About the work

A closer look.

Every family keeps one: the great-grandfather who changed his name at the border, the grandmother who was somebody, the legend with no name attached. Bring me the version your family tells, and I check it against the record. I work from the Library of Congress newspaper archive and named public sources (rolls, registers, court and government records). You get a short written answer: what holds, what the record won't settle, and what the paper actually printed, each claim carrying its source and a link you can open. Where the record contradicts the story, I say so plainly. First pass is free: send the story and I tell you where it sits in the record before any money exists. If it can't be checked honestly, you owe nothing. One story. 48 hours. One revision included. Not legal or genealogical certification.