungary, on May 21, 1887. His parents were Herman and Hanna. And the address is where my grandparents lived for a few years, before selling their dairy store and moving around the corner from Tremont Ave. in the Bronx, NY.

In 2009, there was no electronic way to request these forms, and the wait seemed interminable (about 2 months). Today, just click to the website and have your plastic payment ready, which cuts a little time off the wait.

A better example is what I learned when I started the Gen Go-Over. I finally bought a copy of the application of my paternal grandfather, Isaac Burk (1882-1943). It revealed his mother's maiden name and his hometown. It also told me he was working for his brother-in-law, which I didn't know. Looking at the application, I suspect Isaac didn't write it himself but did sign it (I've seen his laborious signature on other documents).

The bottom line is: Try all the free possibilities first, including free access to the big genealogy websites through your public library or family history library. But if you absolutely, positively cannot get the details or the confirmation in any other way, and this information is critical to your research, do consider paying for this document, which contains info personally provided by your ancestor (even if he or she didn't actually write the information but only signed the paperwork).

My reasoning:

• This is a good place to see an ancestor's parents' names. I needed to confirm Grandpa Isaac's parents' names, which were indistinct on his marriage license.
• This is a good (sometimes the only) way to see a maiden name. That's what happened with Grandpa Isaac, among other ancestors. I fought hard to see the full SSA details of a cousin's ancestor, showing the maiden name of his mother, because without it, I couldn't get the final piece of the puzzle in place and prove the family relationship. Patience and perseverance will pay off if you have to fight to see redacted details.* It took me two appeals, but I won. And solved the puzzle!
• This is sometimes a good way to learn or confirm hometown or homeland info. Grandpa Teddy and Grandpa Isaac show this in action. I appreciated using their SSA info to confirm other documentation.
• This will give you a clue to home and work addresses that you can research in more depth. Suppose you can't find someone in the Census but you do know that person had a Social Security number, which you located via the Social Security Death Index or through another method. At least you'll have an address as of the date of this application. My 2d cousin found Teddy's address in a note her mother had squirreled away decades ago. Now that I knew when Teddy lived at that address, I could be more certain of when the young lady was in touch with Teddy. It helped us understand the close relationship between Teddy and his niece. 
• Other details. Maybe, like me, you'll learn something surprising about the person's occupation or employer. I'm always hoping to flesh out my ancestors' lives so they're more than a name and a few dates.

I've written two other posts about Genealogy, Free or fee: Part 1 and Part 2 (more are in the works).

Please feel free to comment about your "free genealogy" experiences or what you believe is worth paying for! Thank you.

*The appeal is one way to see what has been blocked from view on a person's SSA. I don't think there's an appeal process for requesting a record that the authorities say doesn't exist or they can't find. But if you receive an application with names blocked from view, it's worth rereading the privacy rules and trying to appeal by sending documents to prove that the dates are beyond when any of these people would be living.