My Favorite Genealogy Links

My Favorite Genealogy Links

(All external links will open in a new browser window.)

Basic Tools -- Virginia and Nationwide

Virginia County formation dates table on VAGenWeb listing counties, formation dates, parent counties, and county seats
current Virginia Counties map GIF graphic on my Web server (freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com)
another current Virginia Counties map smaller, simpler GIF graphic on VAGenWeb
Virginia County Formation Maps series of graphics showing county configuration for each year in which any change was made
1895 Atlas of Virginia scanned images from an atlas published in 1895, with an index of cities and towns, and larger images of individual counties (on the MIGenWeb site for Livingston County)
Virginia Circuit Courts - Listed Alphabetically by Locality PDF file listing names, addresses, and phone numbers of the clerks who keep the official records, on the Virginia Judicial System Web site
Guide To Virginia Local Court Records on Microfilm lists of probate, land, and other county records available at the Library of Virginia, with microfilm numbers
"Research Guides" notes on Virginia research sources, etc., courtesy of the Library of Virginia (e.g., what are "headrights" and "tithables")
Library of Congress Online Catalog search engine that provides various alternative methods for entering a search (I prefer the "Guided Search")
Geographic Names Information System utility that maps the location of any populated place, mountain, lake, cemetery, etc., etc. (by the U.S. Geological Survey)
"Old Style and New Style Dates and the Change to the Gregorian Calendar: A summary for genealogists" explanation of the calendar change and what to do about it (if your research has taken you back to 1752 or earlier (in Britain and its colonies), you need to be familiar with this subject)
The Board for Certification of Genealogists excellent articles on skillbuilding, citation of sources, etc.


Basic Tools -- Other Specific Locations

Connecticut County formation dates
table on CTGenWeb listing counties, formation dates, parent counties, and county seats
Connecticut Counties map
simple GIF graphic on CTGenWeb
Pennsylvania Counties map clickable map on PAGenWeb, with links to individual county sites


Primary Sources (Images, Transcriptions, and Indices) -- Virginia and Nationwide

VAGenWeb Archives transcriptions of original records submitted by volunteers (some VAGenWeb county sites have images of original records that would not be captured by a USGenWeb Archives search)
USGenWeb Archives search search engine for transcriptions posted on USGenWeb (lets you specify any particular state)
The Library of Virginia images of original records, plus indices to off-Web sources
County Road Orders road orders from selected counties, and other records on Colonial roadways - courtesy of the Virginia Center for Transportation Innovation and Research (enter "road orders" and "historic roads" in the "Search VCTIR" search box)
"1790" / "1800" County Tax Lists of Virginia images of two or more land- or personal-property tax lists for each county, with indices linked to the images
Early Virginia Religious Petitions, 1774-1802 images of the petitions, arranged by county, on the Library of Congress's "American Memory" site (the search engine for these images does not include the names appended to the petitions)
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation Digital Library searchable and browsable collection of some Colonial records, including The Virginia Gazette and York County Probate Inventories
Historic Court Records extracts from, and indices of, various records from Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg, Virginia
Court Records Digest index to litigation records from Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg, Virginia (a search on the "USGenWeb Archives search" listed above includes this database)
Chronicles of the Scotch-Irish Settlement in Virginia: Extracted from the Original Court Records of Augusta County, 1745-1800, by Lyman Chalkley  indexed transcription of this three-volume abstract of court records, on the Augusta County GenWeb site (a search on the "USGenWeb Archives search" listed above includes this database)
Southern Campaign Revolutionary War Pension Statements transcriptions of Revolutionary War pension applications in relation to "claimants who resided in Virginia, the Carolinas or Georgia at the time they entered any term of service"
Marriage Register and Bond Records index of marriage records from Spotsylvania County and Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1793-1853, courtesy of The Central Rappahannock Regional Library
RootsWeb Message Boards - Virginia boards for posting transcriptions of wills, deeds, etc.
FamilySearch - Census Records searchable index and images of the United States Censuses (and other records), courtesy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
IGI Batch Numbers - British Isles and North America search engine that facilitates searching, by geographic location, the extracted records in the International Genealogical Index of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, at FamilySearch.org
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1873 official legislative journals, debates, bills, committee reports, etc., with full-text searching (on the Library of Congress's "American Memory" site)
TheOldenTimes.com: Historic Newspapers Online random collection of images of nineteenth-century newspaper notices, divided geographically and indexed by surname (somewhat limited in size, but a potentially great find if you're lucky)
The Official Federal Land Patent Records Site searchable index of federal land conveyance records for the "public land" states, including images to federal land title records for certain states, between 1820 and 1908 -- on the federal Bureau of Land Management web site (does not cover the original thirteen colonies)


Primary Sources -- Other Specific Locations

Colonial Connecticut Records, 1636-1776 images of printed, nineteenth-century transcriptions of judicial and legislative records, courtesy of the University of Connecticut Libraries and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center
Winthrop Medical Journal transcription of part of the journal of John Winthrop, Jr., M.D., of Hartford County, Connecticut, 1657-1669, with dated references to his patients (ages and family relationships stated for some patients!)
"Access to Archives: Part of the UK archives network" searchable catalogue of multiple public-record archives in England (search results consist of excerpts from the archives, not complete transcriptions)


Surname-Specific Sites

The Yancey Family Surname Resource Center

Yancey Cousins United
two sites with transcriptions of original records on the surname YANCEY, and extensive notes on YANCEY genealogy


Commercial Sites (these entities charge for their products and services)

Ancestry.com
extensive collection of on-line primary sources, transcriptions, and abstracts, including images of all federal census records
Lineages
specific look-ups and copying jobs (for a small fee), as well as more in-depth research projects
Heritage Quest
microforms of original records for sale; also sells books, CDs, etc.


Secondary Sources

FamilySearch genealogical information submitted to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
WorldConnect Project another large searchable collection of gedcoms (related to RootsWeb)
Surname Helper search engine for records and queries on USGenWeb (can suggest Soundex equivalents to include in the search)
Genealogy.com "Family Finder Search" search engine for specific names posted on any of numerous Internet sites


Discussion Sites and Mailing Lists

RootsWeb Message Boards - Virginia
a forum for each of numerous surnames, geographical areas, etc. (related to RootsWeb)
GenForum
another collection of forums for surnames, geographical areas, etc.
VA-ROOTS
Virginia genealogy e-mail list (sponsored by the Library of Virginia)
Genealogy Resources on the Internet - Mailing Lists
extensive index of e-mail lists, with instructions for subscribing


List of Links

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet
THE definitive list of genealogy resources on the Web, arranged by category


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This page was last updated on March 3, 2015.


These links are provided for information only. A link to a commercial site does not constitute an endorsement of that site, or of any products or services that may be available on the site.