Prior to actually visiting the family history center site, call the center and check in order to verify if the center is open. What are the services offered by the family history center? Basically, help in accessing research and resource info is provided by the family history volunteer staff. However, take note that staff volunteers will basically be unable to do the actual research for you. When everything is finished, the individual can look back and see how far the genealogy tree extends. After all, a certain part of who the person is today is made up of something in the past making everyone unique. Instead of just keeping that information to oneself, the person can put it online so other members can also view it. Their belief is three-fold- missionary work, perfecting the saints (improving themselves while following the gospel) and redeeming the dead (here is where the genealogical works come in). This belief led to the creation of FamilySearch.org They have all the right to claim that they have the largest compilation of free family tree, records on genealogy and family history in the whole world. Solicit their assistance with the dates and names you need. Most likely, the names of relatives you do not know or have not heard from for a while, will crop up as these names could have been vital during the growing up years of your parents. Usually, your parents could be able to help you as well as they might have access to and eventually look up legal family records such as certificates of death, birth, records in the military, etc. As long as you have the information, building your tree is a breeze. You don t need to finish encoding your ancestors' names in one go. Just save your work, log out and access it later. It's that simple. Free family history sites Here are a few sites worth checking. Be sure to compare if you're serious about your family tree, since sites offer different services and different access levels. If you are already sure that your ancestor was a slave, identifying his or her last owner is the next priority. There are some slaves who used their last owner s name when they were declared free but then most of them didn t. Further research is still needed. Step four is about the slavery and owner s research.