Ancestry & Genealogy Services
Every person’s life is a story and every family tree is full of countless stories waiting to be told.
Just how well do you know your family history? You probably haven’t done much investigation of your ancestry outside of the occasional school assignment. But you are in the right place today. At Ancestry and Genealogy Services, you will learn things about your family history that you didn’t know. Sit back and get ready for some surprising revelations.
While sitting down with your older family members and listening to their experiences may offer some insight, hiring a professional genealogist will provide more in-depth information. You’ll grow to love and respect your unique history and identity. Here are the life-changing benefits of exploring your ancestry through a professional service.
Improves Sense of Self
Learning about one’s ancestors is a great approach to giving one’s life greater meaning and feeling like part of something larger than themselves and their current circumstances. Learning about one’s ancestors’ origins, identities, activities, triumphs over adversity, and aspirations for the future can strengthen a person’s connection to their sense of identity and purpose. Through professional genealogy research, you can trace your family tree back through the generations.
Enhances Resilience
Understanding our roots helps us weather difficult times. To understand how our predecessors overcame obstacles and made it through trying times, we don’t need to look further than their own lives. Their experiences show us that life isn’t always smooth sailing and that we can bounce back from setbacks and find success despite the challenges we face.
Stimulates the Mind
Genealogical research not only gives a welcome diversion from monotony and boredom but also offers opportunities to learn new things and boost one’s confidence. When seniors are allowed to reconnect with their memories and discover new information about family members they never knew existed, the experience can have a profound psychological effect. Researchers have found that walking down memory lane can have a calming effect on both your blood pressure and heart rate.
Enhances Relationships Within Families
Siblings, offspring, and grandkids may all join in on the fun of learning about their family tree. It can unite relatives around a common passion and spark conversations between generations. Learning about shared ancestors has a way of opening up avenues of communication. It’s not uncommon for family members who have been separated for a long period to be reunited via genealogy research.
Builds Connections
One other benefit of exploring your genealogy is the introduction to like-minded people. It offers an opportunity to connect with other people who share your passion for genealogy and history. If you have an interest in history, studying your family tree is a great way to expand your knowledge of the past and make new connections. Getting to know your family history’s interesting characters is a terrific way to expand your social circle.
Renews Appreciation for Family
People of all ages recognize the significance of family at a certain point, and that’s not only the folks we grew up with or nurtured but also the vast extended family of third cousins twice removed, great-aunts, and great-great-great grandparents. There are several benefits to looking back at previous generations. Even if they have been gone for many years, they may still offer great insight into our families, our history, and ourselves.
Sparks Cultural and Religious Interest
In some cases, your social status will be determined by your family tree. Church records offer an excellent genealogical resource. These documents are not only useful to the religious community but also to genealogists around the world.
It might be interesting to learn about the traditions your forefathers and extended family observed while commemorating special occasions. Your perspective of the world and your views will be enriched by your exposure to the ideas and practices of others, especially those who may have come from a different culture or faith. If you want to know who you are and where you came from, consult a professional genealogist.
Improves One’s Emotional Health
A healthy emotional life has been linked to a solid family narrative. For a study, the psychologists at Atlanta’s Emory University polled 48 families with a set of 20 questions concerning their ancestry. The researchers discovered that kids felt more in charge of their life when they acquired more details about their families. They also believed their families were more functional and had higher levels of confidence.
The youngsters gained a deep feeling of their past and an intergenerational identity through listening to these tales. According to psychologists Robyn Fivush and Marshall Duke, even if they were just nine years old, their identity extends back 100 years, giving them a sense of connectedness, strength, and resilience.
Offers a Sense of Purpose
Many people struggle to find meaningful activities in their golden years. Recent retirees sometimes experience depression as they adjust to a new lifestyle, one that lacks the structure of their previous careers. Learning about one’s ancestry may offer fascinating insight, which can spark new ideas. It’s possible to be lost in the mysteries of your family’s history for a long time, as there are always going to be new puzzles and revelations.
Younger people struggle to find a sense of purpose, too, especially when it comes to making major life decisions like going to college or applying for a dream job. With the help of a professional genealogist, a twenty-something can discover information about their family that can help them make decisions that will positively affect their futures.
Enhances Your Sense of Compassion
Hearing family tales might make you more grateful and compassionate. In the process of researching your ancestry, you may discover that your great-grandfather served in World War I and then worked tirelessly to support his family in the years of the post-war recession. You may also get to understand that your success is closely intertwined with the fortitude and luck of your forefathers.
Through researching your family tree, you may get insight into your heritage and appreciate the many hands that helped shape you into the person you are today. Having a firm grasp of your family’s history and lineage might make you more empathetic and dedicated to continuing the best of their legacy into the future.
Uplifts You
Other than the fact that it’s fun, what other motivation does one need to learn about their family history? Learning uplifting tales from your ancestors is one of the nicest elements of researching your family tree. Hearing about your great-great-aunt’s life-altering decision to own a business or your grandparents’ sweet courtship may be a lot of fun. Finding out you have a historical figure or celebrity ancestor in your family tree may be a great source of pride.
You can also disclose your findings to other relatives as you learn about your family history. Learning about and sharing the traditions, memories, and even how our ancestors may have survived tragedy can help preserve our current family circles. To receive professional help on how to learn about your family history, give Ancestry and Genealogy a call today! We can’t wait to help you learn more about your family’s legacy.
Our Story
About us
We are a professional genealogy research company based in beautiful, historic St. Augustine, FL. Genealogist, Andrea LaVallee-Maggs, provides her research services with a personal one-on-one approach that you won’t get from the mainstream genealogy websites. Whether you are looking to start a family tree from scratch or you have been doing your own research and have hit a wall, we are happy to talk to you and see how we can help.
Every person’s life is a story and every family tree is full of countless stories waiting to be told. Let us help you discover your family’s story so you can celebrate your ancestors and preserve their legacy for your future generations.
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Services
Our Services
Research services are billed per hour. After your consultation we will determine the estimated number of hours needed to research your specific project. Additional hours and expense reimbursement are subject to client authorization. Extra services include family tree database creation and printed pedigree charts and posters. Please see our services page for the complete fee schedule.
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