About This Category:

Our pedigree is our personal family tree, documenting the roots and branches of our lineages. Now, with the help of Ancestry, you can participate in the creation of the OneWorldTree, a fully indexed, searchable resource of family trees; share and discover information on a variety of genealogy topics in the message board center, or build a free, online family tree through the Ancestry World Tree®. Let your research benefit from work already completed by amateur and professional genealogists, and share your own research successes with the world. Discover, record, and share your research today through the Trees and Community databases, and connect your family’s history to the future of online genealogical research.

General Search Tips

• If you don't get any matches with an exact search, try broadening your search by including less information.
• Want to refine your "best matches" search? Try the Advanced Search options and fill out as much information as you can.
• Use the Soundex search. Names are often misspelled in historical records. Soundex allows you to search for last names that "sound like" the one you're looking for. Try this even if you think the spelling is obvious. Remember, even Smith can be "misspelled" (e.g., Smithe, Smyth, Smythe).
• Use a wildcard to view all words that begin with the same stem. You can use an asterisk for up to six characters. For example, a search for "fran*" will return matches such as Fran, Franny, Frank, Frannie, and Frankie. Use a question mark for a single character. For example, a search for "Hans?n" will return matches such as Hansen and Hanson.