Most families have a box, a drawer, or an old album filled with pieces of the past—faded photographs, handwritten letters, birth and marriage records, newspaper clippings, funeral cards, military papers, and keepsakes that once belonged to parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. Maybe you remember hearing a family story at the kitchen table years ago and have always wondered if it was true. Maybe there is a face in an old photograph that no one can identify anymore, or a branch of the family tree that seems to disappear.
At Following the Family Trail, I help bring those pieces back together before the stories behind them are lost. I can research your family’s history through records held at the New York State Library and New York State Archives in Albany, the New York City Municipal Archives, and other historical collections. When the trail leads beyond the archives, I can also travel to cemeteries, churches, family farms, historic homes, towns, and villages to photograph meaningful places, look for local records, and learn more about the communities your ancestors once called home.
Family history is more than names and dates. It is the story of where we came from, what our families lived through, and the memories that connect one generation to the next. Too often, those stories disappear when the people who remember them are no longer here to tell them. Whether you want to solve an old family mystery, preserve a lifetime of photographs and records, or create a beautiful custom book or poster for your children and grandchildren, I can help turn what you have into something lasting. Bring me the box, the photographs, the names, and the stories—and together we can follow your family trail and preserve it before those memories are lost to time.
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Genealogy Research
Some family stories can be found with a few clicks—but others have to be chased down by following the trail in person. Following the Family Trail offers hands-on genealogy and family-history research, with a special focus on records held at the New York State Library and New York State Archives in Albany and the New York City Municipal Archives. When the search leads beyond the reading room, I am also available to travel to the places where your family’s story actually happened—cemeteries, churches, family farms, historic homes, towns, and villages—to photograph important sites, gather local history, and uncover details that may never appear in an online search. Whether it means standing beside an ancestor’s gravestone, visiting the church where a family worshipped, or walking the roads of a town they once called home, these on-site visits can add depth, connection, and meaning to your family history. Because every journey is unique, travel time, mileage, admission fees, lodging, and other travel expenses are worked out on a case-by-case basis before any trip is scheduled.
| RESEARCH TIME | TRAVEL AND EXPENSES |
| 1 hour $45 with a 2 hour minimum | Albany and the capital district no charge |
| Travel outside of Albany | Mileage, tolls, parking and train tickets are extra and negotiated at time of contract |
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Excelsior, the Library’s online catalog, provides access to information about the Library’s collection through author, title, and subject searches. Also listed on Excelsior are records collected during the Historical Documents Inventory, a Statewide survey of manuscripts and archives collections in repositories that are open to the public. These collections are not held at the New York State Library; the catalog record for each item or collection will indicate the name and address of the repository where it is located.
Vital Records explains how researchers can obtain copies of vital records such as birth and death certificates. Although the New York State Library does not hold these records, it does have an extensive collection of church and cemetery records that may be of interest to some researchers.
Census Records – New York State lists the New York State censuses that the State Library has available.
Questions from each New York State Census (1825 to 1925)
Three microform collections of street indexes to New York City area State censuses.
Census Records – United States provides some basic information about the U.S. census and indicates which ones are available at the State Library.
New York State Wills provides information on locating wills; however, the New York State Library is not the official repository of the wills of New York State residents, but I can travel or write to the place of record for more information and possibly copies.
The New York State Library
Cultural Education Center
222 Madison Ave Seventh Floor
Albany, NY 12230
| RESEARCH TIME | TRAVEL AND EXPENSES |
| 1 hour $45 with a 2 hour minimum | Albany and the capital district no charge |
| Travel outside of the Albany area | Mileage, tolls, parking and train tickets are extra and negotiated at time of contract |
The Department of Records & Information Services in New York City preserves and provides public access to historical and contemporary records and information about NYC government. The Municipal Library & Archives are open by appointment only.
For records of births through 1909, deaths up to and including 1948, and marriages up to and including 1930 contact:
Municipal Archives, Library and Records Center
31 Chambers Street, Room 103
New York, NY 10007
(212) 639-9675