I’ve combined Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 ancestors in 52 weeks challenge, and Steve Little’s The 2025 AI Genealogy Do-Over, to create a unique 52 AI ancestors in 52 weeks party!

Figure 1 Alice Britton Makey, my great grandmother and product of Cornelius’ second marriage

Surprise! My Ancestor Had a Secret First Family
52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 6: Surprise!

Introduction

Have you ever thought you knew everything about an ancestor, only to find out there was an entire family you never knew existed? That’s exactly what happened when I stumbled upon Cornelius Britton’s hidden past. I believed I had his life well-documented—until one record changed everything.

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Background

Cornelius Britton (1852-1910) and his wife, Alice Matilda Smith (1850-1913), were the proud parents of three daughters, including my great-grandmother. Oral history in my family confirmed I had everything squared away about this branch of my tree. But, as genealogy often teaches us, our ancestors have their own ways of keeping secrets!

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The Discovery

As I refined my genealogy skills, I became determined to fill in every missing piece. Cornelius had always been a well-documented figure in my family’s history—until I uncovered a record that rewrote his story.

I was reviewing census records, expecting to confirm what I already knew, when I found something that made me freeze. Before marrying Alice, Cornelius had a first wife, Frances Housman, and together they had three sons. I stared at the screen. Three boys? I had never heard a single mention of them.

In the 1880 census, Cornelius and Alice were listed as “married within the year,” but the boys weren’t with them. Instead, they were living with their maternal grandparents. My heart sank as I followed their trail. One son died young, another disappeared from the records, but the third? He had descendants—relatives I never knew existed.

I tried to imagine Cornelius’s reality. A widower in the 1870s, left to raise three young boys alone—it must have been overwhelming. But why didn’t he reclaim them after remarrying? Did Alice refuse? Did circumstances make it impossible? His granddaughter, my great-grandmother, never spoke of them. Did she even know?

This discovery left me with more questions than answers. And that’s when I turned to AI for help.

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How AI Helped My Research

Realizing I had missing branches in my tree, I wondered—could AI help me track them down? I started with ChatGPT, asking how I could investigate Cornelius’s first marriage. The responses were generic at first, so I refined my prompt, a key step when working with AI.

I also brought in Claude, which is known for its web searching capabilities. I asked both tools to create an AI-assisted locality guide for Cornelius’s time in New York City, focusing on records I might have missed.

Here’s what AI suggested:

🗂 Census & Vital Records
✔ Federal Census (1850-1880): Track household changes over time.
✔ New York State Census (1855, 1865, 1875): Available at the NY Public Library.
✔ Birth, Marriage, Death Records: NYC Municipal Archives has key documents.

📚 Local Directories & Newspapers
✔ Trow’s NYC Directory (Manhattan) & Lain’s Brooklyn Directory: Track Cornelius’s addresses and occupations.
✔ Newspaper Archives: Obituaries, announcements, and news mentions in the Brooklyn Public Library and online databases.

🏛 Legal & Church Records
✔ Probate & Land Records: Wills and deeds at county clerk offices could show connections.
✔ Church Records: Baptisms, marriages, and burials often provide missing details.

🔎 What Surprised Me?
I expected Claude to be stronger at web searches, since it’s known for research, but ChatGPT provided direct links to resources, while Claude gave broader summaries. I also revisited Judy Russell’s “Reasonably Exhaustive Research Checklist” (free download here), which helped me double-check my sources.

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Challenge for Readers

Have you ever uncovered a surprise in your family tree? Maybe a secret sibling, a hidden marriage, or an ancestor who vanished? I’d love to hear your stories! Share in the comments.

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Summary and Next Steps

This discovery has left me with more questions than answers, and I’m eager to keep searching. My next steps? Exploring Cornelius’s families with the tools that AI suggested, particularly city directories and newly digitized newspapers, to see if I can track down more information about his missing son and his descendants.

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Disclosure

This post was created with AI assistance and refined with my insights. While AI helps organize research, the storytelling and discoveries are my own.