Family Tree Magazine’s 101 Best Genealogy Websites

Family Tree Magazine has posted their selections of “101 Best Genealogy Websites of 2021.”  While some of their picks are sites familiar to most researchers, there are quite a few recommendations that are not as well known.  It is worth reviewing their full list to discover new-to-you resources.

The list is a mix of free and fee-based sites, but most are free resources. The sites are broken down into categories, such as Best Family Tree and Sharing Websites, Best Genealogy Tech Tools, Best Genetic Genealogy Websites, Best Cemetery Websites, Best Historical Map Websites; Best Military Record Websites, Best Historical Newspaper Websites, Best African American Genealogy Websites, and Best Genealogy Websites for various regions: U.S.; Scandinavian; European; UK, Irish and Commonwealth.

The best free sites for military records include:

• The National Parks Service Civil War Soldiers and Sailers Database

• Daughters of the American Revolution Genealogical Research System

• The National Parks Service US Mexican War Soldiers & Sailors Database

Their list of best cemetery websites reminds us that, in addition to the popular BillionGraves and Findagrave sites, you may find the following useful for specialty needs:

• The American Battle Monuments Commission lists information on Americans buried in overseas cemeteries during the two World Wars.

• The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs provides a Nationwide Gravesite Locator, a database of burials in national VA cemeteries,  state veterans cemeteries, and other related locations.

The Best Genealogy Tech Tools category includes an assortment of resources.  In addition to using Internet Archive to search for family information from digitized texts and documents across the globe, a site called Genealogy Gophers provides an alternate location to search deep into family history publications.  A unique free service that builds a timeline of your family tree with photographs and world history matches is called Twile.  The resulting presentation is said to be an engaging way to share family history with others. Cyndi’s List continues to be honored for its categorized lists of over 315,000 genealogy resource links.

With so many well-reputed resources, it is worth your time to explore.