|



|
Genealogy -
Family History Research
 |
|
News
Family
History research makes a birthday, Mother's Day or Father's
Day Present! Ask us about researching your ancestry!
~
We have a listing on
an Expert Genealogy Professionals Page -
check it out!
~
Mosaic RPM available to do
Sub-Contract work for your organization. |
| |
 |
Genealogy -- Family History -- History
RESEARCH SERVICES
With 22+ years
of experience doing genealogical research, Mosaic Research Project
and Management is ready to assist you with your family history
inquiry or project or any other research involving historic
documents.
|
|
We are a member of the Association of
Professional Genealogists -- your assurance that we provide quality
research services.
We have experience doing research in several areas of the world and
also within the United States. We are happy to give a
FREE 30 minute consultation on any project
to let you know what we can do for you.
We take digital photographs of
many of the documents and/or book pages (and covers) and/or other
resources consulted, including visits to cemeteries! You then receive a disk (or e-mail) with
these digital images that you can then print and/or view in an
enlarged state for reading, transcribing, etc. Just one of the
ways that we try to give you "more" value for your research dollars. |
|
|
|
NEWS! |
-
Check out Mosaic RPMs
Genealogy and Family History Services
brochure (.pdf format)! You can now
download it. Please do share it with family, friends,
colleagues and even strangers!
-
Starting in September -- we
now make regular trips to Richmond VA (Library of VA) and DC
(home of NARA etc) -- if we can assist with document acquisition at
any of these facilities, please contact us. To facilitate your
contacting us for this, we have established a DC phone number --
when you call this, you will be asked to leave a message which will
be e-mailed to us and preserved as a voice mail, no matter where we
are! (202) 495-1474
-
Doing UK research, check out
Diane's article at Genealogy Archives,
Locate Ancestors with UK Vital Records,
UK Census Records Uncovered,
Why They Moved and How To Find Them |
|
==> After the section on specialty areas ... there is a
menu of important topics regarding genealogy/family history
research, our services and our credentials! |
|
|
|
We do have more experience with some types of research than others
and the research areas that we have done the most work in are: |

If you would like a copy
of our brochure mailed to you, please "contact
us or click on our brochure cover to see it as a .pdf
file"
 |
|
 |
1a. North
Carolina -- we have
unique access to the records of North Carolina by living in it's
capital, Raleigh! We can help you with any records available
at the
NC State Archives
and the
State Library of North Carolina.
This means we can either do "specific" records research for you or
you'll know that we have these resources available to us as we
research your NC family.
We also have familiarity
with and access to
...
1b. Wake County records
in the
Olivia Raney Collection (a
wonderful local history collection focusing on Wake County)
1c. RTP-Area Repositories
-- ready
access to
the
Southern Historical Collection, Wilson
Library, UNC-Chapel Hill, the
North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, UNC-Chapel
Hill
and the
Duke University Libraries - Special Collections,
as well as other local collections.
1d. NC African-American
Research -- there are some unique challenges to
researching African-Americans whether ancestors were Free Blacks
or Slaves. |
|
|
2. Bridging DNA Test Results with Research
-- increased use of DNA testing is adding another tool to the
genealogy research arsenal. Increasingly, the research
projects that we work on involve obtaining documents to support DNA test results or
to bridge the
gap from what's known to what the testing suggests as a common
ancestor. Remember, DNA test results only have value if
substantiated by thorough documentation -- they DO NOT tell you who
your ancestors are!!!!
* Family Tree DNA (see banner to the left) is the company currently
used by most of our clients who are participating in a DNA study
project.
* Are you considering DNA testing and still have questions?
--
Wikipedia gives a nice overview
-- Feel free to ask us about the pro's and con's of DNA testing,
some of the surname projects that we have worked with and and how it
may or may not benefit your ancestral research. |
  |
3. Emigrant families who came to the United States between 1880 and
1920 -- we have personally spent over 750 hours
researching individuals/families from Belarus, Finland, France,
Galicia and/or Poland, and the UK. This means we have experiences with records of
these
countries, emigration ports and passenger records, census records,
birth/marriage/death records, cemetery records, directories,
citizenship (naturalization) records and
more.
We have also researched
earlier emigrants ... some from France in 1850 and from French
Canada in the late 19th century! The period 1880-1920
encompasses the period of the highest levels of emigration to the US
... with peak from about 1907-1910. |
 |
4. Finland --
we have personally spent over 350 hours researching the records of
Finland -- Finnish Church records (in Finnish & Swedish back to the
formation of some towns), Finnish emigration records (including
Finns using Finnish, Swedish & other ports) and more.
This means we have experience with
the church records, the patronymic naming convention used,
researching farms and many other types of records. |
 |
5. United
States -- we have personally spent over 750 hours
researching the records of Massachusetts, Ohio, Illinois, Delaware,
Pennsylvania, California, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
This
means we have experience with census records and the various local
records of these states. Please remember that there are "few"
records kept on a national level in the US. Most records are
kept on a state and/or county level and this various tremendously
state-to-state and community to community! So, any project is
pretty much a new adventure! |
 |
6. England &
Wales & Scotland -- we have personally spent over 1000
hours researching families with connections to at least 15 different
UK counties, though with a particular emphasis on England --
Greater Manchester area (including Oldham, Hollinwood, Chadderton,
Manchester, Failsworth and area), Wales -- Monmouth & Glamorgan, and
Scotland -- Kirkcudbrightshire & Wigtownshire.
This means we
have experience with census records, civil registration (Birth,
marriage, death), directories, church records, tithe & apportionment
documents, wills, burials and more. |
  |
7.
General Research -- increasingly we receive
inquiries about doing research to support a: |
|
>>
historical book project
>>
claim to be made
>>
screenplay |
>>
script
>>
building background, like on "History
Detectives"
>> etc...
|
|
The
research may be to learn more about an individual or family involved
or something of the history and/or people of the place and time in
question.
Given that people make history and that history
helps define people -- we are more than happy to do these types of
research! If it involves researching historical people and/or
places ... that's what we have been doing for almost 20 years! |
|
You will see that we keep listing
Genealogy - Family History. You may wonder why? Often,
it seems that these are used interchangeably ... they really aren't
the same though. We will engage in either type of research and
we like the definition given at
http://genealogy.about.com. |
|
"While
is common for people to use the terms 'genealogy' and 'family
history' interchangeably, they actually have a subtle but different
meaning.
Genealogy,
the study of ancestry and descent, refers more to the actual search
for ancestors, while
family history,
the narrative of the events in your ancestors' lives, denotes the
telling of your family's story. Family history is genealogy come
alive."
So, for us, Genealogy is the bare
bones find the facts type activities whereas Family History tries to
bring some color and story to your ancestors lives ... Since we
don't believe that any of us would like to be remembered as just a
bunch of statistics such as when we were born, married, had children
and died, so we believe that to do our ancestors justice, we need to
try and learn more than the dates of events ... we need to learn
about where they lived, where they went to church, what their
occupations were, their involvement in the community and anything
else we can learn. |
|
|
|
What We Can Do For You -- Recent
Experience |
|
What we are best with is a project where
families have roots all over the place ... we like a challenge!
Whether your family spent generations in one town or moved
frequently, even from or within other countries ... we can help you!
That said, if your family all came from one place, there may be
other researchers who can better help you ... as they may live and
breath that town -- if we think that's the case, we'll let you know!
On the other hand, if your family was fairly mobile ... we are
excellent at researching around the globe! We have many
resources at our fingertips and are great at ferreting out
hard-to-find information. July 2010:
Hope everyone had a super 4th of July weekend -- instead of reading,
writing and arithmetic, our July has started out with reading,
writing and researching! And lots of all three! Continuing to
prepare for Diane's talk on the 24th and her week long stay in DC
for NIGR ... we've decided that clones is the only way we'll make it
through July! And, we weren't imagining how hot June was -- it was
record setting! Working on several "born in NC" projects (if
there is a state west of as far as TX we are probably tracking
someone who was "born in NC!"), research for the descendants of
ex-slaves, still tracking a mystery musician around the globe --
last found in France and Germany in 1908, pursuing Revolutionary War
military and other service for lineage applications as well as
Scottish and Irish ancestors for others, writing articles for
Family
Chronicle, helping clients give great gifts in the forms of
family trees with supporting research and just so much more!
Need to meet that article deadline, close out some current projects,
continue fascinating research for several projects and line up those
projects which might benefit from some time at the Library of
Congress (LOC) or National Archives and Records Administration
(NARA) -- which we might squeeze in next week. Otherwise, stay
cool as we experience even more heat!
June 2010:
Hope you all had an enjoyable Memorial Day weekend -- and, if you
are like us, May just whizzed by! June is off to a busy start
-- the newest edition of Internet Genealogy is now in print and
Diane has written several pieces for it as she also writes some
pieces for future editions. Weekly trips to the NC archives
keep us busy with research in colonial records, revolutionary war
and civil war records, documents that hopefully shed insight into
the lives and extended family of former slaves, and those that might
help with those "born in NC" families found elsewhere in the 1850
census or whose parents, in the 1880 census are identified as born
in NC. DNA continues to play a role in our projects -- whether
suggesting other locales to research or that there was a
non-parental event (e.g. the last name of the person and the DNA
group don't match). And, sometimes we are just busy trying to
document the numerous branches of a family tree where we are slowed
as we hit mid-19th century records, especially if the family didn't
own land. And, we are always trying to track those families
whose middle name seemed to be "move" as in they are never found in
the same place in the census records, never mind those in between
periods! We hear those client files calling to use ....
May 2010:
Hope everyone had a super Mother's Day, even if just having a lazy
Sunday! Mine was great with daughter home from college! We are
sad to announce that Discovering Family History ceased publication
with it's April 2010 issue -- Moorshead Publications will be
incorporating more beginner type articles in Family Chronicle as a
result. It was great to see all the people that showed up at the
Raleigh Family History Center for the May 1st Seminar -- Diane gave
talks "Online Maps" and "Born in NC." Lineage society research and
applications, trying to determine the parents of slaves, making use
of DNA test results to bridge from MS to NC (and beyond), Orange &
Durham counties slave research, Revolutionary War era research and
so much more has kept us busy as this month starts. In July,
Diane will give a talk about Timelines for the
5th Annual North Carolina Genealogical Society Speakers Forum
and she'll be attending
National Institute on Genealogical Research (NIGR) in July to
improve skills with regards to Federal Records research and the
DC-area research repositories ... now it's time to do some of that
promised client work!
April 2010:
Hope you all survived "Tax Day!" ... with that now past, many of you
can now spend more time researching your family! Projects
involving families in many counties during many different time
periods and with all different kinds of objectives have kept us at
the State Library of NC and the North Carolina State Archives on a
regular basis this month! We have also spent some time working
on some articles for future editions of
Family
Chronicle and
Internet Genealogy (for
Moorshead Publications). We also spent some time preparing to
give 2 talks on May 1, "Online Maps" and "Born in NC" for the
Raleigh FHC Seminar. We recently had another piece
published as part of the Learn from the Experts Series at Genealogy
Archives --
Why They Moved and How To Find Them.
Some lineage and hereditary society applications have been submitted
and others are in process. African-American research projects,
post slavery and during slavery, keep us on our toes as we try to
document and learn the ancestry of these elusive family members.
Continued research into 19th and 18th century NC records for clues
for seemingly "invisible" individuals. Several projects
involve those "born in NC" types -- searching for clues where they
were found to be living, marching backwards on their lives and those
of like-named individuals in the area and neighbors to see if we can
find "where" they were from in NC and/or whom their parents were!
Revolutionary war and civil war research trying to prove
participation and/or service and/or trying to obtain service and
pension records continue to keep us busy! Tracking an early
20th century musician who traveled the world of NY, UK, France,
Germany and Australia has us scratching our head as to where did he
go next (not a passenger record yet to be found!) And, other
hard-to-find individuals, each with their unique stories, have us
busy in the records of NC, multiple states in the US,
emigration/immigration records, etc. We have also been reminded that
in early records, keep your eyes wide open for name variants that
might be quite different from what you "thought" the name was!
Phonetic spelling by clerks and illiteracy can make for quite a
variety of names as found for one person. So, another busy and
exciting month and we're only half-way through it!
March
2010: The month started with a slight break to enjoy
being with college-age daughter and husband away from home for a few
days -- a respite much needed. Since then it's been fast and
furious with research -- lineage to African-American to the
ubiquitous "born in NC" problem to 20th century Wake/Johnston county
people and land research to writing pieces for the WCGS publications
(Wake Treasures and Wake Updates, journal and newsletter
respectively) and more articles for the various Moorshead
publications. Also busy dusting off some talks to give to a
May 1st event at the local LDS church (and Family History Center).
So far we have been reminded of the role that looking into any
"name" even close has in our research as well as though we hope that
intense research will yield the answer to the question, serendipity
definitely can be the sledgehammer that breaks the brick wall.
And, how can we forget those DNA results which don't confirm what we
are hoping and throw us for a loop as we find that our results match
an "unexpected" surname! Someone the other day asked me how I
find some of the stuff I do and my response was along the lines of
"look under every rock and think outside the box of conventional
genealogy research." Stuck in the past, come back to the future (did
you actually get every vital record and census document?).
Stuck on your line, look at extended family (or anyone with the same
surname, especially if born in the same state). Stuck on
extended family, look at neighbors. Stuck in your county
and/or state, look at nearby counties/states. Still stuck --
look at church formation and records, migration trails ... Don't
just focus on the obvious, try and document every mention of your
ancestor/family, no matter how small. Even if this information
doesn't solve your research question, you have at least learned more
about your ancestor and can produce a more "colorful" family
history. Time to go check some newspaper indexes, meet with a
client, visit the state library and then the state archives -- a
typical friday!!
February
2010: Snow and lots of it greeted us this month -- enough
to keep the kids out of school for 3 days as we tried to defrost,
though, nothing compared to Snowmageddon as it's hitting VA and
north! Lots of articles written so far this month (1/3rd of
the way in) and also lots of research! Projects focusing on
land in colonial Chatham county to those families who migrated from
NC to the Mid-west and seemed to stop in every state along the way,
to African-American/Slave search -- trying to determine parents
and/or plantations of birth, searching on 20th century families who
left their NC farms in the 1920s-1930s for elsewhere such as NYC,
Philadelphia, DC, Norfolk/Portsmouth, etc., many "born in NC"
projects where we are desperately trying to connect them to their
ancestral homes, lineage application requirements from DAR/SAR to
Sons of Colonial Wars to Society of the Cincinnati have us deep in
Revolutionary War era records seeking "proof" of ancestors service.
And not to loose sight of just basic "deep" research into early 19th
and mid-to-late 18th century documents, of the more obscure variety,
to try and learn as much as possible about those North Carolinian
families with deep roots. And, let's not forget the quest to
try and find "where" an ancestor emigrated from -- for many of the
families I research, the answer will be England/Wales, Scotland or
Ireland -- the hard part is determining which, trying to find
information on their passage and then identifying specifically
"where" back home might be. And, that's just the first 10 days
... let's see what the rest has us doing!
January
2010: HAPPY NEW YEAR! We don't know about you and it was
hard to return to work after an enjoyable holiday break.
Though, visits to the Library of Congress (researching the patent
card file and books for an early 1900s Tin Pan Alley musician was
fun) and the National archives (unfortunately, no research there and
did visit the public displays) were a great treat for this
genealogist! We hope to spend about one day per month at these
and other great DC facilities doing research. Otherwise, there
are projects not completed in December on our plate -- involving
many types of records, across centuries of time, for both NC and
other locales! Once we catch our breath mid-way through the
month, we'll update you on what we've been up to! Articles
have been written an proofed, much research at the NC archives has
taken place, project binders filled with family documents and
reports have been created and so much more!
December
2009: Hope you had a super Thanksgiving and have an
enjoyable time preparing for the December holiday season. We have
just published another article at Genealogy Archives,
UK Census Records Uncovered. This will mostly be a month of
starting and completing projects promised in time for Christmas --
whether it's a lineage application, producing binders of research
already completed, starting research or meeting some article
deadlines -- we will be busy between now and years' end. A
trip to
UNC-CH
as well as regular visits to the NC archives will also be on our
plate. We are happy to report that some long-term projects finally
had some breakthroughs late last month -- as they say "patience" is
a virtue though impatience is probably a middle name had by many of
us! It's time to complete those projects ... best wishes for a
wonderful holiday and a safe, healthy and prosperous 2010!
November
2009: Hope you had a super Halloween and remembered to
turn your clocks back 1 hour! We have a just published article
at Genealogy Archives,
Locate Ancestors with UK Vital Records,
and
Diane is polishing up her talk for
the
4th Annual NCGS Speakers Forum. The topic of her talk,
"Born in NC: making the connection back to North Carolina, a case
study," (you can read about this same topic in a Discovering Family
History Article titled "North Carolina and Beyond," Discovering
Family History, May/June 2009, pages 8-11) is timely since in the
last two weeks we have received about 8 inquiries where in each
case, from the 1850 census or some other resource, an ancestor has
been identified as "born in NC" with no other information provided!
These are tough projects and success if possible ... Involved
with several projects where families just love to use the same names
over and over again in each generation and across generations --
when combined with somewhat common surnames, we have been kept busy
with the Glenn and Turner and Jackson families -- trying to separate
out the various branches and generations of these family trees! Will
visit the Greensboro courthouse this week for some estate papers,
having been researching estate records for slave lists, and am
searching diligently to see if proof can be found that some
individuals "served" in the Revolutionary war while living in North
Carolina.
For earlier months, check out our
Genealogy Experience page!
So, let us create the gift that will keep
on giving for your family!!
Here are a few more
specifics of what
we can do!! |
|
|
|
What we can
do for you -- Overview of Services |
-
Research a specific life event such
as a birth, death, marriage, census record, passenger record, will, etc...
-
Research a particular person
(for example, Ernest Taylor), a particular family line
(for example, the Taylor family of Lancashire England), a
branch of your family (for example, the Taylor, Wolfenden,
Crossley and Newton families) or research broadly across your
family
-
Help you organize and make sense of a collection of
family papers that may be sitting in your attic or house (you
may have inherited from a relative) -- possibly perform
follow-up research or suggest research avenues
-
Take DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHS of
documents and/or other resources consulted at the NC Archives,
NC State Library, Olivia Raney Library, UNC-CH Wilson Library et
al and either e-mail, post on secure web-server or create & mail
a CD to you
|
-
Research those "family stories" that we
all have and try to substantiate some of the details.
-
Provide some guidance -- we offer a
FREE 15 -30 minutes consultation to suggest what you might research.
If we don't feel we are the best researchers for your project --
we'll let you know! After 15 minutes, the rate is $10 per 15 minute period or the
hourly rate given on our rate page.
-
Research a branch of your family
covering a specific time period or maybe it's a particular
ancestor you are interested in.
-
Anything you can think of that has to do
with historical research on a member or branch of your family!
-
For non-local NC research, preserve DIGITAL
IMAGES of documents and/or other remote resources
consulted and either e-mail, post on secure web-server or create
& mail a CD to you
-
Work with DNA test results -- DNA test
results only have value if used in conjunction with a well
documented family history!
|
|
[Return to Top] |
|
Mosaic Research and Project
Management
~~
Genealogy & Family
History Credentials |
|
>>
|
23+ years of genealogy &
family history research experience, 15+ years internet research
(Also, Master of Engineering and Master of Business Administration) |
>> |
Subscriptions to numerous resources,
including and not limited to Ancestry.com, Godfrey Memorial Library
Online, GenealogyBank, Scotlands People, Emigrant Register
(Finland), and access to many others! |
|
>>
|
NC State Archives,
State Library of North Carolina,
Wake County records via
Olivia Raney Collection
and access to other central-NC archives |
>> |
Support of a project to index
the England Census --
The Genealogist
... we transcribed a Registration Area for Oldham (240 pages of
census) for the 1861 Census |
|
>>
|
Experience doing genealogy research
as a sub-contractor for larger genealogy research firms |
>>
|
our Personal Genealogy & Family
History Library (we
maintain a list of titles at
LibraryThing -- check it out) |
|
>> |
Listed by the
NC State Archives & NC State
Library (met North Carolina Administrative Code provisions) as a
researcher available to perform genealogical research
Listed at
UNC-CH Wilson Library as a
researcher. |
>>
|
Memberships (National &
International):
National Genealogy Society (NGS)
Association of Professional Genealogists
(APG) |
  |
|
>>
|
President and VP (Communications)
for
Wake County Genealogical Society
(2006-Present)
Coordinator for
Wake County USGenWeb site
(2005-2008)
Regular contributor to
WCGS Updates --
Pieces that focus on new resources @ Wake County GenWeb site, NC State Archives
& Library, Wake County GenWeb archives, etc. and a column titled
"Research the Cosmos - Learn about internet resources all over the
planet"
Regular contributor to WCGS
Wake Treasures
~~ "Looking
for Scots Heritage Becomes a Lesson in the History of Wake and
Johnston Counties"
(Winter/Spring 2007)
~~
"University
of North Carolina, Chapel Hill – Manuscripts Department" (Summer/Fall
2007)
~~ "Wake County Court Papers,
UNC-CH, Willis G. Briggs Collection #3077" (Winter/Spring
2008)
~~ Articles acquired from early 19th
century Raleigh newspapers for publication
|
>> |
Other Memberships (NC & Local):
Association of Professional Genealogists -- NC
Chapter --
-
Secretary (current), Co-Program Chair (2008-2009)
-
Presentations ...
~~
"Internet Resources for family research"
(September 2007)
~~ DVD by Sharon Sergeant titled The Misha Defonseca
Holocaust Fraud: Forensic Genealogy Lessons for Your Own Family
History (November 2008)
Association of Professional Genealogists --
Capital Area Chapter
North Carolina Genealogical Society
(NCGS) |
|
>> |
Attended The National Institute on
Genealogical Research (NIGR), held July 2010 at the National
Archives in Washington, D.C., and College Park, Maryland,
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~natgenin/
|
|
>> |
Digital images -- can easily take
digital images of found documents/books/maps et al via a digital
camera (sometimes used with real-time transfer to a laptop) |
|
>> |
Presenter of "Help I live in
Raleigh and My Family Comes from Outside North Carolina!"
(alternately titled "Research the Cosmos - Learn about internet
resources all over the planet")
Main focus is researching US records though information is also
provided on researching family in England and Finland.
The accompanying resource
guide,
Internet Genealogy Resources -
Searching “Anywhere” USA!, is available at Lulu.com.
(Updated
9/18/2007)
 |
>> |
Internet
Resources for Genealogy and Family Research in North Carolina
(available at
lulu.com) contains 21 pages of internet-based resources for NC
ancestral research -- 19 pages cover NC-focused resources and 2
pages cover some broader databases/subscription services that you
definitely want to check out! (January 2008)
[NOTE: this will be updated
soon -- a lot has happened in the last 2 years!]
 |
|
>>
|
Author for "Internet
Genealogy"
(you can download a 24 page sample
version)
April/May 2006
* Net Note --
Illinois State Archives
June 2006
(special
web issue)
* Article --
FamilyHistoryOnline
June/July 2006
* Article --
My Trees Website
August/September 2006
* Article --
CA Vital Search
* Net Note --
Immigration History
Research Center
October/November 2006
* Net Note --
Iron Range Research
Center
December 2006/January 2007
* Article --
A New Dawn for
Online Databases
(cover story!)
* Net Note --
Online Searchable
Death Indexes and Records
* Net Note --
Historical
Directories
February/March 2007
* Net Note --
Old Historic Maps
* Article --
Finnish Resources
* Article --
It's Not on The 'Net:
Now What?
April/May 2007
* Article --
20 Billion Names: One Year Later
* Article --
Are You Ready to
Unlock Your Genealogy
June/July 2007
* Article --
Family Search Labs:
You Be the Judge
* Article --
Searching
Digital Documentation on HistoryKat
*
Net Notes
--
1.
Immigrant
Servants Database, 2. Prologue, 3. OCLC/WorldCat, and 4. Free on Ancestry
August/September 2007
* Article --
Footnote
October/November 2007
* Article --
Chronicling America
* Article --
Black Studies
Center
* Article --
When
Disaster Strikes: Genealogy and Mother Nature
*
Net Notes
--
1. GenWeb
Search, 2. Encyclopedia of Genealogy, and 3. Geni and Zooof.
>>
ThinkGenealogy listed us as the most prolific of the "Top 10
Genealogy and Technology Most Published Authors of 2007!"
January 2008
* Article --
Lineage, First Family
and Pioneer Societies on the Web
* Article --
National
Genealogical Society
* Article --
World Vital Records
* Net Note --
Free Public Records
Directory
March 2008
* Net Note --
LostCousins
* Article --
Passenger
Records and Naturalization Records
May 2008
* Article --
Accessing Family History Books Online
* Article --
US
Passport Applications Online
* Net Note --
Paper
of Record
July 2008
* Article --
A New and Improved
World Vital Records
* Net Notes --
1. Ghost towns USA
and US Ghost Towns, 2. ResourceShelf, and 3. The
Poorhouse Story
September 2008
* Article --
Project StoryKeeper
and LifeLenz
* Article --
CPS Alumni: School's
In on the Web!
* Net Notes --
1. FamilyRelatives
and 2. Bloodlines of Salem
November 2008
* Article --
Explore Maps From the
Comfort of Your Home!
* Article --
What's With All the
Fuss About Wikis?
* Net Notes --
1. Voici Ma Famille/That's
My Family, 2. NARA, 3. AncestryBank, 4. Antietam National Cemetery
Payroll, 1866-1867
January 2009
* Article --
Chicago Records Go
Online!
March 2009
* Article --
Read up on Research:
Genealogy Book Reviews
* Article --
Family Tree
Connection and Live Roots
* Article --
Family Research Labs:
One-Stop Genealogy
* Article --
Olde-English
Handwriting: An Online Course
* Net Notes --
1. In the First
Person, 2. Slave Trade, 3. Cassini Maps, 4. Memeo Share
May 2009
* Article --
1911 UK Census Goes
Live and Direct!
* Article --
Facebook for
Genealogists
* Net Notes --
1. Irish Mariners,
2. Archives New Zealand, 3. Institute of Jewish Life Digital Archive
Project, 4. Family Old Photos
July 2009
* Net Notes -- 1. 1891 Canadian
census, 2. PlaceNames.com, 3. Prague Residence Records, 4. Public
Profiler
|
September 2009
* Net Notes --
1. Discovering American Women's History, 2.
Early California Population Project, 3.
Swiss-Italian Migration Project, 4.
Afro-Louisiana History and Genealogy
* Article --
North Carolina Online
* Review --
The Genealogist's Internet
November 2009
|
|
* Net Notes --
1. Canadian Headstone Photo Project, 2. It Runs
in My Family, 3. Valley of the Shadow, and 4.
Non-Conformist UK Records
* Article --
Understanding County Boundaries Through Time
|
January
2010
* Net Notes --
1. War Department Papers, 2.Digital Library on
American Slavery, 3. Brooklyn Revealed, and 4.
US Immigration Map
March
2010
* Net Notes --
1. Making of African American Identity, 2.
Canadian Records, 3. Devon Wills, 4. GenQueries,
5. Immigration to the United States, 1789-1930,
6. Greek Genealogy
* Article --
Sign of the Times: Timelines in Genealogy
* Article
-- Special Delivery: State Postal History
May
2010
* Net Notes --
1. DAR Patriot Online Database, 2. Jott, 3.
EMILE: Early Migrant Letter Stories,
4.Transcript, 5. Forces Genealogy: Military
History in the Making, 6. Sanborn Maps Online
Checklist
* Article --
Save Your Memories: Arcalife
July
2010
* Net Notes --
1. Founders Early Access, 2. Irish Maps Online,
3.Welsh Wills, 4. Google Voice, and 5. Eastern
European Research
* Article --
[contributed to] 130 Best Genealogy Websites!
* Article --
More Than Just the Census: Find My Past
* Article --
Long Distance Research: Genlighten
|
|
{note: any item, article or
reference, that is a bold underlined title is able to be downloaded or viewed, just
click on it!}
{note: most articles become
available 1+ years after they were originally published} |
>> |
NGS 2009
Conference in the States and Family History Fair
-- Raleigh, May 13-16, 2009
*
NGS 2009 Blog
- Moderator and
author
* Local chair - Vendor Area |
|
>> |
Presenter at
North Carolina Genealogical Society
(NCGS) Speakers Forums
~~ 1st (2006) "Help I live in
Raleigh and My Family Comes from Outside North Carolina!"
(see above)
~~ 2nd (2007) "Looking
for Scots Heritage Becomes a Lesson in the History of Wake and
Johnston Counties"
(Companion article published in
Winter/Spring 2007 edition
Wake Treasures (WCGS)
~~ 3rd (2008)
"Explore NC
through maps from the comfort of your home!"
~~ 4th (2009) "Born in NC:
making the connection back to North Carolina, a case study"
(Companion article published in June 2009 Discovering Family
History "North Caroline and Beyond")
~~ 5th (2010) "Sign of
the Times: Timelines in Genealogy" |
|
>> |
Presenter at
Various Local Meetings
Wake County Genealogical Society
~~ Nov 2006 "Research the
Cosmos"
~~ April 2008 "Explore NC Through Maps From the
Comfort of Your Home"
Family History Center (Raleigh) -- Family History Seminar
~~ May 2010 "Online Maps" and "Born in NC"
Durham-Orange Genealogical Society
~~ June 2008 "Exploring North
Carolina through Maps from your easy chair"
Carolina Meadows
~~ Oct 2007 "Researching for
Your Ancestor's Immigration and Naturalization Papers"
~~ Feb 2009 "Exploring
Maps for Research or Curiosity"
|
|
>> |
Author for "Discovering
Family History" This new, in early 2008,
publication comes from Moorshead Magazines, who brings you
Internet Genealogy and Family Chronicle. You
can download a copy of the 56 page
preview issue.
Since
the 1st issue (June 2008) we have authored a
recurring piece ...
First Things First -- This is a forum filled with short news
blurbs on database updates, new books, new web-sites, new resources
... the coverage is global and covers anything we think might be of
interest to both the novice and experienced genealogist.
*
September/October 2008
*
November/December 2008
*
January/February 2009
*
March/April 2009
*
May/June 2009
Additionally, we have authored these articles.
August 2008
* Article --
Black
Sheep and Bad Seeds
October 2008
* Article --
Linkpendium
* Article --
Making of America
December 2008
* Article --
reCAPTCHA
February 2009
* Article --
If I
Were to Start My Genealogy Now
June 2009
* Article --
North Carolina and Beyond
* Article -- Coming to America,
Eh?
August 2009
* Article -- Godfrey
Memorial Library
December 2009
* Article --
Who is Joe Beine?
* Article -- AGES-Online Review
February 2010
* Article -- Irish
Made Easy, The Irish Family History Foundation
(see an excerpt)
NOTICE: DFH ceased publication
with the April 2010 issue.
{note: any item, article or
reference, that is a bold underlined title is able to be downloaded or viewed, just
click on it!} |
|
>> |
Author for "Family
Chronicle"
(you can download a 24 page sample
version)
May 2006
* Forum Piece on "Polish Roots"
October 2006
* Contributed to piece on
"Essential Books"
April 2007
* Article -- Genealogy Web Sites
Worth Surfing
June 2007
* Article --
40 Fabulous Websites
June 2009
* Article -- Forgotten Patriots: A
Book Review
August 2009
* Article -- Looking for a Man Who
Didn't Want to be Found! (with Dr. M.A. Boyle)
* Article -- Capturing WWII
Veteran Memories
October
2009
* Article -- Couldn't Make It (a
few websites to help find records of the conferences we just didn't
get around to)
* Article -- Genealogy Web
Sites Worth Surfing
December 2009
* Article -- Case Study of the
Miles Family
February 2010
* Article -- Family Bibles
(see an excerpt)
August 2010
* Article -- Proving Revolutionary
War Service
{note: any item, article or
reference, that is a bold underlined title is able to be downloaded or viewed, just
click on it!} |
|
>>
|
Author
for the
Expert Series at GenealogyArchives
*
Locate Ancestors with UK Vital Records
*
UK Census Records Uncovered
*
Why They Moved and How to Find Them |
|
OUR PROMISE TO YOU
-- we take our Genealogy
& Family History Research seriously! We have always produced
footnoted (or end-noted) research ... it is always vital to know the
source of the information used! We have always indicated our
confidence in the conclusions drawn or whether more substantiation
is needed ... we always deliver what we promise and never promise
what we cannot deliver!
"we provide research assistance by
researching only authorized services requested...and understand this
is not a guarantee that the request will be located..."
"please note that you are paying for us to
do your "leg work" as there is no guarantee the documents or answers
you are researching will be available..." |
|
[Return to Top] |
|
Why Hire A
Professional Genealogist? |
The Association of Professional Genealogists has a
brochure aptly titled "Why Hire a Professional Genealogist?" ... it
can be accessed here in
PDF format or
at the APG site in
HTML
format. We are a member of APG and every member of APG
signs a code of professional ethics. The Code of Ethics (a s stated
by APG in the brochure referenced above) states that the
professional will:
- Promote a coherent, truthful approach to
genealogy, family history and local history;
- Clearly present research results and opinions
in a clear, well-organized manner, with accurately-cited
references;
- Advertise services and credentials honestly;
- Explain without concealment or
mis-representation all fees, charges, and payment structures;
- Abide by agreements regarding project scope,
number of hours, and deadlines or reporting schedules;
- Refrain from knowingly violating or
encouraging others to violate laws and regulations concerning
copyright and right to privacy;
- Give proper credit to those who supply
information and provide assistance.
Remember -- Professional Genealogists
take an oath to uphold the standards of the associations to which
they belong! |
|
[Return to Top] |
|
Samples of
Completed and Ongoing
Project Examples |
|
These projects were all completed about 4 years ago,
for a more modern example, just ask us to see one! Since every
project is unique, we have evolved several different types of
reports -- depending on the nature of a project!
Project #1 --

Focus: North Carolina families -- several counties
Duration: 15 minute consultation + 2 hours of research + 1.5
hours of writing research results (included) and providing suggestions for
future research
Click on Census graphic to see resulting research report
"I was impressed with how much you found
in a short time."

Project
#2 --
Focus: Project for a family member that involved several UK
counties, emigration to the US, a focus on Scottdale Pennsylvania (involving several families with some renown
in the area), a link to Chicago from families that migrated via many
Illinois counties and from Indiana and the creation of a
mini-biography of an artist, Robert Oliver Skemp.
Duration: 15 minute consultation + 10 hours of research + 4
hours of writing research results and providing suggestions for
future research (included -- we did some "preliminary" research to substantiate
our ability to perform the suggested research and what we would
find)
Click on the Advertisement graphic to the left
and you will see the resulting research report.
"Wow!!!! What a fantastic report.
I can't wait to show XXXX's family. I would love to go back further
like you suggested ... Thank you so much. It is an amazing how much
info. can be found."
Project #3 --
Focus: Personal Family project -- ongoing -- so far family
branches have been researched in: Chicago, Delaware, Alsace Region
France, Monmouth & Glamorgan counties Wales, Pennsylvania, Quebec,
Poland and Russia.
Duration: 120 hours+
Click on Russian Passport page graphic to right to see research
reports produced to date
Project
#4 --
Focus: Personal Family project -- ongoing -- so far family
branches have been researched in: Salem & Peabody Massachusetts,
Minnesota, Oldham & Failsworth & areas in Lancashire England,
Nottinghamshire & Lincolnshire & Yorkshire & other counties in
England, Scotland, Ireland, Finland (Ylistaro & Soini) and Galicia -
now Poland (Deszno & Wola Pietrusza)
Duration: 1000 hours+
Click on Ancestral tree graphic to left to see research reports
produced to date |
|
|
|
What
we won't do for you. |
-
Agree to perform your research if we
do not feel that we can give you value for your money either due
to the nature of the request, the types of records involved, the
locale of the records or other considerations
-
Research to find living persons.
|
-
Pretend that we are able to directly
access genealogy records around the world. We are a
US-based (in NC) firm that specializes in using internet
research, e-mail & written correspondence, library
services, genealogy services and any pertinent resource or
research tack that is appropriate.
|
|
[Return
to Top] |
|
Some of the
topics we have researched
These are all places that we have
done some research in and this list is NOT complete and has not been
updated since Summer 2005! Every project introduces us to
something new whether a location, record type or resource! To
get a better flavor of our more current work, see the section above,
What we
can do for you -- recent activities |
-
England
-- countrywide, though have more experience with Lancashire including Oldham, Chadderton,
Failsworth, Hollinwood, Manchester and environs, also
Bristol (& Gloucestershire & Somerset),
Cheshire, West Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire --
industries including Hat Manufacturers, Saddlers, Cotton
Industry, Weaving, Basket & Skip Makers -- religions including
both conformist and non-conformist (particularly Baptist) -- all
census years, 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901
-
Ireland --
particularly Dublin and Limerick (late 19th century)
-
Scotland --
particularly Dumfries and Galloway including Newton-Stewart and
Penninghame and Minnigaff -- some familiarity with Inverness
-
Wales --
particularly Glamorgan and Monmouth Counties ... includes the
communities of Bridgend, Coity, Llangynwyd, Maesteg, Newcastle,
Newport and Swansea.
-
Emigration from
European & English Ports
-- particularly the late
19th and early 20th century time period -- including the English
and European ports of Hamburg, Antwerp, Bremen, Hango/Hanko,
Hull, Liverpool, Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Southampton and
the U.S. ports of Boston and New York
-
United States --
access to all censuses (1790-1930) and many other records across
the country
-
Chicago
-- particularly as it relates to Polish and
Russian emigrants as well as general search inquiries
-
Illinois
-- several counties within the state ... BMD,
burial and other types of research
|
-
Massachusetts
-- particularly Salem and Peabody -- also Boston passenger
records and citizenship process/papers, BMD certificates and
much more!
-
Minnesota -- particularly Eveleth and environs -- early 20th century --
Finnish emigrants to the lumber and other industries
-
North Carolina
-- Wake County as a specialty and
any NC
county in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries
-
Ohio --
particularly Ashtabula -- Finnish emigrants
-
Pennsylvania -- particularly the Mauch Chunk (Carbon County) and Allentown
areas -- with Scottdale (Westmoreland County) thrown in!
-
Russia/Poland
-- these areas are particularly difficult to research due to
language and wars and we have some familiarity with records and
their availability. Have researched in Belarus (Minsk Gubernia),
Wola Pietrusza & Deszno (previously part of Galicia, now Poland)
and Kalisz (Poland).
-
Finland
--
whole country and Ylistaro and Soini and environs -- church
records and passenger and passport records
-
France -- Alsace
Region (family that emigrated to the US) and Soultz-les-Forets
(an overseas death)
-
Galicia
-- now modern-day Poland, including Deszno and Wola
Pietrusza
-
Quebec (French-Canadian)
-- some research
into French-Canadian families from Quebec who emigrated to
Wisconsin
|
|
|
|
Researchers we recommend |
|
We recognize that
sometimes you have very specific research needs or a need for
services other than what we offer. We also recognize that it
can be a challenge to find those researchers that are scrupulous and
provide great service value! Listed below are "select"
researchers that we have personally worked with and whom we highly
recommend! |
|
CHICAGO
|
Chicago
Genealogy
|
ILLINOIS |
Illinois
Genealogical Research
A variety of records available in
Springfield and area.
Check the web-site for full details.
Examples of records available for
lookups
Statewide
Deaths (1916-1984)
Statewide
Stillbirth Certificates (1916-1947)
Federal
& Illinois State Census
Civil
War Muster Rolls
WWI
Draft Registrations
Illinois
Newspaper Project Holdings
Sangamon
Valley Collection |
|
CHICAGO-COOK |
Chicago-Cook-Genealogy
Check the web-site for full details.
Examples of records available for lookups
Soundex
indexing for naturalizations from 1871 forward and naturalization
paperwork.
Wills/probate
Divorce
Obits,
either indexed or not |
MISSING HEIRS & PROBATE
RESEARCH |
American Genealogical Research (based in Boston)
AGR specializes in
forensic genealogy and
probate
research as the premier missing heir search firm in Boston, MA.
We locate missing heirs, beneficiaries, legatees, property owners,
and stockholders exclusively for attorneys, lawyers, and bank trust
officers. We will locate beneficiaries, trace real property
ownership, and identify heirs-at-law.
(NOTE: a distant relative of a
grandmother's passed away intestate in MA and Dr. Boyle was engaged
by the state to ferret out the living relatives ... we provided our
family research and she engaged a researcher with Polish/Ukrainian
connections -- all living beneficiaries were found and the estate
proceeds distributed) |
|
|
|
Family
Tree Maker 2005/Genealogy from Scratch |
|
Early
in 2005 we tried out Family Tree Maker (FTM) 2005.
Having abandoned "formal" genealogy software back in the 1980s, we
thought it time to revisit this software genre given the
improvements that have occurred and the expectation that a Genealogy
Services firm uses a recognized Genealogy software program.
We created a type of blog called "Genealogy from Scratch"
for this
project that encompassed the Cortwright, Kaminsky, Matthews, Ozark/Ovcarik,
Richard, Robichaud, Woulf and affiliated families hailing from Chicago,
Delaware, Pennsylvania, Quebec, Poland and Russia. This is an opportunity
to track a new genealogy (family history) project.
5/1/2006 -- we discontinued this project to focus on other work. We can report that we
continue to use FTM to create family charts for new client projects or we import
data (.FTW or Gedcom files) from Clients to update with new research results.
If you want to check out the software, click on the
graphic above or check out a
review done by Dick Eastman, of Eastman's Online Genealogy
Newsletter.
One capability this software has is it's
great at making family history charts... ask us about including family charts in
any research project we do for you! |
|
[Return
to Top] |
|
Payment Options |
|

The
details of our service pricing are found by clicking on the image.
Don't see something that
quite fits your situation ... ASK! We customized work and so
have customized pricing! |
We
accept CHECK, MONEY ORDER, CASHIER'S CHECK or
you can use PAYPAL -- which
accepts all major credit cards.
You do not have to be a Paypal member for us to invoice you, through
them, for our services. Note that you will be asked to become
a member and that is optional. |
|

Below is a sampling of some of the projects that we have been
involved with. Just because we list particular places and/or names,
in most cases, research techniques we have used will be successful
for similar searches.
Additionally, new
records are always becoming available. Each of these projects
was revisited a year or two after completion and an addendum was
created reflecting new resources and new lines of inquiry (see
sample addenda for the
NELSON family,
PDF 1.1 meg and the
WOLFENDEN
family, PDF 500K) .
********************
We are currently involved in an ongoing
research project involving Chicago, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Quebec,
Belarus, Poland and more ... the documents produced so far can be
seen at: "DAVE'S FAMILY"
(this is the companion page to the the "Genealogy From Scratch"
project mentioned above). |
|
George Nelson
He was a fascinating person to
research. The fascination was because through
George, we learned about a period of history that we weren't really
familiar with ... the age of Air Races. He participated in
a
harrowing Air Race held in 1937 that went from Marseille to Damascus
to Paris; it was almost a catastrophe for George and A. E. Clouston
and their plane, called the "Orphan."
Tragically, George died in a place crash in India in 1938. The
file contains newspaper clippings and book excerpts.(5.7 Meg file!)
|
Family Historians &
Genealogists
There is a
page set-up just for you.
On this page you'll find a link to a genealogy resources page,
abbreviated family trees and references to over 20 PDF documents
full of family history covering Finland, Galicia/ Poland,
England/Scotland/ Ireland and Salem/Peabody Massachusetts. |
|
Family History and Genealogy Resources
that we are affiliated with can be found on our
Service Fees Page and
Resources Page. |
England
Research into English records spanning
the early 1700s to the early 1900s. Special focus on
Lancashire, particularly Oldham, Hollinwood, Chadderton, Rochdale
and area. Also have worked with records in Cheshire,
Lincolnshire, Nottingham & West Yorkshire. Some of the family
names researched include: Butterworth, Chadderton, Crossley,
Fountain, Guest Hodgkinson, Newton, Oldfield, Smith, Taylor,
Torkington, Western, Wolfenden and allied families. You can see an
excerpt (PDF 500K) of the
BUTTERWORTH
genealogy.
 |

European Emigrants
Though one would anticipate that
emigrants from one region would consistently use one departure port
and one arrival port, that is frequent-ly not the case. For
some families, every member used a different departure port!
Frequently Eastern Europeans used any of the European ports and
sometimes even departed via an English port. Scandinavians
frequently used Liverpool or Southampton!
 |
Finland
Research into Finnish records spanning
the late 1600s to the late 1800s. Special focus on
Ostrobothnia, particularly Ylistaro and Soini regions.
Some
of the family names researched include: Blom Kujanpää and Rajala.
You can see an excerpt (PDF 1.3 meg) of the
RAJALA genealogy. |

Galicia/
Poland
You will no longer find Galicia on a
map. What was once Galicia is now split amongst Poland and the
Ukraine. Such Ruthenians, as they are sometimes ca lled,
are a challenge to research and yet the area has such fascinating
history.
See families under Massachusetts for
more info. |
|
Massachusetts
Large numbers of Finns and Ruthenians
congregated in the industrial areas of Massachusetts; even though
many people associate Scandinavians with the Midwest. In
Massachusetts, Peabody had a large Finnish population as did many
neighboring communities. For the Ruthenians, they gathered more in
Salem and other nearby communities. We have found extended
families that have emigrated to a single community and other
families who have spread to the four corners of eithe r
a state or the entire country. It is interesting to note that
those from Galicia did not always share a common ethnicity. In
researching the Barna and Malecki families who came from communities
20 miles apart in Galicia to meet at a Salem boarding house, we
learn the Barnas spoke Russian, have a Polish name and were Russian
Orthodox while apparently, the Malecki family came from a community
that was considered Catholic. You can see an excerpt (PDF about 1.3
meg) of the MALECKI
genealogy.
|
Scotland
Though Scotland and England are both
part of the UK, what records are available are not always the same.
Our familiarity is more with the lowlands of Scotland, particularly
Kirkcudbrightshire and Wigtownshire. The families researched are
Ne(i)lson, McCartney and Walker. With a name like Nelson, we
could be talking a Highlands Scot or an Irishman! You can see an
excerpt (PDF about 750K) of the
NELSON genealogy.
 |
|
Individuals
The projects above refer to
whole families. Mosaic Research and Project Management will
also do research that focuses on an individual. This means
gathering as much information as possible on this person covering a
dedicated period of time. Sometimes the focus is a twenty year
period and sometimes it is the complete life of a person. You
can see an excerpt (PDF 2.5 meg) of the
Margaret Joyce Fountain Acey genealogy. |
Memories
This project "A
Window of Memories" (PDF 1 meg) focuses on the early memories of
Edith Lewis Warburton (part of the NELSON clan!). The author
added memories from recent correspondence and inserted some
relevant family photos into the document. The completed
document is a compendium covering early 20th century life. |
|