VIRTUAL RESEARCH
Search and analyze
The virtual genealogists review authorized online collections, imported trees, uploaded documents, citations, and project evidence.
Evidence. Identity. Legacy.
Your history is waiting to be found.
Research your family story with intelligent tools, trusted guidance, and a community that understands why every name matters.
01 Source-led research02 Human expertise03 Your story, protected
1870HOUSEHOLD
RECORDNelson County, Virginia
RECORDNelson County, Virginia
✦THE PATTERSON LINE5 people • 12 sources
J
Identity under reviewEvery record is a clue.
Every clue deserves context.
Your genealogy starting point
Start in the Genealogy Hub.
Ask a question, upload work you already have, search the database, learn from supporting articles, or request professional research.
01
GET AN ANSWER
→02Ask Geno
Ask a genealogy or history question and get a source-aware answer.
CONTINUE YOUR WORK
→03Upload research
Securely add a family tree, notes, documents, or an existing project.
FIND A RECORD
→04Search database
Search NHRI records by person, place, year, record type, or collection.
LEARN & KEEP CURRENT
→05Articles & news
Read research guidance, archive news, historical context, and community scholarship.
ASK FOR PROFESSIONAL HELP
→Research request form
Submit a focused question for record searches, reviews, brick walls, or fieldwork.
Research, reimagined
Meet your
Virtual Genealogist.
A patient, person-to-person genealogy guide that answers questions, teaches effective research habits, and walks with you from your first family interview through difficult evidence problems.
- 01 Learn how to begin and work backward
- 02 Choose the right records and jurisdictions
- 03 Evaluate identity, conflicts, and evidence
- 04 Build reliable citations and next steps
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Geno helps with basic history, genealogy, and starting-point record guides. Gene and Genea share advanced project research in your Research Desk. Human review and fieldwork are available by a separate research request.PUBLIC GENEALOGY GUIDEMeet Geno
Direct history and genealogy answers grounded in NHRI guidance, government archives, libraries, and public source indexes—no payment required.
Technology guided by a real genealogist
Virtual research does not replace
human fieldwork.
Geno, Gene, and Genea help search, organize, analyze, and explain evidence. Behind the system, a human genealogist reviews difficult cases and can pursue records that are not digitized, indexed, or available to automated tools.
Explore human research servicesHUMAN REVIEW
Identify the inaccessible record
A real genealogist evaluates the gap, confirms the correct jurisdiction and repository, and determines whether field retrieval is warranted.
FIELD RETRIEVAL
Go where the record lives
When approved and scheduled, the genealogist may visit courthouses, archives, town halls, churches, cemeteries, libraries, or other repositories to obtain lawful copies and firsthand context.
RETURN TO YOUR DESK
Document and integrate
Retrieved material is cited, analyzed, added to the Research Desk, and used to update evidence, portfolios, and proposed family-tree relationships.
Learn from the archive
History becomes clearer
when we share it.
Explore practical guidance, record updates, and the deeper historical context behind the names in your family tree.
Browse all articles & newsRECORDS & IDENTITY1865“Colored persons not taxed”
FEATURED INSIGHT • 8 MIN READ
What a census label can—and cannot—tell you about identity
Learn how to interpret historic racial classifications without letting one line erase a family’s fuller story.
Read supporting articlesFive clues hiding in a marriage record index
How names, bondsmen, witnesses, and jurisdictions can point to the next record.
6 min readBuilding a source-first family tree
A simple system for separating family tradition, working theories, and proven facts.
4 min readWhen two records disagree on a birth year
Weighing firsthand knowledge, record purpose, and proximity to the event.
7 min readWhy the Institute exists
One family journey.
A place for every family.
The founder’s research reaches from Union Vale land maps and Civil War service to Virginia marriages, North Carolina migration, Georgia emancipation records, and Connecticut church registers. Explore the records, the research principles, and a four-generation pedigree progress view.
Read the Founder’s Testimony →1stMary Cromartie White2ndMinnie Freeman • Emma Patterson3rdAugustus Freeman • Willie Bohannon4thSamuel Freeman and Julia Denny • Andrew and Adline Bohannon
Inside the Institute
Research is personal.
You don’t have to do it alone.
01
Community Records Exchange
Researchers contribute family records that may help someone else identify an ancestor, break a research barrier, or discover a shared family line.
02
Protected Family Connections
When a record suggests distant kinship, NHRI privately reviews introduction requests without publishing contributor email addresses.
03
Family Tree Builder
Build people and relationships while attaching sources, notes, places, and confidence levels.
04
Free Learning Resources
Use guides, worksheets, record checklists, educational sessions, and advanced research tools.
Expert help, when it matters
Professional genealogy
services.
When a search becomes complex, an NHRI genealogist can review the evidence, develop a strategy, and conduct focused research on your behalf.
Record Search
A focused search for a specific birth, marriage, death, census, deed, probate, military, or court record.
Request a consultationResearch Review
An expert review of your tree, documents, conflicting facts, and current research questions.
Request a consultationFamily History Project
In-depth research across generations with a sourced narrative, evidence summary, and next-step plan.
Request a consultationPersonal research, repository work, and document delivery are quoted by scope. Core research tools remain free.
Free NHRI membership
Keep your family history within reach.
Become a free member to store documents and citations, build a family tree, search shared records, and ask Gene or Genea for genealogy guidance. Choose whether to receive newsletters, seminar announcements, helpful tips, and community news. No membership payment is required.
Join free & open your Research DeskFREE MEMBERSHIP$0
Private projects, saved records, document storage, member updates, and research tips. Email is optional.
Become a memberFREE AI ASSISTANCEGene & Genea
Ask questions, analyze records when the AI service is available, and plan your next source search.
Ask a genealogistOPTIONAL PAID HELPHuman research
Personal research, archive retrieval, copies, and document shipping are quoted before work begins.
Request a quoteFREE NHRI MEMBERSHIP
Research together,
for free.
Create a free member account to save research. Opt in for newsletters, seminar announcements, helpful tips, new records, and community news. You can also join the email list without an account.
Become a free member →