Genetics
When relevant to the research question, DNA evidence can confirm, challenge, or refine biological relationships suggested by records and family tradition.
Genetics. Evidence. Memory.
Your family history is more than a family tree.
G.E.M. Genealogy helps answer difficult family-history questions through professional research that brings together documentary evidence, historical context, DNA when relevant, and the stories your family has carried forward.
Every project can begin with a free 15-minute consultation. Ongoing professional work is $75/hour.
Professional Genealogist
Former DAR Member & Staff Genealogist
M.A. in History
Graduate Certificate in Public History
Archival Experience
What G.E.M. means
Genetics, Evidence, and Memory are three dimensions of a fuller family history.
Evidence
The documentary record: vital records, censuses, newspapers, probate, land, military, immigration, church, court, and archival sources that establish what can be supported.
Memory
The stories, photographs, traditions, names, relationships, and lived knowledge preserved within a family. Memory is valuable source material to preserve, investigate, and compare with other evidence rather than treat as established fact automatically.
Research specialties
Complex people, places, records, and relationships.
Research can extend across major genealogy databases, archival collections, historical societies, libraries, digitized newspapers, military records, land records, church records, court records, and jurisdiction-specific archives.
Indigenous & reservation records
Records of enslaved individuals
New England ancestry
Virginia ancestry
Southern & Deep South research
French & Spanish Deep South records
English ancestry
Military records
Lineage evidence
Immigration research
DNA analysis
Adoption & biological family research
Citizenship research
Pre-1850s research
Multiple family branches / lines
Conflicting identities & records
Ways to work together
Start small, stay hourly, or commission a full project.
The rate is $75/hour for professional genealogy work. The options below describe how that time can be used, not different hourly price tiers.
01
Free 15-Minute Consultation
Free
A private live consultation to discuss your goal, what you already know, and whether G.E.M. Genealogy is a good fit for the project.
02
Genealogy Coaching
$75/hour
Personalized guidance for people doing their own research who want help with strategy, evidence, records, repositories, or a difficult research problem.
03
Professional Genealogy Research
$75/hour
Have the research done for you. Work can focus on one ancestor, a family branch, a historical question, a documentary conflict, or a larger research objective.
Research packages
Larger projects with a defined research scope.
Packages are designed for projects that typically require a substantial block of professional research time. A free consultation can help determine whether hourly research or a package makes more sense for your goal.
25 billable hours
Family History Research
Research specializing in your ancestors' geographical and demographical background.
55 billable hours
Three-Generation Family History Book
A professionally researched family history covering your parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, organized into a book-ready family history project.
30 billable hours
Dual Citizenship Research
Research to help you begin a European Union citizenship and passport application through the country of your ancestors.
35 billable hours
Genetic Genealogy Research
Use DNA evidence alongside documentary research to identify a biological parent or recent unknown ancestor.
Starting at $2,625
Comparable to Ancestry's $4,900+
50 billable hours
Lineage Society Membership
Research and documentation to establish a qualifying lineage and prepare a historical lineage society application.
Competitor prices are shown for general comparison and may change. View Ancestry ProGenealogists pricing.
G.E.M. Carats
Book a Carat for your family reunion
A Carat turns your family tree into something everyone at the reunion can actually explore. Add one to any research package or hourly project, then pass it around so relatives can see how they are connected and preserve the stories attached to the people on the tree.
+$450
+ shipping
Interactive Carat add-on
- Up to 5 generations and 50 people. Browse the family visually and open individual relatives to see where they fit.
- See how everyone is related. Family members can move through the tree together instead of trying to follow a printed chart across the room.
- Record the family history while everyone is together. Relatives can submit voice recordings or add oral histories directly to a person's page.
- I can ship the Carat to you. It can be mailed to the reunion location and mailed back afterward.
Planning requirement: a Carat must be booked at least one month before the date it needs to be delivered.
Example Carat interface
EC
Eleanor Carter
1928–2021 · Great-grandmotherRecord a MemoryAdd a voice recording
Oral history
“Grandma always made peach cobbler for the reunion...”
Preview only. Each Carat is prepared for your family.
About G.E.M.
I was my family's historian before I was anyone else's genealogist.
I have always been the historian in my own family. I have researched my ancestry, both of my parents’ families, and my husband’s family through both of his parents, but the part of family history I care about most is preserving what does not necessarily survive in official records. Oral histories, family stories, photographs, traditions, and the details people remember about one another are as important to me as tracing the lineage itself.
That interest in family history eventually became professional work. I previously worked as a Staff Genealogist at the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and am also a former DAR member. I hold an M.A. in History and a Graduate Certificate in Public History from Virginia Commonwealth University, both completed with a 4.0 GPA, and my archival experience includes work at Beth Ahabah Museum and Archives.
For me, genealogy is not only about establishing who was related to whom. It is about preserving enough of the documentary and oral record that future generations can understand who those people actually were.
Request a Research Estimate
Tell me what you want to find out.
Details that help with an estimate include who I am researching, when they lived, where they were from, and any facts you already know about the goal.