There are over 450 genealogical societies based in the United States per the Federation of Genealogical Society’s count. These genealogical societies can be broken down into five different subcategories: Genealogical, Historical, Lineage & Hereditary, Fraternal, and Ethnic.
Genealogical Societies are often membership based, like the Federation of Genealogical Society or the National Genealogical Society, and a membership fee is all that is needed to join.
An example of a Historical Society would be the American Association for State and Local History out of Nashville, Tennessee. States may have county-specific historic societies that will keep records of documents and may be willing to take your family records if they had ties to that area.
Lineage & Hereditary Societies are what societies like the Daughters of the American Revolution, The Mayflower Society, Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, or the Society of Witches are considered. These societies can be based off of employment (farmer, tavern keeper, etc), travel (Mayflower, etc), military service (serving in any war in the capacity of a service member, patriotic duty, or civil duty), or interest. First Families would also be an example of this type of society – if its proven that your family was in an area during a specific time period, they may be considered one of the “First Families” and you can apply to join.
Examples of Fraternal Societies include the Masons, the International Order of Odd Fellows, the Elks or Moose, and the Order of the Eastern Star. Members in these societies were involved in political, social, and financial activities. Active societies are still involved in these activities.
Ethnic Societies are focused on ethnicity and examples include the Order of Sons and Daughters of Italy in America, the American Jewish Historical Society, and Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.
The most often requested service is joining a lineage society (like the DAR – Daughters of the American Revolution, the Mayflower, etc) or heritage society. The service includes the following expectations of No Ancestor Left Behind:
* Look over all information presented by client about potential objective. (This is to make sure that no research already completed is repeated in this session and charged to the client.)
* Define the Research Problem or Objective
* Develop a written Research Plan
* Conduct Research
* Analyze Findings
* Written Report about What Was Found or Preparing Forms for Lineage Society Applications
This service is $50 per hour and billed in 10-hour increments; record acquisition fees are the responsibility of the client and may change the expected time for completion as one may need to wait for records to be received. Half of the rate is due upon the acceptance of the research objective, before research will get started, and the remainder is due at the completion of the 10-hours. If additional hours are needed, the client will be notified to accept the additional hours or end the project. Fees charged by the society for membership (the dues to join and continue membership) are not included in this rate and will need to be paid by the client to the organization. If the project is completed in fewer than 10 hours, the additional time could be used towards a subsequent application or refunded to the client.
All No Ancestor Left Behind work is done in accordance with the Association of Professional Genealogists Code of Ethics and the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists Code of Ethics.
Gift certificates for research or consultations are also available.
Please use the Contact Us form to contact Jennifer about your research needs.
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