If you would like further assistance with your research, please contact one of the researchers listed below.* All are familiar with and have used our collections. Contact the researchers directly for further information on their research areas, experience, and fees. Please note that MNHS does not endorse any particular individual on the list. We cannot vouch for the quality of the services provided nor is MNHS responsible for the results provided.
*Please note that the list is randomized. Refreshing the page will reorder the list.
DEBBIE BOE, MnCP, MINNESOTA CONNECTIONS: 114200 Hundertmark Road, #110, Chaska, MN 55318, email: minnesotaconnections@gmail.com, website: debbiesgenealogy.com. Specializing in Minnesota and Minnesotans. Services include, but are not limited to, genealogical research, house history/property research, business history research, courthouse research, archival research, historical medical research, licensing research, and paralegal services. Will visit on-site locations to review original records, search for information, or complete genealogical interviews.
MICK CAOUETTE: Stillwater, MN (612-206-1195), email: mickcaouette@gmail.com. Specializing in film, video, photo, and sound research. Twenty years’ experience working with AV collections, including four years as audio visual assistant to the MNHS curator. Master’s degree in history and film.
CHARLENE K. ROISE, HESS ROISE HISTORICAL CONSULTANTS: The Foster House, 100 N. First St., Minneapolis, MN 55401 (612-338-1987), email: roise@hessroise.com, website: www.hessroise.com. History of architecture, landscape architecture, art, commerce, and technology.
ANNA PIERSON CLAXTON: 28275 Holyoke Ct., Northfield, MN 55057 (507-664-9536), email: akclaxton@yahoo.com. Immigrant groups: Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, “lost” immigrants. Locating Scandinavian origins, genealogy.
RICH ARPI: 2445 Londin Lane #410, Maplewood, MN 55119 (651-739-6986), email: rich.arpi@comcast.net. Archives and manuscript research; newspaper articles and obits; census, birth, and death records; local sports teams and individuals; mining, lumbering, tourism, and environmental issues; the Iron Range. Over 20 years doing own research at MNHS and elsewhere.
BARBARA BEZAT, HISTORIC PRESERVATION RESEARCH: 2395 Benson Avenue #102, St. Paul, MN, 55116 (651-402-2903), email: bbeza03@gmail.com, Specializing in archival research, with a focus on architectural history and historic preservation. Retired curator and archivist at Northwest Architectural Archives; 30+ years’ experience using a wide variety of resources, including archival holdings throughout the state and the US.
JOHN LUGER: 25275 Goodview Ave., Wyoming, MN 55092 (651-464-2014), email: johncluger@gmail.com. Researcher with over 12 years’ experience. Member, National Genealogical Society. Expertise with early American colonial, British, Canadian, French-Canadian, German, Jewish, Austrian, Italian, and Finnish family history.
PAMELA J. ERICKSON: 4300 Trenton Lane #204, Plymouth, MN 55442 (763-381-9830), email: pjefamilyresearch@gmail.com, blog/website: http://pjefamilyresearch.blogspot.com (On This Date in Minnesota History). Genealogy Help Desk Volunteer at Minnesota Historical Society; member of Minnesota Genealogical Society, Minnesota Historical Society, and Finnish Genealogy Group; specialize in researching genealogical and historical records in Minnesota and western Wisconsin, including: census records, birth records, death certificates, obits, grave site photos, marriage records and declarations of intent/naturalization records. Will visit locations to research local history and county records, as well as take photos. Quick turnaround on MNHS records.
J. H. FONKERT, CG, FOUR GENERATIONS GENEALOGY: 2003 Fremont Ave., St. Paul, MN 55119 (651-735-8630), email: jfonkert@aol.com, website: fourgenerationsgenealogy.wordpress.com. Professional researcher and writer. Research in courthouses and Minnesota archives. Midwest specialist, with experience in English, Dutch, and Scandinavian research. Past president, Minnesota Genealogical Society; director, Association of Professional Genealogists.
PAULA STUART-WARREN, Certified Genealogist℠: 2000 County Road B W #130321, St. Paul, MN 55113; email: paulastuartwarren@gmail.com, website: http://genealogybypaula.com. Certified by the Board for Certification of Genealogists. Accepts a limited number of clients. Historical and genealogical research and one-to-one consulting; manuscripts, military, county and state records. Specialties include Midwestern and Plains states, Native American research, Minnesota Historical Society, Family History Library, National Archives, and Wisconsin Historical Society.
DEBRA LAFONTAINE: 1877 Wildflower Ct., Shoreview, MN 55126 (651-482-0322), email: debralafontaine@aol.com. Census records, newspaper article search, death certificate look-up, immigration papers.
SANDY MOCHAL THALMANN, AUTHENTIC ORIGINS: PO Box 8052, Rochester, MN 55903, email: sthalmann@charter.net, website: http://www.authenticorigins.com. Professional genealogist specializing in on-site research of all types of historical and genealogical records in Minnesota, northeast Iowa and southwest Wisconsin. Special interests include adoption research, problem-solving, and analysis.
MICA ANDERS, ANDERS GENEALOGICAL SERVICES: St. Paul, MN (319-321-2325), email: micaanders@yahoo.com, website: www.facebook.com/AndersGenealogicalServices. Professional genealogist and lecturer with over 10 years of experience utilizing a variety of record types, including census, directories, newspapers, military records, vital records, cemeteries, and microfilm. Will travel to conduct research and photograph locations. Special interests include African American genealogy and families from Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Michigan, and Missouri. Fluent in Spanish. Can read German, Portuguese, and Latin.
SCOTT D. MCGINNIS: Historical Research Services, 2605 Christian Parkway, Chaska, MN 55318 (612-210-1424), email: scottdmcginnis@earthlink.net. ESA Phase One; environmental litigation support; railroads; corporate/business history; genealogy; city directory; historic photograph locating service.
SARA BRATSCH: Sturgeon Lake, MN (763-286-7009), email: silverliningsresearch@gmail.com, website: https://silverliningsresearch.com/. Former genealogy Help Desk volunteer, Minnesota Historical Society and the Anoka County Historical Society Library. Holds a Bachelors in Business Administration and a Master of Information Technology Management degree. Specializes in the use of technology to improve genealogy research.
RON KURPIERS: 461 Sibley St., St. Paul, MN 55101 (651-224-8180), email: ronkurpiers@gmail.com. Historical and genealogical research including Minnesota census, newspaper, death records, naturalizations, city directories, military, veteran records, and archival manuscript research.
DAVID JOHNSON: 208 S. Jefferson, New Ulm, MN 56073 (507-354-4825), email: johnsondave442@gmail.com. Specializing in Scandinavian ancestry (with local connections overseas), church records, obituaries, cemetery records, newspapers, city directories, censuses, military and veterans records, NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) records, death records, court house records. Specializing in 18th- and 19th-century US research. French, Irish, and Native American research in Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota. References available.
KAREN MAJEWICZ: Minneapolis, MN (612-367-6277) (612-for-maps), email: karenmajewicz@gmail.com, website: http://landladycartography.com. Holds a Master of Geographic Information Science (MGIS) degree and a Licensed Surveyor in Training (LSIT) certification. Available for historical research specializing in land records, land surveys, architecture, infrastructure, maps, and atlases.
DAVID JENSEN: 8184 Grafton Ave. S., Cottage Grove, MN 55016 (651-428-3802), email: DavidJensen965@gmail.com. Over 5 years of independent genealogical research for Minnesotans and those moving to the state. Services include but not limited to: genealogical research, religious history of Minnesota, historical geography of Minnesota, and business history research. Will visit locations to review records and search for information.
STEVE NIELSEN: 343 Roslyn Pl., Minneapolis, MN 55419 (612-201-4217), email: nielsen.steve13@gmail.com, website: www.bluewindowresearch.com. Archival/manuscript research, death certificates, newspaper article, obituary searches. City directories, Hennepin County pre-1900 birth and death records, Hennepin County marriage records, prison records, state hospital records. Quick turnaround on MNHS look-ups.
TOM RICE, Ph.D, CG℠: 3976 Hazel St., White Bear Lake, MN 55110, (651-426-9440), email: info@heritagehunters.com, website: http://www.heritagehunters.com. Genealogy Help Desk volunteer at Minnesota Historical Society; professional researcher, lecturer, and writer; on-site research in archives and courthouses; all record types — local, state, and federal; look-ups, genealogical, historical and archival research, lineage studies, compilation and book production. Focus on Upper Midwest, and where Midwestern migrants came from — British Isles and Scandinavia.
ANNE M. DROLET: 2700 University Avenue W., Apt. 132; St. Paul, MN, email: anne.mccart.drolet@footlightresearch.com, website: www.footlightresearch.com. 30 years’ professional experience: advanced degrees in American multicultural literature and heritage conservation and preservation. Experience with all types of record resources. Areas include: family genealogy; architectural history and preservation documentation; house and company histories; written research-based narratives. Specialties: farm life, movie theaters, 20th-century social changes, Twin Cities history, and US history, 18th to early 20th century.
LORIS SOFIA GREGORY: (952-431-5586), email: lorissofia@frontiernet.net, website: http://www.lorissofiagregory.com/research/. Efficient researcher and writer with 25+ years’ experience in MNHS reference library (Gale Family Library), state archives, museum collections, exhibits and historic sites, as well as films, multimedia, and interpretive nature trails. Expertise in Minnesota, Iowa, and Midwestern family and house histories; genealogy; Dakota, Lakota, and Ojibwe; American Indian Movement; state hospital and Stillwater Prison records; health, natural/cultural history, transportation, weather, and women's history.
W. THOMAS WHITE, Ph.D.: 616 Radisson Rd., Minneapolis, MN 55416 (763-541-9935), email: WTWhite616@comcast.net. Archival research and analysis for complex litigation, business and corporate matters (environment, labor, national parks, Native Americans and other subjects in Minnesota and northwestern United States) and searches in railroad records, government documents, newspapers, and other relevant sources.
SUSAN WEINBERG: 5736 Dewey Hill Road, Edina, MN 55439 (612-865-1246), email: familyfinds@studio409art.com, website: http://studio409art.com/genealogy, blog: http://sgweinberg.blogspot.com. Specialization in Jewish genealogy. All record types: immigration, naturalization, census, probate, newspapers, vital records, and directories. Familiar with local archives as well as New York genealogical resources, Polish archival records, and Holocaust records.