One of the handiest tools you can have when using the Internet is a good search engine. The problem is finding a good one specifically targeted. Personally, when I'm searching for my Bower(s) ancestors I don't give a whit about the bower arbor, chamber or farm; nor do I want businesses with Bower(s) names.....I want Bower(s) people, records and data! This being the case for me, I can only presume it's the same for you. Hence, I've created this search engines page.

NOTE 1: This area of the Cottage is not complete yet, but I've decided to put it online and continue working on it as time permits. You'll just need to keep checking back for updates here. With what's here now, you'll be able to check nearly 2 billion names...not too bad for a start, huh?

NOTE 2: Using the engines will cause you to leave the Cottage. Just hit your 'back' button to return here. We'll be waiting for you....

FamilySearch.org - Nobody, but nobody does genealogy more thoroughly or diligently for as long as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints [LDS, otherwise known as the Mormons] has. The largest genealogical library in the world (located in Salt Lake City, Utah) is owned and operated by the LDS. Aside from the millions of miles microfilm and microfiche they own, plus their library of thousands of books, they publish two global databases called the International Genealogical Index [IGI] and the Ancestral File which are now online. Below you are invited to use their engine to search those two databases. I warn you now, be prepared to spend a lot of time at this site!

In 1997 the last public IGI printing alone contained over 280 million names. Adding an average of 60 million new names to just the IGI each year - the IGI plus the Ancestral File amounts to.... well, you figure it out!


Family Search
Search the vast resources of the Church of the Latter Day Saints.
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Rootsweb.com - Only if you're very new to genealogy will you NOT have heard of Rootsweb! As the largest single provider of genealogy e-mail discussion groups [the Cottage and her sister site, the Bower Family Homestead, currently support four] and web sites, Rootsweb also hosts a multitude of databases and projects. Totally free and supported by contributions only, this site is a must-visit!

From Rootsweb's engines you can search over 150 million names and over 5,000 e-mail discussion groups' archived messages.


Rootsweb Global Surname Search
Search an entire country or the entire world for your surnames. This search engine searches queries in the GenConnect System

Surname: Type of Message:
Type of search: Sort Order:
Posted in the last:
Country:





Surname:

Search for:
Exact Surname only
Surname and selected soundex equivalents
Surnames that start with given letters (must specify at least 3 letters)
Surnames using wildcard characters.
Surname and alternate spellings of surname as identified by various CCHelper sites.
Please note that not all alternate spellings of surnames have been identified.

Type of Sites to Search:

Type of Posts to select:

Posts made after (mm/dd/yy or yyyy-mm-dd):

Search sites that cover a given geographic area:

(Applies to USGenWeb, World GenWeb and some "Other sites"):

Wildcard Character Searches

Specify the surname with one or both of the following wildcard characters:
_ : any one character.
% : any number (or none) characters.





RootsWeb Surname List
Find others researching the same surnames.
Surname (required)
Use surname;surname to see submitters researching both surnames
Location (optional)
Enter province, state or country abbreviation
Select type of search:Surname Soundex Metaphone
Soundex and Metaphone are for sounds like matches
Updated during period:Any Last Week Last Month Last Two Months





RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project
Global Search

Search GEDCOM files
Surname   (required)
Given Name
Birth Place Not Null
Death Place Not Null
Skip Database
Add your Gedcom to RootsWeb's WorldConnect Project.


Ancestry.com - With over 2,800 databases how could you really go wrong to stop for a search here? Though Ancestry is a commercial enterprise, they do have free, daily database offerings Monday through Friday. This is one site you just don't want to miss!

From Ancestry you can search over 500 million names!

SEARCH FOR ANCESTORS

Ancestry.com


SELECT DATABASE

KEYWORDS

GIVEN NAME(S)

SURNAME

PROXIMITY

U.S. LOCALITY

FamilyTreeMaker.com - Following in the steps of Ancestry, this is yet another commercial site. Unlike Ancestry though, FTM hosts thousands of web sites the data from which is fed into their search engine - making this umbrella site an extremely large one. The Genealogy Library and the FTM CD's cost but seeing what material is on their hosted web sites makes this a one-stop shot, at least.

FTM boasts a 470-million name search on their front page. How much of that data is free, I have no idea. It's definitely worth a look, anyway.

Search Internet FamilyFinder
From FamilyTreeMaker.com
First Name Middle Last Name
More Info | Advanced Search

USGenWeb.com - Amassing an army of volunteers around the world, this grassroots project has taken off by leaps and bounds. There are many, many city, county and state unpublished records at US GenWeb that you just won't find at places like Ancestry or FTM. If you're doing US research, this is another must visit area of the Web.

How many records do they have? Who knows? I don't believe even they know anymore!

This search will allow you to search the contents of all the text files in the US GenWeb's National Archives.  Note that there are search tips for you under the engine following this one.


Match: Format: Sort by:
Search:


The search engine below is for individual states if you feel the national search is just too much (and sometimes, with all US GenWeb has now, it really is).

Query:

Select state to search:
AK AL AR AZ CA CO CT DC DE FL
GA HI IA ID IL IN KS KY LA MA MD
ME MI MN MO MS MT NC ND NE NH
NJ NM NV NY OH OK OR PA RI SC
SD TN TX UT VA VT WA WI WV WY

Search Tips:
  • Searches are not case sensitive
  • Valid operators are:  AND   OR   ANDNOT
  • Right truncation is supported using the asterisk * as wildcard
  • Search for phrases by enclosing search terms in quotation marks
  • Use parentheses to remove ambiguity from search expressions. Otherwise, operators execute from left to right.

WorldGenWeb.com - This sister site to the US GenWeb is just like it sounds - it's for international research. Just as the US GenWeb format is for the US [from state down to county], every country in the world is represented, then broken down into states/provinces.

World GenWeb does not have a search engine in the same fashion as US GenWeb does. Clicking on World GenWeb Project will take you there.

I Found It! - If you ever have trouble finding this engine, just remember that it's umbrella'ed by Gensource.com and you'll find it every time. This is another free site along the same lines as Rootsweb with volunteers transcribing records and putting them online. It may be smaller, but this is another one you just don't want to chance skipping.

  

Kindred Konnections - This is another commercial site, however they do have free offerings. You can search through their 45 million person Ancestral Archive and have data presented in family pedigree linked format, though the entire site has research archives totaling over 100 million names. It is possible to get around their fees - submitting a 15-family, 60 individuals GEDCOM gets you a 30-day free membership. Extracting some of their onsite records gets you a 1-hour membership. It's worth the time and effort to have a look.

SEARCH FOR YOUR ANCESTORS

kindredkonnections.com


SELECT DATABASE
Search From: to
SELECT YEAR RANGE
Kindred Konnections

FIRST NAME

LAST NAME

Social Security Death Index [at Ancestry.com] - This free database is put out by none other than the Social Security Administration. If you can't get through to Ancestry, try the search engines over at Rootsweb or Family Tree Maker - they have the same version as Ancestry.

At its last update, the SSDI had 63.5 million names. The database is current up to the previous month's death. Some helpful tips follow this table should you have problems finding the person you seek information on.

 

Search the Social Security Death Index

Surname  

Given Name 

Social Security #  

- -

Issued by  

 Soundex? 

 



  Advanced Option#1--Last Known Residence

City 

State/Country 

County/Province 

Zip Code 

 

 

  Advanced Option#2--Birth & Death

Birth 

Day  Month  Year

Death 

Day  Month  Year 

 



 

 

  • You don't need to fill in all of the fields -- just a name will do.
  • If you aren't sure how to spell the name, you can use a question mark in place of a single letter, as in "Su?anne" to find both "Suzanne" and "Susanne".
  • You can also use an asterisk in place of multiple letters. For example, if you typed "Mary*" you would find names such as "Maryanne", "Maryanna", "Maryella", and "Mary-Louise". (Note that this may return a very large number of matches.)
  • If you aren't sure how to spell the last name, try using the Soundex option. (Again, note that this may return a very large number of matches.)
  • If you get too many matching names, try filling in other fields to eliminate some of the other possible matches.
  • Long names are often truncated in Social Security records. When searching for a name longer than nine letters, try entering the first part of the name followed by an asterisk, as in "Holling*" instead of "Hollingsworth".
  • Obituary Central - Obituary Central has six large databases of its own plus a collection of obituary search engines by state. Because of all the engines, you won't be able to search from the Cottage. However, I felt it needed to be included here simply because we all need those obits!...and you'll find well over 100,000 from this site.