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Genealogy -
Family History Research
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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. |
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Genealogy -- Family History -- History
RESEARCH SERVICES
With 20 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.
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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. |
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NEWS!
>>
ThinkGenealogy has just listed Diane L. Richard (of Mosaic Research
and Project Management) as the most prolific of the "Top 10
Genealogy and Technology Most Published Authors of 2007!"
>> Published
1/1/2008 -- Are you doing
genealogy and/or family history research in NC? Would you like to use internet resources as
much as possible? If you answered yes to either question,
check out this new publication. It 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! This document is hyperlinked which means that when you
are connected to the internet, you can click on the links to access
the referenced web pages -- it doesn't get easier than that!
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>> Updated 9/18/2007 -- Our resource list "Internet Resources for
Searching Anywhere USA" can be purchased and downloaded from Lulu.com.
This contains the most updated version of what we have found to be key
resources when doing genealogy and family history research on US
families.

>> Part of our resource library (with a NC
focus) is now listed at
librarything.com |
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==> After the section on specialty areas ... there is a
menu of important topics regarding genealogy/family history
research, our services and our credentials! |
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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."
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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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! |
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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. |
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7.
General Research -- increasingly we receive
inquiries about doing research to support a: |
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historical book project
>>
claim to be made
>>
screenplay |
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script
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building background, like on "History
Detectives"
>> etc...
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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! |
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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. |
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"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. |
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What We Can Do For You -- Recent
Experience |
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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. May 2008:
The
May/June edition of
Discovering Family History carries our new reoccurring
column "First Things First" and we also
finished writing and proofing articles for the next edition.
Currently researching several families for whom the oldest ancestor
is one of those "ubiquitous" "born in NC" and that is all we know!
These are always such a challenge -- the best hope is to get "clues"
from records in the state to which they migrated! The
next
WCGS Updates is in process and pieces have been written for
that and the 1st compilation "Apprenticeship
Bonds" should be going to press any day. Have agreed to
give the talk "Explore NC through maps from
the comfort of your home!" next month for the
Durham-Orange Genealogical Society of North Carolina. Many hours
have been spent in the deeds, wills, court minutes, marriage, tax
records of many counties from Nash to Davidson to Wayne and several
other counties! And, several recent projects have had links to
MS and TN!
April 2008:
The month started with a vacation, preparing for the NCGS
Speakers Forum (4/12/08), proofing articles for the next edition of
Internet Genealogy
(June/July 2008), scheduling articles for future editions of
that publication and it's sister publication,
Discovering Family History. We also jumped back into
some projects -- one with a focus on MS and St. Louis MO, another
with historic Onslow county (NC) roots, and a new project that
currently focuses on Cleveland, Gaston and Polk Counties (NC) --
we'll have to see where that project might take us! Before
months end we'll be exploring the records of about 15 NC counties
(some familiar friends and some we haven't researched in before) as
well as starting research on a new project with a Rhode Island/MA
focus.
March 2008:
Busy with WCGS activities -- preparing and giving a talk titled
"Online Maps, Focusing on North Carolina" (this same topic will be
the basis of "Explore NC through maps from the comfort of your
home!" to be given next month at the
NCGS Speakers Forum), finishing the newsletter
WCGS Updates (now posted), working on miscellaneous publication
projects and more. For NGS 2009 -- continued preparation for
that exciting event! Arranged a tour for our local NC APG
group to visit the
Wilson
library at UNC-CH. Also visited UNC-CH to photograph an
extensive family document collection and research in another
collection looking for references to an individual who married into
the family. Busy with research at the NC archives on several
families representing several counties across many different time
periods! Also doing research into an African-American family
that migrated from post-Civil War MS to St. Louis and appears to
have roots in VA. This month has seen several "clients" with
previously closed projects ask us to work on new projects or
continue efforts on old projects. And, we continue to plan and
write articles for Moorshead Publications. And, we are doing
so much more! This month's mail included the May 2008 edition of
Internet Genealogy
-- which includes our pieces "Accessing Family History Books
Online" and "US Passport Applications Online" as well as
a Net Note on "Paper of Record." The
month ended with the office closing for vacation.

February
2008: We received our most recent issue of
Internet Genealogy
(March 2008) -- we have a Net Note on "LostCousins"
and an article about "Passenger Records and Naturalization
Records." And, the newest edition of Family Chronicle
actually includes a pilot version of a new publication
Discovering Family History (you can download the full
preview edition). We are pleased in that we authored what is to
become a regular feature "First Things First." The first week of this month we will work with an
out-of-town client with NC connections who is coming to Raleigh --
we will meet at the NC archives/State Library building and work
together on advancing his research. We will also resume work
on a couple of extensive NC projects where the families have been in
the state for at least 200 years and also a couple of projects where
we are trying to use DNA results to further the research and make
connections, sometimes to individual with differing surnames
(meaning the male client has one surname and yet the DNA results
point to a different surname based on genetics!). Regular
visits to UNC-CH, Olivia Raney Local History Library, State Library
of North Carolina and the NC Archives.
January
2008: HAPPY NEW YEAR! Regrettably, the rising costs
of parking, office supplies, gasoline, subscriptions and the like
have necessitated an increase in our fees -- the first in over 4
years! Please check out
Genealogy_Pricing for the new fee structure. Existing
clients will continue to pay as before until the current project is
completed. Published a new resource guide at lulu.com --
Internet Resources for Genealogy and Family Research
in North Carolina.
We are
honored that
ThinkGenealogy has just listed Diane L. Richard (of Mosaic Research
and Project Management) as the most prolific of the "Top 10
Genealogy and Technology Most Published Authors of 2007!"
It has been confirmed that we will be part of the NCGS 2008
Speaker's Forum (Explore NC through maps from the comfort of
your home!). We continued to some research to identify
heirs-at-law for estate issues. Have posted some of our 2006
articles from
Internet Genealogy.
Started to crumble some brick walls -- one connecting someone
from NC to NY and another connecting someone from NY to NC!
Continue to research in Colonial and late 18th century records
to find the origins of some Welsh and other emigrants! Two
projects have us doing research to prove an
African-American/Negro ancestry from post-civil war to slavery
and possibly earlier. And, so much more! The month ended
with a trek to
UNC-CH the
Manuscript Department -- photographed a mid 1800s map, several
early 1960s television program scripts and some early 1800s
family papers.
December 2007: This month passed
in a flurry of activity, not all genealogy research related! A
binder was compiled for a coast-to-coast research project, many days
were spent at the
NC
archives and
NC
library doing NC research -- including one project that involved
collecting many, many documents and getting them certified for
submission to a UK ancestral authority. A trek to
UNC-CH the
Manuscript Department was made -- about 1600+ photos of
documents were taken! A few projects were finished just in
time for the holidays. For one project involving adoption and
an African-American born in NYC with NC roots -- after 18 months of
on again, off again research, there was a big break! As the
year ended, we can point to some wonderful successes though also a
few projects where brick walls were not "broken down!" Time was also
spent creating a NC internet genealogy research guide -- hopefully
in early 2008 this will become available! As usual, some time was
put into WCGS (finalizing Vol 17, Issue 2 of Wake Treasures)
and other activities.
We hope that whether you celebrated
Thanksgiving or not this month, whether you visited with family or
not, that your family and ancestors were a part of your thoughts
this month!
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!! |
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What we can
do for you -- Overview of Services |
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Research a specific life event such
as a birth, death, marriage, census record, passenger record, will, etc...
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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
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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
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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
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Research those "family stories" that we
all have and try to substantiate some of the details.
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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.
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Research a branch of your family
covering a specific time period or maybe it's a particular
ancestor you are interested in.
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Anything you can think of that has to do
with historical research on a member or branch of your family!
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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
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Work with DNA test results -- DNA test
results only have value if used in conjunction with a well
documented family history!
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Mosaic Research and Project
Management
~~
Genealogy & Family
History Credentials |
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18+ years of genealogy &
family history research experience, 12+ years internet research
(Also, Master of Engineering and Master of Business Administration) |
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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! |
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NC State Archives,
State Library of North Carolina,
Wake County records via
Olivia Raney Collection
and access to other central-NC archives |
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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 |
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Experience doing genealogy research
as a sub-contractor for larger genealogy research firms |
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our Personal Genealogy & Family
History Library (we
maintain a list of titles at
LibraryThing -- check it out) |
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Listed by the NC 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. |
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Memberships (National &
International):
National Genealogy Society (NGS)
Association of Professional Genealogists
(APG) |
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Coordinator for
Wake County USGenWeb site
1st Vice President/Newsletter Chair
for
Wake County Genealogical Society
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) |
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Memberships (NC & Local):
Association of Professional Genealogists -- NC
Chapter
Wake County Genealogical Society (WCGS)
North Carolina Genealogical Society
(NCGS)
* Serving as a local chair (Vendor
Area) for the
2009 NGS Conference in the States and Family History Fair
to be held in Raleigh |
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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) |
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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! |
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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.
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
{note: any item, article or
reference, that is underlined title is able to be downloaded or viewed, just
click on it!} |
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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) |
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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 Annual Speakers Forum (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!" |
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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.
For the
preview, 1st issue and planned subsequent issues, we are authoring 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.
For
future issues, we are scheduled to write articles, which will be
listed as published.
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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 |
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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..." |
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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! |
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Samples of
Completed and Ongoing
Project Examples |
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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 |
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What
we won't do for you. |
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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
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Research to find living persons.
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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.
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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 |
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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
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Ireland --
particularly Dublin and Limerick (late 19th century)
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Scotland --
particularly Dumfries and Galloway including Newton-Stewart and
Penninghame and Minnigaff -- some familiarity with Inverness
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Wales --
particularly Glamorgan and Monmouth Counties ... includes the
communities of Bridgend, Coity, Llangynwyd, Maesteg, Newcastle,
Newport and Swansea.
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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
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United States --
access to all censuses (1790-1930) and many other records across
the country
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Chicago
-- particularly as it relates to Polish and
Russian emigrants as well as general search inquiries
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Illinois
-- several counties within the state ... BMD,
burial and other types of research
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Massachusetts
-- particularly Salem and Peabody -- also Boston passenger
records and citizenship process/papers, BMD certificates and
much more!
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Minnesota -- particularly Eveleth and environs -- early 20th century --
Finnish emigrants to the lumber and other industries
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North Carolina
-- Wake County as a specialty and
any NC
county in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries
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Ohio --
particularly Ashtabula -- Finnish emigrants
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Pennsylvania -- particularly the Mauch Chunk (Carbon County) and Allentown
areas -- with Scottdale (Westmoreland County) thrown in!
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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).
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Finland
--
whole country and Ylistaro and Soini and environs -- church
records and passenger and passport records
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France -- Alsace
Region (family that emigrated to the US) and Soultz-les-Forets
(an overseas death)
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Galicia
-- now modern-day Poland, including Deszno and Wola
Pietrusza
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Quebec (French-Canadian)
-- some research
into French-Canadian families from Quebec who emigrated to
Wisconsin
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Researchers we recommend |
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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! |
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CHICAGO
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Chicago
Genealogy
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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 |
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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) |
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Family
Tree Maker 2005/Genealogy from Scratch |
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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! |
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Payment Options |
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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. |
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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) .
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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). |
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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!)
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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. |
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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.
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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!
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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. |
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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.
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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.< | |