Subscription Genealogy Sites
Sometimes, free genealogy websites just aren’t enough for your needs, especially once you get past the beginning genealogist stage and move into more advanced research. When you’re ready to take your search for your ancestors to the next level, these subscription sites can help.
1. Ancestry.com
With more than 3 billion names and 4,000 searchable databases,Ancestry.com is the king of today’s online genealogical research sites. It is usually the first site people join when starting out with their genealogy research, and the one that people most often stick with for the long term. You will find billions of records on Ancestry.com
, many of which are not available anywhere else online. In short, if you are going to join one genealogical research site this year, Ancestry.com
should be the one. It will help you trace your family in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.
For example, Ancestry.com has the following databases available, just for starters:
The US Federal Census Records Collection 1790–1930, containing more than 543,000,000 names
The US Immigration Collection containing more than 21,000,000 names
The Social Security Death Index containing more than 72,000,000 names
The Newspaper Archive database containing more than 850,000,000 names
Member submitted family trees containing more than 330,000,000 names
Of course, this is just a fraction of what Ancestry.comhas to offer its members. It has a digitized collection of thousands of family history books, published genealogies, and local histories that are unavailable anywhere else, with many of these books being long since out of print. You can browse these books by page or search by name. There are also billions of state and local records that include birth, death, marriage, and divorce records, church records, tax records, and even passport application records. Keep searching through the site and you’ll find even MORE to help you trace your genealogy, such as the Yearbooks collection, the city directories collection, and the military records databases. If you want to do some serious genealogy research without leaving home, Ancestry.com
has you covered and then some.
If you are serious about putting together your family’s genealogy and doing in-depth research to uncover those elusive ancestors, then you simply can not do without Ancestry.com. Nearly every professional and amateur family historian today has a membership. Don’t be left out, because you could be missing out on some amazing discoveries.
Pricing for memberships at Ancestry.com is as follows(and is completely worth it, considering the huge amount of records membership will allow you access to):
1. The US Deluxe package (access to all US record indexes and images, plus historical newspapers, family and local histories and more): $23.95 per month or $179.40 annually. Includes:
OneWorldTreeSM – Matching just one name could add branches to your family tree.
US Federal Census Collection – Access US Census records from 1790 to 1930.
US Records Collection – View birth, marriage, death, and military records.
US Immigration Collection – Find an ancestor’s country of origin or birthplace.
2. The World Deluxe package (access to all the above plus explore historical records from the UK, Ireland and other locations around the globe plus unlimited access to everything on Ancestry.com): $34.95 per month or $299.40 annually. Includes:
OneWorldTree – Matching just one name could add branches to your family tree.
US Federal Census Collection – Access US Census records from 1790 to 1930.
US Records Collection – View birth, marriage, death, and military records.
UK & Ireland Collection – Find baptism, christening, marriage and burial records.
To joinAncestry.com today and start building your family tree by discovering ancestors you never even imagined existed and connect with long-lost cousins working on the same lines as you, click the banner below:
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The Origins Network features an impressive collection of genealogical records from Great Britain and Ireland going all the way back to Medieval times. Some of the records included on the site are very rare and can be found nowhere else outside of their original repository. If you have any ancestors from the British Isles, including Scotland and Wales, or from Ireland, The Origins Network
is a valuable research resource that you can’t afford to ignore. It could contain just what you need to finally break down that brick wall in your genealogy research without actually having to travel to Great Britain or Ireland.
Within the databases on this site, you will find such things as marriage records, wills, court records, land records, passenger records, and more. This amazing and rare collection of records has been made available online through The Origins Network through the site’s close partnerships with the major archives and genealogy societies in the British Isles. The National Library of Ireland has been particularly helpful in making records available to users of this site. Until The Origins Network
came into being, researchers pretty much had to go to the source in Britain or Ireland to get access to these records. In fact, if you find a digital copy of a record on The Origins Network
and want a hard copy, the site allows you to request one from the records repository in Britain or Ireland that holds it.
Nearly 20 percent of Americans can trace part of their heritage back to Ireland, and around 15 percent can trace family lines back to Britain (this includes England, Scotland, and Wales). If you have already traced your American ancestry back to its Celtic source and need more help delving further into your overseas roots without leaving home, The Origins Network is the right genealogical research site for your needs.
Prices for joining The Origins Network are very reasonable considering the sheer volume of rare records available there, and allow you to test the site first without spending too much money, in order to see if it’s right for you.
Origins Total Access (includes access to the British and Irish databases):
72 hours $13.73
Monthly $19.22
Quarterly $33.87
Annual $63.17
British Origins (access to the British database, which features marriage, census, and wills records, as well as many other record collections, most of which are not available anywhere else on the internet):
72 hours $10.89
Monthly $14.56
Quarterly $22.89
Annual $41.20
Irish Origins (access to the Irish database, which includes the definitive version of Griffith’s Primary Valuation of Ireland records and maps, the 1851 Dublin City Census, the Irish Wills Index, Irish Royal Garrison Artillery Militia Attestations, and the Irish records library):
72 hours $7.23
Monthly $14.56
Quarterly $22.89
Annual $41.20
To join The Origins Network at any level of membership you choose, click on the banner below:
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OneGreatFamily is a cooperative genealogical effort between you and the world. The site allows everyone who uses it to upload their family tree data and link it to related families, to build one huge, shared worldwide family tree database. This is fantastic news for family historians, because when you use this site, you can take advantage of the efforts of other researchers rather than wasting your time doing research that someone else has already done. Be sure to check for sources, though! If research on the database isn’t sourced, you will still need to conduct your own investigation to assure the accuracy of the research.
The OneGreatFamily site will help you out without you even asking. It’s like your own personal genealogy assistant. It will automatically update your family tree info with any data from the info of other users that matches your own, and allows you to literally collaborate with other genealogists in 170 different countries. That’s some pretty powerful collaborative genealogy going on! You can also see where you fit in on the human family tree, which is fascinating and shows how we are all connected in some way.
OneGreatFamily is full of genealogical benefits. When you sign up, you get the following:
* A free 7-day trial of the entire site
* Email notification when your family tree is automatically updated
* Printable genealogy forms that help transfer online info to offline family trees
* Access to a genealogy learning center to help you with any questions you have
* Access to a surname index that can help you research specific name
When you sign up with OneGreatFamily, you will also be given access to download the software required to use the site. Once you’re using it, you can upload photos, videos, and text information on your ancestors that you can make available to share with all the other millions of users of the site. This can help you connect with potential long-lost relatives who can help you find that elusive ancestor you’ve been trying to find for years. As you connect with the family trees of others, you will truly see how every human on the planet shares a past with each other.
Price levels to join OneGreatFamily are as follows, and are very reasonable:
* Monthly – $14.95 per month ($179.40 per year)
* Quarterly – $29.95 every three months ($119.80 per year)
* Annually – $74.95 per year ($6.25 per month or $18.74 per quarter)
Whether you’re a seasoned professional genealogist or just starting out on your genealogical journey, you will find that OneGreatFamily has plenty to offer you. The printed genealogy forms, the connection to the human family tree, and the surname index are all great tools to help you get started on your genealogy as well as to expand it. If you really want to connect with your family around the world and learn more about your past than you ever dreamed possible, then OneGreatFamily
is for you.
Click the banner below to join OneGreatFamily:
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GenealogyBank.com is really something unique, and is fast becoming an indispensible part of the online genealogy researcher’s toolbox. Offering reasonably priced monthly and annual subscriptions starting at $19.95 a month, GenealogyBank.com’s exclusive newspaper archive for family history research provides information on millions of American families from 1690–today. Over 4,300 newspapers provide first-hand accounts about your ancestors that simply can’t be found in other sources. You’ll be fascinated by the stories, names, dates, places and events that have played a role in your family’s history.
Further, GenealogyBank.com has an extensive newspaper obituary database going back to 1977 and also provides access to an impressive array of historical books, the Social Security Death Benefits Index, and historical documents generated by the federal government that may mention YOUR ancestor, especially if your ancestor had any military service or ever did any work for the federal government in any capacity. You’ll find plenty of resources and clues to your family history here that you won’t find anywhere else, and it’s well worth checking out. You may be surprised at what you find on GenealogyBank.com.
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5. Footnote
Footnote.com is another relative newcomer to the subscription genealogy database field, but it has records you might not find anywhere else. This is largely because it works in partnership with the National Archives to digitize and make available the millions of documents found there, so you can access these records without a trip to Washington, D.C. More records are being added all the time, and with the unique ability of members to add their own family documents, photos, and ancestor stories, you may find some real gems here that haven’t been available online or even in libraries or local archives before. It’s a really amazing place to go to find those records that can truly make your family history come to life, break down brick walls, and connect you with new relatives you didn’t know you had.
Annual subscriptions start at $79.95 a year, though you can also get monthly memberships for $11.95 a month. There is also a free membership available, but you’re limited to viewing their free images only, and the really good images are often the ones you have to pay to see. Sometimes Footnote.com runs sales where their annual membership is half off, so be sure to check for those opportunities to join this incredible and highly useful genealogical site.
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WorldVitalRecords provides access to some of the best online genealogy records including immigration lists, census records, vital records, parish and land records. These records are regularly updated, and we were particularly excited by the number of innovative and unusual new listings that appeared during the course of our research. Rare collections, such as passenger lists from immigrant vessels, yearbooks from US highschools and universities, manuscripts and major new census documents are amongst the best of the new collections. With such a focus on high quality materials and constant updating, this site is ideal for the serious genealogist as well as the beginner. The excellent search facility allows users to search by country, region or US state and to cross reference the results against a number of international records. We feel that this search facility allows users to get the best out of the numerous records that are hosted on the site, and is a particularly excellent feature. Another excellent element of WorldVitalRecords is the community feel that is generated through the myriad of ‘community’ related features on the site. Users can contact other users using forums and message boards and even use chat to get in contact with other members.
WorldVitalRecords is an excellent site with a range of resources at your disposal. With a seven day free trial and a thirty day money back guarantee we advise all users to give this site a go and see what it has to offer. Our only difficulty with this site, and something we hope will be corrected as it matures, is that there is no built in software for creating your family tree. This means that WorldVitalRecords will need to be used in conjunction with family tree builder software, such as Family Tree Maker. Notwithstanding this, the site remains excellent value for money, so if Ancestry.com isn’t for you (or is a little pricey), check this out as a great value alternative!
Annual memberships start at $3.33 a month for a U.S. subscription (all 12 months paid up front), or monthly memberships for $5.95 a month. World Collection subscriptions are $9.95 a month (paid for the year all at once) or $14.95 a month for by-the-month memberships.
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7. New England Historic and Genealogical Society
One of the oldest and most respected genealogical organizations in the country, the New England Historic and Genealogical Society (also known as NEHGS) is a must-have membership for anyone with New England ancestry. For a mere $75 annual membership, you not only get their quarterly magazine, “American Ancestors” mailed to you, you also get access to their library in Boston, as well as access to their website, which holds a treasure trove of New England genealogical resources. This is one subscription database that is definitely worth the money if you have New England roots.
On the organization’s extensive website, you will find church, tax, birth, marriage, death, census, and other vital records, as well as browsable (by name) back issues of their other quarterly publication, the NEHGS Register going all the way back to the 1850’s! You also get a subscription to the hard copy of the NEHGS register with your membership. New databases are being added all the time, with one of the most popular currently being the Massachusetts vital records from 1840-1910. The organization is currently working on adding additional vital records up to 1915, making this site a hugely valuable resource for anyone with ancestry in this area of the nation.
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8. National Genealogical Society
Begun in 1903, the National Genealogical Society is dedicated to serious genealogical scholarship. It holds a huge annual conference every year, always in a different location around the United States to demonstrate its national scope. This organization is for anyone with American ancestry, no matter where in the country your ancestors may have lived. In addition to getting a hard copy of their quarterly magazines, National Genealogical Society Quarterly and NGS Magazine, you also get discounted rates to their conferences, access to online genealogy courses, and a members-only database of unique genealogical records on their website that includes an extensive collection of digitized family Bible records from across the nation. Memberships start at $60 a year and are a must-have for the serious scholarly genealogist.
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Sometimes, finding your ancestors in newspaper articles is the only way to find them at all. This is especially true if they lived in a county where the court house burned, taking all records with it, or if they don’t show up on the census. Chances are, though, that if they lived in a small to medium-sized community in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries, there will be at least a mention or two of them in a local newspaper for their community or general area. You can find these newspapers at NewspaperArchive.org.
NewspaperARCHIVE.org is the world’s largest online newspaper archive. Featuring billions of articles from historical newspapers around the U.S. and the world, NewspaperARCHIVE makes exploring history and genealogy easy and fun. You can use this site to discover fascinating news in archived newspapers that are hundreds of years old – including obituaries, birth announcements, sports articles, comics, and more. You can use these articles to fill in the life stories of your most elusive ancestors. You can also share those stories with others through the site’s interactive community at OurNewspaperARCHIVE.com. All of the historical newspapers on this site are full-page and fully searchable, and new newspaper articles are being added all the time. You can start now with a 7 day free trial. After that, annual memberships are $71.88 a year (that’s $5.99 a month, billed for 12 months at once) and $11.99 for month-to-month subscriptions.
