Bob Allen’s ArchiveLookup.com and its associates have proven experience to support family history and genealogy research throughout middle Tennessee. Typical research services include:

• Obituary and vital document lookups available at state and local archives and libraries in the greater Nashville area.
• Research through Ancestry.com.
• Establishing and maintaining Family Tree Maker files for easy access by the researcher.
• Organizing and archiving photos, letters, post cards, newspaper articles, vital documents, heirloom recipes, diaries, etc.
• Publication of biographies and family stories, family trees, and memories of yesteryear.

Lookup, retrieval, and documentation rates are based on time at the research location, time to organize and anscribe document findings, out-of-pocket expenses paid to archives and libraries, and nominal travel expenses incurred.

After a free consultation, a custom quotation is presented to the potential client for concurrence before research efforts are committed.

Obituary lookups and vital document retrieval

Obituaries published in local newspapers provide critical family information about the deceased and his or her survivors. Typically, obituaries identify the current names and locations of survivors, information about the deceased’s career, military service, church and social affiliations, and the names of pallbearers who may be living who can provide interesting facts and stories regarding the deceased. Vital documents, including birth certificates, marriage licenses, death certificates, and military records can be retrieved at state and local archives and health centers that are critical to the development of any family tree. We develop a database of organizations and other information from obituaries and vital records that reveals clues to additional research to help you develop your family stories.

Ancestry.com® research

Excellent knowledge, experience, and user proficiency with ancestry.com allows timely identification of several ancestral generations using census, birth, marriage, death, military service, and immigration records. In addition, reviewing posted family trees can quickly identify others who may have already researched your family surnames.

Establishing and maintaining Family Tree Maker™ files 

Information collected on our ancestors and descendants needs to be stored in an easily accessible and versatile format. Family Tree Maker™ is the most proven and widely used software for this purpose and allows the presentation and printing of many different graphic tree and report formats. Bob Allen’s ArchiveLookup.com will input and store your research findings in Family Tree Maker™ files for easy access, extraction to Excel® and forwarding to the client.

Organizing your photos, letters, post cards, newspaper articles, vital documents, heirloom recipes, diaries, etc. can be an arduous and challenging task at best. However, this is an extremely vital and necessary task for all researchers. If you do nothing else, identify the people, places, and dates for all of your photos stored in shoeboxes, photo albums, and scrapbooks. If you don’t do this, your children and grandchildren will most likely toss them – the most precious identities, clues, and memories of yours and your ancestors’ personal stories. Letters, post cards, newspaper articles, vital documents, diaries, etc. should be filed and stored by individual and/or event. Bob Allen’s ArchiveLookup.com can help you organize your files and provide acid-free boxes, file folders, and other materials recommended by professional archivists.

Publication of family stories, family trees, and memoirs

The ultimate goal in any genealogy research and fulfillment of the researcher’s dreams is the publication of a book your family and friends can read and cherish. Our extensive publication experience allows us to produce a beautiful book of almost any style – spiral bound, perfect bound, or hardbound. We can guide you through many different styles and formats to tell your story that may include a chronology of photos taken over your lifetime with brief descriptions, writing your memories supplemented with photos and treasured documents, and producing your family tree in tree-graphic, standard genealogy, outline and kinship formats. Rates are quoted on an individual project basis and can include manuscript preparation, printing, and copyright registration. In the past three years, Bob Allen has edited or published nearly twenty biographies, personal genealogy, and history books.

Family Reunion Programs

Nashville and Middle Tennessee have a rich and colorful history dating from prehistoric times through the Mississippian Indians, early pioneers, antebellum plantations, civil war battles, the industrial revolution, and twentieth century culture. With its numerous entertainment venues and many historical attractions, Nashville is a destination city and has truly earned its nicknames “Music City, USA” and “Athens of the South.”