Build a family tree from old certificates
Start with the newest certificate you have and work backwards: each birth certificate names the parents, each marriage certificate usually names the fathers, and each death certificate gives an age that dates the birth. In ChatGPT, attach a photo of each certificate and Kinroll adds the people and facts it states, keeping the transcription as the source of every fact.
Updated · The Open Apps, Inc.
Step by step
- Gather what you have. Certificates, baptism and burial records, obituaries, family Bible pages and letters. Photograph each in daylight, flat, with the whole page in frame.
- Start from yourself or a parent. Say “Start a family tree for the Rossi family” in ChatGPT, then add the person the tree should start from.
- Add one document at a time. Attach a photo and say “Add this certificate”. ChatGPT reads it and Kinroll adds only what it states: names, dates, places and who is whose parent or spouse.
- Check what Kinroll points out. When a new person may already be in the tree, Kinroll asks before merging. When two records disagree, it keeps both dates.
- Work backwards. Use the parents' names on each birth certificate to find the next certificate: their marriage, then their own births.
Why the source matters
Family stories drift: a birth year moves by a few years, a surname changes spelling, two cousins with the same name merge into one. A tree where every fact names its record lets you see which facts are proven and which are remembered.
Kinroll stores the transcription itself, in the document's own language and spelling, so you can check it later without the photo. It removes Social Security, national ID and passport numbers before saving, and never receives the photo itself.
What each record usually tells you
| Record | Usually gives | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Birth certificate | Child's name, date and place of birth, parents' names (often the mother's maiden name), sometimes the father's occupation | Linking a generation to the one before |
| Marriage certificate | Both names, ages or birth dates, residences, often both fathers' names, witnesses | Maiden names and the next generation back |
| Death certificate | Date and place of death, age at death, spouse, the informant | An estimated birth year; the informant is often a child |
| Census page | Everyone in the household, ages, relationships, birthplaces, occupations | Children who died young or left home early |
| Baptism or burial record | Dates of baptism or burial, parents or next of kin, the parish | Families from before civil registration |
| Obituary | Surviving relatives, places lived, sometimes maiden names | Finding the living branches of a family |
Contents vary by country and year; a record says only what its clerk wrote down.
Use it in ChatGPT
Kinroll Family Tree is a ChatGPT plugin. Type one of these:
- “Start a family tree for the Rossi family”
- “Add this birth certificate (attach a photo)”
- “Show me where each of Giovanni's dates comes from”
Questions
- Can ChatGPT read old handwriting?
- Often, yes, especially clear clerks' hands. Kinroll asks it to write [?] for words it can't read rather than guess, and to keep the record's own spelling.
- What if two certificates give different birth dates?
- Kinroll keeps both, each with its source, and tells you. Ages on death certificates and census pages are often a year or two off.
- Does Kinroll search archives for more records?
- No. It works with the documents you bring and what you know, and never invents people or dates.