Before you begin.

Every investigation needs a starting point.

Tell me what you know, what you need, and where the trail turns uncertain. After you submit the Survey, you will receive an email link to schedule a complimentary 20-minute Case Strategy Briefing. Scheduling is optional; I review your Survey and follow up about the next step. You will receive a written scope and fee before paid research begins. Partial dates, family stories, and unanswered questions are useful starting points.

Service Levels

• Record Pulls: A defined record or small group of records, located and explained with a cited findings summary. I attempt a courtesy transcription of eligible individual records when useful.

• Forensic Reconstructions: A focused investigation that compares sources to rebuild a person, family, property, or place. Depending on the question, this may draw on DNA evidence, deed and property history, maps, historical aerial photographs, and handwritten records.

• Deep Investigations: Complex work across multiple sources or sites, including lost burial grounds, cemetery documentation and recovery research, and long-range community history. The written proposal defines the research questions and deliverables.

These levels help us scope the work; they are not fixed packages. I also accept standalone transcription assignments and projects for historical societies, museums, counties, and other institutions, including WPA-style cemetery inventories and cited institutional reports. If you are unsure which level fits, choose Unsure. For a site or collection rather than a family, use the form fields in the way that best describes the project.

I use the details you submit to review and respond to your inquiry. For more on how case information is handled, see the Privacy Protocol.