Tricia Healy Mitchell
A university and genealogically educated researcher experienced with the acquisition of online and repository records; critical analysis of 18th, 19th and 20th century deeds, probate records, vital records, census, census substitutes, naturalization, and other historically relevant records and documents. Provides thoroughly researched, analyzed, and cited reports containing both positive findings, negative findings, and recommendations for further research. Additional business, non-profit, and community service experience support a proven ability to plan, develop and implement all aspects of complex research projects with a commitment to obtaining quality, cost-effective results.
Services
Record Retrieval
Consultations
Research Plan
Comprehensive Research Projects
Geographic Specialties
New England with a concentration in Maine & Massachusetts
New York
Pennsylvania
Ireland
Testimonials
For years I struggled to find a genealogist for my clients? personal history projects. I tried a series of people who appeared to have the necessary credentials, but did little more than what I could already see on genealogical websites. Then I found Tricia. She is a professional ? her knowledge and guidance have been invaluable. She has handled family lines going back to various European countries. Her attention to and expertise in confirming details is just the baseline of her professionalism. She is a wonderful communicator, not just of her findings, but also of her progress, research plan, and expenses. When she reaches a fork in the research road, she clearly presents the pros and cons of the potential courses of action, empowering the client to decide where they would like their budget spent. But what I and my clients love and appreciate the most is her ability to transform her findings, those genealogical details, into stories. Providing the historical, geographical, and socio-economical context for an ancestor?s life, she creates a narrative that helps to bring their circumstances into context. This approach helps make the content more accessible to younger family members, adding dimension to the otherwise skeletal family tree. Incorporating her findings into the family stories that I have collected through interviews, leads to confirming and sometimes correcting family lore, and often challenging long held assumptions. Through this, a rich image of the family history emerges. Throughout our collaborations, my clients feel like they are having their very own ?Finding Your Roots? experience. Ronda Barrett Story Facilitator/Personal Historian Honor Your Story ______________________________________ I was an African history major in college and had a Welsh professor I admired a great deal. His name was Ivor Wilks. I was about to graduate and asked his advice about which foreign service job offers I should take. He asked me if my grandparents were still alive and suggested I spend some time getting to know them instead of jumping immediately into a career. He said, ?instead of chasing geography, consider chasing history instead.? Regrettably, I ignored Ivor?s advice. Thirty years later, after both my sets of grandparents and more recently my parents died, I was inspired to learn more and preserve what I could for future generations. I was thrilled that Tricia agreed to help lead me in my chase of history. Before Tricia, I didn?t know where to start nor the resources available for research. With three kids and a busy schedule, I also didn?t have the time to investigate or the desire to learn from scratch. Tricia begins with asking great questions about overall goals and offers expert advice on where to target limited resources. Tricia knows how to pull small threads of historical information and weave together wonderful and compelling stories about the places, lives and times of ancestors. Through her writing, I am struck by the humanity and choices each generation faced. Tricia also cites and records everything she uncovers while gathering the raw facts so that we understand the historical context. When the facts point in two directions and create a fork in the road, Tricia investigates both. She uses her expertise to offer an informed opinion that helps resolve the often foggy process of family history. Tricia?s level of rigor and documentation result in rich, unexpected narratives. They are fun to read and sprinkled with historical context, letters, newspaper clippings, and images. Tricia?s genealogical research and storytelling doesn?t end with the written narratives. She connects every member in a digital profile and places them on our family tree through Ancestry.com. I can?t recommend Tricia highly enough. I am so excited about what?s to come as Tricia continues to chase history and shares more discoveries about the ancestral stories from each branch of the family. C. Ritter ? Maryland Surnames: Hanrahan, Jeffers, Logue, Ritter Places: Boston, Pennsylvania, Ireland, Germany
For years I struggled to find a genealogist for my clients? personal history projects. I tried a series of people who appeared to have the necessary credentials, but did little more than what I could already see on genealogical websites. Then I found Tricia. She is a professional ? her knowledge and guidance have been invaluable. She has handled family lines going back to various European countries. Her attention to and expertise in confirming details is just the baseline of her professionalism. She is a wonderful communicator, not just of her findings, but also of her progress, research plan, and expenses. When she reaches a fork in the research road, she clearly presents the pros and cons of the potential courses of action, empowering the client to decide where they would like their budget spent. But what I and my clients love and appreciate the most is her ability to transform her findings, those genealogical details, into stories. Providing the historical, geographical, and socio-economical context for an ancestor?s life, she creates a narrative that helps to bring their circumstances into context. This approach helps make the content more accessible to younger family members, adding dimension to the otherwise skeletal family tree. Incorporating her findings into the family stories that I have collected through interviews, leads to confirming and sometimes correcting family lore, and often challenging long held assumptions. Through this, a rich image of the family history emerges. Throughout our collaborations, my clients feel like they are having their very own ?Finding Your Roots? experience. Ronda Barrett Story Facilitator/Personal Historian Honor Your Story ______________________________________ I was an African history major in college and had a Welsh professor I admired a great deal. His name was Ivor Wilks. I was about to graduate and asked his advice about which foreign service job offers I should take. He asked me if my grandparents were still alive and suggested I spend some time getting to know them instead of jumping immediately into a career. He said, ?instead of chasing geography, consider chasing history instead.? Regrettably, I ignored Ivor?s advice. Thirty years later, after both my sets of grandparents and more recently my parents died, I was inspired to learn more and preserve what I could for future generations. I was thrilled that Tricia agreed to help lead me in my chase of history. Before Tricia, I didn?t know where to start nor the resources available for research. With three kids and a busy schedule, I also didn?t have the time to investigate or the desire to learn from scratch. Tricia begins with asking great questions about overall goals and offers expert advice on where to target limited resources. Tricia knows how to pull small threads of historical information and weave together wonderful and compelling stories about the places, lives and times of ancestors. Through her writing, I am struck by the humanity and choices each generation faced. Tricia also cites and records everything she uncovers while gathering the raw facts so that we understand the historical context. When the facts point in two directions and create a fork in the road, Tricia investigates both. She uses her expertise to offer an informed opinion that helps resolve the often foggy process of family history. Tricia?s level of rigor and documentation result in rich, unexpected narratives. They are fun to read and sprinkled with historical context, letters, newspaper clippings, and images. Tricia?s genealogical research and storytelling doesn?t end with the written narratives. She connects every member in a digital profile and places them on our family tree through Ancestry.com. I can?t recommend Tricia highly enough. I am so excited about what?s to come as Tricia continues to chase history and shares more discoveries about the ancestral stories from each branch of the family. C. Ritter ? Maryland Surnames: Hanrahan, Jeffers, Logue, Ritter Places: Boston, Pennsylvania, Ireland, Germany
Repositories
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Research Time Periods
- 20th Century
- 19th Century
- 18th Century
Certificates
Certificate in Genealogical Research - Boston University
Certificate in Genealogical Research - Boston University
Affiliations
- Association of Professional Genealogists - New England Association of Professional Genealogists - National Genealogical Society - New England Historic and Genealogical Society: member, volunteer, and on-call genealogist - New York Genealogical and Biographical Society - Massachusetts Society of Genealogists - Irish Ancestral Research Association, Inc., - Maine Genealogical Society - Boston Executive Club of the University of Maine
- Association of Professional Genealogists - New England Association of Professional Genealogists - National Genealogical Society - New England Historic and Genealogical Society: member, volunteer, and on-call genealogist - New York Genealogical and Biographical Society - Massachusetts Society of Genealogists - Irish Ancestral Research Association, Inc., - Maine Genealogical Society - Boston Executive Club of the University of Maine
Degrees
Bachelor of Science (Business)
Bachelor of Science (Business)