Genealogy Revelations Project

Company - Genealogy Revelations

Hostess - Anna Rae

Anna graciously gave me a research package for review purposes.   I have always been curious about my extended family history.  I have seen all kinds of places online to do one's own research, but just don't have the time or the interest in doing all that work!  Anna had me fill out a questionnaire.  I answered easy questions including names of parents and grandparents. I also told her any dates of marriage, birth and death that I was aware of.   I told her the names of states and cities where our family has lived.  I chose to only have her search for my side of the family because my husband didn't want to "play." (gentle smiles)

 I have my parents nearby and they were able to confirm much of Anna's findings.  For example, my mother didn't know her grandmother's name.  But when I read the report, she immediately remembered that, yes, her name was "Maggie."  I was delighted!  My father didn't remember his grandparent's names or the names of his father's siblings. Anna found those for us and we were just thrilled. 

It was great to see the neatly organized report, in a beautiful binder.  The report included:

1. Introduction, which was a letter from Anna explaining how the report works.

2.  A Pedigree Chart (This looks like a neatly organized family tree.)

3.  Ahnentafel Report  (This listed the generations with more detailed information.  My report included 12 generations!)

4. Outline Descendant Report (This was a short version of both my father's side of the family and my mother's side of the family.)

5.  Family Group Sheets (This was one person's family per page.  Mine was 7 pages long.  It started with me, and listed husband wife and children, as well as birthdays, name of parents, etc.) 

6. Sources - Anna listed where her information came from, including census records.

I took this report to my parents and as we talked about it, I heard many stories about my extended family. I wrote notes inside my report, which made the book even more valuable to my family. For example:  My mother talked about visiting her aunts and uncle in a 3 story house in Massachusetts. In those days, unmarried adult children remained in the family home.  They often worked and took care of the home.  Mom remembered walking up to the house, as a child, and seeing one of her aunts standing on the porch.  She then told me where they worked and what they were like.  I had never heard any of this before!  Anna's report jarred her memory and greatly added to the recording of our own history.

Anna did an incredible job.  She loves her work, and her customer service skills are excellent.  She worked right with me, through email, to verify information, and ask questions.  She found census records that told me where part of my family was living at one point in history, with a date, and the type of occupation family members had.  It was wonderful to learn this through Anna, who became a sort of assistant to help me find information about my family. She really cares about people and loves finding information for her customers.