Services
Black Sheep Genealogy offers a wide range of family-history services to fit your needs and budget. Browse below to see examples of family-history reports, oral histories, transcriptions, digital archives, books, and websites. The scale of some of these products, as created for you, will be different, but the quality will always be the same. If you don’t find what you’re looking for here, let me know and we’ll create a package especially for you.
Contract: My contract spells out how I conduct business and can be negotiated to suit your specific needs.
Family-history report.
PRICE: $1,100 for first 20 hours, $60 per hour after that
It makes sense to begin with the most basic package, which includes the following:
• A consultation. We’ll talk about your specific needs, what you already know and what you want to know. We’ll also identify the family resources you have acquired that can help in the research: trees, letters, photographs, newspaper clippings, obituaries, oral histories, &c. We can communicate in whatever way is most convenient and comfortable for you: by email, phone, video chat, or, if practicable, in person.
• 20 hours of family-history research. Using our discussion as a guide, I will conduct my research using the various tools and resources at my disposal. Research is limited by the availability of records (either digitally or in person), and I cannot always predict what and how much will be found. This initial round of research should provide a helpful guide for what information is out there and what else is possible for telling your family’s story.
• A narrative report on my findings. Once my research is finished, I will present what I find, including relationships, sources, and appropriate historical context.
Your report will be authoritative and well written. It will feature an overview, historical context, source information, as well as opportunities for further research. Images and family trees will round out the publication. You will also have access to all of the research, documents, and notes generated during the project.
Savings: 20 hours of research costs $1,200, so you save $100.
Work samples.
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Thomas Coughlin of Chicago.
Some reports address specific questions. An Irish immigrant was murdered in Chicago in 1930. Who was his father back in Ireland? None of the records said. This report brings together all the available evidence to answer the question.
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A tale of reinvention.
Or maybe you’ve heard family lore about a relative who may have been born with a different surname. This report follows the trail of just such a case, from the rice paddies of South Carolina to the nightclubs of New Rochelle.
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A life in full color.
In one case, clients asked to learn more about a relative whose landscape paintings hung in their home. This report tells the story of a West Yorkshireman who worked in the textile mills as a boy before mastering his art. Posted with permission.
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Mrs. Burks had not been well.
In another case, a client wanted to learn more about a relative whose life ended tragically. This report engages two families, one that began on the Baltic Sea, the other on the banks of Licking Hole Creek. Posted with permission.
What People Are Saying
“Wow!! So strange and wild and wonderful to have a glimpse into
the lives of people I am both related to, and a stranger to!”
— Gretchen S., St. Louis
“I can’t say enough about my experience with Black Sheep Genealogy. In a matter of two days, I have answers I’ve sought in vain for decades.”
— Melissa L., Tampa Bay
Additional research time.
PRICE: $60 per hour
Want to learn more about your family? I am happy to pursue the gaps, questions, and promising starts uncovered by my initial research. Any travel expenses are extra.
Gift card.
PRICE: You decide
Do you have a friend or loved one who would love a little extra help in their research? Or maybe you know your parents are interested in family history but not sure whether they’d be more interested in a report or an oral history? We’ve got you covered with our gift cards.
Oral history.
PRICE: $60 per hour
Capturing people’s memories—and how they remember—is an invaluable tool for family history. Perhaps there is a relative who has a particularly interesting life story to share, or another who is the last of their generation. We follow oral history best practices. Here’s an example from my own family, an excerpt from a longer interview, conducted by Irish Life and Lore, of ninety-nine-year-old Sister Íde Woulfe, recalling how British forces burned her father’s pharmacy during the Irish War for Independence.
Transcription.
PRICE: $60 per hour
Many family documents require transcription, either for ease of reading or to make them searchable on a website. We have experience with everything from wills and court testimony to personal letters, like this one from 1836.
Digital archive.
PRICE: $60 per hour
With an online archive you can create a searchable database of digital items related to your family. I use Omeka, a well-respected platform that employs standard metadata fields. My mom and grandmother both were “keepers,” and they left behind boxes and boxes of documents. Last year I established an archive of this material (alas, the collection has only just begun) that can be found here.
Book and narrative.
PRICE: $60 per hour (not including any permissions fees)
A digital report is nice, but why not something that more thoroughly captures what makes your family your family? A family narrative brings together all the information, stories, images, and historical context into a single piece of writing that can be published in book form (hardcover or paperback). In consultation with you every step of the way, I will write, design, and publish your family history using Lulu.com. You and your family can then order copies printed on demand.
In 2019 I wrote, designed,* and self-published Wolfe’s History: A Family Story. It contains a long family narrative that brings together as much of the family research as I could and gives it some coherence and meaning. Called “The Book of Athea,” you can read it here. The book also contains a biographical dictionary, appendices of transcribed primary documents, and a family tree—all of which can also be found on the family website (see below). Because this publishing project was the result of more than ten years of research, the scope of what I might do for you would be narrower; however, the principles of work remain the same.
* I designed everything but the front cover, the credit for which goes to my dear friend John Grant.
Family website.
PRICE: $60 per hour
The upside of a published book is that you can hold it in your hands. A website, however, is much more easily shared and updated. It’s a great way to store information, too. A family-history website will share your family’s stories using text, images, and audio and video (when available)—all attractively laid out using up-to-date design templates. Here is an example of what I created for my own family.
