If the answer to your question isn’t found below, please e-mail
- the Membership Secretary:
- the HFA Genealogist:
Membership Dues
What do my dues pay for?
Dues pay for the costs of maintaining our public and members-only websites, and for printing, mailing, and other incidental costs. Our officers and committee members are unpaid volunteers. We do, however, occasionally find it necessary to contract with outside vendors for technical services. A financial statement is available from the Membership Secretary/Treasurer upon request:
Are my dues tax deductible?
While the Hull Family Association is not a profit-making enterprise, it does not have non-profit, 501(c), tax status; thus HFA dues are not tax deductible.
Publications
What publications will I receive?
You will receive:
- Electronic access to the full run of the HFA Journal (1990–2018) and the HFA Newsletter (1981–2018) is one of your membership benefits
- The opportunity to purchase reduced-price back issues of the Journal and Newsletter, which may hold information on one’s ancestors
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Will the older Books of Member Lineages be republished and updated regularly?
Presently we do not have either the staff or the time to prepare these. Over the years, many of the lineages carried in our older Books of Member Lineages have been found to contain errors. The HFA feels a conscientious responsibility to publish only what we have determined to be correct data. Therefore, the CCC has been instituted as a viable substitute to the republishing or updating of the original Book of Member Lineages.
Genealogical Services
What genealogical services will I receive?
You will receive the following at no extra charge:
- Queries: At the time of registration, in your Member Lineage Form, you can submit a query for one of your Hull generations. We will publish it on the this website (omitting personal contact information) and on the “members only” website (where only members can reply). Additional queries can be submitted using this online Query Form
- Computer Comparison Check (CCC): Cross-checking of your lineage with those of other members, to facilitate exchange of genealogical records. Frequently we can add more generations to a Hull lineage and/or correct information that is documented to be incorrect
- Family Group Sheets: Printed from our database (three sheets at a time), including references, pertinent to one’s lineage
- Member Lineage Analysis: When we receive a new lineage, the HFA Genealogist and other Genealogy Committee members (a combined 100+ years of experience) frequently spend significant time trying to extend that lineage, correcting it, and/or giving suggestions for further research—at no expense
You can receive the following at a reduced, members-only hourly rate:
- Access to Genealogist: Members may contract with the HFA Genealogist for services beyond those listed above:
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Why does the HFA Genealogist charge an hourly fee for helping me? Isn’t that what my dues pay for?
The HFA Genealogist, like other officers, receives no pay from the HFA. Almost all knowledgeable and experienced genealogists require an hourly research fee, whether they work independently or under the auspices of a family or patriotic organization. Many years of research and considerable expense have been devoted to acquire existing material and knowledge, and then to organize and analyze the data in order to tie each Hull to their proper Hull line. To conduct new research, in the absence of existing data, and then analyze it, is costly and time-consuming.
Can the HFA solve my line for me and carry it back to the immigrant? Will the HFA make corrections to my lineage?
While we have been able to help a significant number of our members extend their Hull lineages, we can make no guarantees or promises to do so. Each line is unique and there are lines that may present special problems, due to the lack of records and the lack of research facilities at our disposal. However, the Genealogy Committee members do make a concerted effort to extend lineages whenever possible and they also try to check these lineages for accuracy.
Will the HFA undertake special research for each member?
No, this is not possible due to time constraints. The HFA Genealogist, however, accepts HFA member clients for a reduced hourly fee:
Why should I send the HFA my family group sheets?
When you send your own research (in the form of family group sheets), you prevent the HFA Genealogy Committee from duplicating your work. Furthermore, your information provides clues for the Committee to be able to extend your line.
Genealogical Exchanges
How can I give the HFA my genealogical information to distribute to other members at no charge?
Conveying to us your own research may help the HFA to solve a line for another member. (It can also help solve your own line.) So filling out your lineage form and family group sheets—preferably with references—to the HFA Genealogist can help our members and the HFA work together to extend lineages:
How can I see if my line matches that of other member?
At no extra charge we offer all our members—both older and newer members—a Computer Comparison Check (CCC), in which the CCC Coordinator and the Genealogy Committee verify whether a member shares a portion of a lineage with other members. These members are then put in touch with each other for the purpose of exchanging information and material relevant to their common line. Members should request this service from the CCC Coordinator:
If there are further research questions after the CCC, the member can contract with the HFA Genealogist for a reduced hourly fee:
Will the HFA mail out genealogical material to members?
At the present time we do not have the staff to do this. Of course, our Newsletter, Journal, and publications for sale will aid in research. And members are encouraged to help each other by exchanging genealogical material.
Is it necessary to send an SASE (self-addressed, stamped envelope) when requesting an answer from an officer or another HFA member by “snail mail”?
This is always a courteous gesture and it will help to insure an answer. Also, when requesting photocopies, please enclose enough money to cover the cost of these.
Submissions Policy
All submissions to the HFA of any kind
become the joint property of the submitter
and the HFA, with the understanding that the
HFA may, using its own discretion, share this
information with others unless otherwise
requested in writing by the submitter.
The submitter’s expenses cannot
be reimbursed by the HFA.
Questions? E-mail us.
