I have been working on a Puerto Rican research problem and came to a point where we needed records from the National Archives in San Juan. We did everything we could to work with the archives in getting them to search the records, but they were not accomodating and would not carry out research requests. We then worked to find a reliable agent who was capable of conducting the search and this was not easy. Finally, we were able to find a local gentleman who is familiar with genealogical and historical research and who agreed to help us by researching at the archives. At last, we seemed to be getting somewhere!

However, after not hearing from the local contact for over a month we began to be even more frustrated at the time it was taking to complete this client’s research. At length, we recieved an apology email from the researcher and he explained that he had been unable to get to the archives because of a terrible fire that had engulfed a major highway in San Juan, and which prevented access to the archives, not to mention the fact that the archives had been closed during the whole ordeal!

Pretty wild, and our first thoughts were “Yeah right! Nice try, buddy!” However, after doing a little due dilligence on CNN.com, the story was confirmed!

Here at ProGenealogists, we take on research cases that expand to nearly every part of the world. Many times international research requires the use of records that are only accessible at local archives and repositories. This requires us to either communicate directly with these facilities or enlist the services of an agent. This is one of the reasons why ProGenealogists has been so successful in overseas research–we’re not afraid to do everything possible to access the records we need!

Unfortunately, there are, at times, circumstances beyond our control that greatly extend the calendar time of a client’s research project. This is always a frustrating thing for us becuase we know how anxious our clients are to find answers to their ancestral questions.

In our vast experience in working with foreign agents, government entities, archives, etc., we have encountered a myriad of extraordinary circumstances that have prolonged research completion time. The fire in Puerto Rico is just one example. Another recent instance is the postal strike in the U.K. This prevented us from recieving much needed documents that had been requested from various archives and repositories. Another example is the earthquake in L’Aquila, Italy last year, which destroyed the state archives and many records that were housed there. Other times we find that cultural differences in certain countries cause agents and archivists to not have the same level of urgency that we are so accustomed to in the U.S. They just “get around to it when they get around to it.”

The moral of the story is that research is unpredictable. Our team is committed to serving our clients in the best way possible. Part of that committment includes providing them with scholarly and accurate research. If there are records tucked away at a parish priest’s home in Germany or a difficult-to-access archive in Ukraine that are most likely to solve the research problem, we’re going to do everything we can to access those records–even if it takes months and months to do it! We only ask that our clients bear with us during the work because we are always doing everything we can to complete their research in as timely a manner as possible.