He started the business on Sept. 11, 2001, when he realized life is too short to not do what you love. He now helps families preserve their history by collecting and compiling records, diaries, photos, and many other historical documents to create keepsake family history books for his clients.

“With a lot of older folks, you start picking up some interesting stories, and you try to figure out how everyone fits,” McCormack said. “Not everyone can figure out how their great-grandfather’s first cousin fits in. I see that in town a lot of times. There are so many families that are interrelated, and they don’t really know how.”

Each family history is different, and the books take about two to six years to complete, depending on the amount of information included. They range in length from about 200 to 450 pages.

“It’s learning a little bit more about what the person did, who they were,” McCormack said.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Matt McCormack talks about historical photos in his newest family history book.

He completed his first family history book in April of 2015, and just completed his seventh one this year. All the books are large, hardbound, coffee-table style, featuring historical photos and documentation, as well as a detailed sourcing list for reference.

Looking through that first book, McCormack explained some of the content and format.

“This was one family, and it goes back several generations,” McCormack said, noting that there are chapters on different family members. “It was a lot of fun. It’s all sourced, with notes, maps, Census records, and all sorts of different letters, photos, diplomas, you name it.”

All the family history books by McCormack are also included in the Library of Congress, as well as various repositories around the country.

“These are at the Library of Congress, Daughters of the American Revolution Library, Fort Wayne — the Allen County Public Library is one of the biggest repositories in the country,” McCormack said. “They’re at the Michigan Historic Library. They’re all over the place.”

News Photo by Darby Hinkley These historical books in Matt McCormack’s office feature Michigan Supreme Court law cases done by his great-great-grandfather, Charles Henry, then his great-grandfather, Carl Henry, from 1879 to 1956.

In addition to creating the keepsake family history books, McCormack and his wife Betsy have also created “Tell Me More” journals with 365 daily guided prompts to record and preserve the life stories of loved ones. Each journal is specifically designed for different family members, including Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa.

He explained that the “Tell Me More” journals include detailed questions to get a complete picture of their memories about their own lives.

“Don’t just tell me about your grandma’s house,” McCormack said. “Tell me what your grandma’s house smelled like.”

He said often, people write down events or tasks they completed, but that these journals delve deeper into remembering feelings and the atmosphere at special places like grandma’s house.

“That’s what people forget to do,” McCormack said, adding that it’s important to document as much as possible to keep the family legacy alive for generations to come.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Matt McCormack flips through a 200-page wedding book he is finishing up for a couple in Florida.

He’s also finishing work on a 200-page wedding book for a couple in Florida, who flew him down for family interviews and data collection.

“It’s not something I normally do, but it’s been a lot of fun,” McCormack said. “We do all sorts of different things. I’ve done corporate histories, I wrote a book for a car museum in Istanbul.”

He’s been to Istanbul three times.

“They send me a museum calendar every year. I researched all these cars for them,” he said while flipping through the calendar, featuring many classic American-made cars.

McCormack also works regularly with the Besser Museum for Northeast Michigan and Alpena County Library on historic special collections projects.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Matt McCormack holds up a genealogical chart in his home office filled with history books, artifacts, documents, maps, and drawings, such as the bird’s eye view of Alpena seen behind him.

His great-grandfather was Carl Henry, whose diaries from 1900 to 1966 are in his possession, and have recently been scanned and digitized so they are searchable online at the Alpena County Library website, alpenalibrary.org.

He recalled enjoying family history as a child.

“We spent my Christmases in the Henry house,” McCormack said of the large stone house known as the castle house at the corner of State and Dunbar Streets in Alpena. “And it was full. There were four floors full of family stuff that have been passed on for hundreds of years.”

He majored in history and historic preservation at Eastern Michigan University. He attends history and genealogy conferences regularly across the state and country.

“I’ve been researching for years,” he said. “I do a lot of archiving and scanning.”

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Matt McCormack and his wife Betsy Emrich McCormack created these "Tell Me More" guided journals to help people document their loved ones' lives.

He said many historical documents have to be handled with acid-free cotton gloves because the paper is so delicate, and oils from skin can damage it.

“He has letters that are 100 years old,” McCormack said of a client. “They used onion paper for copy paper, so you don’t want people handling it. There’s an education to the archival process. We have oil on our fingers, so you don’t really want to be touching a lot of things that are originals, especially paper.”

He said his job can be challenging at times, but he likened it to putting together a jigsaw puzzle. It requires concentration and attention to detail, but the end product is worth the effort.

“This is a puzzle, but the box doesn’t have all the pieces,” he said. “Sometimes, I’ve got to go out and make the puzzle. That’s hard. That’s the challenge, but that’s what I like about it.”

McCormack loves what he does, and plans to continue preserving as much family history as possible for many years to come.

“It’s fun,” he said. “I absolutely love it.”

For more information about McCormack and New Line Genealogy, visit newlinegenealogy.com, call 734-426-3886, or email matt@newlinegenealogy.com.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Matt McCormack holds up the back of his latest family history book, featuring a family photo.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Matt McCormack has many historical photos in his office, including this one featuring his great-grandfather, Samuel J. Davison, from the Alpena High School football team in the early 1900s.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Matt McCormack points to a family tree in one of the family history books he has made for a client.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Matt McCormack leafs through a family history book featuring photos, documents, charts, maps, and more.

News Photo by Darby Hinkley Matt McCormack holds up a photo of the Carl Henry house, on the corner of Dunbar Street and State Avenue in Alpena. Henry was his great-grandfather, and he recalls many family gatherings in that home.