African American Genealogy Research
Because your people had names.
Kin is an AI research partner built for African American families. It understands the 1870 Census wall, slavery-era naming conventions, and the migration corridors that moved your family north. Other tools weren't built for this. Kin was.
Join the waitlist -- be first to access when we launch.
Here's what talking to Kin looks like
Ira Mott from Alabama coal country. That tells me a lot already.
Coal miners in Alabama in the late 1800s and early 1900s were predominantly employed by the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company in Jefferson County. That's a specific set of records I know how to search.
One important question: do you know roughly when Ira was born? If it was before 1870, his parents may be at the wall -- the point where named records stop for African American families.
"First born free" -- that's a critical detail. It means his parents were enslaved, which means we'll need to cross the 1870 wall to reach them.
I'm building your research plan now. I know exactly which records to search first.
Other tools weren't built for this
Ancestry, FamilySearch, and MyHeritage are general-purpose tools. African American genealogy is Kin's only purpose.
The 1870 Wall
The 1870 Census was the first to list formerly enslaved people by name. Kin knows what the wall is, how to approach it, and the six-step protocol for crossing it using slave schedules and Freedmen's Bureau records.
Slaveholder surnames
Most African American surnames were inherited from slaveholders after emancipation. Kin analyzes surname rarity by county, identifies slaveholder candidates, and searches probate records to trace the origin.
Migration corridors
The Great Migration followed industrial corridors -- coal, steel, meatpacking. Kin knows these routes and uses them to predict where your family moved, which records exist, and which employers to search.
What you get
A research plan before Kin searches anything
After the intake conversation, Kin shows you exactly what it plans to search and why -- before running a single query. You see the era classification, migration corridor, and priority record queue. Then you approve it.
No black box. No surprise results. You know what Kin is doing and why every step of the way.
Sample records Kin found
Coal loader, age 21 -- Jefferson Co., Alabama
Household: Ida Mott (wife, 19), George Mott (son, 1)
Employer: Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Co.
Next of kin: Ida Mott, Brookside, Ala.
3 enslaved persons: Male 35, Female 30, Male 6
Ages align with Ira's parents and uncle
What Kin returns
Records with context, not just links
Kin searches FamilySearch, military draft cards, Freedmen's Bureau files, and slave schedules. Every record comes with a confidence score -- Confirmed, Probable, Possible -- and an explanation of why it was matched.
You're not left to figure out if the 1860 slave schedule entry is your ancestor. Kin tells you exactly how confident it is and why.
The 1870 Wall -- and why it matters
What the wall is
The 1870 Census was the first to list formerly enslaved people by name. Before 1870, enslaved people appeared only as ages and genders in "slave schedules" -- listed under their enslaver's name. For most African American families, 1870 is where named records stop.
How Kin crosses it
Kin uses a six-step wall protocol: anchor in 1870-1880 Census, analyze the surname for slaveholder origin, cross-reference slave schedule age distributions, search Freedmen's Bureau labor contracts, and build a ranked hypothesis about which enslaving family held your ancestor.
What no other tool does
Why Kin was built
The founder traced his paternal line from Buffalo, NY through West Virginia coal country back to Ira Mott, a coal loader in Brookside, Alabama. Born February 11, 1879. The first free-born generation of his family.
Every tool he used failed at the critical moments. None of them knew what the 1870 wall was. None of them understood slaveholder surname inheritance. None of them could map the coal mining migration corridor. None of them generated stories that honored the racial reality of the people in the records.
Kin was built from that gap. It is the tool that should have existed.
How a research session works
From first conversation to family history, in one session.
The conversation
Kin opens with a warm conversation -- not a form. You share what you know: a name, a city, a family story. Kin knows what questions to ask.
The research plan
Kin analyzes your family's era, migration corridor, and surname before searching anything. You review and approve the plan.
The search
Kin searches census records, military cards, vital records, and Freedmen's Bureau files -- then assigns a confidence score to every match.
The story
Kin writes a narrative of what the records show -- with historical context, confidence levels, and an honest accounting of what remains unknown.
Your people had names.
Kin will find them.
We're launching soon. Join the waitlist and we'll reach out when Kin is ready for your family.
No credit card. No commitment. Just your family's history, waiting to be found.