ABOUT REBECCA SHAMBLIN
Citizenship Consultant
Genealogist, Author, Teacher
For more than 20 years, Rebecca has pursued her family roots. Today, she thrives on helping Luxembourg descendants reclaim their heritage, as well as helping descendants of any culture tell their family story.
Luxembourgish Roots
Rebecca was born near Belgium, Wisconsin, a thriving center of Luxembourgish culture in America. Every one of her great-grandparents was of Luxembourgish descent. More than 75% of her ancestors came to Wisconsin from Luxembourg in the mid-19th century, including members of the Birenbaum, Bley, Feyereisen, Jacque, Kolbach, Ries, and Watry families.
Her grandfather Lawrence Feyereisen grew up speaking Lëtzebuergesch in the home, even though he and his father had been born in America. He did not learn English until he went to school! In 1996, Lawrence and his wife Rosalie Kolbach were named the Duke & Duchess of Luxembourg Fest in the town of Belgium, Wisconsin.
A pASSION FOR GENEALOGY
In 2002, Rebecca first became immersed in the world of genealogy. After meeting more than 50 of her mother’s first cousins at a family reunion, she attempted to build a family tree to organize them in her head. She created her first family book, gifted it to her grandfather Lawrence, and hasn’t stopped thinking about her heritage since. In 2018, she reclaimed her Luxembourgish nationality via Article 7.
During the COVID pandemic, Rebecca dove even deeper into her research. She published a comprehensive history of her great-grandfather’s Watry and Weiland ancestors, complete with fully illustrated biographies and charts. While sharing her book online, other genealogists began to ask questions about how she did it. She created a blog post explaining the process. She led multiple Zoom sessions explaining the process. She answered question after question on Facebook explaining the process. With the publication of her second book, about her great-grandmother’s Schmidt and Krier ancestors, the attention only continued to grow.
Finally, she decided to write a book about writing books! She published Leaving a Legacy: Turn Your Family Tree into a Family Book in 2023, and was astounded at the enthusiastic reaction of the genealogy community. She began teaching classes based on the book, and then classes based on all manner of genealogical topics. In 2024, her second book Building a Legacy: A Guide to Combining Ancestry.com and Family Tree Maker was published.
A NICHE WITHIN A NICHE
In 2024, Rebecca’s life turned another corner with a phone call from Kevin Wester. The two had encountered one another at various times over the years in the course of researching families in the Ozaukee County community. In fact, as is often the case with Luxembourgers in Ozaukee, they turned out to be related — seventh cousins, to be precise, who share a great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather.
Kevin’s citizenship and tour businesses were booming. During a call with Rebecca about a Luxembourgish genealogy issue, it occurred to him that this might be an answer to his overwhelming client interest. Genealogy is already a niche hobby in this world, and Luxembourgish genealogy was certainly a niche within that niche. Who better than Rebecca to hop on board and help handle the load?
a new life
Now, Rebecca lives with her two daughters in the suburbs of Minneapolis and spends her days doing what she loves. She helps clients establish their Luxembourg lineage and turn that documentation into European citizenship. She is overjoyed to assist on Luxembourg Adventures and see her ancestral homeland in a new way. And she continues to write books and teach, spreading the joy of genealogy to others.
To find out more, please visit www.rebeccashamblin.com.