Jennie became interested in genealogy after discovering an embroidery sampler in an attic trunk that once belonged to her great-grandmother. A determination to learn the life story of the twelve-year-old girl who created the sampler back in 1840 has led Jennie on a lifelong pursuit of her family’s history. Her ancestors include many English families who were part of the Great Migration to New England during the 1600s, as well as later immigrants to America who were of Irish and Scandinavian descent. Jennie is a fourth-generation Washingtonian; great-grandparents on both sides of her family were early Euro-American settlers of North Central Washington’s Wenatchee Valley.

Jennie holds a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University’s Center for Professional Education and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. She is a past registrar of the Susan Woodin Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and a certified lineage research volunteer.

In July of 2021, Jennie joined Ancestry ProGenealogists® as a research genealogist where she worked on the United States Coast-to-Coast Research Team. In December 2022, she resumed her position as the principal genealogist at A Thread in Common, the genealogical research company she originally founded in 2014. The name is a nod to the many generations of gifted seamstresses in her family and the beautiful stitchwork and talent she was fortunate to inherit. In complement to her love of genealogy, Jennie enjoys designing unique family heirloom pieces she describes as “relative art.”