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 16: Oldest story

Introduction

The oldest story in my family is 342 years old!

One of the oldest pieces of family lore I’ve found isn’t so much a handed-down tale—it’s a letter. A letter written in 1683 by my ancestor, Louis Thibou, that’s now housed at the South Caroliniana Library at the University of South Carolina. I’m not sure why Louis wrote it, but it reads as a promotion piece of the Carolinas to London Huguenots. You can read the transcription and view a scan of the original here. (Fair warning: it’s in French and 17th-century ink, though it’s in remarkable condition.)

There are many interesting parts of this letter! And each time I read it I find more. But the one which fits this week’s topic best is this passage, translated from the French:

God has given us a son who is called Jacob after the one we lost in England; the captain of a warship was his godfather. 

Discussion

Now that’s a line with weight. Who was this captain? Did Jacob grow up hearing that story? Did it stick around in either man’s family? I wonder if it’s possible to postulate who the warship captain was?

How AI can help

I used Gemini (Google’s AI) for its broad internet access. My prompt:

Jacob Thibou was born between 1680 and 1683 in Charleston, now South Carolina. His father says “God has given us a son who is called Jacob after the one we lost in England; the captain of a warship was his godfather. ” How would I try to track who this captain was?

Gemini gave me a five-part plan, with details on each:

1. Establish a More Precise Birth Year and Location

2. Research Jacob Thibou’s Father

3. Focus on Royal Navy Activity in the Late 17th Century

4. Consider Other Naval Connections

5. Genealogical Databases and Forums

It identified key information to look for, challenges, and a summary. Some of the information is either obvious or obviously can’t be done. But there are enough nuggets there to chase a few things.

Summary and challenge

I’m using AI to revisit old mysteries with a fresh lens. It won’t hand me a tidy answer, but it does offer new ways to think about the problem—and sometimes that’s exactly what we need. At some point, between the new angles and new information available, I will crack this! How about you? What old stories would you like to prove or disprove, and how can AI help you?

Figure 1 An English warship in use during the time Jacob was born, the HMS Royal Sovereign (she served from 1637-1697)

By http://website.lineone.net/~d.bolton/Fleet/sover.jpg, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1093850

Next week, we explore “DNA.” Things may get… molecular.

Disclosure

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