CG case studies
CG · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Certified Genealogist (CG) credential is a professional certification for genealogists who research, analyze, and write about families for clients, courts, editors, or their own publication. It is awarded by an independent credentialing body, not a university, and it is neither a degree nor a license. It signals that a researcher's work has been judged competent by peers against published standards. Candidates are usually experienced researchers already comfortable with original records - deeds, probate files, church registers, passenger manifests, military files - who want their methodology reviewed rather than their pedigree traced. The CG case studies are 5 cases and about 2,397 words.
1The Missing Father and the Six-Week Deadline
You are hired by a client to identify the biological father of her grandfather, Thomas Reed, born 14 March 1921 in a rural Ohio county. Thomas was raised by his mother, Lillian Reed, and a man he called 'Uncle Will.' No birth record has been found; Ohio birth registration was uneven in that period, and the county health department has no entry.
553 words, about 3 min2Three Birth Dates and One Application
You are preparing a lineage-society application for Mary Ellen Cartwright, born about 1888 in Kentucky. Three sources disagree.
463 words, about 2 min3Two James Hargroves and a Pension File
Two men named James Monroe Hargrove appear in antebellum Sevier County, Tennessee. Both were born about 1832.
482 words, about 2 min4The 212 cM Match and an Adopted Grandfather
Your client's autosomal DNA results include a match, 'P.M.,' sharing 212 cM across 11 segments, predicted second-to-third cousin. does not match any known relatives on the client's paternal grandmother's line.
453 words, about 2 min5The Court Record the Client Wants Left Out
You have finished a client report for a family reunion. In a 1975 court file, you found that the client's deceased father had a son outside his marriage; the son is named in a support order.
446 words, about 2 min