Welcome to Picture the Past Genealogy. I provide a variety of genealogy service options from basic research to in-depth generational ancestry to photography services related to genealogy. This page is meant to share an abbreviation of services possible. Most often I find each inquiry, request or job is unique in some way. I’m happy to chat via email or phone about your needs and provide pricing estimates and product details of your request.
A list of genealogy service options:
Generations of Ancestors: This is completing a tree of perhaps three to five or more generations on a paternal side or a maternal side or both. Using records to put the pieces together from a number of sources but also providing the color with town histories, local histories, local news and world events. A great uncle served in WWII but knowing what he did and where he went brings his story to life. This is a very in-depth discovery of how your ancestors lead to you. You will receive a family tree chart, a website to share with family and the documentation including the individuals, sources and a report presented in hard and soft copy. This is the extensive and detailed family search that you don’t have the weeks or months to do.
Research Projects: This is for an inquiry that may be simpler than creating a generational family tree. It may be a particular question looking to be solved that entails record look ups. It may be something that takes a few hours of research from a variety of sources to solve a question, find a person or a document, confirm family members or even resolve some family lore.
Ancestral Tours: This entails researching people and their places and allowing you to follow in their footsteps. Using records of your ancestors like birth records, census records, death and burial records, places like businesses, homes, properties, graves will be discovered and provided. From this, a tour will be devised with addresses, what you will see and to whom it relates. Perhaps a day trip with cousins, siblings or your children can be planned to experience the roads your ancestors took to get to you. Roads literally and figuratively! A family tree chart and report of sources will be provided for reference as well.
Cemetery and Burial Photography: Perhaps you have family buried in the San Francisco/Bay Area or surrounding counties but live elsewhere. I can research the burial plot of your ancestor through records and also photograph the headstone or site. Further information is usually found by who is buried next to your family as well that isn’t obvious until your feet walk the grounds. Please see more at Names + Faces.
Record and Document Retrieval: The San Francisco/Bay Area and surrounding counties are options for your local record look up needs. This can include the major repositories like the local National Archives and others located in the San Francisco/Bay area as well as through genealogy associations where I am a member. (Currently this is subjected to Covid-19 and limited.)
Custom Project: You may have something outside the scope of genealogy service options provided here. Please reach out to discuss your needs by email or my Contact page.
Mentoring: You are keenly interested in doing family research but get stuck or lost or sidetracked or hit the proverbial brick wall. I know how it is as I have been there and would be happy to provide the direction while you do the work. Let me save you the massive learning curve involved in doing genealogy the right way. This can be weekly or monthly or an on-call basis.
