Researching genealogy and family histories are some of the most popular services I offer. Exploring the stories behind your ancestry can be a rewarding, insightful, and intimate experience. If you’re looking to learn more about where you came from, then I can help.

When I asked Kate to help me find out more details about my father’s family, I had no idea how wonderful the experience would be! 

Barbara D.

I have been conducting genealogical research since 2021, when I fell into it through my work as a historic researcher. Since then, I have taken courses, received a certificate from Boston University, and joined the Association of Professional Genealogists.

I have documented the stories of numerous American families for my clients: immigration stories; African American genealogies before and after Emancipation; even a family’s struggle in the aftermath of the Salem Witch Trials. I’ve worked with clients who had zero experience with family history; I’ve helped clients unravel the family trees that their parents drew before the dawn of Ancestry.com; I’ve debunked and proved old family legends; I’ve helped clients prove descent and be admitted into genealogical societies; I’ve helped adopted children learn more about their biological families; I’ve helped make sense of DNA kit reports; I’ve combed through old family photos and letters, archives, registries of deeds, newspapers, and other repositories. Though I’m based in Maryland and Maine, I can access digital repositories all over the world to help tell your family’s history.

Got an interesting story? I’m all ears.

Exploring the stories in my own family tree

  • My ancestors who lived in the Great Smoky Mountains of Appalachia lived in obscurity until the creation of a national park drove them from their homesteads.

  • When a group of my ancestors traveled by covered wagon to Wisconsin in the 1850s, my great-great-great grandfather (the postmaster) named their new town after our family.

  • During World War II, my grandmother served in the U.S. Navy Hospital Corps WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service). She outranked my grandpa!

  • At age nineteen, six years after immigrating to the United States from Italy, my great-grandfather became an American citizen.

  • My great-great grandmother, a Ukrainian immigrant, passed through Ellis Island on her way to her wedding. Her marriage to my great-great grandfather, also an immigrant, was arranged.

My approach to genealogy may be a bit different from others in the field. I consider myself a historian, first and foremost, so I’m interested in going beyond the traditional cut-and-dry family trees. I won’t treat your ancestors as data to be collected and presented. Rather, I want to learn their stories. Who were they? What world did they live in? What did they experience? I hope to give my clients a window into their family’s past.

That being said, I’m more than happy to work with you to build the project you need. If a straightforward family tree is what you need, then that’s what we’ll create. Whatever your project, whatever stories you want to uncover, I want to help you.

In order to accommodate a wide range of potential projects, I tend to structure my services like this:

  • We’ll organize a free, one-hour consultation (via phone or video call) so I can learn about you and your project.

  • We’ll establish project goals that I’ll work towards, whether that’s a question to answer (“Am I really related to Abraham Lincoln?”) or a product to be delivered upon project completion (a family tree).

  • I’ll estimate the amount of time it will take me to complete the project. In some cases, I’ll suggest that we divide the project into “chunks,” usually 5-10 hours of research work, after which I can check-in and make sure I’m headed in the right direction.

  • I’ll establish an hourly rate that depends on what kinds of services you’ll need me to perform.

  • We’ll figure out how I should present my findings. A research report? A family tree? Access to your Ancestry.com profile? All of the above? I’m flexible.

  • We’ll make a formal agreement to make sure that the parameters and logistics of the project are agreed upon.

Click here to read more about my terms of service, which should be consulted before we schedule a meeting.

  • Kate was fast and thorough in creating an online version of an old, barely legible handwritten genealogy in my possession. She filled in the gaps, and made it accessible to be used by myself and my family. I’d definitely recommend Kate as responsive and easy to work with.

    Anne B.

  • When I asked Kate to help me find out more details about my father's family, I had no idea how wonderful the experience would be! She was able to unearth information that was unknown to me and compiled it all in a genealogy report that I've referred to since we met and she presented her findings. The information Kate provided was so informative and interesting! I'm so grateful for her diligence on my behalf.

    Barbara D.

All of my clients and their stories are different, so project structure is always a case-by-case basis. That’s why cooperation and communication is so important to my process! Use this form to contact me so we can start a conversation.

Along with your name and contact, please tell me about your project: the questions or problems you’re hoping to solve, any goals you hope to achieve, the scope of research, what you’ve already achieved, and a timeline (if there is one).

I’ll get in touch as soon as possible to schedule a free consultation. Thank you!

Ready to get started?