About Me

Hi. My name is Patty Campanelli. I’m a professional genealogist, and I’ve been working with genealogy for twenty-two years. I’ve also been a member of the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) for eighteen years. I first became interested in genealogy after my father passed away in 2000. He had always told me that I could become a member of the DAR, but we were unsure how I was connected. After a few years of research, I was able to join the DAR in 2004, and in 2007, I became my chapter’s registrar and started helping others with research and sourcing their applications.  From doing this I learned how much I loved connecting people to their roots.   Connecting with my family has also been a wonderful part of my journey. In 2010, I connected with second cousins I had never met before. They had my research my grand aunt had done in her lifetime and gave much of it to me. Genealogy has become as much a part of my life as anything I do.   

In 2017, I worked on my first DNA case, the adoption of my maternal grandmother’s cousin.  Although both of them had since passed, I was able to work with the cousin’s daughters to figure out who their maternal grandmother was.  This was the moment it all came together for me. When I connected the paper trail side of the work with DNA, my love for DNA was immediate.  Since that time, I have worked on several adoption and NPE (not parent expected) cases with AncestryDNA.  When working most recently with a friend, I realized just how much this work excites me.  I love a good puzzle. Connecting documents and DNA matches is exhilarating – It’s amazing as the pieces of the past come together, they can narrow down almost every situation to a single possibility.  Genealogy is in my blood.

I am a member of the Association for Professional Genealogists. I started Relatives and Roots to help people find the answers to the questions that they have. Who were my biological parents? Who were my dad’s biological parents?  Why doesn’t my DNA match my relatives? How far back in America do my roots go?