Research and Biographies
Genealogy is more than just names and dates. It is about your family’s story. I can turn your data into narrative and images that tell your story.
I’ve been doing “genealogy” since I was 10, but until I wrote my first biography, it was just thousands people who had no form, no context, no connection, no humanity. Even I glaze over looking at my tree.
So I started writing chapters for each of my ancestors or whenever I came across an interesting side story to highlight connections and context. They bring my history to life and make it accessible to everyone.
Case Studies
From Creede to Eternity: A few years ago I started researching the tree of a close friend of mine. I figured I’d just fill in a few generations for him and his mom. I soon began uncovering things about his father that his mother and friends never knew. This intelligent, sensitive, and talented man was more complicated and tormented than he allowed people to see, and probably would admit even to himself. He was a bold spirit who started life teeming with potential and initiative, a rising star, excelling at what he loved to do. When I discovered he was a Pearl Harbor survivor, something his family and friends never knew, I realized this could be the catalyst in what he became and a contributing factor of his ultimate act. I wanted to tell his story so that his family could appreciate the good in him and glimpse his demons to provide context to what happened, and perhaps some healing. Here is the fascinating and tragic story I uncovered.
Henry Freyhofer: I wanted to learn more about my great grandmother’s brother Henry Freyhofer. I had a photo of him in his Civil War uniform, but all we knew was his birth and death dates, his unit, and that he died of Typhoid 6 months after enlisting. I was able to piece together those last 6 months of his life and told his story with photos, quotes from his regiment mates, maps and historical context to fill 180 pages. Henry became real to me, and I learned so much about the Civil War.
Reverend William Weiler: My great grandfather Rev. Weiler left us with a hand written autobiography overflowing with fascinating memories of his childhood in Germany. Unfortunately, he didn’t finish, so I had to fill in the rest of his life. I was able to compile photos, letters, anecdotes and other information to create a complete biography.
Mr. Goad Sent His Photo To Bessie Sutphin: I love a good mystery. Recently I discovered a photo from the early 1900s on Ebay of someone with a last name I recognized from my tree, but he wasn’t in my tree. I spent a few days researching him and Bessie, at first just out of curiosity, and discovered an unexpected close connection to one of my ancestors. So I wrote a short chapter about them, tracked down one of Mr. Goad’s ancestors on Facebook, and sent her the information. It turned out she knew very little about her great grandfather.
I can do that for you. Just provide me with as much information as you can about the person/family, and I’ll dig up more and compile it into a biography with photos, maps, documents, newspaper clippings, and information that is readable and relevant.
Contact me today to put some flesh on your family skeletons!
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