Just as many proper young ladies do while growing up in New Jersey, I regularly took strolls downtown with a sibling or two to grab a slice at our favorite pizzeria.  On our way to the pizzeria, we would cut through the old Rockaway Presbyterian church's cemetery.  Often, we'd spend more time exploring old gravestones than we would eating pizza at the pizzeria.  Curiosity about who these people were and what kind of lives they lived could only sit on my mind for so long. The church's sexton provided me with copies of documents about some of those buried in the graveyard and my intrigue only grew from there. I became a regular visitor to a local family history library in an effort to learn more about these people. The information I found fascinated me.  I studied the lives of Revolutionary War heroes such as Brigadier General William Winds and investigated the life of a woman whose 19th century gravestone simply stated "Jose Phene A woman of colour". 

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In college, I continued to explore my interest in genealogy by taking several genealogy classes while obtaining my degree.  During my Junior and Senior years of college, I was asked to teach a family history course on campus, which I did for two semesters. When I graduated, I moved to Utah to begin a career in market research.  As Senior Account Executive, I managed several large scale research initiatives as part of a Global Key Accounts team.  During 5 of those years, I used much of my spare time to serve as a volunteer genealogist for a local family history library.  I also continued my genealogical education by attending the annual rootstech conference held in Salt Lake City and by participating in numerous educational webinars.

 

Many years ago, I developed a somewhat unique hobby, which further refined my knack for research detective work.  I enjoyed exploring a local antiques market, but whenever I saw old photos of people for sale, I couldn't help feeling badly for the person captured in the photo. Photos taken in the late 1800s and early 1900s were of particular interest to me.  In those days, it was a big deal to have a portrait taken.  In my mind, I could imagine these men and women assembling their best outfits in preparation for being photographed.  On occasion, a photo would pull at my heart strings like the two portraits of men I found each with notes written by mourning widows on the insides of their respective photo cases. When I found a photo that spoke to me or when I saw one that had a name written on the back, I would buy it.  I then researched the person in the photograph and identified generations that descended from them, located a living relative, and offered to return the photograph to the family.  All it takes is one person to sell family photos to a shop for them to be lost to all future generations.  I wanted the photos to find their proper homes, but I also thoroughly enjoyed the great challenge of identifying the person in the photo and reuniting them with living relatives.

 

After working full-time in market research for 12 years, I decided to make a career change to one I love and am passionate about.  I take great pride in being able to uncover treasures of information for those looking to learn more about their family histories.  My more recent successes came as I was deeply involved in historical research relating to the retreat of General George Washington's army during the Revolutionary War.  My research took me to various libraries and museums in Philidelphia, Washington D.C., and New Jersey.  I spoke with several experts on the subject and significant effort went into carefully inspecting crumbling old parchment, non-indexed official records, 18th century receipts, periodicals, and more. Despite previous generations researching this specific event and topic, I discovered detail that had never been included in the narrative.  Needless to say, I am relentless in my pursuit to find answers and embrace research challenges that others may shy away from.

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As a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, or APG, I participate in continued education and commit to abide by the APG Code of Ethics and Professional Practices.