Experience

Beginning in 1978 during college and continuing to the present day I have gained experience working with all kinds of records, including numerous research trips to:

• Family History Library (Salt Lake City, UT)

• Iowa Historical Society Library (Iowa City, IA)

• Illinois State Archives (Springfield, IL)

• Allen County Public Library’s Genealogy Center (Ft. Wayne, IN) - including many years of annual trips

• Newberry Library (Chicago, IL)

• Midwest Genealogy Center (Mid-Continent Public Library, Independence, MO)

• Pennsylvania State Archives (Harrisburg, PA)

• Maryland State Archives (Annapolis, MD)

• Courthouses too numerous to mention, especially in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Maryland

• and many, many other genealogical / historical societies, libraries, & archives

I especially enjoy working with Courthouse records (such as birth, death, marriage and divorce, land, property, tax, probate, wills, and other court records), Church records (especially Quaker and Catholic), and Cemetery records, although I have experience in many other record types. A new-found love is working with DNA to find clues and add puzzle pieces to the research.

I attend numerous national, regional, & local genealogical events, workshops, webinars, and conventions to increase my expertise.