Mayflower Delaware

GENEALOGY

Researching and documenting your line from your Mayflower ancestor can be a fun and intriguing treasure hunt. In the 21st century the job is even easier because so much information and documentation can be found online. While you may still need to wander though an ancient cemetery or search the records of a small village church, the bulk of what you will need can be located through a handful of sites on the Internet, which in turn can point you to other sites to refine your research. A caveat, however, about on-line research. Many sites allow any person to post genealogical information, and the data you find posted by these researchers is only as accurate as the researcher's work. Hence, there is misinformation out there which you will need to check; much of the work is solid and carefully documented and can be very helpful to you. The sites listed below are among the most comprehensive and popular sites and give you a good starting place for your research. Local libraries and historical societies also are great resources, particularly for local histories and family histories, the writing of which was particularly in vogue in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Internet Resources

RootsWeb.com This site is the largest free genealogy site on the Internet and offers access to a great number of databases and search engines.

Ancestry.com This site, which is maintained by the organization that maintains RootsWeb.com, provides access for a fee to many additional libraries and documents very useful in your research.

Genealogy.com This site also charges a fee for access, but contains an extraordinary collection of hard to find family histories and other databases. There are many thousands of genealogys prepared by amateur genealogists who trace their families back to the Pilgrims, and often you can find a distant cousin who will have already researched and documented a good part of the line you are researching.

FamilySearch.com This site is maintained by the Church of the Latter Day Saints and provides access to its vast family history library catalogue and international ancestor files. Indexes of microfilms of many New England church and town records are available on line and the records may be examined at local Morman Family History Centers.

Cyndislist.com This site provides approximately 75,000 cross referenced links to genealogy sites on the Internet, many of which are not easily found on other search engines.

Libraries

Historical Society of Delaware 505 N. Market Street Wilmington, DE 19801 (302) 655-7161 http://www.hsd.org/ http://www.lib.udel.edu/	Delaware Genealogical Society (Same address and telephone number as Historical Society of Delaware) http://delgensoc.org/
Morris Library University of Delaware 181 South College Avenue Newark, DE 19717-5267 (302) 831-2965	Delaware Public Archives 121 Duke of York Street Dover, DE 19901 (302) 739-3021 http://archives.delaware.gov/
South Coastal Public Library 43 Kent Avenue Bethany Beach, DE 19930 (302) 539-5231 http://www.southcoastal.lib.de.us/	Dover Public Library 45 South State Street Dover, Delaware 19901 (302) 736-7030 http://www.doverpubliclibrary.org/
Corbit-Calloway Memorial Library P.O. Box 128 115 High Street (Corner of High & 2nd) Odessa, DE 19730 (302) 378-8838 http://www.corbitlibrary.org/

Other Resources

The New England Historical and Genealogical Society is located in Boston and is the oldest genealogical library in the country. It houses a vast collection of old records, family bibles, letters, etc. that are an extraordinary resource for New England research, and hasa circulating library collection which can be used by mail. Information on how to access these collections may be found at www.NewEnglandAncestors.org.