Your Roots
Becoming Better People One Generation at a Time.™
Exploring your family tree can be a life-changing adventure.
With decades of genealogy experience and over a hundred genealogy projects, I've helped clients:
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Lay the foundation for a rich family history that becomes a gift for the next generation
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Investigate family mysteries or legends
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Identify unknown parents or grandparents (when a DNA test is available)
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Uncover maternal lineages often lost to a patriarchal naming traditions
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Find connections to pre-US ancestral cultures (and more, especially for those with Italian roots)
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Explore deeper lineages that connect to the broader human experience
My Approach
Genealogy is more than names and dates—it's storytelling. Drawing on my background in Hollywood and writing (about me), I help uncover the hidden narratives of your ancestors, bringing depth and context to your family history. My approach goes beyond simple documentation, illuminating the challenges your ancestors survived and the paths taken that ultimately led to you.
And family history isn't just research—it's time travel! In this July 2025 podcast episode of The Naked Librarian, I share my unique perspective on genealogy, and take Victoria Payne on a captivating journey through the centuries, revealing surprising and dramatic stories about her ancestors.
My Services
When you work with me, each engagement of five-hours or more culminates in a Zoom call where I walk you—and any family members you want to include—through the family tree I built and the discoveries I made. This is a time for you to ask questions about the research and receive practical advice on how you might continue your own exploration going forward.
While exact outcomes of my engagements can be difficult to predict (much depends on available records and research complexity), I leverage all the online resources at my disposal to investigate your roots and associated ancestral stories. My goal is to find meaningful connections that have shaped—and continue to shape—your family’s narrative, one generation at a time.
Testimonials
I wanted to give my mother the gift of a lifetime for her birthday. She knew very little about her paternal grandfather’s ancestry and Jacqueline was able to not only find a “skeleton in the closet,” but surprising and meaningful connections to the Revolutionary War, the Mayflower, and several European nobles. This ended up not only being a noteworthy gift to my mother, but also a gift to myself and all of our family. Jacqueline is curious, knowledgeable, and engaging and was able to find an incredible amount of information in a short amount of time. We are so grateful to have found her. - Erica K