Welcome to my blog!

My love for genealogy began very young – at my grandparent’s knees really. My paternal grandmother in particular loved sharing stories about our family tree and she always left in the juicy bits as well! My love of genealogy then went into my love of history which resulted in a dual major in history and English while in college. I used my degree in secondary education and taught in middle school and high school classrooms for 6 years before I decided to make my passion, genealogy, my career.

At that point, I wanted to learn more and started my education into the genealogy research world and later created my business in 2014, Copper Leaf Genealogy (currently paused). I have completed:

I’ve also had some wonderful opportunities in the genealogy society world as well!

  • County Genealogist – In August 2014, I was voted in as the St. Joseph County Genealogist for the Indiana Genealogical Society. That means I was a go-to person for what someone could find in St. Joseph County, Indiana. This position ended with my move to Colorado in 2016.
  • Program Chair for the South Bend Genealogical Society from 2015 – 2016
  • Program Chair for the Boulder Genealogical Society from late 2016- mid 2018
  • In all my genealogy work, I follow the Genealogical Proof Standard set by the Board for Certification of Genealogists.

I am also a member in good standing of the following organizations:

As of now, I am no longer taking on clients through Copper Leaf Genealogy! However, I do still blog regularly. Do we have any family in common? Do you have questions on any resources I’ve mentioned? Want to know more about the classes I’ve taken?

Contact me with Questions!

Wedding Me

Nichelle Barra

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