About

Kate Townsend, CG®

Kate is a former professional investigator turned genealogist, specializing in Pennsylvania genealogical research. She also has experience with records from Ohio, West Virginia, and New York City, as well as expertise in immigration, naturalization, and court records. She holds the Certified Genealogist® credential as of February 2024. Kate owns Family History Investigations LLC.

Kate has spoken at national and local genealogical societies, libraries, and conferences, including the National Genealogical Society Family History Conference, New England Regional Genealogical Consortium, Ohio Genealogical Society Conference, and RootsTech. She has served on the faculty at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh.

Although Kate has been working on her own family history since she was sixteen, her interest in investigating and researching on a professional level was piqued when she served as an Archives Technician at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) while completing her undergraduate studies. She worked as a resource for both amateur and professional genealogical researchers, assisting them in conducting archival records research. Additionally, she gained experience with primary source documents in her first position with NARA, where she worked in the holdings maintenance department, preserving and cataloging records dating back to the 1800s.