"Who was my grandfather?"

Searched census records and compared birth certificates to discover the client's real grandfather. 

"Am I really a Cowlitz descendant?"

Recovered Applications for Allotment and signed affidavits attesting to the client's Cowlitz ancestry. 

"Which county in Ireland do we come from?"

Utilized census records, ship manifests, and applications for naturalization to pinpoint where in Ireland the client's family originated. 

"Where are my grandparents buried?"

Searched cemetery records and compared them to death certificates to locate the graves of the client's grandparents. 

"How did my great uncle die? I can't find his grave or death certificate. It's like he vanished."

Searched newspaper archives to discover that the great uncle really did vanish into the woods, never to be seen again. 

"I want to create a family tree for my grandchildren. Is that something you can do?"

Created a 'fan chart' family tree suitable to be printed and framed.  

"Where was the farm my great grandparents homesteaded?"

Searched through newspaper archives and the local historical society to narrow down where the farm was, when it was in operation, and what types of produce and materials it produced. 

"We have 100 years of documents and photos. Can you help us organize, archive, and preserve them?"

Worked with the client to sort files and artifacts, discard unnecessary or duplicate files, preserve photos, documents, and artifacts, and scan photos onto their server for easy access. 

"Was my two times great grandfather a naturalized citizen?"

Uncovered naturalization applications and census records to prove citizenship. 

"Can you help me digitize all my old papers and pictures? My aunt left me a giant box and it's a mess."

Scanned photos onto a jump drive and uploaded them to her Ancestry.com tree so that her relatives could easily access them. Touched up a few of the photos so they could be reprinted and framed.