Dan O'Brien is a certificate holder having completed The Boston University Genealogical Research Program. In 2008 everything changed in my life after watching my 1st episode of BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? To see the emotional reactions of the guests on this series, and to see how huge pieces of family history puzzles were revealed and filled in, truly moved me. I recognized how healing and sometimes poignant these reveals could be. Over the past decade I’ve been creating these types of moments for clients while constantly studying and building up an army of research resources to use in my work. My goal is to help people save their family history for themselves and the generations to follow. A byproduct of my work has also sometimes provided insight into why certain family members behaved in certain ways (living or dead) and has opened my clients up to empathizing and understanding just a little bit more. Tracing ancestry is like solving a mystery. I examine dozens of public and private records to gather facts and clues about your family’s past, then the pieces are fit together to construct a well-documented and VERIFIED family tree. If you choose to have me create a tree from the ground up, I can either create a traditional one on paper, or you can create an account on ancestry.com which I take over during the time of the project. Other specific projects include, but are not limited to brick wall busting, heir locating, and answering specific questions regarding indentity and kinship within your family tree.
Step 1
Meeting your research goals requires more detailed information than a short sentence provides. I want to hear family stories, find out how much research you have already done and if you have family trees or documents to share with me. In our initial phone call, email, or zoom consultation, I will need to know what your goals are, what has already been done, what your specific research question(s) may be, and as much info about your family history that you can give me. At this time we will also set your budget and time frame to complete the project. My hourly rate is $55 per hour, and typically a good amount of information, documents, records, and newspaper articles can be gathered within a 3-4 hour session. Specific indentity and kinship projects, brick wall busting, bio family searching, and heir locating may take longer. Since every family and scenario is different, the amount of information that can be retrieved varies as well.
Step 2
Research begins with accessing records online, ordering documents from record keepers around the world (when not accessible online), and bringing in international agents to lend a hand when applicable. I will update you throughout the process. Any and all additional costs for potential outside help will be discussed prior to engaging other professionals. Additional costs may also be accrued if original vital records need to be accessed at a physical repository, or other items not accesible digitally.
Step 3
For tree building projects, or document retrieval, each is presented digitally via dropbox OR by means of your family tree online. If you choose not to purchase an account on a tree building site, a paper version of your family tree will be emailed to you along with a dropbox full of source cited documents that correspond to your tree. From these documents clients may cross reference the person in the tree I provide. These documents can then be shared by you with others in your family, and you can experience the fun of their reactions to the findings yourself. Inevitably this also can trigger conversations about THEIR memories and the information THEY know about your family.
Add On Service
Zoom reveal/debrief session with up to 10 family members to guide you through findings and tree available at $55 per hour.