Getting Started | HeartlandAncestry

If this form gives you any trouble, you can email your answers to heartlandancestry@gmail.com instead, and we’ll take it from there.

About 10 minutes. Only your name, email and family surname are required. Skip anything you don’t know.

1About you

Your full name Required

Your email Required

This is how we’ll reach you, so please double-check it.

Phone (optional)

Only used if our email to you bounces. We don’t make sales calls.

Family surname we’re researching Required

The main family name you want traced. For both sides, list both, like Jensen and Novak.

2Your package

Which package?

Not sure? Leave it, and we’ll recommend one in your written plan.

What would you most like to find out?

Example: how far back Dad’s side goes, where Grandma’s family came from, or a gift for Mom’s 80th birthday.

3The person we’re starting from

Usually that’s you. A parent or grandparent on the line you want traced works too. Our research covers ancestors who have died, so for living relatives we only need the names that connect you to them.

Who is this person to you?

Example: it’s me, my mother, or my late grandfather.

Their full name

Include a middle name, and a maiden name if she married.

Whose side should we research?

Counted from the person above (yours, if that’s you). Example: if that’s your mother, her father’s side is your grandpa’s family. Not sure? We’ll tell you which side the records favor.

When were they born?

Example: March 3, 1948, or about 1948.

Where were they born?

Town, county and state. Example: Story City, Story County, Iowa.

When and where did they marry, and to whom?

Example: 1970 in Ames, Iowa, to Linda Brekke.

If they’ve passed, when and where did they die?

Example: 2011 in Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa.

4Their parents

If a parent is still living, a name and a rough birth year is plenty.

Father’s full name

Father: when and where he was born, married and died

Example: born about 1924 in Story City; married 1946 in Ames; died 1996 in Ames.

Mother’s full name, including her maiden name and any other married names

Example: Carol Ann (Novak) Jensen. If she married more than once, list each married name.

Mother: when and where she was born, married and died

Was anyone in this line adopted, raised by a step-parent, or is a parent unknown? (optional)

Only share what you’re comfortable with. Tell us which family you’d like traced: birth, adoptive, step, or more than one. We work from historical records, so we don’t search for living birth relatives.

5Their grandparents

These are the grandparents of the person we’re starting from (yours, if that’s you). They’re the big unlock: one clearly named grandparent often opens a whole line. For each one, give the full name and roughly when and where they were born, married and died. Guesses are fine, and so are blanks.

Father’s father (grandfather on the father’s side)

Example: Walter Jensen, born about 1898 near Story City, Iowa, married 1921, died 1971 in Ames.

Father’s mother (grandmother on the father’s side)

Her maiden name and any other married names help most. Example: Ruth (Larsen) Jensen, born about 1901, died 1988 in Ames.

Mother’s father (grandfather on the mother’s side)

Mother’s mother (grandmother on the mother’s side)

Her maiden name and any other married names help most.

6Great-grandparents and further back if you know

Great-grandparents or anyone older. Say which grandparent each one belongs to.

Example: Walter’s parents were Nels and Anna Jensen. They came from Norway and farmed near Roland.

7Names, places and burials

Other married names, name changes, spellings or nicknames

Example: Jensen was sometimes spelled Jenson; Grandma Ruth was married once before, as Ruth Brekke; Grandpa went by Walt.

Where did the older generations live, and on which side?

Add the county if you know it. That’s where marriage, land and probate records are kept. If they farmed, the township or nearest town helps. Example: Dad’s side farmed near Story City in Story County, Iowa, and came from Ohio before that. Mom’s side lived in Le Mars, Plymouth County.

Where are family members who have passed buried?

Cemetery and town, any generation. Example: Grandma and Grandpa Jensen, a Lutheran cemetery near Story City.

8Church, military and work

Church or synagogue: the faith, and the congregation and town if you know

Example: Lutheran, a country church near Roland.

Military service: who, which war or era, and which state they served from

Example: great-grandpa, Civil War, an Iowa regiment.

What did they do for a living?

Example: farmed near Story City; worked for the railroad in Boone; ran a general store.

9Coming to America if it applies

If anyone came from another country, these answers are often what unlocks the records over there. Guesses are welcome.

Who came over, and from what country?

Example: Great-grandpa Nels Jensen, from Norway.

Their hometown, spelled the way family papers spell it

Even if the spelling looks odd. Borders moved over the years, so the old name helps.

Roughly when did they arrive, and where? (port or ship, if known)

Example: about 1882, through New York.

Did they become U.S. citizens? Roughly when, and in what county?

Example: 1890s, Story County, Iowa.

10Trees, research and DNA you already have

A tree you’ve built is a great starting map. We check it against the original records before anything goes in your book.

Do you have a family tree online or saved as a file? Where?

Example: an Ancestry tree called Jensen Family, FamilySearch, MyHeritage, or a GEDCOM file.

Share link to that tree, if you have one (optional)

Has anyone in the family researched this before? What did they find, and where did they get stuck?

Example: Aunt Margaret traced Dad’s side to Ohio in the 1850s, then lost the trail.

Has anyone taken a DNA test? Which company?

Example: Mom tested with AncestryDNA. No need to send match lists. We’ll ask if they would help.

11Papers, photos and stories

Any old papers or photos? Who has them?

Example: my aunt has the family Bible; Mom has Grandpa’s naturalization papers; I have a box of old photos.

No need to mail anything, and the originals stay with your family. When we email you to confirm we got this form, just reply with phone photos or scans.

Family stories or traditions

Example: how they came to Iowa, a farm the family lost, or a saying or recipe passed down. Stories give us leads. In the book, they’re kept separate from proven facts and marked as family tradition unless a record backs them up.

12Gift, timing and shipping

Is this a gift?

Do you need it by a certain date?

Example: Christmas, or a June 14 family reunion. If the date looks tight for your package, we’ll say so when we email you.

13Privacy wishes and anything else

Is there anyone we should not contact or mention?

Example: please don’t reach out to my brother, or keep this quiet from Grandma.

If the records turn up something sensitive, how should we handle it?

Things like an adoption, an earlier marriage, or a child born before a wedding. Either way, we tell you privately first, and you decide what goes in the book. Tell us anything you already know, or how you’d like it handled.

Anything else we should know?

Example: a question for us, or a package change you’d like to talk over by email.

No pressure. You’ll get a written plan and a flat price by email before you spend a dollar. No sales calls.

What happens next: we read everything you send and email you a written plan with a flat price. Half the price starts the work (Bring Your Own Tree is $495, paid in full up front), and the balance isn’t due until your book is ready and you’ve seen a preview.

We only use what you send to research your family. Privacy