Important Note: We are one of the few genealogy sites that will still conduct FREE evaluations with no obligation. We want to help you find your ancestors, without "cookie cutter" help; it is personalized and detailed - meaning we actually look for your ancestor during the evaluation, instead of a giving you a generalized plan.

Because of this, the wait time for a response can be quite long. At this time, it is impossible to notify each person of the status of your evaluation. We appreciate your patience, and are working hard to fulfill each evaluation in a professional manner.

The first step in tracing your family tree is to submit your information to us for a genealogy evaluation. Note: Due to the heavy volume of requests, the wait time can be quite long to be contacted on your project. Please to be notified of openings. Title your  e-mail: Waiting List.  Include in your e-mail your name and nature of your project.

Because of the request volume, we regret that we cannot respond to inquiries that do not contain the following information: Your name, valid e-mail address, full details of your request, and most importantly all resources that you have currently exhausted in your search for the information. If you have not previously consulted any genealogy records in your search (i.e. census, directories, etc.), please state this.

An example of a request that will get the most appropriate response will be in the following format:

"I am searching for my maternal 2nd great grandmother, Susan Sheehan. She was born Susan Russell in New Brunswick abt. 1825. She married Richard Sheehan in 1846 in New Brunswick. Abt. 1850, they moved to Lee Co., Illinois. They had 4 sons and 1 daughter (Mary Ellen). I do not know the names of the sons. Richard died about 1855 in Lee Co. Susan is last found in 1880 in Lee Co. I don't know what happened to her after that. This is what I want to find out. I have found her in the 1850, 1860, 1870, and 1880 censuses. I have searched the 1900 census, local cemetery transcriptions, death records of Illinois, and I have not found her in any of these."

Upon receipt of your current information, we will decide the best approach to find your requested information. This includes but is not limited to:

• Census Schedules
• Birth, Marriage and Death Records
• Land Records
• Church Registers
• Court Records
• Probate/Wills
• Biographies and Collected Genealogies

Of course, the success of any family history project hinges on a number of factors including availability of records for a certain region or time period and the amount of information you have to begin with.

Family history projects can be small, just one or two names and dates, or they can be quite extensive, spanning several months or even years of research. There is always more out there to find out about your family -- the best way to get started is to focus on one line of your family, setting a goal of just one name or date and build on that.

At the conclusion of your research, you will receive a detailed research report, copies of the original documentation, and our recommendations on how to continue your research. Click here to view a sample of one of our research reports.

So how do you go about starting your family history? Think about the answers to these questions:

1] Do you know very little, if any, about your family structure before the year 1930, for example, the names of your grandparents and great grandparents, where they lived, when they were married, the names of their siblings? If the answer is no, you would be best advised to start a professional research project. This will help identify your goals and the best ways to find the information efficiently and accurately.

2] Do you know quite a bit about your family before 1930, including the structure, dates, etc.? Do you only need to find a specific record, i.e., marriage, death, census? If this is the case, please look into our record lookup services. This can help locate the specific record that you need to solve the mysteries within your family.