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 27: Family business

Introduction

My ancestor John West was a carpenter. His son, John T. West, was also a carpenter (stair builder). But I thought it died there, until I looked again.

Discussion

First generation

John West, the elder, was listed as a carpenter in 1850[1]:

I believe this was him in 1860, a carpenter, living with a man who was probably his son, a stair builder:[2]

In 1863, he was a stair builder in Philadelphia:[3]

In 1870, the last federal census he was alive, he was a carpenter:[4]

Second generation

Figure 1 John T. West

His son, John T., in 1850 was a carpenter:

[5]

In 1860 he was a carpenter:[6]

In 1870 he was keeping a farm and that may have become the bulk of his income:[7]

In 1880 he was still a farmer, perhaps in that small town there wasn’t enough carpentry work to keep him going:[8]

While he was enumerated in 1890, the veteran’s schedule does not list his occupation.

Come 1900, John was finally a carpenter again:[9]

In 1910, John is in a Soldier’s and Sailor’s home with no occupation:[10]

And finally, in 1920, he is in the Solder’s and Sailor’s home with no occupation again: [11]

Third generation

John T.’s son, John Thomas West Jr., not my ancestor, also became a carpenter.

When the prompt came out this week, “Family business,” I was stumped as to what I would discuss. But I think a three-generation craft is respectable for this purpose!

Another string

My great-grandfather on another line was a financial secretary; his son in law (my grandfather) was an accountant; his son (my father) was a tax accountant. It skipped a generation, but my son is a Certified Public Accountant.

How AI can help

AI can speed up occupational sleuthing by scanning census records, city directories, and digitized newspapers for mentions of trades, apprenticeships, and business listings. Tools like ChatGPT can summarize occupation trends in a timeline, helping you spot shifts like when John T. traded his tools for a plow – or back again. AI can even suggest leads, like tax records or guild memberships, you might not have considered.

Want to map your family’s job history? Ask your favorite AI assistant to help sort your ancestors by occupation and decade. It’s like a career fair with everyone already dressed for the part.

Challenge

Try this:

1. Timeline Game: Make a visual timeline of your ancestor’s occupations using census and city directory data. Add changes in location or family structure to spot patterns.
2. Skill Set Detective: Choose one ancestor’s job and research what tools, training, or licensing it involved in their era. Use AI to compare their role to modern equivalents—was your 1860 stair builder today’s architectural woodworker?

Bonus challenge: Ask ChatGPT to help write a “Help Wanted” ad your ancestor might have answered—or placed!

Summary

Fleshing out ancestor’s livelihoods can help fill out their stories, and noticing changes in occupation can show perhaps hard times like my ancestor probably faced on the Ohio frontier. Looking for occupational patterns can shed new light on our family tree.

AI tools can help speed up the research, but the real gold is in noticing the stories between the job titles.

Further Resources

• Steve Little’s AI Genealogy Do-Over: https://aigenealogycoach.com
• Historical U.S. Occupations Guide: https://familysearch.org/en/wiki/Occupations
• Old Occupations Dictionary (UK-based but helpful generally): https://rmhh.co.uk/occup/index.html
• Cyndi’s List: Occupations: https://www.cyndislist.com/occupations/

Next Week’s Topic: “Travel”

Disclosure

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

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[1] Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Original data: Seventh Census of the United States, 1850; (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432, 1009 rolls); Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29; National Archives, Washington, D.C.

[2] Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Original data:1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

[3] Ancestry.com. Pennsylvania, U.S., Septennial Census, 1779-1863 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.
Original data: Septennial Census Returns, 1779–1863. Box 1026, microfilm, 14 rolls. Records of the House of Representatives. Records of the General Assembly, Record Group 7. Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Harrisburg, PA.

[4] Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Original data:1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d

[5] The National Archives in Washington, DC; Record Group: Records of the Bureau of the Census; Record Group Number: 29; Series Number: M432; Residence Date: 1850; Home in 1850: Spring Garden Ward 5, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: 819; Page: 223b

[6] Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Original data:1860 U.S. census, population schedule. NARA microfilm publication M653, 1,438 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.

[7] Ancestry.com. 1870 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch.
Original data:1870 U.S. census, population schedules. NARA microfilm publication M593, 1,761 rolls. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration,

[8] Year: 1880; Census Place: Liberty Center, Henry, Ohio; Roll: 1032; Page: 30d; Enumeration District: 109

[9] Year: 1900; Census Place: Liberty Center, Henry, Ohio; Roll: 1286; Page: 11; Enumeration District: 0027

[10] Year: 1910; Census Place: Perkins, Erie, Ohio; Roll: T624_1178; Page: 5a; Enumeration District: 0051; FHL microfilm: 1375191

[11] Year: 1920; Census Place: Perkins, Erie, Ohio; Roll: T625_1377; Page: 10A; Enumeration District: 15