Online Resources

Abbreviation: AL
Capital: Montgomery
Admission to Statehood: December 14, 1819
22nd state admitted to the Constitution
67 counties

Alabama Department of Archives and History
624 Washington Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36130
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 300100, Montgomery, AL 36130 (more…)

Abbreviation: AK
Capital: Juneau
Admission to Statehood: January 3, 1959
49th state admitted to the Constitution
25 Counties

Alaska State Archives
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 110525, 141 Willoughby Avenue, Juneau, AK 99811-0525 (more…)

Abbreviation: AZ
Capital: Phoenix
Admission to Statehood: February 14, 1912
48th state admitted to the Constitution
15 Counties

Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records
History and Archives Division
Mailing Address: State Capitol, Suite 342, 1700 West Washington, Phoenix, AZ 85007 (more…)

Abbreviation: AR
Capital: Little Rock
Admission to Statehood: June 15, 1836
25th state admitted to the Constitution
75 Counties

Arkansas History Commission
Mailing Address: One Capitol Mall, Little Rock, AR 77201 (more…)

A frequent complaint in genealogy research is “I would love to learn about my family tree but I can’t afford professional help or the fees all these websites charge”.     The amount of money you can spend is inversely proportional to the combined volume of time you’re able to spend doing it AND how resourceful you are.   Money and time must be spent and that is just a fact.   Play it smart, however, and there are some great things that can be accomplished with relatively little money. (more…)

Genealogy resources and repositories in the state of California are found here. If you are a family tree researcher and would like to recommend a local reference source please use the form to leave a comment at the bottom of the page.

Abbreviation: CA
Capital: Sacramento
Admission to Statehood: September 9, 1850
31st state admitted to the Constitution
58 Counties

California State Archives
Mailing Address: 1020 “O” Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 (more…)

Abbreviation: CO
Capital: Denver
Admission to Statehood: August 1, 1876
38th state admitted to the Constitution
63 Counties

Colorado State Archives
Mailing Address: 1313 Sherman Street, Room 1B-20, Denver, CO 80203 (more…)

Abbreviation: CT
Capital: Hartford
Admission to Statehood: January 9, 1788
5th state admitted to the Constitution
8 Counties

• Connecticut State Archives
Mailing Address: Connecticut State Library, 231 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT 06106 (more…)

Abbreviation: DE
Capital: Dover
Admission to Statehood: December 7, 1787
1st state admitted to the Constitution
3 Counties

Delaware Public Archives
Mailing Address: 121 Duke of York Street, Dover, DE 19901 (more…)

Abbreviation: FL
Capital: Tallahassee
Admission to Statehood: March 3, 1845
27th state admitted to the Constitution
67 Counties

State Library and Archives of Florida
Mailing Address: R.A. Gray Building, 500 South Bronough Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0250 (more…)

Abbreviation: GA
Capital: Atlanta
Admission to Statehood: January 2, 1788
4th state admitted to the Constitution
159 Counties

Georgia Archives
Mailing Address: 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, GA 30260 (more…)

Abbreviation: HI
Capital: Honolulu
Admission to Statehood: August 21, 1959
50th state admitted to the Constitution
5 Counties

Hawaii State Archives
Mailing Address: Kekauluohi Building, Iolani Palace Grounds, Honolulu, HI 96813 (more…)

Abbreviation: ID
Capital: Boise
Admission to Statehood: July 3, 1890
43rd state admitted to the Constitution
44 Counties

Idaho State Historical Society
Address: Public Archives and Research Library, 2205 Old Penitentiary Road, Boise, ID 83712 (more…)

Illinois Genealogy

Map Courtesy of Digital-Topo-Maps.com

Genealogy resources for Illinois include statewide, county and local sources of genealogy and vital records. There are many, many good sources of data on both the state and county level. Note the general data for the State of Illinois and keep in mind the history of Illinois when performing research. The formation of the state in 1818 is the absolute earliest of state government records but some land grand and other information may pre-date this period. You may notice that there are several counties in Illinois that are also the names of counties found in Indiana and Ohio. Many earlier settlers of Illinois, and to a higher degree the earliest downstate settlers used names of their prior residences in other states when the establishment of Illinois towns and counties was taking place. One notable example is Champaign County, which exists in both Illinois and Ohio.

- Abbreviation: IL
- Capital: Springfield
- Admission to Statehood: December 3, 1818
- 21st state admitted to the Constitution
- 102 Counties

Illinois State Archives
Statewide genealogy resources at the Illinois State Archives include death records from 1916 to 1947 however many counties have records going further back. On a standard basis the majority of Illinois counties didn’t record deaths until 1877. Marriage indexes are available online from approximately 1763 to 1900. Also held at the Illinois State Archives are early state census records, military records, select land, prison and slave records.
Mailing Address: Norton Building, Capitol Complex, Springfield, IL 62756 (more…)

Abbreviation: IN Capital: Indianapolis
Admission to Statehood: December 11, 1816
19th state admitted to the Constitution
92 Counties

• Indiana State Archives
Mailing Address: 6440 East 30th Street, Indianapolis, Indiana 46219 (more…)

A family tree researcher in the United States often overlooks or is unaware that we are capable of searching area specific search engines. Google, Yahoo and Bing along with many of the other search engines focus on the local relevance of searches as a high priority. While it is simple to locate information in California while you are sitting in New York, several of the results and sponsored links on the results page will still be local in nature because. As a genealogy researcher, however, you’ll be fascinated to learn that if you were searching for something in Ireland or Great Britain from New York there’s another secret method you should be trying. Your genealogy research in other countries can truly be attempted online.

Google has a dedicated site designed specifically for literally hundreds of places. Google.com is the most popular version of their search engine, serving most of the English speaking world – in the United States anyhow. There are various other Google search engines serving other countries that can be very helpful. For instance, if you’re searching for sites pertaining to the Walsh family but you’re really hoping to locate potential family members in Ireland you may be better off searching Google’s side dedicated to Ireland. So, keying in a search on Google.com for “walsh family tree” will net similar results as if you search the same terms from www.google.ie (Ireland). You will however, find a button to click at the top of the search results page that offers the same search but only pages from Ireland. The same goes for searching Google.co.uk (Great Britain), Google.com.au (Australia), Google.fr (France) and so on.

There are also search engines that exist in other countries (many available only in the foreign language native to that country). Russia has a search engine called Yandex. Another search engine called Buscapique covers several areas including Mexico and Central America, Brazil and several other areas. If you’re interested in seeking out other search engines specific to a region or a country you may just search your favorite search engine for “search engine Germany” or whatever area you’re looking within. A useful resource is the Big Search Engine Index which can be found at http://www.search-engine-index.co.uk/

Breaking through the language barriers can be difficult but one of the best tools around is Google Translate. If you use Google and have a custom home page then one option you have is to include Google Translate on your home search page. If you don’t have it then look it up. It has proven useful over and over again. It will translate entire paragraphs at once and even recognizes non-arabic alphabet letters and characters such as Chinese. Try this and you’ll quickly pick up on the main words that signal the type of record you’re looking for even if you don’t have any prior knowledge of the language.

Frequently you can also find English versions of websites. Look for forms of the word English on a site nearby the navigation items along the top or sides of a page and click on it.

Abbreviation: IA
Capital: Des Moines
Admission to Statehood: December 28, 1846
29th state admitted to the Constitution
99 Counties

State Historical Society of Iowa
Mailing Address: State of Iowa Historical Building, 600 East Locust, Des Moines, IA 50319-0290 (more…)

Genealogy research in Ireland can be uniquely challenging. Since public records only began being collected in 1864 it can be very difficult to locate the origins of individuals that lived even into the mid-1900s. Public records of Irish births, deaths and marriages prior to 1864 do not exist. There are, however, existing church records, wills, property and land records for periods prior to 1864. There are a number of ways to locate this information if you know the approximate dates and location of residence at the time. (more…)

Abbreviation: KS
Capital: Topeka
Admission to Statehood: January 29, 1861
34th state admitted to the Constitution
105 Counties

Kansas Historical Society
Mailing Address: 6425 Southwest Sixth Avenue, Topeka, KS 66615 (more…)

Abbreviation: KY
Capital: Frankfort
Admission to Statehood: June 1, 1792
15th state admitted to the Constitution
120 Counties

Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives
Mailing Address: 300 Coffee Tree Road, Frankfort, KY 40601 (more…)

Abbreviation: LA
Capital: Baton Rouge
Admission to Statehood: April 30, 1812
18th state admitted to the Constitution
64 Counties

Louisiana State Archives
Mailing Address: 3851 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge, LA 70809 (more…)

Abbreviation: ME
Capital: Augusta
Admission to Statehood: March 15, 1820
23rd State
16 Counties

Maine State Archives
Mailing Address: 84 State House Station, Augusta, ME 04333-0084 (more…)

Abbreviation: MD
Capital: Annapolis
Admission to Statehood: April 28, 1788
7th state admitted to the Constitution
23 Counties

Maryland State Archives
Mailing Address: 350 Rowe Boulevard, Annapolis, MD 21401 (more…)

Abbreviation: MA
Capital: Boston
Admission to Statehood: February 6, 1788
6th state admitted to the Constitution
14 Counties

Massachusetts Archives
Address: Secretary of Commonwealth, Massachusetts Archives, 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125 (more…)

Abbreviation: MI
Capital: Lansing
Admission to Statehood: January 26, 1837
26th State
83 Counties

Michigan Historical Society
Mailing Address: Archives of Michigan, P.O. Box 30740, Lansing, Michigan 48909-8240 (more…)

Abbreviation: MN
Capital: Saint Paul
Admission to Statehood: May 11, 1858
32nd state admitted to the Constitution
87 Counties

Minnesota State Archives
Mailing Address: Minnesota Historical Society, 345 Kellogg Boulevard, St. Paul, MN 55102 (more…)

Abbreviation: MS
Capital: Jackson
Admission to Statehood: December 10, 1817
20th state admitted to the Constitution
82 Counties

Mississippi Department of Archives and History
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 571, Jackson, MS 39205-0571 (more…)

Abbreviation: MO
Capital: Jefferson City
Admission to Statehood: August 10, 1821
24th state admitted to the Constitution
114 Counties

Missouri State Archives
Mailing Address: 600 W. Main, P.O. Box 1747, Jefferson City, MO 65102 (more…)

Abbreviation: MT
Capital: Helena
Admission to Statehood: November 8, 1889
41st state admitted to the Constitution
56 Counties

Montana State Archives
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 201201, 225 North Roberts Street, Helena, MT 59620 (more…)

Abbreviation: NE
Capital: Lincoln
Admission to Statehood: March 1, 1867
37th state admitted to the Constitution
93 Counties

Nebraska State Historical Society Library/Archives Division
Mailing Address:Nebraska State Historical Society, P.O. Box 82554, 1500 R Street, Lincoln, NE 68501 (more…)

Abbreviation: NV
Capital: Carson City
Admission to Statehood: October 31, 1864
36th state admitted to the Constitution
16 Counties

Nevada State Library and Archives
Mailing Address: 100 North Stewart Street, Carson City, NV 89701 (more…)

Abbreviation: NH
Capital: Concord
Admission to Statehood: June 21, 1788
9th state admitted to the Constitution
10 Counties

New Hampshire Archives and Records Management
Mailing Address: 71 South Fruit Street, Concord, NH 03301 (more…)

Abbreviation: NJ
Capital: Trenton
Admission to Statehood: December 18, 1787
3rd State
21 Counties

New Jersey Public Records and Archives
Mailing Address, State Archives: 225 West State Street-Level 2, P.O. Box 307, Trenton, NJ 08625-0307 (more…)

Abbreviation: NM
Capital: Santa Fe
Admission to Statehood: January 6, 1912
47th state admitted to the Constitution
33 Counties

New Mexico State Records Center and Archives
Address: 1205 Camino Carlos Rey, Santa Fe, NM 87505 (more…)

New York Genealogy

Map Courtesy of Digital-Topo-Maps.com

Abbreviation: NY
Capital: Albany
Admission to Statehood: July 26th, 1788
11th state admitted to the Constitution
62 Counties

New York State Archives
Address: New York State Education Department, Cultural Education Center, Albany, NY 12230 (more…)

Abbreviation: NC
Capitol: Raleigh
Admission to Statehood: November 21, 1789
12th state admitted to the Constitution
100 Counties

North Carolina State Archives
Mailing Address: 4614 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-4614 (more…)

Abbreviation: ND
Capital: Bismarck
Admission to Statehood: November 2nd, 1889
39th state admitted to the Constitution
52 Counties

State Historical Society of North Dakota
Mailing Address: 612 East Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, ND 58505-0830 (more…)

Abbreviation: OH
Capital: Columbus
Admission to Statehood: March 1, 1803
17th state admitted to the Constitution
88 Counties

Ohio Historical Society State Archives
Mailing Address: 1982 Velma Avenue, Columbus, OH 43211 (more…)

Abbreviation: OK
Capital: Oklahoma City
Admission to Statehood: November 16, 1907
46th state admitted to the Constitution
77 Counties

Oklahoma State Archives and Records Management
Mailing Address: 200 Northeast Eighteenth Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73105-3298 (more…)

Geneosity.com is an online resource for the genealogy or family history enthusiast.  Here you’ll find a guide of the most useful websites and methods of locating the information that you seek.   Each resource will assist in facilitating your family tree projects effectively.

There are literally hundreds if not thousands of potential sources from which you can investigate the genealogy of your family.   For every online resource cited herein, there are dozens of offline or “in print”  books, photos, newspapers, directories and other items also available though many libraries and local government records.   Each have their benefit.  In libraries and other historical repositories of family information the benefit is in gaining access to items not indexed elsewhere. Each trip to the library or to family history centers offer to uncover something never seen before except in print.  In many cases you can see the first-hand documentation from the actual sources, but you need to be physically located in these places to see these records.   No person can conduct their research completely from the internet, in libraries or even at a family history center provided by the Church of Latter Day Saints.   A concerted effort using all of these resources are usually necessary.

Researching ancestry data items online is a different methodology.   Most online resources cite thousands and millions of records at some point scanned, copied or otherwise transcribed for your reading pleasure in whatever location you choose as long as you have an internet connection.   Being capable of browsing information from a broad variety of sources literally across the globe has advantages and disadvantages.  The vast amounts of information can make it difficult to find exactly what you’re looking for but you can indeed get much closer to the actual source online.

Below is our list of the most useful online genealogy resources. Some are very well-known and some are less-known or niche sites.

(more…)

Abbreviation: OR
Capital: Salem
Admission to Statehood: February 14, 1859
33rd state admitted to the Constitution
36 Counties

Oregon State Archives
Mailing Address: 800 Summer Street NE, Salem, OR 97310 (more…)

Abbreviation: PA
Capital: Harrisburg
Admission to Statehood: December 12, 1787
2nd state admitted to the Constitution
67 Counties

Pennsylvania State Archives
Mailing Address: 350 North Street, Harrisburg, PA 17120-0090. (more…)

Abbreviation: RI
Capital: Providence
Admission to Statehood: May 29, 1790
13th state admitted to the Constitution
5 Counties

Rhode Island State Archives
Mailing Address: 337 Westminster Street, Providence, RI 02903 (more…)

Abbreviation: SC
Capital: Columbia
Admission to Statehood: May 23, 1788
8th state admitted to the Constitution
46 Counties

South Carolina Department of Archives and History
Mailing Address: 8301 Parklane Road, Columbia, SC 29223 (more…)

Abbreviation: SD
Capital: Pierre
Admission to Statehood: November 2, 1889
40th State
67 Counties

South Dakota State Historical Society Archives
Mailing Address: 900 Governors Drive, Pierre, SD 57501 (more…)

Abbreviation: TN
Capital: Nashville
Admission to Statehood: June 1, 1796
16th state admitted to the Constitution
95 Counties

Tennessee State Library and Archives
Mailing Address: 403 Seventh Avenue North, Nashville, TN 37243 (more…)

Abbreviation: TX
Capital: Austin
Admission to Statehood: December 29, 1845
28th state admitted to the Constitution
254 Counties

Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Mailing Address: 1201 Brazos, P.O. Box 12927, Austin, TX 78711-2927 (more…)

Abbreviation: Utah
Capital: Salt Lake City
Admission to Statehood: January 4, 1896
45th state admitted to the Constitution
29 Counties

Utah State Archives and Records Service
Mailing Address: Utah State Archives and Records Service, 346 S. Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, UT 84101-1106 (more…)

Abbreviation: VT
Capital: Montpelier
Admission to Statehood: March 4, 1791
14th state admitted to the Constitution
14 Counties

Vermont
State Archives and Records Administration
Mailing Address: Office of the Secretary of State, 26 Terrace Street, Montpelier, VT 05609-1101 (more…)

Abbreviation: VA
Capital: Richmond
Admission to Statehood: June 25, 1788
10th state admitted to the Constitution
95 Counties

Library of Virginia Archives Research Services
Mailing Address: Library of Virginia, 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219-8000 (more…)

Abbreviation: WA
Capital: Olympia
Admission to Statehood: November 11, 1889
42nd state admitted to the Constitution
39 Counties

Washington State Archives
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 40238, Olympia, WA 98504-0238 (more…)

Abbreviation: WV
Capital: Charleston
Admission to Statehood: June 20, 1863
35th state admitted to the Constitution
55 Counties

West Virginia State Archives
Mailing Address: Archives & History Library, The Cultural Center, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston, WV 25305-0300 (more…)

Genealogy resources and repositories in the state of Wisconsin are found here. If you are a family tree researcher and would like to recommend a local reference source please use the form to leave a comment at the bottom of the page.

Abbreviation: WI Capitol: Madison
Admission to Statehood: May 29, 1848
30th state admitted to the Constitution
72 Counties

Wisconsin
State Historical Society Library and Archives
Mailing Address: Archives Reference, 816 State Street, Madison, WI 53706 (more…)

Abbreviation: WY
Capitol: Cheyenne
Admission to Statehood: July 10, 1890
44th state admitted to the Constitution
23 Counties

Wyoming State Archives
Mailing Address: Barrett Building, 2301 Central Avenue, Cheyenne, WY 82002 (more…)