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!

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 15: Big mistake

When a Baby Genealogist Assumes…

My big mistake as a baby genealogist? I assumed my great-grandparents were married before their children arrived. Logical, right? Turns out, not so much. I wasted years searching for a marriage that didn’t exist—at least not when I thought it did.

What Took Me So Long?

Everyone in the family swore that Nanny and Great-Grandpa married on November 11, 1908, likely in Manhattan. I knew how to work the New York and New Jersey records. I hunted. I cross-referenced. I came up empty.

Then one day, while poking around on FindMyPast thanks to a genealogical society membership, I stumbled across my grandmother’s baptism record. That gave me a church. I followed the breadcrumb trail through her siblings’ records, and that led me to a surprise: the marriage record. Dated 1918. After nearly all their children were born.

The Draft Card That Changed Everything

Here’s where a timeline helps. In September 1918, Great-Grandpa filled out a draft registration card listing himself as married. Just two weeks later, on September 28, 1918, he and Nanny had a marriage, recorded in both the church and the city. I’m convinced that one event (the draft) led directly to the other (marriage).

My cousin found a 1908 church record for their religious ceremony, so they likely felt that was “good enough” until Uncle Sam came knocking. It was the looming possibility of military service that likely pushed them to make it official in the eyes of the law.

Could AI Have Helped? Absolutely.

If I’d had AI tools back then, I could have created a quick timeline like this:

• 1908: Church marriage (religious, no civil record)
• 1909–1917: Children born
• Sept 12, 1918: Draft card lists him as married
• Sept 28, 1918: Civil marriage license filed

Even a free AI tool could organize those clues quickly, especially when you input events from census records, baptism registers, or draft cards. The pattern becomes pretty clear when laid out visually.

What I Learned (and What You Can Try Too)

This mix-up taught me never to treat family lore or assumptions as fact. Every old mystery deserves a second look with fresh eyes and new tools. Try these next steps:

• Recheck online databases
• Search for new DNA matches
• Build a timeline
• Revisit webinar notes or conference takeaways
• Explore genealogical society perks

Sometimes the answer was there all along. We just need to look differently.

Figure 1 Me with Great-Grandpa, just a short time ago!

Next week, we explore “Oldest story.”

Disclosure

This post was created by me and refined with AI assistance. While AI helps organize research, the storytelling and discoveries (and assumptions!) are my own.