Genealogy Ferret

Census, Vital Statistics, Obituaries, Maps & Place Names Research/Lookups

Looking for a record? I can help.

Need to find someone in a census record, city directory, or death index? Trying to locate a village, township, cemetery, stream, or hill? Want a map of a certain area? Searching for an obituary in an old newspaper?

You could write away for information, but even if you knew where to write, often the reply to your query takes months. You could plan a research trip to the LDS Center in Salt Lake City or to the Washington DC area, but for many that's unfeasible.

I've worked 21 years as a Research Analyst at the Library of Congress and am familiar with the vast amount of information in the collections. I live in the Washington area and it's a short drive to the National Archives and the library of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). And with years of computer work and Internet searches, I can easily find genealogical information that's been published on the web.

Some of the services I can provide are:

Cemeteries: location of both present-day and historical. Contact information and maps, if available.

Census Records: from 1790 to 1930.

City Directories: names, addresses, and occupations of individuals from the Library of Congress's vast city directory collection.

Deaths: search of online state death indexes and the Social Security Death Index (SSDI).

Library Catalogs: a call number for any book published in the United States and information on how you can obtain the book through your local library.

Maps: topographic or street maps for any location in the United States.

Military: a search of WWI draft registrations.

Obituaries: copies of any existing obituaries in major (and many minor) US newspapers from the 19th and 20th centuries.

Places: location of both present-day and historical populated areas (towns, townships, villages, counties, etc.) or topographic features (hills, rivers, streams, inlets, lakes, etc.)