12 Days of Online Genealogy

For a break from the traditional holiday gift buying, decorating, planning and holiday get-togethers, I thought I would highlight a variety of online databases and genealogy Web sites to explore, in the popular "12 Days of Christmas" style. Just about every genealogist I know would love to discover a new ancestor for Christmas, so take some time out for yourself this holiday season to search these great online databases and records.

So.....

On the 12th day of Christmas, I'd like to begin with the major genealogy sites. Most of you have been researching your family tree for any length of time have probably visited most of these. But even if you have, these major genealogy "mega" sites are constantly adding new content. Ancestry.com, for example, has recently added U.S. passport applications and historic land ownership maps. Footnote is in the process of adding digitized images of Compiled Service Records for Confederate Soldiers in North Carolina and Georgia, U.S. Air Force photos and other documents from WWII, and has almost completed naturalization documents for Pennsylvania and New York.

Since most of the above sites have a U.S. focus, I'd also like to mention my Top 10 Databases for British Genealogy, covering research in England, Scotland and Wales.