Family Search

Search for your ancestors using this interactive directory of the best free genealogy search engines. Search top world-wide & specialized genealogy databases from one genealogy search site! The Ancestor Search site also has unique custom genealogy search engines found no where else.

Family Search

• Ancestral File
  This file has over 35 million names organized into families and pedigrees. These names have been submitted by Mormon Church members, and are only as reliable as the person who submitted the file. The information has not been verified against any official records, nor are any sources supplied. Since the information in Ancestral File is contributed, it is the responsibility of those who use the file to verify its accuracy. In other words, use any results from the Ancestral File as a guide only.
  
  Once you have the results from the Ancestral File search, click on a person's name and you will be taken to that individual's record. From here you can select his pedigree chart or family group record. You can also download a gedcom of the family to your own computer. Just click on the gedcom button to download to your computer. However, a word of caution, do not add this to your own family file until you have verified the data. Use this data as a guide only.
  
  The best part about the Ancestral File is that you can find the person who submitted the file. Click on the details button after the word submitter, and you will find one or more name with addresses of people who have sent in this name. You can then write to the person, find out if the person is part of your ancestry, and be in touch with a possible person of your extended family.
  
  
  
• International Genealogical Index
  The International Genealogical Index or IGI, as it is commonly referred to, is a more accurate file. Church members have extracted over 600 million names from vital records throughout the world. You can also download a gedcom file from the IGI. Click the box next to the person's name on the result page and then click on 'prepare selected records for download'. This is the more reliable source for records available at the old Family Search website.
  
  
  
• Pedigree Resource File
  This is something relatively new. It is a lineage-linked database that individuals have submitted through Family Search Internet. If you find a match here, the information is available on-line. Sources are noted on the records.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  © Copyright 1997 - 2013 -- All Rights Reserved. This article may not be copied, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written permission from the author.