Research Your Roots
Experience the joy of discovering your ancestors!
Let me help you research your roots
and unearth your family history
through genealogy seminars, research, and writing.
Why hire a professional genealogist?
Most people who research their family history (also known as “doing genealogy”) do so as a hobby. This might be for a wide range of personal reasons, such as honoring one’s ancestors or for the joy of solving historical puzzles.
However, there comes a time in every hobby or personal journey where you need advice, a how-to tutorial, or expert guidance. Doing family history research, you might have questions like:
- How do I get started?
- How do I get organized?
- What sources do I need to prove I found the right ancestor?
- Where do I find those documents I need?
- How do I get past a “brick wall” (where you get stuck)?
You might ask the first question (getting started) only once, but the other questions come up over and over again, each time to get to a new generation, a new location, or another missing woman’s name…..
This is where hiring a professional genealogist comes in. Professionals can either show you new places to search, or conduct the research for you.
Professional genealogists follow research best practices as codified in the Genealogical Proof Standard. We subscribe to a code of ethics to promise, among other things, to clearly document what we find (or don’t find). We continually seek new genealogical education to provide the best advice and results for clients. And belong to groups like the Association of Professional Genealogists which assures the public we adhere to these standards and ethics.
Sarah Busse Spencer
My name is Sarah Busse Spencer. I learned to love family history through watching my mother’s lifelong quest for her ancestors. And learning stories of my ancestors was a hobby for me too, until 2018, when I dived in to professional research.
I have been around genealogy all my life. I even wrote an essay for a high school history class summarizing what my mother knew about her ancestors. After graduating from Harvard College, I chose an academic profession and got a PhD in Sociology and Russian History from the University of Chicago. Along the way I learned German and Russian and lived in both those countries. Having taught in higher education, I then decided it was time to get serious about this hobby.
Going professional for me started with academic study, earning two certificates in Family History Research from Brigham Young University-Idaho (one of the few colleges in the U.S. which teach genealogy as an academic subject). I also pursue continuing education at conferences like FEEFHS.
Through this academic preparation, continuing education and experience with clients, I specialize in:
* helping clients find the European hometown of their immigrant ancestors
* finding records from the former Russian Empire (that’s most of Eastern Europe today)
* finding records from the former German and Austrian-Hungarian Empires
* deciphering old vital records in English, Latin, German, Russian and Polish
* writing reports on these old records, transcribing or translating as needed
So, whether you are just beginning digging in search of your roots, or have researched for years and come across a “brick wall,” let me help you on this journey. Let me use my expertise to:
* teach you how to research your roots
* coach you along the way as you research your roots
* conduct research on tough questions that come up as you research your roots
* write an article, blog, or book documenting the research of your roots
Research Your Roots Services:
- Workshops and seminars
–> when you want to learn to find your ancestors on your own
–> when your library or genealogical society wants a speaker
- Full service professional genealogical research
–> when you get stuck
–> when run out of time or
–> when you want the joy of discovery without hassle
- Writing family history reports, essays, blogs or entire books
–>when you want a professionally written product to share with friends and family
- Reading, deciphering, transliterating, translating or transcribing vital records
–> in English, German, Russian, Polish, Latin (and some Swedish, Norwegian!)
Sarah Busse Spencer, PhD
Workshops and Seminars
Public lectures to get you started for free
Small group seminars at reasonable cost
Individual coaching sessions for the most personalized help
Lectures on demand for your workplace or other group
Full Service Professional Genealogical Research
Includes:
custom tailored research question
professional research (US and Europe)
written report with citations and documents where available
Genealogical Writing Services
Tailored to your needs, for example:
family tree and narrative to share at a family reunion
family history book either up (ancestors of) or down (descendants of)
blogs, articles, slides, or reports, for birthday, anniversary, retirement, or other occassions
Full service
professional genealogical research
First, I consult with you to discover your priorities and what you most want to learn and about which ancestor.
Next, I design a customized research plan to focus on seeking answers to these questions.
We are always at the mercy of what records have been preserved, and we cannot know until we look whether that marriage record, birth certificate or land deed has survived (or was destroyed in a fire or a war). Therefore, I cannot promise results in advance. Never pay someone who promises specific documents before starting research.
What I do guarantee is to be thorough and efficient, using the latest digital finding aids, and to provide a full list of searches conducted to locate those records. Fees for full service research are determined by the number of hours spent on the project.
Full service research also includes a final written report including a pedigree chart of information found and images of the documents that were located. The report can be customized to meet your needs, such as an anniversary, birthday, retirement, family reunion or other special occassion.
Services are priced per hour, and are generally contracted in blocks of time, depending on the complexity of the project.
Workshops and Seminars: Helping you learn how to do your family history
Each of these workshops I have delivered in public settings in person or online. Click on the Events tab at the top for upcoming dates of my next workshops. These can also be delivered on request in person or online to your group, large or small, such as genealogy society, library, workplace or church group. Fill out the form on the Contact page to get pricing and details.
Each of these talks can be tailored to beginners, intermediate or experienced genealogy audiences. Please specify preferred level when ordering.
- Digging Up Your German Roots
- The Immigrant Experience: Tracing Immigrants to their Home Towns
- Tracing Germans from Russia
- Obtaining Vital Records from Poland
- Researching Ancestors from the Russian Empire (with examples from across Eastern Europe)
- What’s in a Patronymic? Doing Family History in Sweden and Norway
- Finding the Elusive Maiden Name: Tips for Uncovering Women’s Stories
- Exploring Military Records
- Conducting Oral History Interviews
- Getting Started and Getting Organized
- Introduction to FamilySearch (or Expert Tips for Using FamilySearch)
- Introduction to Ancestry (or Expert Tips for Using Ancestry)
- The Big Three: Using FamilySearch, Ancestry and MyHeritage
I am developing new talks all the time–if you don’t see something of interest, please inquire!
Want to know what my typical hour-long seminar looks like online? Check out a recording of my online 2026 RootsTech presentation: Digging Up Your German Roots.
I also designed and delivered an undergraduate, semester-long course on genealogy as a “special topics” class for a college history department. Would you like your local college to offer such a class? Let’s make it happen!
Getting Started and Getting Organized
When:
Where:
Want to learn about your ancestors but don’t know where to start? Have information but need to get organized? This workshop presents the best websites and downloadable forms for getting organized. This workshop can also be adapted for school and youth audiences.
Finding Immigrants’ Hometowns
When:
Where:
Most people in the U.S. came from somewhere else. Learn best practices for finding your ancestors’ hometown in US records so you can continue research in their home country. Best for those familiar with several record types.
Getting the Most out of FamilySearch
When:
Where:
Advanced tips for using the world’s largest, free genealogy database and Shared Tree for accelerating your research on your ancestors.
Digging Up Your German Roots
When:
Where:
This workshop presents historical background and maps for understanding Germany. We also discuss best practices for tracing German immigrants. The workshop also introduces major German genealogy websites.
Coming Soon
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