Currently accepting clients for...

• Family History Research

Chrystal Pond is a professional genealogist and historical researcher with experience conducting research throughout the United States and the British Isles. For her, genealogy is about more than establishing names, dates, and relationships. She enjoys discovering the details that reveal who people were, how they lived, where they went, and the circumstances that shaped their lives.

She particularly enjoys complex research problems, especially those requiring the correlation of evidence across multiple sources, resolution of conflicting information, differentiation between individuals with similar identities, or investigation of family stories. Her research experience includes family history, migration, military service, mining communities, and house and property histories.

As an experienced paleographer, Chrystal is skilled in reading and interpreting historical handwriting. She also provides transcription and abstracting services and particularly enjoys working with documents that may initially seem difficult or inaccessible.

Genealogical Research Services

Projects range from focused research questions to larger family-history investigations. Depending on the question, research may draw upon vital and church records, censuses, probate and court files, land and property records, military records, newspapers, directories, immigration and naturalization records, passenger lists, border crossings, cemetery records, and other historical sources.

Client research is evidence-based and thoroughly documented. Projects include a written report explaining the research conducted, evidence discovered, analysis, and conclusions, accompanied by source citations, a research log, and copies of relevant records.

Education

Chrystal holds an MSc with Distinction in Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde. She also holds an AAS in Family History Research from Brigham Young University–Idaho and a BA in Psychology from Northern Arizona University.

Dissertation

Her master’s dissertation, Death in the Copper State: Genealogical Research into the Lives and Deaths of Arizona Miners, 1916–1929, reconstructed the lives of 700 men killed in Arizona mining accidents. Rather than treating these men simply as mortality statistics, the study sought to recover their identities, families, origins, movements, and individual stories through extensive genealogical research and record linkage.

The research also included an audit of the Arizona State Mine Inspector’s Annual Reports for completeness and accuracy, identifying fatalities omitted from the reports, discrepancies within recorded information, and significant archival gaps affecting Mexican and Spanish-descended miners. The study combined genealogical research with quantitative analysis, entity resolution, microhistory, and prosopography to restore identity and context to individuals who had largely disappeared from the historical narrative.

Research Approach

Chrystal’s work is driven by the belief that genealogy is about reconstructing lives, not simply constructing pedigrees. A census entry, probate file, newspaper article, deed, or difficult handwritten document may provide only a fragment; carefully correlated with other evidence, those fragments can reveal a much fuller story.

Whether a client wants to identify an elusive ancestor, investigate a family story, extend a family line, uncover the history of a home or property, or simply learn more about the people behind the names, she strives to produce research that is rigorous, thoroughly documented, and grounded in historical context.

Geographic Specialities
Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin

Additional specialities or search keywords
Family History, Genealogy, Paleography, Transcription, Property, Military, Brick Walls

Publications/Media
Pond, Chrystal. Death in the Copper State: Genealogical Research into the Lives and Deaths of Arizona Miners, 1916–1929. MSc dissertation, University of Strathclyde, 2025. 

Research Time Periods

• 21st Century
• 20th Century
• 19th Century

Languages
English — Fluent
German — Paleography, transcription, and translation
Latin — Paleography, transcription, and translation

Certificates

• 2021 — Family History Research Certificate, Brigham Young University–Idaho
• 2022 — Advanced Family History Research Certificate, Brigham Young University–Idaho
• 2023 — Postgraduate Certificate in Genealogical, Paleographic & Heraldic Studies, University of Strathclyde

Affiliations
APG; Register of Qualified Genealogists (RQG)

Degrees
MSc, Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies — University of Strathclyde, Distinction
AAS, Family History Research — Brigham Young University–Idaho, 4.0 GPA
BA, Psychology — Northern Arizona University