Currently accepting clients for...

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

Ward R. Bray has been an LDS Family History Center volunteer librarian for over thirty (30) years with a weekly shift. He is a member of the Association for Professional Genealogists (APGen) performing research for clients for over twenty (25) years.

He is a graduate of SUNY at Buffalo (Business Management) and Niagara Community College (Computer Technology). Ward retired in 2015 from M&T Bank where he was a Vice President and technology leader in their Anti-Money-Laundering department.

Ward has been asked over the years to present various genealogical-related topics to organizations including the local Family History Center annual family day, historical societies in Buffalo and Rochester, genealogical clubs, the Erie County Bar Association,  and groups in Amherst, Syracuse and North Tonawanda. Topics include Church Records, Land Records, and Forensic Genealogy (expert witness efforts for Surrogates Court kinship cases), and Finding Birth Parents.

Services

Ward Specializes in Western New York State family genealogy services, the search for birth parents, as well as Welsh and English genealogical research. Ward is experienced with Kinship Report preparation for cases in Erie and Niagara County New York Surrogates Court. Ward has helped to reunite families who were separated due to adoption using research and DNA.  Ward has volunteered / assisted in the repatriation of Canadian WWI soldier remains from Argonne, France.

Geographic Specialties

NY, OH, PA, WV, New England, Ontario, British Isles, England, Wales

Geographic Specialities
NY, OH, PA, WV, New England, Ontario, British Isles, England, Wales
 

Testimonials
Referrals by:
Buffalo History Museum,
Erie and Niagara County Courthouse, Surrogate's Court,
Erie and Niagara County Clerks' Office,
Grosvenor Research Library,
Buffalo Inactive Archives

Additional specialities or search keywords
Affidavit preparation and court testimony for Surrogate's Court Intestate Kinship Analysis

Publications/Media
Over the years Ward has submitted published work to Everton's Genealogical Helper and the National Carousel Association quarterly publication. Ward has performed research in preparation for various publications including:

• the families of James Monroe Whitfield the great American poet,
• Peyton Harris the great pre-Civil War civil rights activist and black community leader,
• and Abigail, wife of President Millard Fillmore (with special access to the Fillmore Papers).

Lectures
Church Records, Adoption and Birth Parents, Digital Newspaper Searching, Land Records, and Forensic Genealogy (expert witness efforts for Surrogates Court cases).

Repositories
Buffalo History Museum, Erie and Niagara County Courthouse, Erie and Niagara County Clerks' Office, Grosvenor Research Library, Buffalo Inactive Archives

Research Time Periods

• 20th Century
• 19th Century
• 18th Century
• 17th Century

Certificates
CCP, CPD, CSP, SCRUM Master

Affiliations
Ward has has a regular weekly shift at the local LDS Family History Center working as a volunteer librarian for over 40 years.

Degrees
SUNY NY, BS (Business Management ), NCCC, AAS (Computer Technology)