For anyone interested in doing their own family research, the information below might help you out.
- Ancestry You can search the census and many other records plus it probably has some of the best family tree software among genealogy websites. The family tree and the 1880 & 1940 census is free while you have to pay for the rest of the site.
- FamilySearch You can search the census here and many other records same as Ancestry but the search engine isn't as good and while Ancestry has a feature that will provide "hints" to records that match your ancestors, FamilySearch does not, but FamilySearch is free and it allows you to build a family tree.
- VitalChek You can order birth, marriage, death, and divorce records on this site.
- Mississippi Department of Archives and History This is the website for the state archives in Mississippi. The first page you should see is a page of available resources at the archives. This page is best used for figuring out what books or microfilm you need before arriving at the archives which can save you some time. Remember to record the call number or roll number of the resources you want to view. Also if you click on the "Online Archives" tab near the top of the page, you see the few resources they have online.
- Family Tree Maker This is genealogy software originally made by Ancestry.com but is now in the hands of Software MacKiev. It connects to Family Search and Ancestry and stores your family information, trees, photos, census images, etc. The latest version out is Family Tree Maker 2017. There are different options out there but this is the program I use.
- Remember Their Names This sites contains information from the slave era including the names of slaves living in Jefferson, Copiah, and Simpson County.
- Mississippi Statewide Index This is a partially complete death index for the State of Mississippi.
- Digital Archives of the Carnegie Public Library Contains various Mississippi sources including a portion of the Death Certificate index that can be found the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
- Free African Americans of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland and Delaware The history of the free African American community as told through the family history of most African Americans who were free in the Southeast during the colonial period.
- North Carolina Freedman This page contains the names of freedman transported for work. Some places they were transported to was in Carroll County. Information was taken from Freedman Bureau records.
- Genealogical Testing Find out what your DNA says about you and your family. For those looking to take their research a little further they might want to consider taking a genealogy DNA test. There are 3 major types: Y-DNA, MTDNA, and Autosomal Testing. The 3 major testing companies are Ancestry.com, Family Tree DNA, and 23andme. Make sure you research what all 3 offer before you purchase. *Y-DNA tests trace your direct paternal DNA and can only be taken by men. *MTDNA tests trace your direct maternal DNA and can be taken by anyone. *Autosomal tests trace all lines of your DNA and can be taken by anyone. These tests usually come with a graphical breakdown of your ancestry. (80% African, 20% European....etc....)
