Researching your family tree can be pretty daunting. But I’m here to help unlock the fascinating stories lurking just below the surface!
I charge a flat rate of $25 per hour of research, and strongly suggest booking at least four hours at a time. Research takes time, and in most cases one hour just doesn’t result in many breakthroughs.
I use a variety of sources, ranging from census records, birth and death certificates, baptismal records, cemetery documents, etc. ad infinitum. There is so much information out there, and so many pieces of the puzzle just waiting to be put together.
If you decide to enlist my services, I’d really like to talk with you before I do any research, and get as much information as possible that you already have. If we start with a solid foundation, it’ll make everything else go so much smoother and yield better results!
“What is the use trying to describe the flowing of a river at any one moment, and then at the next moment, and then at the next, and the next, and the next? You wear out. You say ‘There is a great river and it flows through this land, and we have named it History.’” – Ursula K. Le Guin
History. It’s where we come from, and what we leave behind us. It’s our ancestors and our oft-begroaned classes in adolescence. Whether you’re a lover or a loather, history is all around us. It’s that river mentioned in the above quote.
I fall into the category of “lover” of history. I earned my master’s degree from the State University of New York at Brockport, and have both immersed and been immersed into the rich stories of the past. During the recent pandemic, I jumped headfirst into exploring my own family’s history. I figured it would pass the time, confirm family lore, and maybe give me some hitherto unseen photographs or newspaper clippings.
But what I found was a remarkable mix of truths and falsehoods. Always proud to embrace my Irish and Italian ancestry, I discovered remarkable links to early Dutch settlers in New York, German immigrants of the 18th and 19th Centuries, an ocean of Quakers throughout New England, and an accused witch in Salem, whom I now affectionately refer to as “Grandma Pudeator.”
Since then, I’ve turned my eye to unlocking the mysteries and riddles of other people’s family trees. Sometimes records can be confusing, misleading, illegible, or just simply wrong. But as a lover of history, I immerse myself not only in the birth and death certificates, but the time and place, the social situations, the internal conflicts of these “random” people.
What I’ve found is that even the most “boring” ancestor can still speak to us, and share stories that quite simply, blow our minds. And sometimes we discover a totally-unknown relation to someone famous…or infamous. There’s just so much history out there, and we’re linked to it through our genes and family experiences. What’s wonderful is that we can discover countless hidden gems in our family histories. It just requires commitment and passion.
Anyone can jump into this River called History, but sometimes the current is a bit daunting, the water murky, the banks steep and slick. That’s why I’m here, and why I want to help you. I’ll gladly be your ferryman across the mysterious, intriguing waters of your past.