Discover Yourself, with Discover the Story of You
Professional Research Services
With nearly 40 years of expertise in family history research, I am excited to offer my extensive sleuthing skills on your behalf. Together we'll explore your personal history, as I grow your lush & leafy tree with verified documents, and uncover the life stories of prominent ancestors that mean the most to you. I'll illuminate some of those notable ancestors with a focused (and hopefully enlightening) oral or written narrative, to help reconnect you to that ancestor's life within you!
Growing Your Family Tree
I don't just build trees; I grow them! Like any tree, they take time to bear fruit. In genealogy, nurturing a family tree to grow strong and healthy involves thorough (& ongoing) research, to explore data, & analyze history. I delve into immigration & census records, military & church records, and more! I search wills & town records, find documents and news articles, visit research libraries & town offices, and whenever possible, I also walk through old cemeteries, to photograph tombstones & grave markers of your long-ago kin.
This thorough approach to researching your family history will help ensure that you receive the most deeply rooted, healthy & full family tree I can offer; it shall become your personal story, the legacy of how you, became you!
As an independent genealogist, my rates are much more affordable than most others, whether you're looking for package deals, or hourly rates.
(I even have sliding scale rates for very low income customers).
I believe that discovering the story of you should be as affordable as possible, and I'll do my best to work with you to make that happen.
One-on-One Interviews
To begin your ancestral journey and create your family tree, we'll need to meet (in person or via online video chat) for an intake interview. During this 1-2 hour session, I'll gather some initial information (names, dates, etc.) necessary to kick off your family history research. Additionally, I'll learn what you hope to discover most about your ancestry, and explain the custom packages available. I'll also answer any other questions you might have about your genealogy journey!
Document Retrieval Services
You know where the records for your ancestral journey are located, but if it's too far from your home and you lack the time to travel, I can assist you! If your records are in the Pacific Northwest, my custom genealogy packages include doing the legwork for you. Equipped with a 1200dpi hand-held wand scanner, I'll access records in person from towns, churches, town offices, libraries, museums, and other locations within the region. I will meticulously scan your old records, documents, and newspapers to provide you with the clearest and crispest copies for your family history research!
Ongoing Research
Sometimes, incorrect records can end up attributed to a person named in your tree. Maybe a record lead a previous researcher down a proverbial rabbit hole and the wrong person was named as your ancestor. Perhaps surname spellings didn't match, or there were same-named siblings in a family group, but in a different birth order. Maybe there was a different parent named than the one you believed to be your ancestor. Other times documents may have been be transcribed incorrectly, or the online records are too old, faded or fuzzy to read accurately.
Mistakes in genealogy are common, especially the further back in time you go!
That’s why it’s essential that to utilize as many different resources as possible, to verify the addition of a person's name to a family tree. It means engaging with other genealogists, accessing more libraries, and visiting historical sites for more clues., and accessing as many online databases as possible, and to always be on the lookout for updated facts & resources.
When new genealogy tools and resources emerge, your family history deserves a fresh look! That's when choosing hourly rates, rather than a package deal, is the right way to go —whether it’s to confirm a a person named in your tree with greater accuracy, or to delve deeper into the life story of one of your ancestors, sometimes a few more hours of sleuthing makes all the difference.
Send me a message when you’re ready to continue your journey!
Custom Packages Available
Discover The Story of You provides a range of custom genealogy packages designed to meet your needs, including the opportunity to collaborate with you to create a package that aligns perfectly with your family history research goals. Let's discuss your ancestral journey!