History is hiding in your family tree
Branch2Branch can help you find it!
The historical context surrounding the ancestors on your family tree can illuminate its impact on your life.
OUR focus: your family story
Genealogy
Research
It starts with you, here in the United States. Then step by step, line by line, we go back as far as time and scope allow.
Documentation
Anyone can post a family tree online, but is the information reliable? We work hard for accuracy and confirmation.
Context
A family tree can be much more than data! With more in-depth research, challenges or unique experiences may surface that help illuminate the life--and legacy--of one or more of your ancestors.
About B2B
Kathy Rosenwinkel has conducted family research for over 25 years, with experience in on-site and online research in the United States, Great Britain, and Germany. Projects have uncovered ancestral lines back to 16th century Germany and England, 19th century Sweden and Lithuania, 17th century America and in-between.
In her “other life,” Kathy worked for over 30 years in public relations, for which she extensively used her writing and researching skills.
Outside the package options below, we can offer research on a simple per hour basis to meet a specific goal. We will work with you to define what you are looking for and work within your budget. Contact us for more information.
packages
Tree Hugger
Here is an economical option to jumpstart your tree. Provide the full name of your ancestor of interest with any significant dates (i.e. birth, death, marriage) that you know, and his/her relationship to you. Also several names (full names if possible) of any siblings, children, parents, spouse and any birth and/or death dates. We will research and analyze the information we find (for that surname) to confirm your information, expand upon it, and extend that portion of your family tree accordingly. This package includes a summary of findings but not a historical narrative.
$180
- A narrative overview describing the project scope, the work performed and notes of interest
- A pedigree chart (family tree) documenting that surname for the generations found
- Print versions of available digital vital records
- A pocket folder to store the above documents
Tree Climber
Based on your expressed goals and scope, research will proceed within those set parameters. Give us as much information as you can about the family lines to be researched. We will research and analyze online records and necessary archive/family history center sources to confirm vital statistics (birth, marriage, children, death), and information such as occupations, military service, etc. for as many generations as possible within the research scope. Fees charged by archives to obtain records will be added above and beyond the research package; no documents will be ordered without your consent. You will be updated as progress is made. In addition, we will find any available personal, historical, social, or geographic information to illustrate the triumphs or challenges your ancestors may have experienced.
Tree Climber Price Estimate on Request -- Typical Deliverables:
- A research plan defining the initial project scope, followed by any additional plans of action
- A pedigree chart for generations documented within the defined research scope
- A generational timeline with comments and documentation
- Print versions of available digital vital records
- Print versions of other documents and photos obtained online or via archival repositories
- A narrative report including pertinent personal/historical/social context
- An Addendum with links to online historical/cultural information
- A flash drive storing the above documents in digital form
- A hardcover binder storing the above documents
Ask us about our special Heart for Heritage program for the home-bound (offered at a discounted price).
Frequently Asked Questions
There are family trees out there, riddled with incorrect information, yet still posted without documentation, even on the largest family tree research websites. We would still evaluate and/or try to confirm any information you already have.
Gather whatever information you already have available to you. We have a template of questions you can use to get started. Names, dates, and places are all helpful – even best guesses.
Our focus is online research, with world-wide access to family records, as well as U.S. military records, and newspaper archives. We also utilize available governmental and historical online sources. For more in-depth research, we can use the area LDS Family History Center and a regional National Archives Depository. The depth of our research depends on your goals and agreed-upon parameters of scope, time frame, and cost.
Certainly. However, even with today’s highly accessible genealogy websites, it takes careful and persistent research to sift through records to piece together accurate, confirmed links between past generations. Two examples: a surname may be recorded under multiple spellings; or digitized original records can be difficult to interpret, with old cursive writing or terrible penmanship. Just because information is online doesn’t mean it was recorded or transcribed correctly!
Family history is just that: your family’s experiences in the broader picture, i.e. context. We have discovered an ancestor who survived the Chicago Fire; one who traveled around the tip of South America to get to California gold camps; one took his wife’s surname so her family line in Germany wouldn’t die out; another emigrated to the dangerous Great Black Swamp of 19th century Ohio; another left his slave-owning family after the Revolution to start over — free from the curse of slavery — in the Midwest. Our in-depth research options usually uncover at least one story that should be told!
Email Jim@branch2branch.com. We’ll do our best to answer your questions and let you know how we can help you reach your family history objectives.
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