Heirlooms are more than just expensive artwork or jewelry. They’re tangible objects of living loved ones or forgotten ancestors. Smaller items such as letters, photographs, photo albums, books, and cards can be considered an heirloom. Often, paper heirlooms (such as letters and photographs) can give us a better idea of who an ancestor was and reveal information that can’t be found anywhere else.
Yes, I can try to help you trace an item you have. Please contact me with the photo of the item and as much information you can give me. If there are no identifying marks on the item/object, then it will be impossible for me to trace. Please keep in mind that I have hundreds of people contacting me every day, and it will be impossible to respond to every one! Also, right now I am only helping trace items that are from before 1940. If I am helping you with heirloom research, I employ you to send me the item first. If not, and I do the work to find the family of an item you found, I expect you to send the family that item. We don’t want to hype a family up, let them know about the heirloom, and then never send it to them. Sending me the item first ensures that the specific family I find will get the heirloom
I can’t help find items that have been lost 🙁 If you have a family heirloom that’s been lost, I would check your local thrift store, flea market, eBay, and Etsy. Retrace your steps is the best advice I can give.
Never. I do not ask for payment for research, items, or shipping. If anyone does ask you for payment, it is someone impersonating me.
I don’t do family research right now as I am focusing on heirloom returns.
Sign up to a database like MyHeritage.com. There, you can research your own family, build a faily tree, find records and even discover family members!