Wouldn’t you like to find photos of your ancestors?

There are several websites which are free to use that might have photos of one or more of your ancestors.

Dead Fred Genealogy Photo Archive – Dead Fred has been around for quite a while, but for whatever reason doesn’t seem to be very well known. The website is very easy to use and no account is required.

There are five ways to search: Quick Search, Surname Search, Detailed Search, Keyword Search and Mysteries.

A quick look at entries for Adams brought up four pages of hits for various Adams people all over the country. There was even one photo for a Tarbox, which is my 2X great grandmother’s maiden name.

It’s well worth spending some time browsing the website. You might also consider sharing some of your own ancestral photos. It makes for great cousin bait. 🙂

Google Images – Google is certainly a storehouse for all kinds of documents and articles, but this search engine also collects images. I regularly check there for ancestors for whom photographs might exist.

For example, I entered the name of Calvin Segee Adams, my 2X great grandfather. In this case, all the hits are to my own blog and photos, but if a distant cousin didn’t know me and was also descended from Calvin Adams, they would have hit the jackpot.

The only downside to Google images is that you need a single name and/or location. Otherwise, hundreds, if not thousands, of non-relevant hits will probably appear in the results.

FamilySearch – A free account is needed. Many researchers use the FamilySearch Family Tree for hints and sources. Far fewer, I think, check for family photos that might be attached to an ancestor.

Here is the secret to finding the photos. After locating a person of interest in the FamilySearch family tree, look at Memories.

I was surprised to find six photos of my grandfather there because I hadn’t added them. If Memories has a number other than 0, then there is some kind of photo added to the person.

Memories is a section that is growing every day, so it is well worth return visits to see if new items have been added to ancestors in your own family tree.

EBay is the last suggestion. I realize that EBay isn’t free if you purchase an item, but it is certainly free to browse!

One never knows what will be found on EBay and there are hundreds of sellers who post vintage photos in which the subjects ARE identified. Yes, there are many more with no identified people. However, if you already know what an ancestor looked like, you can search vintage photos by location where the photograph was taken. You might be lucky!

EBay has constantly changing inventory so it is well worth the time to visit the website and search for various surnames and places of interest. One of my most treasured items is a photo postcard of the brother of my great grandmother and the family at their summer place on Lake Meddybemps in Maine.

Do you know of other free websites with genealogically related photos? Please leave a comment and share. 🙂

Happy Hunting!