New from Verve: Family and House History Research

Story + song for Christmas: order by December 1

Don't know the whole story yet? I'll dig it up, then write the song. Order the bundle by December 1 for delivery before the holidays.

Family and House History Research

Most families have a story that's only half remembered. Where did Great-Grandpa really come from? Who built your house, and who lived there before you? What happened to the brother nobody talks about? Was the family legend true?

I've spent years tracking down people, places, and paper trails. I work through census records, military files, old newspapers, deeds, town reports, cemetery records, and city directories, and I find the details that turn names on a tree into real people.

What I can find

• Family stories: an ancestor's life, a war record, an immigration trail, a family legend checked against the facts.
• House history: who built it, who owned it, who lived there, and what was going on around them.
• Local history: a forgotten town hero, a business, a farm, a landmark, a disaster.

Research that became songs

• The Ballad of Sergeant Kielty: my grandfather, a WWI sergeant who carried gassed soldiers to safety in France.
• The Reluctant Hero of Duxbury: my great-grandfather, who rode a horse bareback into a burning mansion to save a neighbor.
• The Ballad of Matt Stamell: a song about Matt Stamell of Stamell Stringed Instruments in Amherst.
• The Fiddler's Coming to Northampton: a klezmer celebration of a community theater show.

How it works

1. Tell me what you know. Names, dates, places, old photos, family rumors. By phone, text, or email.
2. I dig. Records, newspapers, deeds, and archives, with every source noted.
3. You get a story report as a PDF: a readable account of what I found, a timeline, copies of key documents and clippings, and leads worth following.
4. Add the song if you like, and I'll write and record it from what we found.

Price

Story research: $75 for one person, house, or story, delivered in about two weeks.

Story + song bundle: $200. The research, then an original song built from it, with the MP3 and lyric sheet. About three weeks.

Half to start and half on delivery, by PayPal or Venmo. Bigger projects for towns, societies, and businesses are quoted separately, so just ask.

I can't promise every record survives. Some don't. If a trail goes cold, I'll tell you plainly what I found and what's still out there.

Got a mystery in the family?

Contact me through linktr.ee/verve413

Verve Music, Granby, Massachusetts. A Pioneer Valley company.