Your family
was here.
We’ll help you find them.
For millions of families — especially African American families — 1870 was the first census to record their ancestors by name. It’s where family history begins, and where every other tool stops working. We built specifically for what comes next.
Why 1870?
The 1870 Census was the first post-Civil War census. For the first time, formerly enslaved people were recorded by name. But the records before 1870 — the Slave Schedules, the Freedmen's Bureau labor contracts, the plantation ledgers — don't use names. They use tick marks, ages, and physical descriptions.
Crossing that line requires a different kind of research. Not keyword search. Not a subscription database. A rules-based algorithm that knows what the archives actually contain and how to connect them.
Why not just use ChatGPT?
Generic AI predicts words. This engine runs a forensic genealogical algorithm. The difference is concrete:
| The trap | Generic AI says | This engine does |
|---|---|---|
| European DNA in an African American profile | "Search UK passenger lists" | European % triggers slaveholder-pattern logic — directs you to white families with your surname on the same 1870 Census page |
| NARA microfilm targeting | "Look at Freedmen's Bureau records" | African breakdown + state = exact microfilm number and date range (e.g. Texas = M821, 1865–1868 Labor Contracts) |
| Ancestor born 1842 | "Search the 1860 Census" | 1860 − 1842 = 18 → "Open 1860 Slave Schedules, find enslaver candidate, look for a nameless tick-mark: 18-year-old Black Male" |
| DNA cousin cluster geography | Lists cities from cousin matches | Leeds Method Union-Find clusters your matches, calculates a migration-vector centroid, outputs the exact 1870 county where bloodlines intersect |
Research tools — anonymous, pay-per-use
No account required. Every session starts with 6 free credits. Pay only for what you run.
Search 30+ archives — Census, Freedmen's Bureau, NARA, newspapers — with African American context and military scanner built in.
2 credits · $0.10Leeds Method clustering on your DNA matches. Outputs the exact county, NARA microfilm, and 4 deep research strategies. Accepts match lists, ethnicity percentages, or screenshots.
50 credits · $2.50AI-generated portrait of your ancestor based on their era, location, and heritage. Historically informed, not a photograph.
5 credits · $0.25Transform a modern photo into a historical portrait from any era.
10 credits · $0.50AI-written narrative that brings your ancestor's life story to the page, grounded in the historical record.
20 credits · $1.00Advanced parent-finding using household triangulation, sibling analysis, and surname pattern matching.
2 credits · $0.10AI Family Guide — free
Your oldest relatives hold names no census ever recorded. The AI Family Guide writes the message to send them, reads what they send back, and turns their stories into your next archive search — automatically.
- You send an invite link to Aunt Sarah. She clicks it — no login, no app download.
- She types a story. The AI reads it and extracts names, locations, and dates.
- You see an approval card — not raw text. You decide what enters your tree.
- The Guide suggests the next search based on what was just found, closing the loop between oral history and the archive.
Creating a tree and running the Guide is free. The research searches it recommends use your credit balance.
Privacy by design
Research tools are fully anonymous — no account, no stored searches, no behavioral profile. Our Story Cloud stores only what your family chooses to add. DNA screenshots are purged the instant we read them. We never sell any of it.
See our Privacy Policy for the full technical detail, including how the DNA Decoder handles your data and how family photo uploads are sanitized before storage.
Start for free
Every session starts with 6 free credits — enough for 3 archive searches. No registration. No credit card to start.