Amy Butterworth Hesseldahl is a professional genealogist and the founder of Butterworth Research. A 2026 recipient of the APG New Professional Scholarship, she specializes in American research of the 18th and 19th centuries, with a focus on the South and the Mid-Atlantic and particular depth in North Carolina and New York. Amy's work starts where the census and the city directory leave off. She finds and reads the records some researchers may never get to: account books, court files, ledgers, family papers, and the overlooked documents that add layers to a family's story. A lot of those records still exist only on paper, in county courthouses and state archives, so she spends real time on the road. The conclusions she delivers are built on a foundation of solid evidence.