Because of your wise tenacity, we have received information about our family that makes us see the world in a newer (slightly adjusted!) way, and ties us more than ever to the inspiration of our mom and our Dad, who lived through so much, and whose stories we hadn't the time or foresight to completely absorb or pay heed to before they were compelled to leave us here back on earth.
In musical terms, when I think of my mom's family, and of her own death, I hear Henryk Gorechi's "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs". To me it really sounds like the literally unspeakable experiences of that time, and somehow, resolution through knowledge and the finality of acceptance of what happened and what must never happen again.
There are so many things to write about it cannot be done in a simple e-mail.
Great work.
Susan did a great job.
Nice work!
Susan is very easy to work with and I will be working with her again in the future.
Susan communicated her findings with me and was as helpful as she could be with my limited budget and the limited information available. I was disappointed that we didn't find out more than we did.
She was prompt in our communications,and seemed knowledgeable. She had little useful info from me to work with and will be happy to use her again.
Susan was fantastic. Her work was highly competent and fast. She exceeded my expectations in every way. And she was a pleasure to work with.
Excellent communication; lovely to work with.
Great work...and hope to work with Susan on other projects.
Susan did an outstanding job of getting me past my "brick wall" in the search for my great great grandparents. Several of my family had been researching to find this couple for almost ten years. Her work will allow me to continue my family search on my own. Her communications with me were clear and to-the-point. She did a good job of ferreting out information from me to help her locate my missing ancestor.
I am very grateful to Susan King for the competence and persistence she exhibited in helping me find a long-lost branch of my family and deal with some of their tragedies. Her knowledge of genealogical resources and her contacts in the field were impressive. Her handling of my skepticism of the healing side of genealogy was understanding and sensitive.
I highly recommend Susan to anyone seeking assistance in uncovering a branch or two of a family tree.
Fantastic person, enjoy working with her!
Everything done well and timely!
Obtained what I needed. Susan King is a real pro. Thank You!
A difficult research of a broken family line. Provided much information and insight.
Susan was very helpful in finding information that was needed as well as information that I was completely unaware of. She has been painting a rich history of my family.
Susan was lightening fast, accurate, and very personable. I'd certainly recommend her to anyone looking to find a family member with the barest amount of information available. In short, she's a total Rockstar in her field!
Susan did an outstanding job on a very complicated tree with a family history that had some facts correct and some incorrect. I enjoyed working with her and would work with her again in the future if I need her services.
Susan King has done a very good job so far. This family is very difficult to find and there are no known relatives in the United States to contact. I look forward to continuing working with Susan with final success.
Has been very helpful!
Susan has been superb. Very responsive, with great suggestions and willingness to help me sort my way through a complex set of issues.
Susan is simply one of the most outstanding professionals I have ever worked with--she always finds more information than I am expecting to receive. I would have never been able to find all of the information she has located about my ancestors on my own. Considering the quality of Susan's work, it is unbelievable to me how reasonable the fees for her services are.
Susan was the very best. She accomplished my goal in locating both my half-brother and half sister whom I have been looking for since 1974. I spoke with my half-sister last night and we hit it off quite well since it was a telephone call out of the blue. She has invited me to visit and stay in her home the next time my husband and I travel to Southern California which is just 4 hours away. When looking back over all the years and energy I spent trying to find these two half siblings, I would highly recommend you hire Susan to get you over the bumps in the road that block you from reaching your end result. In my case my siblings last names had been changed to their mother’s maiden name. We worked hand in hand and working together made this project move along quite fast. I would highly recommend that anyone who has reached a point where they need further assistance, they should hire an expert. God Bless you Susan in making it possible to complete my family circle. My half-brother works across the border managing a large manufacturing plant working extremely long hours. Talking with my half-sister he and I are very much alike as he had sought out his uncle against resistance from his uncle’s wife’s family. He did not give up and they have a great relationship.
Susan is very easy to work with, has extensive contacts and thorough methods. A very pleasant experience and I definitely plan to continue to utilize her expertise.
Thanks to Susan King, the World's Best Genealogy Expert, I became Scottish this weekend. I was Scottish a number of years ago, but it didn't last long.
Here's the story:
My dad was born in 1916. He was one of many siblings. In 1918, the Flu Epidemic hit America. This worldwide pandemic killed tens of millions of people worldwide. One of the victims was my dad's mother, Catherine Irene Carroll.
Back then there were no social service agencies and the only choice for John Ignatius Burch was to take his children to an orphanage. They were dropped off at St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum and John I. went into the Navy.
One of my dad's sisters, Gladys, was a teenager when their mother died. Gladys avoided the orphanage by going to live with relatives. When her father came out of the Navy, she was happy to see him and they had a close relationship for the remainder of his life. Not so with the other kids. Believing that they would be adopted by loving families and he would just cause confusion and heartache if he stayed in touch, John Ignatius never contacted his children again after taking them to the orphanage. The kids that never heard from their dad felt abandoned.
Years later, my dad told me he had a sister in Baltimore but none of them liked her. I went to the library, found Gladys listed in a phone book and sent her a letter. She send me a chilly reply indicating she had inherited nothing from her dad. I wrote back saying that I didn't want anything, I had no bad feelings against her father, I believed he felt at the time he was doing the best thing, and I just wanted to know about my heritage. Gladys then welcomed me as a friend and niece and we began exchanging letters.
Gladys told me we were Scottish. She said, "I wish you would have known Uncle Johnny. He wore a kilt and he always played the bagpipes for us."
I was so intrigued by being Scottish, I went to Scotland three times. Sadly, Gladys died before she could remember Uncle Johnny's last name.
After a lifetime of ballet lessons, I started taking Scottish Highland dancing lessons. I started traveling around the country and competing in the Scottish Highland Games. I bought a dancer's kilt--way different than a ladies kilted skirt. I paid $1500 for it (monthly payments) in a year when a brand new car was $3000. When my Highland dancing shoes didn't fit quite right, I went to Capezio in New York City and had them make a pair of dancing shoes that were custom-made for my feet. I learned the 4-step fling, the 8-step fling, the Highland Laddie, the Sailor's Hornpipe, and the Sword dance. I got some swords and some cans of beans from Scotland because Scottish dancers practiced with the swords raised on bean 'tins' to teach a higher jump. I took lessons from a former Miss Scotland. On New Year's Eves, I went to the annual party of the St. Andrew's Society, and at midnight, I stood in a circle holding hands with nearly 100 other people of Scottish heritage and sang Auld Lang Syne.
Then I decided I really needed to know the family name so I could wear the tartan (the plaid pattern) of my family. I went back to the library and since the Burch's were in Maryland, I found someone who did genealogy research in Maryland. This was the days before the internet so I sent him a letter and I waited...and waited. He took on my small job. I waited, and waited some more. Finally, I got a letter from him (the letters are long gone-they all disappeared in a move). I'd told him in my letters about my desire to find my Scottish ancestors. I sent him one of my dancing photos and told him I wanted to know the clan name so I could proudly wear the tartan.
Well, imagine my reaction when I received a letter from the Maryland genealogist that said, "I don't know how to tell you this, but you don't have a Scottish bone in your body. Your relatives came from England. If there was an Uncle Johnny with a kilt, my guess is he was a neighbor. Children back then were taught to address adults as 'Uncle' and 'Aunt.' Your Aunt Gladys was confused."
Stunned, I gave up on the roots search and not too many years and pounds later, I also gave up on the Highland dancing.
Recently, I got interested in my family tree again. With the death of my brother, Ron, I became reacquainted with a number of nieces and nephews who are also interested in our heritage. On a stroke of luck, I found Susan King. She is a genealogy genius and if a piece of information exists, Susan King can find it. This weekend, Susan sent me the work she has done so far on the Burch family.
WHAT DID I SEE? There, right there, on the page, was Mary Anderson, born on April 10, 1699, in Ayr, Scotland. The genes are fairly far back, and certainly well watered down with generations of English people, but I don't care. That's enough for me; I AM SCOTTISH.
Here's the story:
My dad was born in 1916. He was one of many siblings. In 1918, the Flu Epidemic hit America. This worldwide pandemic killed tens of millions of people worldwide. One of the victims was my dad's mother, Catherine Irene Carroll.
Back then there were no social service agencies and the only choice for John Ignatius Burch was to take his children to an orphanage. They were dropped off at St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum and John I. went into the Navy.
One of my dad's sisters, Gladys, was a teenager when their mother died. Gladys avoided the orphanage by going to live with relatives. When her father came out of the Navy, she was happy to see him and they had a close relationship for the remainder of his life. Not so with the other kids. Believing that they would be adopted by loving families and he would just cause confusion and heartache if he stayed in touch, John Ignatius never contacted his children again after taking them to the orphanage. The kids that never heard from their dad felt abandoned.
Years later, my dad told me he had a sister in Baltimore but none of them liked her. I went to the library, found Gladys listed in a phone book and sent her a letter. She send me a chilly reply indicating she had inherited nothing from her dad. I wrote back saying that I didn't want anything, I had no bad feelings against her father, I believed he felt at the time he was doing the best thing, and I just wanted to know about my heritage. Gladys then welcomed me as a friend and niece and we began exchanging letters.
Gladys told me we were Scottish. She said, "I wish you would have known Uncle Johnny. He wore a kilt and he always played the bagpipes for us."
I was so intrigued by being Scottish, I went to Scotland three times. Sadly, Gladys died before she could remember Uncle Johnny's last name.
After a lifetime of ballet lessons, I started taking Scottish Highland dancing lessons. I started traveling around the country and competing in the Scottish Highland Games. I bought a dancer's kilt--way different than a ladies kilted skirt. I paid $1500 for it (monthly payments) in a year when a brand new car was $3000. When my Highland dancing shoes didn't fit quite right, I went to Capezio in New York City and had them make a pair of dancing shoes that were custom-made for my feet. I learned the 4-step fling, the 8-step fling, the Highland Laddie, the Sailor's Hornpipe, and the Sword dance. I got some swords and some cans of beans from Scotland because Scottish dancers practiced with the swords raised on bean 'tins' to teach a higher jump. I took lessons from a former Miss Scotland. On New Year's Eves, I went to the annual party of the St. Andrew's Society, and at midnight, I stood in a circle holding hands with nearly 100 other people of Scottish heritage and sang Auld Lang Syne.
Then I decided I really needed to know the family name so I could wear the tartan (the plaid pattern) of my family. I went back to the library and since the Burch's were in Maryland, I found someone who did genealogy research in Maryland. This was the days before the internet so I sent him a letter and I waited...and waited. He took on my small job. I waited, and waited some more. Finally, I got a letter from him (the letters are long gone-they all disappeared in a move). I'd told him in my letters about my desire to find my Scottish ancestors. I sent him one of my dancing photos and told him I wanted to know the clan name so I could proudly wear the tartan.
Well, imagine my reaction when I received a letter from the Maryland genealogist that said, "I don't know how to tell you this, but you don't have a Scottish bone in your body. Your relatives came from England. If there was an Uncle Johnny with a kilt, my guess is he was a neighbor. Children back then were taught to address adults as 'Uncle' and 'Aunt.' Your Aunt Gladys was confused."
Stunned, I gave up on the roots search and not too many years and pounds later, I also gave up on the Highland dancing.
Recently, I got interested in my family tree again. With the death of my brother, Ron, I became reacquainted with a number of nieces and nephews who are also interested in our heritage. On a stroke of luck, I found Susan King. She is a genealogy genius and if a piece of information exists, Susan King can find it. This weekend, Susan sent me the work she has done so far on the Burch family.
WHAT DID I SEE? There, right there, on the page, was Mary Anderson, born on April 10, 1699, in Ayr, Scotland. The genes are fairly far back, and certainly well watered down with generations of English people, but I don't care. That's enough for me; I AM SCOTTISH.
Here's an odd coincidence--when I was competing in Highland dancing, I needed a dress for the Highland Lilt. I went and bought the fabric and took it to show it to my dancing teacher. She winced. "Do you like that?" she said. "I mean, it's kind of bright. There are 7 colors in that tartan." I said, "I know, I realized from the moment I saw this fabric it was sort of loud. I put it down and picked up several other samples, but it was like this one was speaking to me. I can't explain it. I just have this feeling this was for me." Of course, I had chosen the Anderson tartan.
Susan, I want to thank you for all your diligent work on the SAR application. It is very professional and thorough. You are to be commended. SAR San Diego Chapter.
On my quest to learn more about my ancestors, I reached an impasse. But with Susan’s help, I learned there are no dead endings, only beginnings. Susan’s approach to genealogy was unique in that she saw my ancestors in the context of a story, not a timeline. Through the art of genealogy and her intuitive grasp of the human condition, Susan accomplished helping me not only discover concrete facts about my past relatives but gave me a sense of what their lives were like as well. Working with Susan was also special because she treated every find as an artifact to be handled with care. Susan’s reverence, expertise, and enthusiasm make her the perfect fit for anyone who would like to bridge past with present.
Susan was very helpful in finding information that was needed as well as information that I was completely unaware of. She has been painting a rich history of my family.
She could not find everything I asked but she did manage to send things into a good direction and was very cooperative with me throughout the process
A difficult research of a broken family line. Provided much information and insight.
A difficult research of a broken family line. Provided much information and insight.
Obtained what I needed. Susan is a real pro. thank you!
Fantastic person, enjoy working with her.
Wonderful work, thank you! Looking forward to learning yet more about my German heritage.
We weren't able to identify the original information I needed, but I did get some additional information along the way that was valuable.
Susan is very knowledgeable and was easy to work with. I would highly recommend her. When I'm ready to move forward again, she will be the expert I hire.
Very thorough research and detailed feedback. Very accommodating and helpful guiding me through the research process.
Very helpful, but we hit a brick wall. Couldn't use her contact in Ukraine. If she ever found out anything else, I would use her again.
Outstanding work!! Excellent attention to detail. Would highly recommend her work to anyone.
Fantastic is all I can say, she has done a great job.
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