There are millions of digital #freerecords: published books, journals; all online at HathiTrust, Archive.org, Open Library, Library of Congress, New York Public Library and similar websites. The free copy may not be as high quality as the paid subscription copy, but the record is free, for everyone. PDF, full text and sometimes even Kindle versions are there to read, download, copy/paste text. Some, maybe a lot of the digitized sources are old, outdated with false information, but still containers of relevant info.
These are sources I’ve used.
Most useful in my family research
- American Ancestors.org family history website offers a free guest account with free source records, templates, charts, and The Weekly Genealogist newsletter. Their mission is shown in their work: family history and genealogy. The annual paid membership is the best money I’ve ever spent on family history.
- The New England Historical and Genealogical Register, NEHGR Volumes 1-
7681 at Archive.org and Google Books. FamilySearch.org provides this page with links to volumes and a link to a consolidated index. First published in 1847 and still published today, details at American Ancestors. - Savage. A genealogical dictionary of the first settlers of New England showing three generations of those who came before May, 1692, on the basis of Farmer’s Register. Written and researched by James Savage, Volumes 1-4, published from 1860-62 at HathiTrust.
- Farmer. A genealogical register of the first settlers of New England To which are added various genealogical and biographical notes, collected from ancient records, manuscripts, and printed works. By John Farmer. At HathiTrust, published in 1829.
- The genealogical dictionary of Rhode Island : comprising three generations of settlers who came before 1690. By John Austin. At Archive.org, published 1887.
- American Ancestry: Giving the Name And Descent of Americans in the United States Previous to 1776. Munsell, Frank and Thomas Hughes. 12 volumes at HathiTrust, published 1887-99.
Colonial as a group
- Bradford’s History of Plymouth plantation, 1606-1646 at Project Gutenberg. “It is regarded as the most authoritative account of the Pilgrims and the early years of the colony which they founded.” Read all about it at Wikipedia page.
- Every Day Life in the Massachusetts Bay Colony by George Francis Dow at HathiTrust. Same at Project Gutenberg with Kindle, Drive, PDF downloads
- List of Freemen, Massachusetts Bay Colony From 1630 to 1691 at Archive.org
- ‘Mourt’s Relation‘ which is really ‘Mourt’s relation or journal of the plantation at Plymouth‘ or ‘A Relation or Journal of the Beginning and Proceedings of the English Plantation Settled at Plimoth in New England‘ was written from November 1620 to November 1621. At HathiTrust an ebook with footnotes and maps. Also at The Plymouth Colony Archive Project, text transcribed by Caleb Johnson of the General Society of Mayflower Descendants.
- Peirce’s colonial lists. Civil, military and professional lists of Plymouth and Rhode Island colonies by Ebenezer Peirce at HathiTrust, published 1880.
- Records of the colony of New Plymouth in New England 12 volumes at HathiTrust, published 1855-61.
- The Plymouth Colony Archive Project: Patricia Scott Deetz, James Deetz and Christopher Fennell, “designed to make available historical constructions on various topics of the Colony’s social history … and to provide primary sources”.
- Winthrop’s Journal, History of New England, 1630-1649 at HathiTrust. This is awesome, 2 volumes, with a Table of Contents in chronological order.
Late 18th and 19th century American genealogy books
- The abridged compendium of American genealogy: first families of America. Seven volumes, volume 7 is limited search, all others full search, with indexes.
- The American Genealogist TAG at Archive.org searchable by publishing date. Years 1862- 2011 are listed with some years showing only and index or table of contents.
Migration and Emigration, Immigration. To emigrate is to leave one place and settle in another. To immigrate is to move to a non native place- so basically the same thing, each with 1,000 kilograms/pounds of subtle meaning attached now in the 21st century- migration seems a better term.
- A collection of upwards of thirty thousand names of German, Swiss, Dutch, French and other immigrants in Pennsylvania from 1727-1776 by Daniel Rupp at HathiTrust
- The original lists of persons of quality, emigrants at HathiTrust. ‘Persons of quality’, imagine the type of family historians who use this term, believe this idea and are comfortable with it in 1874 and in 2025.
- The Mayflower Descendant published 1899 to 1940, at HathiTrust volumes 1, 2, 4-24.
- Topographical Dictionary of 2885 English Emigrants to New England, 1620-1650 by Charles Banks at HathiTrust. References and/or sources are provided when available.
Indexes
- New England marriages prior to 1700, handwritten images at FamilySearch.org, explanation of record. The handwritten images are probably not as useful as the paid printed versions, but are interesting to view.
- American marriages before 1699 by William Clemens at HathiTrust
- The American genealogical-biographical index – AGBI Fremont Rider, editor. At HathiTrust, many volumes are limited search, lists volumes 1 thru 206, 1 thru 48 appear as full view copies. There is an alpha index also on HathiTrust. And FamilySearch.org offers the same and at FamilySearch a helpful how to guide .
Connecticut
- The history and genealogies of ancient Windsor, Connecticut which includes an appendix of the Matthew Grant Record ‘usually called the old church record’ and a copy of this same record at Archive.org by an additional title Some early records and documents of and relating to the town of Windsor, Connecticut
- A digest of the early Connecticut probate records at HathiTrust
- A catalogue of the names of the early Puritan settlers of the colony of Connecticut by Hinman at HathiTrust
- A catalogue of the names of the first Puritan settlers of the Colony of Connecticut by Hinman at HathiTrust
- The public records of the Colony of Connecticut 15 volumes at HathiTrust
England
- The visitation of Shropshire … pedigrees of Shropshire gentry taken by the heralds in the years 1569 and 1584- a kind of high class census. Volume 2 contains the Bulkeley family pedigree. Read the Heraldic visitation Wikipedia article for more info.
- Calendar of state papers, domestic series, of the reign of Charles I Volumes 1-18, 20, 21. Image shows my 10th great-grandfather, No. 9 John Jones is suspended and removed from his post when he refuses to ‘adhere to rites and ceremonies in the book of public prayers’ in volume 4 page 275.
Iowa
- Iowa Counties Historic Atlases at University of Iowa Digital Libraries. *This link changes or updates fairly often. Atlases and plat books, many contain farmer and merchant lists, photos and stories of Iowa towns. Search and view are a little challenging, images can be downloaded. The images are wonderful.
- Abandoned Towns, Villages and Post Offices of Iowa, by David C. Mott Annals of Iowa, 1930-1932. State Library of Iowa.
- Iowa Historical Newspapers: Digitized: A-Z Cities/Counties library guide at Rod Library UNI. The historical newspapers are not at the library, but these are links to the newspapers.
- Iowa Non-Population Census Schedules catalog page at FamilySearch.org. Agricultural and industry, mortality censuses. There’s a “How to Use This Collection” link and a “Browse All 23,397 Images” link.
Maine
- The Maine Historical And Genealogical Recorder 9 volumes at HathiTrust
Maryland
- Maryland Records, Colonial, Revolutionary, County And Church 2 volumes at HathiTrust
Massachusetts
- A report of the Record Commissioners of the city of Boston 38 volumes at HathiTrust.
- Note-book kept by Thomas Lechford esq., lawyer, in Boston, Massachusetts bay, from June 27, 1638, to July 29, 1641 at Archive.org
- Records And Files of the Quarterly Courts of Essex County, Massachusetts volumes 1-8 full view, volume 9 limited search at HathiTrust.
- Vital Records of Framingham, Massachusetts, to the Year 1850 at HathiTrust
- Vital record of Rehoboth, 1642-1896 at HathiTrust
- The Crooked and Narrow Streets of Boston by Annie Thwing, at Archive.org. Thwing created 125,000 catalog cards on citizens & ancestors of Boston which was turned into a CD, then the digital database at American Ancestors.
New Hampshire
- Genealogical And Family History of the State of New Hampshire: a Record of the Achievements of Her People In the Making of a Commonwealth And the Founding of a Nation published 1908 at HathiTrust
Oregon
- Linn (Oregon) Genealogical Society death certificates. “The society has digitized images of all death certificates for Linn and Benton Counties up to 1965. The images were taken from records at the Oregon Archives”.
- Linn (Oregon) Genealogical Society WPA interviews. Pioneers of Linn County, Oregon, 136 transcribed Works Progress Administration (WPA) interviews
Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania archives, this is a massive collection of Pennsylvania records. Series 6 contains church and military records. FamilySearch.org has most series, most volumes in each series, it’s huge. A link to the full set: Pennsylvania archives (series) at HathiTrust and at FamilySearch.org, viewable at Family History Centers, some volumes are online, some are not online.
- Names of Foreigners Who Took the Oath of Allegiance to Pennsylvania 1727-1775 at HathiTrust
- Pennsylvania German pioneers; a publication of the original lists of arrivals in the port of Philadelphia from 1727 to 1808 at HathiTrust
Rhode Island
- Rhode Island History Journal “This searches through the archives of Rhode Island History, the journal of the Rhode Island Historical Society, published since 1942.” A list of all the articles from volume 1 to volume 65 with a link to search all issues.
- Index to The early records of the town of Providence volumes 1-21, at Archive.org
- The Early Records of the Town of Providence, volumes 1-21 at HathiTrust, a goldmine of records, facts, stories of the early town.
- Vital record of Rhode Island, 1636-1850 : a family register for the people at FamilySearch.org by James Arnold Volumes 1-22. On Ancestry.com this source is listed as Rhode Island, Vital Extracts, 1636-1899. At Archive Volume 2 Volume 4.
- Representative Men And Old Families of Rhode Island: Genealogical Records And Historical Sketches … , 1908 at HathiTrust
- The early history of Narragansett; with an appendix of original documents, many of which are now for the first time published, 1835 at HathiTrust. I think the Princeton copy has the best organization, most have a table of contents and all have a name, place and subject index
- Records of the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England, 10 volumes at HathiTrust
Family genealogies
- A Genealogy of the Descendants of Thomas Olney at HathiTrust
- A partial record of the descendants of John Tefft at HathiTrust
- Gardiner-Gardner Genealogy: Including the English Ancestry of George Gardiner, Immigrant Ancestor of Newport, R.I., & Many of His Descendants at HathiTrust
- Genealogy of the descendants of Thomas Angell at Archive.org
- Harter history at FamilySearch.org
- Notes on the Bowman, Harter and Sauer families at FamilySearch.org
- Memorial of the Walkers of the Old Plymouth Colony at HathiTrust
- The ancestry of Annis Spear, 1775-1858, of Litchfield, Maine at HathiTrust
- The Arnold memorial by Elisha Arnold at HathiTrust
- Colonial families of Long Island, New York and Connecticut, being the ancestry & kindred of Herbert Furman Seversmith Volumes 1-5 at HathiTrust.
Census records and forms
- At Oak Grove Genealogy Occupation Abbreviations in Census Records
- Heads of families at the first census of the United States taken in the year 1790 at Archive.org. These digitized books saved through the years show every white head of house in early America All volumes have maps, most have forwards, then pages and pages of tables of people. Links to the volumes: 1 Maine, 2 New Hampshire, 3 Vermont, 4 Massachusetts, 5 Rhode Island, 6 Connecticut, 7 New York, 8 Pennsylvania, 9 Maryland, 10 Virginia, 11 North Carolina, 12 South Carolina.
- Census.gov saves all the census data since 1790. In February of 2025 things are getting weird for government agency data, funding, staff and existence.
- National Archives Charts and Forms, resources for genealogy includes blank forms for the US federal census 1790 to 1950, agricultural census, mortality schedules, basic family tree templates and more.
Each life has its place 
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