Getting the Most Out of USGenWeb.com
by Gerhard Ruf, gruf@byu.edu
© copyright 2003 - 2009
updated 28 June 2009
The USGenWeb Project is manned by volunteers to provide genealogical data for every state and county in the United States. It also has a number of ongoing projects that cross geographical boundaries. These include extraction projects like census images, tombstone inscription, marriage bonds, wills, other public records and special projects. They contain a wealth of information which is constantly expanding. Each area must be searched independently. Knowing where to go is the key to getting the most out of the data that is currently available. There are great genealogical treasures hidden in these pages.
An Overview
It all started with KentuckyGenWeb
Each County and State has their own web site.
The State and County pages
50 States + 2, More than 3,000 counties
State pages
Include Special Projects, unknown county queries, state histories, maps, etc.
Minimum Content for County Sites
Links to state pages
Queries
Links to USGenWeb Project archives
Additional Content at many County Sites
Free Lookups
Private Extraction Databases
Information for visitors and travelers
USGenWeb Project Archives
Census Images, Church , Marriages, Maps, Newsletter, Obits, Pensions, Wills, Special Collections
Use the National or the State search engine
Census Projects (2)
www.us-census.org/ (1st check inventory, then search)
usgwarchives.net/census/ (1st check completed transcriptions, then search individual pages)
(or go to census index, then state and year to see if images are available)
USGenWeb Tombstone Project
Go to the Registry to see which cemeteries are there by state and county.
Some have images of headstones.
Miscellaneous
Volunteers are needed
www.WorldGenWeb.org is a spin off
www.USGenWeb-Search.us is a new independent state-level search engine