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Familysearch.org has the biggest free records database that I know of. Most sites will allow you to build an online tree for free though, including Ancestry.com.
Rootsweb, the USgenweb can be good, some county sites have bunches of info, while others have very little. Also some counties have genealogical societies that may have free sites. You can take advantage of Ancestry.com's free 14 day trial, just make sure you cancel after 14 days. Check out Cyndi's list, not all the sites are free, but there are all kinds of sites listed there.
I have had luck at genforum. surnames, state.genweb, rootsweb and also go to the state's university libraries. Sometimes I would put in, pioneers of ---------, whatever state and come up with interesting sites. Can I ask what state you are looking in?
There is only one problem with all genealogy sites. People do not cite sources. If the sources are not cited ( as: John Smith; census of 1930; county, city, page, line/ or/ Bible of John Jones, in the possession of Jane Jones , addresss / or / Sarah Smith, AGBI / or / Sarah Smith, wife of James Smith, DAR record # 0000000.)
You get the idea. There are sources which are valid and those which are not. The AGBI ( American Genealogical Biographical Index) is on early settlers, mostly prominent families; it is NOT the resource used in the Mormon Databases ( they like citations, only they are not 100% verified -- we found many discrepancies when we were cross-referencing people). DAR and SAR indexes are very good. Library of Congress is excellent; lots of military records. Censuses after 1850/Federal are full of information (beware of copying errors: the county collected info and kept it and recopied for the state/the state kept the copy and recopied for the federal. The Federal are the ones you see online). The "Vitals of ____ to 1850" is a standard in Massachusetts. Look at the Barbour Collection for Conn. (early settlers)
If you are not dealing with early ancestors, try the family and ask questions and go from there. You can buy original Social Security applications for gen. research ( you'd have to use a site like Ancestry). You can get vital records for a person from the place born/married/died -- for a price. However, those vital records are primary sources and you know you have it right.
If you just use a free site, or even Ancestry, there are TONS of errors. people pick up your tree and mess it up. Took me months to correct one error on Ancestry where a name was incorrect.
You can also use a census address and mapquest or google maps to find a home; some I have actually gotten pics from. It helps you pin down churches ( esp. Roman Catholic) if you know the area.
Bottom line: it takes time and effort to do it correctly.
Some localities have websites with genealogy forums on them that are good sources for info and to make contacts with others researching the same families. I've had pretty good luck with one in Colorado. You have to be patient though, since the traffic on them is much less than here.
I tried Footnote a few years ago and was not impressed at all but they have definitely revamped it and there is a plethora of information on there now! I love it!
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