Neighborhood Reconstruction

Perhaps you know the names of your ancestors and the towns they lived in but you would like to learn more about their everyday lives.  Did they marry the girl or boy next door?  Who were their friends and neighbors?  What did your ancestors and the people around them do for a living?  Were your ancestors well off comparatively, or was life likely a day to day struggle? How far away from where they lived was the local school-church-mill-or mercantile?

Using census records, city directories, historic maps, and other available resources, I can help you get to know your ancestors on a more personal level.   I’ll be able to tell you about the settlement history of the region and why they may have decided to locate there; the ethnic backgrounds of the people in their neighborhood; the number and ages of the people residing with and around them; and sometimes even the history of the house they lived in.

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.