Family History Research
Have you ever wondered if those passed down tales told each year around the Thanksgiving dinner table are true? You know, that story about your husband’s immigrant ancestors shortening and “Americanizing” their European surname when they arrived at Ellis Island. Or the one about your great-great grandfather being a wagon train scout who was shot in the leg by an indigenous tribesman’s bow and arrow. Did your Pennsylvania German third great-grandfather die from smallpox as a soldier in the Civil War, as your grandmother told you, or could he be the man of the same name you found on Fold3 who died at the battle of Gettysburg?
These are just three questions that have come up in my own family over time and there are many, many, more I have yet to answer! Along the way, I’d be happy to help you try to solve a few of yours, too!
For new clients, I offer an Introductory Ten Hour Research Package that includes two hours of preliminary research at no charge. Those two hours are used reviewing any prior work done on the subject and forming a research plan to follow going forward. The remaining ten hours are then spent conducting further research according to plan, documenting all searches (both successful and otherwise), and writing a summary report with suggestions of how to proceed, if further research is required. This process begins with my Client Questionnaire. I’ll review what you’ve told me and then we’ll talk, via email or phone, and go over the details and scope of the project, as well as any preliminary questions either of us may have about the job. A contract outlining our agreement that we both will sign will then be emailed to you. Once signed, I’ll ask that you visit my shop and purchase the above mentioned package via my secure website using PayPal. Next, via email or regular mail, I’ll need you to send me copies of all records and research conducted on the subject to date, and the job then begins.
At the conclusion of the first ten hours of research, should you wish for me to continue working on the project, I also provide a research option of pre-agreed upon hourly increments that are again, easy to purchase through this link to Research Time in Hourly Increments.
