Our journey in genealogy research and who we are as a family has been a passion of Dunham Genealogy Services' founder, Joann Dunham since she was a girl. Given family heirlooms by both grandmothers, she has always been interested in who owned them, when, and what it was like 'back then'. Her curiosity continued to grow as she became older, and slowly some of the family lore was understood as she connected the dots between both sides of her family. Her father's family is a mix of English (part of the Pilgram Colonies) and French Canadian. As they migrated from Massachusetts, through Connecticut, and the lower part of New York State, they finally settled in the Adirondack Mountain area where many French-Canadians also settled due to its beauty, abundance of lumber, hunting and its beginnings as a growing tourist destination for 'city folk'. Dunham ancestors have fought in nearly every war.
Her mother's side of the family is also a mix of English, Welsh and Irish. Whitacre's, Perkin's and Gregory's from England, Carey's from Ireland and Pritchard's and Jones' from Wales. The journeys of these families led most of them to central New York State where many were farmers, worked the railroads or on the infamous Erie Canal. Many of the women in these families were nurses. Much of this information was collected through research from census records, vital records, immigration and naturalization records, land records, wills and probate documents, cemetery records, family photos and newspaper articles. Joann also made many 'cold calls' to family members to introduce herself and explain the family connection. The result of this journey has led to finding new and wonderful cousins, lost family members, attending new reunions and finding a common interest in many of us to learn our family roots. All it took to spark the interest was an antique chest full of old dishes, eyeglasses, antique kitchen gadgets and other unique items.
A lifetime interest and years of experience in ancestral research, collecting family stories through paper or oral history, Joann expanded her experience with coaching, lecturing, heirloom preservation, photo identification, DNA interpretation and analysis and developing creative solutions for print and publication of family stories, trees, reunions, family keepsakes and their history.
She is a member of the following:
Joann successfully completed the Genealogical Research Certificate program through Boston University’s Center for Professional Education in 2018, and is a ProGen 42 Alumni. She also holds a B.A. in Music and English.
Being centrally located in the Albany, New York State area, she has easy access to all of New York's counties and town clerks, historical societies, all cemeteries, major libraries and archives. This includes major cities such as, Boston, Montreal, Philadelphia and New York City. The New England states are also very accessible.
All of our research and resulting artifacts adheres to the Board for Certification of Genealogists (BCG) Genealogical Code of Ethics and follows the five Genealogical Proof Standards (GPS).
Typical Genealogy Research Projects Include:*
• Review and Analysis of Previous Research (if any)
• Precise Research Plan
• Targeted Online Research
• On-Site Repository Research (when requested and feasible)
• Family Member Interviews (when requested and feasible)
• Itemized Research Findings
• In-Depth Evidence Analysis with Historical Context
• Full Citation of Sources
• Transcriptions of Documents (when necessary and/or requested)
• Document Images (if available and unrestricted by the repository)
• Recommendations for Further Research
Genetic Genealogy Consulting Services are estimated individually. Please contact us for your initial free consultation.
For further information please refer to: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joanndunham/.