There is a process to genealogy and it starts with you. What clues do you posses? What do you already know? What records and evidence do you already have? What stories do you remember being told as a child that might not be true but that could hold kernels of information? Do those family papers need physical or digital preservation or even cataloging? Getting as much as possible out of what you have is our first step. Sometimes what seems to be known turns out to be less than certain, other times piecing together existing evidence leads one a bit farther than believed possible.

When the preexisting evidence, ideas, hypothesis and stories are organized and understood, it is time to begin drawing on new sources, combining information, thinking things through and documenting the evidence and logic, all the time approaching the goal. In genealogy there are no guarantees but the journey is always an interesting one.

With longstanding passions for research, history, and language, I relish combining those interests. There is nothing like digging into the little quirks and forgotten details of history that just happened to touch an ancestral life. Sometimes those quirks are dramatic and eye-opening, other times they might be the odd curiosity that one never hears about in a history class. The merest hint in a document can point in directions both famous and infamous and lead down fascinating paths.

I pride myself in writing precise, understandable reports that give you the evidence and logic you need to really understand where the investigation has led. You get the citations and see the documents, maps and charts.

Family history is not only the evidence and reasoning that lead to a conclusion. It is also the implications of little vignettes in a local newspaper, mentions in county histories, accusations, hints and interesting conjunctions of facts. It is odd stories, tall tales and little oddities that actually bring people to life. It is about our connections to our past.

Telling the stories is what brings family history to life. I love discovering how client’s forebears touched history’s great currents and little ripples and were changed by them.

Beyond documenting findings, I write and design family history books. I can take projects from the first stages of understanding and organizing what you have, through genealogical research, background research, photo analysis, scanning, photographing and image correction, then on to writing the story of the family, editing it, and designing the book. In the end you get a bound book in your hand. A book might be a few dozen pages of narrative or hundreds of pages of carefully laid out text and illustrations. Images might include old family photographs, digitized documents and pictures of heirlooms—whatever helps tell the story and add interest for the eye, whatever might inspire a relative to share your fascination with the personal past.

You can read samples of my writing in my weekly blog posts.

I am also available as a speaker. Currently, I present the talks:

Introduction to Genealogy, a look at some of the basics of how to think about genealogy and develop a healthy skepticism; the basic records, where to find them, keeping track of them; and more.

Space-Time for Family Historians: Timewarps and Curved Space aren’t just for Physicists, an entertaining look at how the times and places we read about and research are not always what they seem.

Developing a Sixth Census: finding more in “the Census” than meets the eye, a presentation designed to help you really squeeze as much as you can from census data of many shapes and sizes. This talk can be tailored for a standard one hour presentation or a half day seminar.

Mapping the Past, Navigating Your Family History with Maps, looks at different types of maps and how to use them to understand your ancestors towns and migrations; changing borders and extracting data and even names from maps.

Quantum Mechanics for 5th Graders, yes, I’ve really given this talk and no, it doesn’t have anything to do with genealogy, not even a mention of the pedigree of Schrödinger’s cat.

My goal as a speaker is always to inform in a memorable and entertaining way. I like to come at my topics from slightly unusual angles. It makes speaking more fun and hopefully encourages people to take a fresh look at each subject.

Daniel, I’ve tried for over a year to have these obits translated & I’m thrilled with the results—especially where my great grandfather originated from in Prussia.

- Margaret

Dan, After talking to you last Friday, one-on-one, I know your enthusiasm is inspired by reason, controlled by caution, sound in theory, practical in application, reflects confidence, inspires association, it is beyond any price you may request.

- Norbert

Dan! Showed the report to my dad and he was surprised and overjoyed!

- Ellen

I am thrilled over the information you gave me on Oscar. Thank you!

- Jan-Olof

Dan, I wish to congratulate you again on your eye-opening presentation last night. In my opinion, it was one of the very best our group has had. I highly recommend it to anyone digging into the past. In fact I’d say it is a must.

- Alex Rafferty

President Lake County (IL) Genealogical Society

Daniel gave a very interesting presentation at the Swedish American Museum on the topic “Space-time for Family Historians – Timewarps and Curved Space aren’t just for Physicists”. Daniel’s passion for the subject was clear and we all learned a lot about calendars, clock time and places. The evening was very interesting to historians as well as genealogists. I highly recommend Daniel Hubbard to give genealogy presentations.

- Karin Moen Abercrombie

Executive Director Swedish American Museum