Create Your Family Tree, Free
Build your family tree, research the people who came before you, and preserve the stories you discover for future generations.
Start your family tree in three steps
You do not need to know your entire family history before you begin. Start with what you know and work backward one generation at a time.
Create your free account
Register for GreenerPasture so you can save and maintain your family information.
Join for FREEOpen My Family Tree
Once you are signed in, open your family tree and begin with yourself and your parents.
Go to My Family TreeKeep working backward
Add grandparents, great-grandparents, photographs, life events, places, and the stories you uncover.
Need help? Contact usAlready have an account? Sign in and continue your tree.
Why our family trees are different
Free since 1999
GreenerPasture began as our own family-history site in 1999 and grew as other families joined us. Registration, searching, and adding your family are free. We believe history should be accessible because it belongs to all of us.
More than names and dates
When you add an ancestor, GreenerPasture may connect that person with historical events, photographs of places they lived, old newspaper stories, and other details that help their world come alive.
Accuracy matters
Online family trees can contain mistakes that get copied from tree to tree. We encourage researchers to treat other trees as clues and verify important information with records and other reliable evidence.
Tips for getting started
Genealogy is the process of discovering your ancestry. The easiest way to begin is with the people closest to you and then work backward.
Start with you
Record what you already know about yourself. This gives your family tree a reliable starting point.
Talk to your parents
If they are able and willing to talk, ask about more than dates. Ask for photographs, places, occupations, relatives, traditions, and family stories. Be respectful if there are subjects they do not want to discuss.
Talk to your grandparents
Ask questions while you have the opportunity. Small details can become invaluable clues years later. A remembered town, maiden name, occupation, or country can open an entirely new branch of research.
Talk to great-grandparents and older relatives
If you are fortunate enough to have older relatives available, listen to their stories and ask to see photographs, letters, certificates, and other family documents.
Move from memories to records
Once you have gathered what your family knows, look for records that can confirm and expand the story. Treat online family trees as hints rather than proof, and verify the information yourself.
Places to continue your research
No single genealogy site contains everything. These resources can help you locate records, graves, immigration information, newspapers, and other evidence.
Free resources
- FamilySearch.org
- FindAGrave.com
- CanadianHeadstones.org
- NosOrigines.qc.ca
- AmericanAncestors.org / New England Historic Genealogical Society
- FillesDuRoi.org
- Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island Foundation
- U.S. National Archives
- RootsWeb
- Google News Archive Search
Subscription or paid resources
- Ancestry
- Newspapers.com
- GenealogyBank
- PRDH-IGD, Programme de recherche en démographie historique
- Fold3
Paid services can be useful, but whether they are worth the cost depends on the records and locations you are researching.
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