The census records are a great place to begin a "familysearch" for genealogy data. At www.archives.gov/genealogy/start-research/website.html, you'll find links to free online resources to find: honor awards given during Vietnam (1968 to 1972), the Gorgas Hospital death records (1979 to 1991), duty locations for Navy Intelligence personnel (1942 to 1945), Japanese-American internment files (1942 to 1946), ship passenger records from the Irish potato famine (1846 to 1851), P.O.W. lists from WWII, the Korean War and Vietnam, casualty lists for WWII, Korean War and Vietnam, military service records for the Spanish-American War's "Rough Riders," members of the Battle Mountain Sanitarium (1907 to 1934), Camp Nelson deaths and internments (1864 to 1865), Revolutionary War bounty-land warrant applications and pension records (1800 to 1900), 50,000 criminal case files, Chinese Exclusion Act files and fugitive slave case papers. To continue your search, you will need to visit off-line resources, like one of the National Archives libraries (whose locations can be found at www.nar.gov).

As you can imagine, the sort of information required for the census records has changed over time. For instance, if you were to look up a relative in the 1790 Census, you would find the family head's name, a listing of any free white men and women, and a list of all slaves. By 1800, age, race, sex and status ("free" or "slave") would be more clearly demarcated. By the 1820 Census, you could gain information as to what industries your relatives worked in (agriculture, commerce or manufacturing).

In 1840, new family genealogy markers are given: the names of deaf/dumb/blind people in the house, the names of insane people, the names of military personnel or pensioners and the literacy levels of those living in the household. Also, three more classes of employment were added. In 1850, you could learn the value of your family's real estate, whether someone got married that year, what year school was attended, the birthplaces of your family members and whether someone was a pauper or a convict.

In 1870, you can learn if the household had foreign-born parents and whether anyone was denied the right to vote for being a rebel. A popular year to look up is 1880, when you can get a list of how all household members are related, the address of the homestead, if anyone was unemployed during the year for sickness or disability, schedules for anyone who died that year and all other previously mentioned information.

In the 1940s census records, you could learn whether your family members worked in government or private industry and what their incomes were. The fifties mentioned how many hours family members worked in a week as well. Soon thereafter, the records become less detailed. For instance, the 1960 to 1970 censuses will only tell genealogists the household names, relationships, sexes, races, ages, marital statuses and their address. In the 1980s to 1990s, Spanish or Hispanic descent is also listed and in 2000, whether the house is owned or rented is listed. However, you should note that census accounts are only available for 72 years ago or earlier, as to protect the private rights of citizens.

In addition to looking up the information on the census records provided by www.census.gov, there are other resources that you may find helpful for creating your legacy family tree. For birth/death/marriage/divorce records, you can check the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services at www.cdc.gov/nchs. To find /birth records/death records of Americans overseas, you can check the American Records Passport Services (Vital Records Section) at your local consular's office. Death records of anyone in the service are listed at www.archives.gov/veterans. World War I military records (and anything later) can be found at the Military Records Division or the Selective Service Records at www.sss.gov/records.htm. The Library of Congress holds some information regarding family histories at www.loc.gov/rr/askalib or at the National Archives & Records Administration (www.archives.gov). Immigration and naturalization records (1906-present) can be found at the Department of Homeland Security by calling 1-800-375-5283. Anyone immigrating prior to 1906 will have records at your local courts.

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