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Genealogist Fees – How Much Should You Be Paying To Build Your Family Tree?

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When I realized that I was able to solve genealogical mysteries with a very high rate of success for many of my friends, I realized I had a knack for solving family history mysteries and decided to create this website.  Now, the ancestors of all 4 of my Grandparents came to Brooklyn starting in the 1850’s, from Sicily, Ireland and Spain, so throughout all the many hours of my own research I have spent virtually all of my personal research time searching in Brooklyn, which is why I targeted my services as a Brooklyn and New York Genealogist.  By the time I had solved my own case, I had many connections in cemeteries, churches, etc.  And I was able to unearth several incredible databases and sources of priceless information available on the internet that allow me to almost always find what I am looking for.  After I would find out that my grandparents or great-grandparents had brothers or sisters, I found myself so curious about the descendants of those newly discovered family members that I took a course on locating people in the modern day, and I have been able to help may people find their birth parents, long lost relatives, etc.

 

With all that being said, one of the first things I needed to do was come up with a rate to charge customers.  I love helping people, and honestly a lot of my sources are free to me, and I can sometimes find information very quickly.  I don’t need to be charging all that much money, so I decided at first to charge $15 an hour, with the first 2 hours free, if I wasnt able to find anything in that time.  The client was able to decide they did not have faith in me since I did poorly in the first 2 hours, and could just walk away without being invested and losing money.  Since that time I have had to change things up a bit, mainly do to all the “free” 2 hour introductory periods that people had me do only to tell me they didn’t have any way to pay me even when I did produce results ( my current $5 for the first hour is just to confirm the client has a paypal account), and my $25 hr rate for a 2 hour block is mainly to encourage larger blocks of time to be purchased.  It sometimes takes an hour of that time just to get all the information a client provides organized since it is a new case and the first time I am looking into this particular family.

 

I consider my rates to be pretty fair, and when I look around the net and see the prices these genealogy services are charging, it aggravates me.  I want to take a few minutes tonight and show my readers just how ridiculous some of the more popular Genealogy researchers are.

 

Heirlines.com

Ancestry Research Rates
Heirlines.com

The first website I want to mention is Heirlines.com. The information is pretty straight forward. If you are only willing to pay for 10 hours of research, you better be willing to pay $800, $650 more then I would charge you.  The only thing I see on their site that I do not offer, is they send you a physical copy of the document.  I’ll tell you what, if you want me to print out the documents for $.05 a peice and mail them to you for an extra $650, just let me know and I will do it.  Or you can just print them out yourself when I E-mail them to you and save the $650.

Pro Genealogists

Ancestry.com's Service
Ancestry.com's Pro Genealogist Service

Your next option is from Ancestry.com‘s own “Pro Genealogists“.  As you can see in the Image above, the Pro Genealogist website considers their fee’s “affordably priced” and “Straightforward research” costs a Minimum of $65 per hour.  I would imagine no matter how straightforward your research is, they will have some reason to pump up your fee closer to the $135/hr range.  How many people have paid their hard earned money to have some “Pro Genealogist” log into Ancestry.com and pull up some census reports for $200?

LegacyTree.com

The last website I want to touch on is LegacyTree.com.  In the graphic you can see the minimum order is 20 hours, for $1250.  That is over four times as much as our rate.

Genealogy research rates
20 hour minimum!

To be fair, if anybody is getting in their car and spending a day in some records hall searching through files in order to find that one impossible link, then a rate much higher then my $15 / hr is called for. The issue I have is that most cases can be solved online, and if you are paying for 10 or 20 hours of research, in 90% of cases a genealogist would spend that much time exhausting all of the online resources and databases at our disposal, before ever getting into a car. After that point, it might make sense to charge the higher rate that travel expenses and the higher level of research expertise would call for. If you are going to hire a genealogist to build your tree from the start, breaking down those brick walls, finding distant relatives, or whatever else you might need, please look around before hiring one of these overcharging websites. It would be well worth the few hundred dollars a website like this one would charge before paying the thousands these other sites demand as a minimum and then can not even guarentee they will find the information you are looking for.

Blog

Little Known Tricks to Aid in Your Genealogy Research

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Today we are happy to welcome our first guest blogger, Jennifer Dunn, who writes about a topic that is a little different then what we are used to focusing on while submerging ourselves in New York Genealogical databases for hours on end. We hope you enjoy these tips and urge you to visit her Jennealogy blog to learn more about the southern aspect of researching family history.

 

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Jennifer Dunn

Family history is my favorite hobby, but when I’m not deciphering old documents or blogging over at Jennealogy, I’m writing about small business in my “real” job. One of my jobs is to find great tools to benefit small businesses on a budget, and wouldn’t you know it – many of these tools benefit me as a genealogist, too.

Today I want to recommend two tech tools that I haven’t seen mentioned much in genealogy circles:

Use TurboScan and Never Get Extorted for Copies Again – I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve paid for copies while doing genealogy research. Actually, I would still be poor, because I can’t remember even making copies for less than 10 cents per page. Recently I visited the Forsyth County Probate Court where copies were $1/page. Geesh.

Thank goodness for TurboScan.

This app (sadly only available for iPhone and other iDevices at this point), allows you to scan a document directly to your device by simply taking three flash photographs of it. From there, you can simply save it in your app, or better yet email it to yourself. You can also choose whether you’d like to save it as a .pdf, .jpg or even print it if you have a printing app.

Because it requires flash, TurboScan can take a little bit of moxie to use. I’ve been using TurboScan in libraries and archives for a few months now, and while I’ve gotten some strange looks when three flashes go off, I haven’t been asked to leave yet.

HUGE CAVEAT! Be wary using TurboScan to scan delicate original records. These days, the jury is out on whether flash photography harms old documents, but I’m always on the side of better safe than sorry.

Use Zamzar to Convert File Types – In my professional life AND my genealogical life I sometimes run into scenarios where I want to convert a .pdf file to an image file, such as .jpg. Recently, for example, I wanted to share copies of an Estate Case for my ancestor George W. West as a .jpg on Ancestry.com so the information there would be easily viewable to people who might not trust a download.

All you do is upload the file you’d like to convert at Zamzar.com, choose the file type you’d like to convert it to, then enter your email address. Zamzar will email you when the conversion is complete. If you’d like to track your files, you can also sign up for a free account. Simple!

Do you rely on a little known tech tool for your genealogy research? Let me know in the comments!

This guest post was brought to you by Jennifer Dunn. Read more from her at Jennealogy.

New York State Census

1925 New York Census

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1925 New York State Census.
1925 New York State Census. Click for larger image.

1925 NY Census

The 1925 New York State Census can be a valuable resource the bridge the gap between the Us federal Census’s from the years 1920 and 1930

Useful information contained on 1925’s report

  • PERMANENT RESIDENCE
    1a. Street.
    1b. House number.
  • 2. NAME
    of each person whose usual place of abode on June 1, 1915, was in this family.
    Enter surname first, then the given name and middle initial, if any.
    INCLUDE every person living on June 1, 1915.
    OMIT children born since June 1, 1915.
  • 3. RELATION
    Relationship of each person to the head of the family.
  • 4. Color or race.
  • 5. Sex.
  • 6. Age at last birthday.
  • 7. NATIVITY
    If born in this country write United States: if of foreign birth, write the name of the country.
  • 8. Citizenship- Number of years in the United States.
  • 9. Citizenship- Citizen or alien.
  • 10. If Naturalized, when and where.
  • 11. OCCUPATION
    Trade or profession of or kind of work done by each person enumerated.
  • 12. OCCUPATION
    Class.
  • 13. FOR INMATES OF INSTITUTIONS. INFANTS UNDER ONE YEAR OF AGE
    If an inmate an institution, enter the residence (borough, city or town, and county) given when admitted.

Return to NY Census Page

New York State Census

1915 New York State Census

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1915 New York State Census
1915 New York State Census

1915 New York State Census

I have already mentioned how important the 1915 New York State Census was to connecting the dots in my own family tree, and there is no doubt that it may help you with your project as well.  The time period of the mid – late teens is a good one for resources.  You have the New York State Census in 1915, the WWI Draft Card in 1918 and the U.S. Federal Census in 1920.  This is a very lucky break because if your family is anything like mine, you will have a lot of dying and disappearing of family members during this time period.

 

1915 New York Census Heading

  • PERMANENT RESIDENCE
    1a. Street.
    1b. House number.
  • 2. NAME
    of each person whose usual place of abode on June 1, 1915, was in this family.
    Enter surname first, then the given name and middle initial, if any.
    INCLUDE every person living on June 1, 1915.
    OMIT children born since June 1, 1915.
  • 3. RELATION
    Relationship of each person to the head of the family.
  • 4. Color or race.
  • 5. Sex.
  • 6. Age at last birthday.
  • 7. NATIVITY
    If born in this country write United States: if of foreign birth, write the name of the country.
  • 8. Citizenship- Number of years in the United States.
  • 9. Citizenship- Citizen or alien.
  • 10. OCCUPATION
    Trade or profession of or kind of work done by each person enumerated.
  • 11. OCCUPATION
    Class.
  • 12. FOR INMATES OF INSTITUTIONS. INFANTS UNDER ONE YEAR OF AGE
    If an inmate an institution, enter the residence (borough, city or town, and county) given when admitted.

Return to New York State Census Page

 

New York State Census

1892 New York State Census

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New York State Census 1892
The 1892 New York State Census, city of Brooklyn. Click for larger image

 

The 1892 New York State Census is both very important census due to the lack of a 1890 US Federal Census which has been destroyed in a fire, but it is also seriously lacking in information.  As you can see in the image, there is no address which was commonplace in census reports by this time, but this census also does not even mention where one household begins and the other one ends, and does not mention the relationship between family members.

1892 New York State Census information

  • Name
  • Male or Female
  • Age
  • Color
  • In What Country Born
  • Citizen or Alien
  • Occupation

Unfortunatly the following local counties census’s have been destroyed

  • Bronx
  • New York
  • Richmond
  • Suffolk

The following counties from Upstate New York have not survived as well

  • Chenango
  • Columbia
  • Franklin
  • Fulton
  • Jefferson
  • Livingston
  • Oneida
  • Orange
  • Putnam
  • Rensselaer
  • St. Lawrence
  • Seneca,
  • Sullivan
  • Ulster
  • Westchester
  • Wyoming

Return to New York State Census Page

New York State Census

1855 New York State Census

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New York State Census of 1855
The 1855 New York State Census report. Click for larger Image

 

The 1855 New York State Census is one of the most important of it’s era due to the fact it provides us with each household members “Relation to the head of the family” in column 9.  Even 5 years later in the 1860 U.S Federal Census they still did not provide this information.  This information is not available until another 10 years with the New York State Census of 1865.  It may not seem important, but there are cases in which people living together are not related the way you would expect, and this 1855 can save an enormous amount of confusion.

This is also the first New York State Census that includes the names of all family members, However the 1850 US Federal Census is an earlier census providing all names.

1855 New York State Census Columns

  • 1  – Dwellings numbered in the order of visitation.
  • 2  – Of what material built.
  • 3  – Value.
  • 4  – Families numbered in order of visitation.
  • 5  – Name of every Person whose usual place of abode on the first day of June was in this family.
  • 6  – Age.
  • 7  – Sex.
  • 8  – Color: White, black or mulatto.
  • 9  – Relation to the head of the family.
  • 10 – In what county of this state or in what other state or foreign country born.
  • 11 – Married.
  • 12 – Widowed.
  • 13 – Years resided in this city or town.
  • 14 – Profession, trade or occupation.
  • 15 – VOTERS- Native.
  • 16 – VOTERS- Naturalized.
  • 17 – Alien.
  • 18 – Persons of color not taxed.
  • 19 – Persons over 21 years who cannot read and write.
  • 20 – Owner of land.
  • 21 – Deaf and dumb, blind, insane or idiotic

Return to New York State Census Page

New York State Census

1865 New York State Census

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1865 New York State Census
The heading of the 1865 New York State Census.  Click for Larger Image.

 

The New York State 1865 Census is one of the best early census reports around.  For one thing, it is the first post Civil War Census conducted, as you can see in the list below, lines 25-28 provide military service information.  Locating your ancestor in this census may be the fastest way to determine if he was possibly a Civil War Vet.

Another very usual line is #11 “Of how many children the parent.”.   This line indicates how many children the parent has parented, and can be useful if this number is different from the amount of children in the home, indicated another children either has moved out if old enough, or died.

Unfortunately, the 1865  census does not yet include address’s.  Luckily, there are several other sources a genealogist can use to find an address during this period.  The 1875 New York State Census is the first census that includes the home address.

1865 New York State Census Columns

 

  • 1  – Numbered in order of visitation.
  • 2  – Of what material built.
  • 3  – Value.
  • 4  – Families numbered in order of visitation.
  • 5  –  Name of every person whose usual place of abode was in the Family on the first day of June 1865.
  • 6  – Age.
  • 7  – Sex.
  • 8  – Color: White, black or mulatto.
  • 9  – Relation to the head of the family.
  • 10 – In what county of this state or in what other state or foreign country born.
  • 11 – Of how many children the parent.
  • 12 – Number of times married.
  • 13 – Now married.
  • 14 – Now widowed.
  • 15 – Single.
  • 16 – Profession, trade or occupation.
  • 17 – Usual place of employment, if out of the city or town, where the family resides.
  • 18 – VOTERS- Native.
  • 19 – VOTERS- Naturalized.
  • 20 – Alien.
  • 21 – Colored person not taxed.
  • 22 – Owner of land.
  • 23 – Over 21 and not able to read or write.
  • 24 – Deaf and dumb, blind, insane or idiotic.
  • 25 – Now in army.
  • 26 – Now in navy.
  • 27 – Formerly in army.
  • 28 – Formerly in navy.

Return to New York State Census Page

Blog

Genealogy Links

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In an effort to organize the Genealogy blog, we are creating this list of Genealogy specific links. We also have this page of Brooklyn Blog links.

We also have lists of New York Cemeteries, New York Death Records, New York Marriage Records, New York Church Records and Surnames Databases.

New York Cemeteries

Gate Of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, New York

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Located in Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York, Gate of Heaven Cemetery was founded in 1918.

Burials include:

  • Babe Ruth
  • James Cagney

Visit Gate of Heaven Cemetery

10 West Stevens Ave
Hawthorne NY, 10532

Gates of Heaven Cemetery phone number: 914-769-3673

You can locate the cemetery your ancestor is buried in from their Death Certificate.

Contact our genealogist if you have decided you need our help, or if you just don’t want to waste time trying to put all the pieces together.

Return to New York Cemeteries

New York Cemeteries

The New York City Marble Cemetery

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“The New York City Marble Cemetery” is one of the only Cemeteries on the island of Manhattan.

This cemetery is often confused with Marble Cemetery of New York, located one block away.

The New York City Marble Cemetery was founded in 1831.

Visit The New York City Marble Cemetery

52-74 East 2nd Street
Manhattan

Be advised that the Cemetery is not generally open to visitors.

Write The New York City Marble Cemetery for information on your ancestors grave.

info@nycmc.org

The New York City Marble Cemetery
72 East First Street
New York, NY 10003

The New York City Marble Cemetery phone number (212) 228-6401

You can locate the cemetery your ancestor is buried in from their Death Certificate. Contact our genealogist if you have decided you need our help, or if you just don’t want to waste time trying to put all the pieces together.

Return to New York Cemeteries

Free Genealogy resources with paid Genealogy Service available.