Why the Journey is Free...

and How to Support the Research

When I transitioned this space to Tyrian Thistle, the mission remained completely unchanged: to dig into the archives, untangle complex family lines, and bring forgotten history back into the light. But alongside that traditional research, a massive new chapter has opened up.

I firmly believe that the tools shaping the future of family history should be accessible to everyone. Learning how to navigate deep historical records is one thing, but learning how to use Artificial Intelligence as a research assistant, a transcription partner, and a storytelling tool changes the entire game.

Because history belongs to all of us, every single article, deep dive, and AI genealogy tutorial on this site is—and always will be—completely free to read. There are no paywalls blocking a piece of the puzzle, and no learning guides locked behind a subscription fee.

That being said, a massive amount of behind-the-scenes work goes into what you read here. Pulling archival evidence, analyzing census data, designing AI prompts, and maintaining this site takes a significant amount of time, resources, and late-night caffeine.

Lately, a few readers have asked if there’s a way to support the work going on behind the scenes.

To keep everything simple and right here in one place, I have enabled Substack’s paid options. Think of it strictly as a voluntary tip jar. All articles are free, so upgrading to a paid subscription is purely a way to directly fund the document retrieval, database costs, and independent tools that keep this research engine running.

There is absolutely no obligation to upgrade. Simply reading, learning, and sharing these stories is incredible support. But if you do want to chip in a few dollars a month to fuel the next late-night archival breakthrough, it is deeply appreciated.

Choose a support tier below to join the journey:

Thank you for digging into the past and exploring the future of genealogy with me. The next deep dive is already in the works!