About
Stone House Historical Research, LLC
Catherine Becker Wiest Desmarais CG, CGG, owner and founder of Stone House Historical Research, LLC, has been researching professionally since 2006. She is co-author, with Michael Ramage JD, CG, of the 2025 book Forensic Genealogy: Theory and Practice. She was awarded the credential of Certified enealogist® in 2011 and the credential of Certified Genetic Genealogist® in 2025 by the Board for Certification of Genealogists® (BCG). These credentials result from peer-reviewed evaluation of a portfolio of work samples and must be renewed every five years. Certificants meet rigorous competence standards. Catherine also serves as a trustee of BCG.
Catherine manages the company’s home base in Vermont’s beautiful Champlain Valley and leads a team of highly qualified genealogists across the US, with associate researchers in Europe. She and her team specialize in forensic genealogy, assisting the US Army’s military repatriation efforts and helping attorneys resolve probate and realty cases. A US Department of Defense qualified genealogist since 2012, Catherine has managed more than 1500 cases to locate family members and DNA donors to assist the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency with their efforts to fully account for service members from World War II and the Korean War.
Catherine holds a Master’s Degree in Education, graduating summa cum laude from the University of Vermont. She is a national level genealogical educator and is active in the genealogical community. In addition to serving as a trustee for BCG, she also serves on their Standards Committee and DNA Committee. She is an active member of the New England Chapter and the Forensic Genealogy Special Interest Group of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG). She served as APG’s vice president from 2014-2017.
She has taught at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), the GRIP Genealogy Institute, and other national genealogical conferences. She avidly articipates in continuing education opportunities for continued professional growth. Most recently this includes coursework in advanced DNA applications for genealogical research, attendance at APG’s annual Professional Management Conferences, regional and national conferences, and online webinars. For more detail, please download her resume.
The Original Stone House
The stone house that inspired the company’s name was built in the 1850s by William Bair, a Pennsylvania stonemason and the great-great grandfather of Catherine Becker Wiest Desmarais. The search for William Bair (1812-1893) and his stone house ignited Catherine’s passion for genealogy research, and taught her to build lineage connections as carefully and sturdily as her grandfather constructed his stone houses.