Family History Online — Ancestry, FamilySearch & Old Photos, Without the Subscription Traps
Published August 2026 · Last verified August 2026
Records that used to mean a road trip to a county courthouse now show up on your kitchen table in seconds — census pages, ship manifests, draft cards with your grandfather's own signature. You can do most of this hobby completely free, in an order that means you only ever pay for what's worth paying for.
Records that used to mean a road trip to a county courthouse now show up on your kitchen table in seconds — census pages, ship manifests, draft cards with your grandfather's own signature. You can do most of this hobby completely free, in an order that means you only ever pay for what's worth paying for.
What's inside this guide
The printable PDF walks through 21 short chapters, in plain language. It also includes at-a-glance pictures.
- The Records Wait. The People Don't.
- If You Only Read One Page, Read This One
- The Big Websites, Side by Side
- FamilySearch: Where Everyone Should Start
- Free First, Paid Later — Maybe Never
- The 14-Day Trial — Eyes Open
- The Free Door Nobody Advertises
- Start With What You Know — Work Backward
- Interview the Oldest Relative — This Month
- Getting Your Tree OUT — GEDCOM, in Plain English
- The Free Record Shelf, Part One
- The Free Record Shelf, Part Two
- The Shoebox Project
- The $99 Spit Tube — What It Actually Tells You
- Before You Spit: The Privacy Plain-Truth
- Connecting With Cousin Matches — Warmly and
- From Website to Bookshelf
- Your First Month — Tape This to the Refrigerator
- Questions I Hear at Kitchen Tables
- The Jargon, Translated
- By the Computer: Cards, Dates & Deadlines
Get the printable guide
Everything above is a quick summary. The full, printable guide — the same words, laid out to read and keep by the computer — is a free PDF.
Last verified August 2026.
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