She was a beautiful, young Irish maid, working in a wealthy English household. Her employer’s oldest son fell in love with her. When he announced intentions to marry her, his parents said they would disown him. He married her anyway. Then, bride and groom ran away to live happily ever after. “Her name was Mary Cordial,” my maternal grandmother Marilyn Matilda Dietz told me, that distinct glimmer of pleasure in her eyes—the one she always had when she retold this story. “And you are her legacy.”

This blog is a resource for those who want to--have to--find out more about who they came from.

Long Island Family Research Services

Who's your great granddaddy? If you need help researching your Long Island roots, I can help! I provide family research services for less than any accredited genealogist in the New York Metro area will charge.

I have experience in online family research and in actual field work. I've snapped pictures of headstones at various New York City area cemeteries. I've spent the day finding Brooklyn, Queens and New York City vital records at the Municipal Archives. I've blown the dust off the books in the basement and then found nineteenth century land transfers at the Queens City Register. I've visited the Queens Library's Long Island Division to do research, and I've perused the indexes at all the Surrogate Courts. I was able to use what I found in these places to join genealogical societies such as Associated Daughters of Early American Witches, The Winthrop SocietyDaughters of the American Revolution, and The Flagon and the Trencher. I am familiar with the kinds of records these organizations require to satisfy membership eligibility.

Do you need someone to do Long Island research for you? If so, email me at

findingmarycordial@gmail.com.  Let me know what you specifically need--a headstone photo, a will, an obituary, whatever--and I'll let you know my rates/fees for that particular service.


Hope to hear from you!