Do you want me to do your research?
Hello,
My name is Morgan, am a writer/author by trade, and if you're on this page then it tells me that you are interested in your family's heritage (or you're wondering what you can do with genealogy).
So far we have amassed quite a few articles (in the ARTICLES Section) which are guaranteed to help you do whatever you are looking to do, but, in the interest of my motives for this page, I am available to do genealogy research for you about your family.
It's so hard to quote rates, and I refuse to go along with the normal $40 to $50 per hour as most are charging. Instead, I would like to charge less and still provide a treasured finished product. Today I visited seven different web sites who advertised their genealogy research services and I realized why I want to keep my prices down . . . because, I don't want to have to subscribe to websites to find missing persons, et al. In other words, living people. I don't want to be a private investigator or an Intelligence Agent as I turned in my B&C's (badge and credentials) several years ago. I simply want to study and document family heritages for people like you.
Years ago my dad paid hundreds of dollars for a specially compiled book about his family. Recently, I went back over it and found that there wasn't a true fact in there. His family, or heritage wasn't documented right at all. Even his grandparents were wrong. My dad answered several questions for the people doing the book, and they threw together lies and, well, I don't need to use descriptive words, but leave it said, it was a scam. Even the family shield belonged to another family surname. The entire leather bound book was nothing more than a pricey piece of garbage.
With that said, there is still a price or cost incurred to do research. My time is worth something, as is yours and everyone else's. But how do I put a dollar amount to this kind of research? It is super labour intensive, super time consuming, and I care about the end result. Then there's the question about putting the information into a confusing GEDCOM file, or a Anentafel format, or do I give it the personal touch that is much more readable and functional? Anentafel by the way is German, anen = ancestor and tafel = table. That format is hard to follow and fails to pull together all the people in a family, like deceased spouses, other siblings, etc.
I have talked to others in this field of research and the price to charge varies from 1 to 3 generations, 4 to 6, and so on, or how many other families can be tied to a family, etc, etc. The deeper it goes or further back it rolls, the more it costs. Is that really what our Heritage is all about . . the almighty greenback? I don't think so.
Recently I tackled a family that I thought would pan out into very little, but instead I discovered a wealth of information once I broke the "spelling of the name" barrier. Imagine your parents spelling their name wrong all their lives. Anyway, once I got over that hurdle I have amassed pages upon pages of census data that totally melded with the very few names I was given to begin with. Granted it takes days, sometimes weeks, to not only amass the volumes of information needed, but to put it into an orderly semblance of intelligence. Would you pay for pages of gibberish? I wouldn't either. So, it takes time to sort and compile the data into something a family will treasure and not disdain.
I can do the research and compile it into a true family heritage that you would love to share with others. I can create charts for those who are graphically inclined, and believe me, sometimes they are much more beneficial to understanding the layout of a family than pages of type. I can put the information into several formats (GEDCOM, Anentafel, Pedigree Charts/Reports, Descendant Charts/Reports, or just about any way); or I can present it in a very readable format presented in the Adobe .pdf format or in about any other computer format; or I can print it in book form that is spiral bound. If you want it in book form, you will still get the CD with all the data.
If you want living persons included (and you have to provide all their identifying data), then I guarantee that when I hand over all the research in whatever form you want, that I will destroy all copies I would normally maintain, and I will not put your living family members on the Yonder Places web site. To know why, go to the Articles Section and read the article "Copyright or Do's and Don't's".
As a norm I would charge at least $20 per hour, but I also think there's a way for a better price depending on the amount of work involved. Why do I say this? Because a lot of time is spent following dead ends. Why should you have to pay for something you don't get? How could I feel good about charging for the same thing? For example, I spent two and a half days amassing and compiling information for the Roberts/Stewart family, and believe me, there were droves of Stewart's that I had to sort through to keep that red-thread sacred, true and honest . . . that red-thread being the true bloodline. And when I say two and a half days, I mean a total of 30 hours. I don't work the standard 8-hour day, naturally. So, was the research worth $600? To me, not yet. I still have more I can flesh out to make $600 a more worthy price, and even then I don't think I would charge $600. After all, I am in this for the heritage, not the money . . . but as was said earlier, my time is definitely worth something.
So, where do we go from here? First, decide on how much time you can give me to do your family. The more time will help bring down the price because I won't be up against a walland will be able to do my normal job as an author.
Then, send Darwyn an email (using the email icon at the end of this page or simply an email to Darwyn@yonderplaces.com), telling him what you're interested in finding, how many generations back, etc. In the email give him:
1. Your name,
2. Your parents names (correct spelling), and
3. Hopefully names that break the 1930 barrier, meaning names of your
parents or family who was living back then. Without them we would be forced
to subscribe to those sites about living members, and we just aren't willing
to do that yet.
I will do a cursory search and within a day or two, or at the most three days, give you an idea of what might come about. From there we can agree on a time allowance for me, the presentation, etc, and of course my fee. The fee will be payable up front and non-refundable, so, it's important that we both know what we are signing up for. I don't want you or I losing out. Together we can make your ancestrial heritage an exciting happening.
My time is so precious that I don't dare squander it, which is why Darwyn has stepped in as the overseer. If this all sounds like something you'd be interested in, then by all means send an email with the information cited in the above paragraphs. And make sure that Darwyn's response (Darwyn@yonderplaces.com) is not sent to your spam folder when he answers.
Thanks for inquiring, and while you're here, feel free to visit all the pages in this website. There's a lot of information provided in case you would rather compile your family history on your own. I would certainly advise a trial subscription to www.ancestry.com if you want to dabble before you decide, but definitley read the articles in the Articles section of this site so you are prepared and not waste your money.
Kindest regards,
Morgan Chai
ARTICLES INDEX | ORPHAN TRAINS
