Why are Genealogy & Family History important?

Verbal and written histories have been a mainstay of family and cultural unity for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Everyone has their own personal reasons for digging into their past, but one of the most common is simply, Curiosity.

Who am I? Where did I come from? What was life like for my ancestors? Are the family stories I heard growing actually true?Answers to these, and other questions you may have can provide you with a greater sense of self; lead to a deeper connection & bonding with other family members; a realization/awareness of struggles triumphs of the past; relive joys and sorrows our ancestors endured and celebrated; provide/ hand-down knowledge, and ultimately, the people, decisions and life events that made it possible for you to "Be".

Preserving your photo history

 In the mid to late 1800's portrait photography was becoming affordable and popular.  Families began collecting portraits of relatives in ornately decorated leather-bound photo albums. If your lucky, someone in your family may have on of these heirlooms.

In 1901 Kodak started selling the "Brownie" camera, and with it the ability for the average person to capture snap-shots of their lives. In 1935, Kodachrome color slide film was introduced along with similar products by Agfa (Germany) and Fuji (Japan). People started sharing vacation pictures via slide projectors.  In 1963 you could buy the new Instamatic camera by Kodak for $16. Everyone could afford to be a photographer, and collect Shoe-boxes full of pictures!

is dna Testing helpful?

DNA testing has become a popular and useful tool. However, it's not a substitute for documented research and historical records.  This testing works in unison with, and plays a complementary role to family histories, and genealogical research by building your Genetic Family Tree. This creates and preserves a record, unique to you and your family!

Results from DNA testing can help break through Brick Walls, lead to new discoveries, validate or disprove family lore, support documented knowledge, connect with new people, and possibly long-lost or unknown relatives.

We can help guide you to select the right type of testing. Once you have your results, we will help decipher the results, add information to your tree, sift through matches and help make connections with potential relatives.