Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Have you checked out Genlighten's services recently?

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One of the most intriguing genealogy success stories (at least in my view) is Genlighten, the brainchild of Dean Richardson (who also writes the Genlighten blog).

Genlighten is a commercial genealogy research service (and there are others). Dean has enlisted many genealogy researchers to perform lookups or research in specific repositories or for specific records. The process is described in the FAQ page here. Genlighten receives a portion of the fees for connecting the client with the provider.

Occasionally, Dean highlights one of the providers in a blog post. Today, that person is Michael Hait from the Washington DC area. As part of the interview with Michael, he lists the specific research services that Michael provides. It's an impressive list:

* Maryland Death Certificates, 1875-1982
* Colonial Maryland probate records, 1635-1777
* Search of Maryland County Deed Indexes, 1635-present
* 1867 Texas Voter Registration List (all counties), 1867
* Prince George’s County, Maryland, Wills, 1696-1963

* Maryland Land Patents, 1637-2000
* Prince George’s County, Maryland Marriage Licenses/Records, 1777-1886
* 1783 Maryland Tax Assessment, 1783
* 1776 Maryland State Census, 1776
* Civil War pension files - Union, 1865-1950

Some of those really intrigued me, because my wife has Maryland and DC ancestry (McKnew, Pickrell, Prather, others).

For instance, a lookup in the Prince George's County Wills costs $5 if the index search is unsuccessful, and $15 if the records are found and provided.

What about the Union Civil War pension files? Michael charges $6 for an unsuccessful index search, and $50 for obtaining and providing the complete pension file. That's a real bargain - it costs at least $75 to obtain the file from NARA by mail.

What research needs do you have? Have you checked the Genlighten provider list, and the genealogy services and documents they can provide for a reasonable cost to you?

The list of services and providers is here. Is there something on this list that you need? You can select a specific country and see the services offered for that country. The Genlighten Overview for Lookup Clients is here.

Do you want to be a Genlighten lookup provider? You can be - the Genlighten Lookup Provider FAQ is here.

I'm tempted! I need to check for records in Dodge County, Wisconsin and Hillsborough County, NH, Mercer County, PA, and Jefferson County, NY.

Disclosure: I am not an employee, contractor or affiliate of Genlighten, and have received no remuneration for writing this blog post. I do know and enjoy the company of Dean Richardson, and appreciate his efforts to bring affordable research services to the genealogy world.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've used Genlighten - very good service - very affordable. Cynthia at Chicagogenealogy went above and beyond for me.

Catherine Green

Michael Hait said...

Thanks for mentioning Genlighten and the services I provide through their platform!

Dean Richardson said...

Thanks Randy... this made our day here at "Genlighten World Headquarters". :)