Carpenter Genealogical Services

Professional Genealogy Company based in Salt Lake City

Carpenter Genealogical Services (CGS) is a fully trained Professional Genealogical Research group that enjoys helping people with newly-found genealogical interests, as well as those who have already begun their quest to build their family tree.

For those of you needing help finding answers to general United States genealogical research questions, THIS IS THE PLACE! Our staff of Professional Genealogists can help you find those answers. Whether you are new to Family History Research or are stumbling along, not able to locate just the right records, CGS can guide you or provide the research expertise that may help locate those illusive ancestors.

US specifics:

Pennsylvania:
Scots - Irish families
Pennsylvania German families

Specific location specialities:
Southwest Pa - specifically Morris Twp., Washington and Greene Counties including early settlers from New Jersey into western Pennsylvania prior to 1800. I've traced many of these early families as they migrated into the area of Virginia that later became parts of West Virginia and into Ohio and further west. I have a large database of these families.

Scot-Irish Virginia families - specifically those who migrated into Orange, Augusta, Monroe, Greenbrier, Botetourt counties. Many of these hardy Virginia Scots-Irish families eventualy left Virginia and migrated into Kentucky and Tennessee or Kentucky and Ohio.

Europe
For those persons lucky enough to already know an exact place of origin for their European ancestor(s), CGS can immediately begin research with European records. The FHL houses an extensive collection of old German Empire records, as well as records of Switzerland, France, Austria and Scandinavia. Parish registers are available as early as the 1500's in some areas (specifically Baden and Württemberg) but at least one to two hundred years later in other areas. Wars and other catastrophes caused destruction of some registers (as might be expected), thus availability varies greatly from place to place.

Civil registration was instituted much later. The French introduced civil registration in 1798 in those areas of Germany annexed by Napoleon Bonaparte. Baden began civil registration in 1810, and records from Prussia are available beginning 1 October 1874. On 1 January 1876, civil registration was officially mandated in all areas of the German Empire.

If an exact place of origin is unknown, research will need to begin with U.S. sources. Emigration lists for Hamburg, Germany are available from 1850-1934. Passenger lists for most major American ports also are available through the mid-Twentieth Century, and generally are indexed. In addition, naturalization, military, census, church, vital, and other records can be used to establish European origins.

There are similar types of records for Switzerland and portions of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire (now part of the modern-day countries of Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Italy and Yugoslavia). Swiss records are more plentiful at the FHL than those from other Eastern European countries, but always inquire about specific areas.

The following areas of the old German Empire have been highlighted below, as they have the most complete records at the FHL. Other areas of Germany, Poland, Switzerland and Austria may also be available, so please inquire in all cases.

Baden
Bayern (Bavaria)
Brandenburg, Prussia [now partially Poland]
Elsass-Lothringen (Alsace-Lorraine) [now in France]
Hannover, Prussia (Hanover)
Hessen (often referred to as Hesse Darmstadt)
Hessen-Nassau, Prussia
Mecklenburg (Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz)
Oldenburg
Ostpreussen, Prussia (East Prussia) [now in Poland, Russia and Lithuania]
Pfalz (Palatine/Palatinate)
Rheinland, Prussia (Rhineland)
Schlesien, Prussia (Silesia) [now partially in Poland & the Czech Republic]
Westfalen, Prussia (Westphalia)
Westpreussen, Prussia (West Prussia) [now Poland]
Württemberg (Wuerttemberg)

Membership:
APG, past President SLCAPG, UGA, FGS, Mayflower Society, Clan Little of NA

Rates
Region Cost per hour Includes United States/Canada $35.00

Specialty Areas: Pennsylvania - Colonial and Pennsylvania German, Colonial Virginia, Ohio, New England, Mid-West and Frontier Wyoming

INQUIRE ABOUT GENEROUS LDS and MILITARY DISCOUNTS!

European $40.00 Germany, Switzerland, France, Austria, Scandinavia and some Central and South American Countries

Other Services
Extended U. S. Projects
Twelve Hour $375.00 Save $45
Twenty Hour $600.00 Save $100
Forty Hour $1150.00 Save $250
Personal Consultation at Family History Library (By appointment)
One Hour $30.00 Four Hours $100.00