Currently accepting clients for...

• DNA
• Family History Research
• Speaking / Presenting
• Writing /Publishing

I love solving brick wall problems using genealogical methods and sources which are often overlooked. While online sources can be helpful, I firmly believe most brick walls can still be solved by intuitive analysis and researching in-person in archives and courthouses. 

Geographic Specialities
Southern Illinois, Western Kentucky, Southeast Missouri, Southern States Research

Testimonials
Rick Allen is an historical detective who tenaciously researches the past. He takes you on an adventure that leads down paths filled with twists, turns, and surprises. My ancestors ceased to be names and dates on paper. They became people I knew." ~Alice

Additional specialities or search keywords
brick wall, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Southern U.S.

Publications/Media
Claiborne Hall and Elizabeth Herod, Ancestry and Descendants Census Records of Pope County, Illinois, 1818 - 1900 Pope County, Illinois Death Records, 1877 - 1915, With Annotations

Lectures
Researching in Deepest Southern Illinois
The One Word Key to Solving Most Brick Wall Problems
The Other Census Records
Ordinary People: Extraordinary War - Personal Stories of the Civil War 

Repositories
County courthouses in southern Illinois, western Kentucky, southeastern Missouri, Forrest C. Pogue Library, IRAD-Carbondale, Brehm Memorial Library, any facility in region

Research Time Periods

• 20th Century
• 19th Century
• 18th Century

Languages
English

Affiliations
Association of Professional Genealogists, , Organization of American Historians, Illinois State Genealogy Society, Kentucky Genealogy Society, Genealogy Society of Southern Illinois, National Genealogical Society

Degrees
Master of Arts in History