I would take the job--and research the previous occupants. But you also want to dispel any potential structural problems--have a geologist take a look at the ground underneath the house to see if the ground is shifting, which may cause the house to move and creak. Or you can have an inspector take a look at the overall structure of the house to see if there are cracked or broken beams, foundation, etc., or anything else that would compromise the overall stability of the house. I would also check for rodents crawling around inside the walls and attic. Have fun with it! Kathy Holland -----Original Message----- From: transitional-genealogists-forum-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:transitional-genealogists-forum-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of transitional-genealogists-forum-request@rootsweb.com Sent: Monday, January 21, 2013 5:17 PM To: transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com Subject: TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM Digest, Vol 7, Issue 34 The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. Today's Topics: 1. The weirdest request ever (Michele Lewis) 2. Re: The weirdest request ever (cmproctor1@frontier.com) 3. Re: The weirdest request ever (Phyllis McLaughlin) 4. Re: The weirdest request ever (Eileen Souza) 5. Re: The weirdest request ever (Patricia Hobbs) 6. Re: The weirdest request ever (Jodee Inscho) 7. Re: The weirdest request ever (Marian Pierre-Louis) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:26:20 -0500 From: "Michele Lewis" <ancestoring@gmail.com> Subject: [TGF] The weirdest request ever To: "TGF Mailing List" <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <000f01cdf826$5757ccf0$060766d0$@gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" I was contacted today by a potential client. She wants me to research her house. She and her children (ages 19 and 22) think that there are ghosts in the house. The kids says that they have always heard noises in the house since they were very little and neither one of them will stay in the house alone even though they are now adults. They want to know about the previous owners and if any crimes were committed in the house. Okay, even though this is a bit weird it is timely. I have been wanting to do a little house history genealogy. I have only done the history of one house. We lived in an 1830 house in Maine and I just had to know the history of the house so I researched that one. I have been reading some of Marian Pierre-Louis' stuff as well as the books she recommends. I recently wrote a blog post on this subject and then this client shows up today so I am thinking this is a sign for me to do another house ? Maybe the ghosts are reaching out to me ? ? ? Michele ------------------------------ Message: 2 Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2013 15:35:41 -0800 (PST) From: "cmproctor1@frontier.com" <cmproctor1@frontier.com> Subject: Re: [TGF] The weirdest request ever To: Michele Lewis <ancestoring@gmail.com>, TGF Mailing List <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <1358811341.47608.YahooMailNeo@web161703.mail.bf1.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Michelle, "Ghosts" or not, this may turn into an interesting research project and will give you further experience working on a house history.? I'd go for it. Cheryl Proctor Southern Indiana ________________________________ From: Michele Lewis <ancestoring@gmail.com> To: TGF Mailing List <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, January 21, 2013 5:26 PM Subject: [TGF] The weirdest request ever I was contacted today by a potential client.? She wants me to research her house.? She and her children (ages 19 and 22) think that there are ghosts in the house.? The kids says that they have always heard noises in the house since they were very little and neither one of them will stay in the house alone even though they are now adults.? They want to know about the previous owners and if any crimes were committed in the house.? Okay, even though this is a bit weird it is timely.? I have been wanting to do a little house history genealogy.? I have only done the history of one house.? We lived in an 1830 house in Maine and I just had to know the history of the house so I researched that one.? I have been reading some of Marian Pierre-Louis' stuff as well as the books she recommends.? I recently wrote a blog post on this subject and then this client shows up today so I am thinking this is a sign for me to do another house ?? Maybe the ghosts are reaching out to me? ? ? ? Michele The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------ Message: 3 Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:48:16 -0500 From: Phyllis McLaughlin <pcmclaughlin@writeaway-online.com> Subject: Re: [TGF] The weirdest request ever To: "Michele Lewis" <ancestoring@gmail.com> Cc: TGF Mailing List <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <52EEE5BE-5878-4DF1-BEC4-77A4D5B2D449@writeaway-online.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 I'm jealous. That sounds like a really great project. I, too, am interested in getting into that kind of work. Keep us posted how it goes. Phyllis McLaughlin Editor, APG eNews On Jan 21, 2013, at 5:26 PM, Michele Lewis wrote: > I was contacted today by a potential client. She wants me to research her house. She and her children (ages 19 and 22) think that there are ghosts in the house. The kids says that they have always heard noises in the house since they were very little and neither one of them will stay in the house alone even though they are now adults. They want to know about the previous owners and if any crimes were committed in the house. > > Okay, even though this is a bit weird it is timely. I have been wanting to do a little house history genealogy. I have only done the history of one house. We lived in an 1830 house in Maine and I just had to know the history of the house so I researched that one. I have been reading some of Marian Pierre-Louis' stuff as well as the books she recommends. I recently wrote a blog post on this subject and then this client shows up today so I am thinking this is a sign for me to do another house ? Maybe the ghosts are reaching out to me ? ? ? > > Michele > > > The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------ Message: 4 Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2013 19:05:07 -0500 From: "Eileen Souza" <eileen.souza@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [TGF] The weirdest request ever To: "'Phyllis McLaughlin'" <pcmclaughlin@writeaway-online.com>, "'Michele Lewis'" <ancestoring@gmail.com> Cc: 'TGF Mailing List' <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <00b801cdf834$24102c80$6c308580$@gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8" I really envy you. Sounds like a fascinating project. Eileen _______________________________ Eileen A Souza, P.L.C.G.S. Eldersburg, MD Old Bones Genealogy LLC info@oldbonesgenealogy.com www.oldbonesgenealogy.com ------------------------------ Message: 5 Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2013 18:45:00 -0600 From: Patricia Hobbs <plhgenealogy@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [TGF] The weirdest request ever To: Eileen Souza <eileen.souza@gmail.com> Cc: TGF Mailing List <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <CAE45C4vFEPBQUYFG11fz4st9pc_9rF=k=ahR9_eqgkOP861+kA@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Oh, my goodness, you all need to work in a library. We get this kind of stuff all the time. The people aren't generally willing to slog through the city directories, deeds, and obituary indexes themselves though. Patti On Mon, Jan 21, 2013 at 6:05 PM, Eileen Souza <eileen.souza@gmail.com>wrote: > I really envy you. Sounds like a fascinating project. > > Eileen > _______________________________ > Eileen A Souza, P.L.C.G.S. > Eldersburg, MD > Old Bones Genealogy LLC > info@oldbonesgenealogy.com > www.oldbonesgenealogy.com > > > > The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive > environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to > professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > ------------------------------ Message: 6 Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2013 17:08:43 -0800 (PST) From: Jodee Inscho <libertyrepub@yahoo.com> Subject: Re: [TGF] The weirdest request ever To: Michele Lewis <ancestoring@gmail.com>, TGF Mailing List <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <1358816923.74053.YahooMailNeo@web126005.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 I was doing one of those requests today too! In this case, the family has some really bad things going on, so I am not comfortable getting too involved in it. Luckily, the County Clerk has all of the deeds I needed on-line. I gave them all of the previous owners (only a few - the house built in the 1960's) and? some basic genealogical info on the families. They are having a paranormal team do an investigation there this weekend. ? Jodee Davis Inscho http://www.jodeeinschoresearch.wordpress.com/ ________________________________ From: Michele Lewis <ancestoring@gmail.com> To: TGF Mailing List <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, January 21, 2013 5:26 PM Subject: [TGF] The weirdest request ever I was contacted today by a potential client.? She wants me to research her house.? She and her children (ages 19 and 22) think that there are ghosts in the house.? The kids says that they have always heard noises in the house since they were very little and neither one of them will stay in the house alone even though they are now adults.? They want to know about the previous owners and if any crimes were committed in the house.? Okay, even though this is a bit weird it is timely.? I have been wanting to do a little house history genealogy.? I have only done the history of one house.? We lived in an 1830 house in Maine and I just had to know the history of the house so I researched that one.? I have been reading some of Marian Pierre-Louis' stuff as well as the books she recommends.? I recently wrote a blog post on this subject and then this client shows up today so I am thinking this is a sign for me to do another house ?? Maybe the ghosts are reaching out to me? ? ? ? Michele The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------ Message: 7 Date: Mon, 21 Jan 2013 20:16:31 -0500 From: "Marian Pierre-Louis" <marianpl@fieldstonehistoricresearch.com> Subject: Re: [TGF] The weirdest request ever To: "'Michele Lewis'" <ancestoring@gmail.com>, "'TGF Mailing List'" <transitional-genealogists-forum@rootsweb.com> Message-ID: <000301cdf83e$1ce47f10$56ad7d30$@com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8" Not a weird request at all for a house historian! I think a healthy skeptical approach is the way to go. Do the research and present what you find. Unless they know the name of the ghost or unless you find out about some tragedy that occurred in the house it will be an interesting exercise but little else (except that all house history research is intriguing). But it certainly does provide a whole lot of fun! I would accept the job on the condition that you can't guarantee anything except an accurate accounting of archival documentation. Marian Pierre-Louis Fieldstone Historic Research http://www.FieldstoneHistoricResearch.com http://www.ResearchNewEngland.com -----Original Message----- From: transitional-genealogists-forum-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:transitional-genealogists-forum-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Michele Lewis Sent: Monday, January 21, 2013 5:26 PM To: TGF Mailing List Subject: [TGF] The weirdest request ever I was contacted today by a potential client. She wants me to research her house. She and her children (ages 19 and 22) think that there are ghosts in the house. The kids says that they have always heard noises in the house since they were very little and neither one of them will stay in the house alone even though they are now adults. They want to know about the previous owners and if any crimes were committed in the house. Okay, even though this is a bit weird it is timely. I have been wanting to do a little house history genealogy. I have only done the history of one house. We lived in an 1830 house in Maine and I just had to know the history of the house so I researched that one. I have been reading some of Marian Pierre-Louis' stuff as well as the books she recommends. I recently wrote a blog post on this subject and then this client shows up today so I am thinking this is a sign for me to do another house ? Maybe the ghosts are reaching out to me ? ? ? Michele The Transitional Genealogists List was created to provide a supportive environment for genealogists to learn best practices as they transition to professional level work. Please respect the kind intentions of this list. ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------ End of TRANSITIONAL-GENEALOGISTS-FORUM Digest, Vol 7, Issue 34 **************************************************************