CUSTOM FAMILY TREES
ABOUT ME:
I've spent 20 years researching family history, all beginning from the “seed" that was planted in my brain when I discovered my grandfather's family tree in a drawer in my childhood home when I was in elementary school. He traced our family back to the 1700s, but there were a lot of missing pieces. Over the years I was able to fill in the blanks using the new technologies and libraries available today, and the research led me to two major revelations about our family history:
#1: We had several family members that died in the holocaust, including a 5 year old girl who was previously unknown to our family and died as an “orphan, guardian unknown." I traveled through Germany and Poland and pieced together her biography, finding numerous documents that still exist about her.
#2: We had extensive Native American ancestry on my maternal line that was previously unknown. Further research led me to the Guaraní missions in northern Argentina where this history still stands, and ultimately to discover that every single person on my maternal line descends from an ancient indigenous population from southeast China known as haplogroup B, a group that managed to get from Asia to South America in ways scientists still can't fully explain.
These histories have helped me understand our family and myself in much deeper ways.
I've helped numerous friends and family with their family research over the years, and each one has stories as unique as these. It all starts with a family tree. Let's plant yours together.
WHY SEEDS OF THE PAST?
Why a physical tree and not digital? It's simple: we live in a time where digital histories can be lost in an instant... or so much information exists that it no longer is interesting to future generations; or it gets lost with time or misplacement. A physical tree with the specific information you want to be remembered is the key to ensuring this important history endures, can be shared, and can be found, just like my grandfather's tree he assembled with a typewriter in the 1980s, before I was born and before his illness (combined with my young age) made it impossible for me to communicate with him about our history. Seeds of the Past is a time capsule that allows for these histories to endure, ready to be watered.
PRICING
$225 base fee (includes 25 people).
$5 for each additional person added.
*Customer to provide initial information & photos. Free research to expand family tree / fill in missing information. Extensive research available for a separate fee (inquire within). Phone / email / Zoom consultations free of charge.
Included in base fee: Large format printing on standard paper (12 inches by 30 inches or wider), shipping within the U.S., decorative protective tube, & USB drive with high resolution digital version of family tree at 600ppi.
High resolution printing on luster photo paper for display or framing also available for $30 per print.
Modifications to existing trees from Seeds of the Past available for a layout modification fee of $20-$50 (depending on the scope of change), along with $5 per person added.
Turnaround time is 2 weeks or less once photos & info are received.
Payment is collected after layout is completed and approved.