Our Professional Genealogists

Hand-picked, tested and trained, our professional genealogists know how to find your story. We are based near the world’s largest family history library and also work with genealogy researchers around the globe.

Perhaps even more important — we are passionate about genealogy and serving each individual client.

Our Story

The Legacy Tree Difference

As a company we cultivate an atmosphere of support centered around our company values of CARE—Cooperation, Accuracy, Respect and Efficiency. It’s this commitment to providing exceptional quality and care to each client that has earned us the prestige of being the world’s highest-rated genealogy research firm.

Since 2004 we’ve had the privilege of helping thousands of clients around the globe discover their story.

This is ours:

Leadership

Meet our leadership team–Research Teams Manager, Christy Fillerup; Marketing Director, Amber Brown; founder and President, Jessica Taylor; Office Manager, Danae Janis; and Operations Director, Elly Catmull.

Together these women have established a team of individuals that share their passion and enthusiasm for helping others discover who they are and connect with where they came from.

Under their leadership, Legacy Tree Genealogists has grown and flourished, receiving accolades such as the Small Business Administration Woman-Owned Business of the Year. Jessica has also been recognized as one of Utah Business’ Forty Under 40.

Our Team Members

With nearly 40 years experience as a genealogist and bachelor’s degrees in history and geography, Mark knows genealogy inside and out. His experience ranges from the U.S. to Italy to Australia and back again.

Australia & New Zealand
Poland & Other Eastern Europe
Denmark
Italian Genealogy

Diane has over 40 years of genealogy research experience and is best known for completing research for celebrity genealogies for popular television series such as “Who Do You Think You Are?”, Henry Louis Gates jr’s PBS series “Faces of America”, and the National Geographic hit series ‘Lockup Abroad’.

Jamaican Genealogy
Jewish Genealogical Specialist
Historical Research
Photographic and Digital Documentation

Vladimir began helping others build their family history after he found his ancestors in the 5th generation and built a family tree of more than 200 people. The hobby turned into a journey through the history of Ukraine and surrounding countries. Vladimir began work with Legacy Tree Genealogists in 2017, and since this time, has helped in many client research projects.

Ukrainian Genealogy
Russian Genealogy
Family Crest Research

Teddy was born in Silesia. He specialized in “Supralibros” in Private Collections of the 16th to 18th centuries. In 1999, he received his Master of Library and Information Science. In 2003, Teddy became an Accredited Genealogist specializing in Polish research, including all partitions of the former Commonwealth of Poland, awarded by the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen).

Polish Genealogy Research
Fluent in Polish, German and English
Reads Latin, Russian Cyrillic and so-called Kurrent and Sütterlin (old German scripts)

Mckenna is currently finishing a Master’s degree in Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde. She finds writing and editing particularly rewarding and enjoys the challenge of tracing families across the globe.

Former Austro-Hungarian Empire (Czech, Slovak, Hungarian)
England Genealogy
Scotland Genealogy
French-Canadian Ancestry Research

Gretchen specializes in genetic genealogy and DNA analysis, and particularly enjoys complicated projects combining autosomal and Y-DNA results with traditional research. She holds a B.S. in Applied Mathematics and Statistics from Colorado State University, and spent her first career as a Software Engineer. Her education and prior career experience developed skill in problem solving which are invaluable in genealogical research.

Genetic Genealogy and DNA Analysis
Danish Ancestry Research

James has authored four commercially published books and has lectured across the country for the last 20 years. He is considered the leading expert on German genealogy, particularly the “First Wave” immigrants known as the Pennsylvania Germans.

German Genealogy Research
Expert on Newspaper Research for Genealogy
Historical Maps Research

Katy has a degree in family history research and is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG). Bringing ancestors to life through narrative and solving mysteries is her passion. Katy’s areas of research focus are broad, but include:

Immigrant Ancestors to the United States
Mexico and Other Latin American Genealogy
Narrative Biographies
Urban U.S. Families

Debra is a specialist in genetic genealogy for Legacy Tree Genealogists. She also has extensive experience with lineage society projects due to her previous employment as headquarters staff genealogist for the National Society Sons of the American Revolution.

Genetic Genealogy and DNA Research
Midwestern Genealogy Research
Lineage Society Research
Identifying Biological Parents/Grandparents

Rebecca is a Certifed Genealogist®, a graduate of the ProGen study group, Boston University Genealogical Research Program, a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, and a member of 15 lineage societies. Growing up in South Texas and living abroad, Rebecca can work with records in multiple languages. Her areas of expertise are:

African American Genealogy Research
Lineage Society Research
Colonial American Records
Hispanic Ancestry Research

Jessica has completed the Boston University Genealogical Study program and is a member of various societies throughout the Southeast. Jessica has been featured in articles for the BBC, most recently for her genetic genealogy research efforts helped reunite Amerasian clients with their previously unidentified G.I. fathers.

Deep South Genealogy Research
Historical DNA
Unknown Parentages Cases
Asian Genealogy support

Robert is an Accredited Genealogist® with a bachelor’s degree in family history and a master’s degree in history. Genealogical methods influenced his master’s thesis which explored the formation process of religious sects in the American Midwest. Robert finds fulfillment in assisting clients in their personal family history discoveries.

Midwestern United States
Colonial United States
Latter Day Saint Genealogy Research

As a Certified Genealogist® with more than 25 years of experience, Jacqueline has become an industry leader in probate succession, intestacy, kinship determination, and due diligence research regarding real estate, insurance, title, trust, and unclaimed property matters. She also specializes in British family history research.

Probate Research
Forensic Genealogy
England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland

Brandt is a researcher on the DNA team. He works with both DNA and traditional family history research projects in the US and Canada, and some international projects as well. His areas of expertise are:

Unknown Parentage/Adoption DNA research
Historic DNA Research (pre-1850)
US Research (1850-present)
Canada Ancestry Research (1850-present)

Michele is a professional genealogist and researcher interested in local Italian traditions and culture. His passion for genealogy began in 1984, right as he stepped into the Municipal Archives in his hometown Padula, a small town in the province of Salerno, Campania region, in Southern Italy.

Thirty years of experience researching Italian archives: e.g civil, parish, diocesan, notarial
Familiar with the reading of Vernacular books
Ten years of experience researching Italian emigrants abroad (USA, Brazil, Argentina)

Shauna has over 35 years of genealogy research experience, and also holds a Master of Arts in Australian Studies, a Graduate Diploma in Library Science and a Diploma in Family Historical Studies from the Society of Australian Genealogists. She is a Fellow of the Queensland Family History Society; a recipient of the Australian Society of Archivists Distinguished Achievement Award and the Australasian Federation of Family History Organisations’ Services to Family History Award.

Australian Genealogy Research

Kate grew up hearing Civil War stories at her father’s knee and fell in love with history and genealogy at an early age. With a master’s degree in history and over 20 years experience as a genealogist, Kate has worked her magic on hundreds of family trees and narratives.

Native American Genealogy
U.S. Civil War & Victorian America
Irish Genealogy, British Genealogy, Scottish Genealogy
Narrative Biographies

Paul is a genealogy dynamo. With a university degree focused on genetics and a minor in family history, Paul is at the forefront of the genealogy field. As an aside, he can also name any country and its capital on a map.

Genetic Genealogy and DNA Research
Sweden Genealogy, Norwegian Ancestry Research
French Family History
Spain, Mexico and South American Genealogy Research

An accredited genealogist with a degree in family history, Marissa’s portfolio includes research on high-profile celebrities for shows such as Who Do You Think You Are? Marissa’s love of history and focus on detail provides clients with answers to even the most difficult research questions.

Jewish Genealogy Research in Eastern Europe
Russian, Poland, France, Italy, Hungary, Czech Republic, Ukraine and Lithuanian Genealogy
Accredited as a German Genealogy Researcher through ICAPGen

With over 25 years of genealogy experience, Michelle enjoys solving challenging research projects. She loves helping others break through genealogy “brick walls” and discover their heritage.

Ukrainian, Lemko, and Carpatho-Rusyn Genealogy
Central European Genealogy
Eastern European Genealogy
Mid-Atlantic & Southern United States Genealogy

Giancarlo grew up hearing stories about the Brazilian Federalist Revolution (1893-1895) from his grandfathers and made his first family tree at the age of 12, to understand and organize who was who in those stories. Since then, Giancarlo has never stopped working in genealogy and has been doing it professionally for ten years.

Heir & Probate
Brazilian Genealogy
Jewish Immigration to Brazil

With both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in history, Jaye worked as a private investigator and title abstractor before becoming a professional genealogist. Hailing from the Midwest–the crossroads of America, Jaye is very comfortable with reconstructing the history of families from a wide variety of national and ethnic origins.

German Ancestry Research
Southern U.S. Research
Immigrant Ancestor Research
Middle Eastern Research Support

Our Worldwide Researcher Network

We work around the world to track down records and push back ancestry. If a record exists, we can ﬁnd it.

We’re Recommended Worldwide

Named as one of the Utah100 fastest growing companies, Legacy Tree Genealogists is recommended by businesses and genealogy industry leaders worldwide.

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Ready to Discover Your Story?

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