Genealogy

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 36: Off to school

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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 36: Off to school

“Off to School: A Science Teacher in the Making”

Introduction: The Spark

When did my son Evan first love science?

I keep a K-12 book and in Kindergarten, for “What I want to be when I grow up,” I wrote for him, “Dentist, weatherman, football player, baseball player.” The others dropped, but weatherman remained until fifth grade, when it transformed into meteorologist and remained. I stuck his high school transcript in that book and see Honors biology, Chemistry, Honors Physics, and AP Chemistry in high school. So I guess the answer to that question is “always.”

In his first year as a Boy Scout, he went with Troop 61 to Camp Rodney in Maryland, and 11-year-old Evan announced that he wanted to work at Boy Scout Camp! And he did… when he was 14, he became a Counselor in Training and worked there every summer for about a decade. Thus, his love for helping younger children.

Oh, we definitely encouraged him! I sent him to Johns Hopkins’ Center for Talented Youth summer courses and he chose courses including physics and engineering. We went to every science museum and aquarium in driving distance. When we vacationed in Florida, we stopped at Cape Canaveral, where we had to buy him an astronaut helmet. (He paid me not to include that photo in my post.)

Section 1: Science at Play

I feel that Evan’s curiosity played into his becoming a scientist. Much of his childhood was asking us “Why?” (Ask anyone in the family and they will roll their eyes!) As a leader at Boy Scout Camp, he ran the Buckskin Camper program for first-year scouts.

Section 2: Off to School as a Teacher

That curiosity, paired with years of leading younger Scouts, made teaching a natural choice. Evan knew by the time he was selecting colleges that teaching would be his profession. He selected a school well known for its teaching program, and actually earned two degrees – one in education and one in science. He student taught in a nearby city, and in Luxembourg.

He’s now sharing his enthusiasm via experiments with 9th graders in a disadvantaged school district.

He may not be an astronaut, but he launches experiments every day, and the results are (usually) less volatile.

Section 3: Family Continuity

My dad was quite poor and considered himself fortunate to get a full scholarship to an excellent university. He always impressed the value of education on us children, and I made sure to pass that along to my children. I plan to start an endowment in his name at his university.

The next generation has picked up the torch, clearly, and my coda is that months ago, Evan married another teacher. One of their engagement photos was of them doing an experiment together. ❤

Off to school isn’t just about learning; it’s about those who show up every day to teach.

How AI Can Help

Just ask Sal Khan:

  • AI can help teachers create lesson plans, quizzes, or lab activity guides.
  • AI can suggest science project ideas or even simulate data (weather, astronomy).
  • For genealogists: AI can help us study how education shaped our ancestors’ lives.

Challenge for Readers

  • Who in your family tree worked in education as teachers, librarians, principals, nurses, or even cafeteria staff?
  • Did anyone in your family have a “school spirit” role? (band, cheer, debate team?)
  • Share a memory of someone “off to school” from your family story.

Want to Learn More?

Conclusion

I am so very proud of all of my children, but my teacher son has upheld this particular family tradition in a way that he has made all his own.

“Off to school” looks different for everyone, and I am pleased to present to you our versions. But no matter the appearance, it always circles back to curiosity, commitment, and care for the next generation.

Next Week’s Topic: “In the news”

AI 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.

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 35: Off to Work

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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 35: Off to Work

Introduction

Introduction: The Family Commute

I used to watch my dad board the bus to “the city” (Manhattan) every morning. Same time. Same bus. Same briefcase. There was something both comforting and mysterious about it. I didn’t really know what he did all day. I just knew he went to work. That ritual – coat on, door shut, bus gone – was the first time I realized adults had lives beyond the kitchen table.

Mom was a stay at home with three young children, and Daddy’s arrival heralded dinner and a fun evening. Perhaps we’d work with us on his HO trains, or maybe Star Trek was on that night, or maybe there was another project that needed doing.

Discussion

Section 1: The Man with Molten Type

Before my dad commuted and long before I tapped my first line of code, my (maternal) grandfather worked as a linotype operator: a job that’s now as extinct as the machines he used.

If you’ve never seen one, imagine a typewriter and a small smelter had a very noisy, very dangerous baby. Each line of text was literally cast in hot lead. He didn’t just “type” – he composed entire newspaper pages, one line at a time, one letter at a time, backwards and in metal.

I was 4 when Grandpa retired and didn’t get to visit his place of employment. But years later, in middle school, I took a printing class and got to experience typesetting firsthand. I made several memos with headings such as “Memo from Janet.”

Grandpa’s job demanded precision and speed. A missed letter could ruin a whole page. Burned fingers weren’t rare. But he did it every day for 40 years at the same place.

Section 2: Then Came the Code

Just as he arranged type into meaning, I would later arrange code into logic.

Fast forward a few decades, and I found myself in front of a screen instead of a metal keyboard as a computer programmer. When I started, we used punch cards! Eight-inch floppy disks! (gasp) COBOL! Now, code lives in the cloud, and debugging means asking an AI model what went wrong.

But really, the job hasn’t changed that much. Like my grandfather, I still sit in front of a machine and try to arrange symbols into meaning. His lines were made of lead; mine are made of logic.

I am awed and amazed when I consider the change that has happened in my industry in the past 40 years. Steve Little said in his AI class, “I’ve spent 40 years preparing for this year and the next.” I feel the same way.  My father’s routine, my grandfather’s grasp of language, and my logic skills all come together in my current job of creating educational materials for technology learners.

Sometimes I wonder what he would think of my job. Would he laugh at the idea of “virtual servers”? Would he nod in approval at a well-written script? Or would he just say, “At least you’re not setting your eyebrows on fire”?

How AI can help

AI can’t cast a line of hot lead, but it can help us work with the printed word in new ways. Tools like OCR (optical character recognition) can turn old newspapers or documents into searchable text. AI can even clean up fuzzy scans, translate foreign-language articles, and suggest connections you might have missed in census or work records. Just as my grandfather worked to set the words straight, I can now ask AI to straighten out a crooked page from 1905.

This isn’t just theory—AI has already changed how we do genealogy research. One great example of AI doing this is indexing the United States Federal Census.

FamilySearch says that it took 17 years to index the 1880 census. With the help of AI and human reviewers, the 1950 census was completely indexed and reviewed in three months. And usually whatever was still an issue, could be located with the help of tools like Steve Morse’s Census ED finder.

Challenge for Readers

Think about the workers in your own family tree.

  • Who had a job that no longer exists?
  • Can you picture a relative “off to work” each day—maybe with a lunch pail, uniform, or briefcase?
  • Write a short memory, or search the census to see how your ancestors described their occupation.

Then, consider how that work has changed—or vanished—over time. Share your story in the comments or with your own #52Ancestors entry.

Want to Learn More?

Curious about linotype machines? Check out these:

Conclusion: Work, Then and Now

Three generations, three very different workdays—but the rhythm is oddly familiar. We leave the house (or open the laptop), focus on our task, and come home changed—sometimes tired, sometimes proud, sometimes wondering what we really accomplished.

I have long impressed upon my children the value of education. I hope as a corollary they see how important hard work is as well.

Today, no one boards a bus in my household, and molten metal is blissfully absent. But the spirit of showing up and shaping something with your brain and hands? That’s alive and well.

Figure 1 Linotype typesetting machine at Wikimedia Commons

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ALinotype_typesetting_machine.JPG

Next Week’s Topic: “Off to school”

AI 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.

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 34: Play time

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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 34: Play time

Introduction

Grandpa was a jokester. He once had Grandma retrieve something from under the couch for him – which turned out to be plastic “dog poop.” “Oh, Gordon,” she said, for the umpteenth time, shaking her head.

When thinking about play time, my mind automatically goes to my grandfather, Gordon West (1907-1981). But which play are we talking about?

Grandma had a devil of a time deciphering the items he put on shopping lists – aches for eggs, like that. He played my first April Fool’s joke on me (Santa Claus was outside the window) and acted very surprised when I played the same joke on him right back (hey, I was 4).  He left written instructions “To earl organ” so that we would know how to oil the instrument.

Discussion

But Grandpa’s playfulness wasn’t just in his jokes. It was also in his music. The playing I most remember Grandpa for was his Hammond organ. Grandpa earned a living playing the organ at the movie theater before “talkies” (movies with sound) came out. (Google tells me that The Jazz Singer popularized them in 1927, and they were ubiquitous by 1930, when Grandpa turned 23.)

He then had a tough search for work during the Depression. A friend offered him a job as a linotype operator for no pay, which he used to get a job at the Staten Island Advance and he worked at it for 41 years (according to an article about his retirement).

Still, Grandpa never forgot his roots and never lost his love for music. I remember Grandpa playing for the grandchildren and us dancing to such classics as Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree (which was actually new when he played it for us), and similar.

Dancing in the living room while Grandpa played the organ is the last childhood joy I remember.

So, in a way, this is about my play time as well.

Love you, Grandpa.

Organ oiling instructions, where he purposely spelled "oil" as "earl"

How AI can help

While Grandpa provided the heart of this story, AI gave me a few gentle nudges. I used it to double-check when “talkies” became mainstream and to help clarify a few fuzzy details around his career shift. AI didn’t write this story, but it did help me ask better questions. And sometimes, that’s all the help you need.

Challenge for Readers

Think about someone in your own family tree who brought playfulness into daily life. Did they tell jokes, pull pranks, play music, or encourage dancing in the living room? Share their story, or a favorite memory of your own “play time.”

Next Week’s Topic: “Off to work”

AI 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.

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 33: Legal troubles

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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 33: Legal troubles

Introduction

My first clue was my ancestor John West’s will, dated 01 December 1875, and proven 30 September 1876: “I, John West… give and devise to my son John T. West one dollar.”[1]

Opening lines of John West’s 1875 will, Henry County, Ohio, leaving his son John T. West one dollar.

Figure 1 Opening lines of John West’s 1875 will, Henry County, Ohio

I would be remiss if I did not mention that I was the fortunate recipient of a copy of this will before FamilySearch got them online, thanks to a volunteer from the sadly disbanded Henry County (Ohio) Genealogical Society. [Shoutout to Jim Rebar!]

Discussion

It seems my great-great grandfather John T. and his father had a schism which was never resolved. Digging into court records revealed more information: In September 1870, John the father, “an old man over seventy” sold his son John T some land for a fraction of its value in return for the son supporting the father “as long as he shall live.”

The father and son did not get along well; the father claims the son required him to “perform manual labor continually,” verbally abused him, did not furnish him with necessary clothing or sufficient food, and more. The father did “not feel safe longer to remain in the family of” his son. The father asserts the son was intending to sell what was left of the father’s property “with the view and intention to leave the state,” which may be corroborated by a letter I have written by the son’s wife (see 52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 7: Letters and Diaries). This complaint was sworn on December 17, 1875, when the father moved out of the son’s house., about two weeks after the will mentioned above.

In January, the son filed a statement alleging that the complaints were untrue and he was ready and willing to support his father as contractually obligated. He submitted a financial statement for 5 years, 3 months, and two weeks of boarding and purchases, mostly clothing.

The father responded on February 19, disagreeing with his son’s statement.

Sadly, in “the October term” of that year, the plaintiff “has departed this life,” and was later dismissed.

I’m sorry that father and son never mended their rift, and am sorry that the family pattern has carried forward, to some extent. While my research took patience, time, and long distance volunteer help, I now know there are AI tools that can make the search easier.

How AI Can Help
(as suggested by, of course, AI)

AI can be useful when you’re researching an ancestor with a colorful legal history. Here’s how I might have used them in my own search to understand the John Wests:

  • Transcribing and Summarizing Old Legal Documents
    Many legal records are written in challenging handwriting or dense legal language. AI-powered transcription tools can turn scanned documents into readable text, while summarizers can condense them into plain language without losing important details.
  • Finding Background from Historical Laws
    AI can search digitized law books, newspapers, and historical archives to explain the laws of the time. This can help you understand why your ancestor might have been in trouble – or what their rights and obligations were.
  • Cross-Referencing with Other Records
    Court cases often connect to land deeds, wills, or even census data. AI search tools can spot names, places, and dates across different record sets, saving hours of manual work.
  • Creating Timelines
    AI can take scattered facts and dates from different sources and lay them out in an easy-to-follow timeline. This can reveal patterns, conflicts, or missing pieces in your ancestor’s story.

Tip: Always review AI’s results against the original sources – AI is great at spotting leads, but it’s not a substitute for your genealogist’s judgment.

Challenge for Readers

  • Decode a Court Record with AI
    1. Find a legal record from your own research: a will, court case, or land dispute.
    2. Use an AI-powered transcription tool (such as Transkribus or Google Docs OCR) to turn the scan into text.
    3. Paste the text into a free AI tool and ask it to explain the document in plain English.
    4. Compare its interpretation with your own.
  • AI Timeline Builder
    1. Gather 5–10 dated events from your ancestor’s legal troubles (court filings, sales of property, letters, etc.).
    2. Feed the events into a free AI tool like ChatGPT free plan or Claude.ai and ask it to arrange them into a chronological timeline with a short summary for each event.
    3. Look for gaps or unexpected patterns you might have missed before.

If I’d had these tools when I first read John West’s will, I might have untangled the drama faster.

Want to Learn More?

📚 Suggested Resources

  1. Transcription Tools
  2. Historical Law References
  3. Genealogy Research
  4. Free AI Tools

Next Week’s Topic: “Playtime”

AI 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.

[1] https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-89M2-D8VY, or properly cited: “Ohio, Probate Records, 1789-1996,” images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/en/search/catalog/352900 : accessed 11 Aug 2025) Film # 005430581 > Item 2 > Image 317/649; citing Henry County, Ohio, Record of Wills Vol. 2 page 200.

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 32: Wide open spaces

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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 32 Wide open spaces

Introduction

This is a Public Service Announcement about researching at the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM). There is no better use of the Wide Open Spaces topic if you’re in the US.

Discussion

What prompted me to think of this was a to-do list item which unfortunately was only in my head until now. Michael DOBBINS and his wife Mary MALONE were an Irish couple with several children. The family emigrated bit by bit during An Gorta Mór (The Great Hunger). They settled in Morris County, New Jersey for a time, where at least two daughters married and settled, and then the parents and younger children moved out to Shawnee, Wyandotte, Kansas, to farm. Numerous census schedules show Michael engaged in farming and with a considerable amount of land.

His will (Ancestry link; it’s restricted on FamilySearch) distributed much land:

  • To my daughter Bridget Murphy: west half of South East (1/4) quarter of south west (1/4) quarter of section Eighteen (18) Town Eleven (11) Range Twenty five (25) containing twenty acres…
  • To my son Michael Dobbins the west half (1/2) of north east quarter (1/4) of South West quarter (1/4) of section Eighteen (18) Township Eleven (11) Range Twenty five (25) containing twenty acres…
  • To William Dobbins and James Dobbins the children of my [deceased] son James Dobbins the East half of South East quarter (1/4) of South West quarter (1/4) of Section (18) Eighteen, town Eleven (11) Range twenty five (25) containing twenty acres…

(Side note: Michael’s son James was killed in a duel in 1879.) I went back to the 1880 census, agricultural schedules (Ancestry link), and sure enough he has 58 acres improved and 2 acres unimproved, farm valued at $3,000.

What brought this poor Irish immigrant to Kansas? How did he end up with sixty acres of land? I suspect the answer for both questions is the same. I wonder if I might find answers at the Bureau of Land Management.

How AI can help

I went to Microsoft Researcher, and asked:

How do I use the Bureau of Land Management for genealogical research, if my ancestor unexpectedly got property in Kansas?

It gave me the chance to be more specific in my prompting ( 😊 ) so I replied:

My poor ancestor in New Jersey, Michael Dobbins, moved to Shawnee Township, Wyandotte, Kansas around 1865 and acquired 60 acres of property. How would he have been able to do this?

I added:

How would I be able to research any records that might exist around this grant or acquisition?

Microsoft Researcher was surprisingly thorough – AI gave me a to-do list I didn’t know I needed. It kindly provided me with a hefty output called Genealogical Research Report: Land Acquisition in 1860s Kansas (Case of Michael Dobbins). I’ll attach it at the bottom of this post. What it does (its thinking) is in the beginning, and the report starts on page 8. I think the list on page 11 is the meat of it:

Step 1: Search Federal Land Patent Records (BLM GLO) Step 2: Analyze the Patent Details (Acquisition Method) Step 3: Obtain the Land Entry Case File (National Archives) Step 4: Search State and Local Records (Kansas Archives & County Deeds)

This research is still on my to-do list (this was a big enough rabbit hole for today), but I now have a better idea what to do and where to go.

Challenge for Readers

Use Microsoft Researcher or Perplexity to suggest records for your specific situation: especially location and time frame and possible military service.

Want to Learn More?

A few resources:

Here is Michael’s death notice; it says he “leaves a large circle of friends to mourn his loss”:

Next Week’s Topic: “Legal troubles”

AI 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.

Land Acquisition in 1860s Kansas (Case of Michael Dobbins)Download

Link: https://theancestorwhisperer.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/land-acquisition-in-1860s-kansas-case-of-michael-dobbins.pdf

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 31: Earliest Ancestor

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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 31: Earliest Ancestor

Introduction

“How far back have you gone?” It’s a common question from non-genealogists. But I’m excited to discuss it today with genealogists! My earliest known ancestors are Philippe du Trieux, and his wife Jaquemyne Noiret. Philippe was born 1586 in Roubaix, Flanders, then Belgium, and Jacquemine in 1593 in Lille, France.

Discussion

As a Walloon, he moved often, first to Leiden and then Amsterdam in the Netherlands (where Jacquemine died, and Philippe remarried to Susanna du Chesne) and finally to New Amsterdam in 1624. His descendants have invented many “facts” and it’s a challenge sorting it all out. The 1926 article cited below is still an authority, and much more credible than most of what is floating around online.

Philippe, his children and his second wife were among the very first settlers in what is now Manhattan. He erected a house on the Bever Graft, the article says, and later lived on Smits Vly (valley). Philippe was appointed as a court messenger, or marshal, by Governor Kieft in 1638.

Philippe is thought to have been killed with his son in an “Indian attack” between 1649 and 1653.

The really intriguing thing is we have a lead on Philippe’s possible parents! There is a Jaquemyne du Trieux widow of Philippe (not to be confused with our Philippe and his first wife Jacquemine) mentioned in Leiden records, as being from Norwich England.

In the record of the Walloon Church at Leyden:

“April 22, 1601. Jaquemyne, widow of Philippe du Trieu, received into Church of Leyden, by letter from Norwich, England.”

This Jaquemyne and her deceased husband might well have been the parents of Philippe who came to New Amsterdam in 1624, but we have no proof that such is the case.[1]

How AI can help

Researching ancestors from the 1500s might sound like trying to solve a cold case with half the clues missing – and most written in languages we don’t speak. Here’s where AI can lend a hand:

  1. Language Translation Made Easy
    AI tools like Google Translate or DeepL can quickly translate Dutch, French, Latin, or old Walloon records. While not perfect, they’re a great first pass to understand what a document says before consulting a professional.
  2. Reading Between the Lines (Literally)
    Many old documents are hard to read because of handwriting. AI handwriting recognition tools, such as Transkribus, can help transcribe and interpret those difficult letters and notations – especially helpful in 17th-century church or court records.
  3. Sorting the Fact from Family Folklore
    Generative AI can look at multiple versions of a family story or online tree entries, note patterns and outliers, and point you toward the most supported facts. It’s like a polite cousin who says, “Yes, but according to actual sources…”
  4. Timeline Generation
    With basic info and dates, you can use AI tools (like ChatGPT or free timeline generators online) to auto-create a visual or text-based timeline. This helps you spot gaps, contradictions, or opportunities for new searches.
  5. Hypothesis Testing
    For Philippe’s possible parentage, AI can help you outline different possibilities and suggest what records you’d need to explore each one. Think of it as a brainstorming buddy for brick walls.
  6. Research

Yes, really! There are some very good researcher agents out there. They can provide a good start to your own research. Try Microsoft Researcher (I love it, but have to prompt hard to get it to be less wordy) or Perplexity (Mark Thompson and Steve Little talked about its Comet in this podcast).  

Challenge for Readers

Who is your earliest ancestor? How much documentation is there on them? Consider creating a timeline to firm up their known facts – I found the one in the Record article to be very useful.

Already created a timeline for your earliest ancestor? Excellent. Let’s build on that using AI:

  1. AI-Powered Timeline Prompt
    Enter the known events and dates for your ancestor into ChatGPT and ask:
    “Can you create a basic timeline of events for [ancestor’s name], and suggest what kinds of records I might look for at each stage?”
  2. Compare Online Trees Cautiously
    Use AI to review summaries from different online trees (e.g., WikiTree, Ancestry, FamilySearch) by copying and pasting entries. Ask:
    “Can you summarize key differences and potential errors in these family trees?”
  3. Geographic Migration Map
    Upload your ancestor’s locations to a free AI-powered map tool like MyHeritage’s PedigreeMap or even Google’s My Maps. Let AI help visualize migration paths and see patterns that might point to more records.

Want to Learn More?

I did blog about the House of Truax in a series of twelve blog articles ten years ago, starting at https://janetbgenealogy.wordpress.com/2015/07/19/house-of-truax-etymology/ (links to the whole series at the bottom).

A view of New Amsterdam

Figure 1 View of New Amsterdam

By Jacob van Meurs – This is an image from the Atlas of Mutual Heritage and the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the Dutch National Library.The metadata of this file is public domain under a Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication (CC-ZERO). This permission has been archived as ticket #2014051410008887, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=33308107

Next Week’s Topic: “Wide open spaces”

AI 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.

[1] Howard S. F. Randolph, editor, The House of Truax (The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record: vol. 57, no. 3 (1926)), p. 208.

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 30: Religious traditions

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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 30: Religious traditions

Boomerangs and Belief: Tracing the Faith Footprints of My Ancestors

Introduction

What makes a person fall away from their religious institution? What kind of a schism must there be for a person to no longer publicly worship?

Discussion

My family has many instances of parting ways with their churches. The oldest one I know of is my great-grandfather, who was upset that the Roman Catholic church wouldn’t bury his mom because she hadn’t been active in their (new?) hometown. My grandmother disagreed with the Church over birth control, and my father over divorce.

Some of them rejoined; others joined different denominations, and others stayed away for their lifetime.

Robert Frost, in his poem “The Death of the Hired Man,” said, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” I think your religious home operates in a similar manner – our Creator welcomes us back into the fold, whenever we are ready.

So while it may be said that my family’s religious tradition is boomeranging, it may also be knowledge and confidence in God’s love and acceptance.

How AI can help

Religion is such a personal thing, I struggled to come up with telling the reader how to use it in terms of religion! So ChatGPT and I came up with several options.

AI may not know the state of your soul, but it’s pretty handy when you’re tracing where your ancestors stood on Sunday mornings. Here’s how it can help:

  1. Translation of Old Religious Records
    Found a Latin baptism record or a German church book? AI translation tools like DeepL or Google Translate (with a little human double-checking) can help you read the meaning behind the ink smudges.
  2. Summarizing Church Histories
    Want to know what the Methodist split was about in 1844 or why some churches stopped performing baptisms? Paste those long historical documents into AI tools like ChatGPT to get a plain-English summary.
  3. Writing Sensitive Stories
    Struggling with how to write about a family member who left a faith community? AI can suggest gentle, neutral phrasing that keeps the focus on your ancestor’s journey.
  4. Identifying Denominational Shifts in Census and Directories
    Ask AI to help you spot changes in religious identity over time from records. Did “Catholic” become “None” in a later census? That’s a story spark.
  5. Generating Maps of Religious Migration
    Use AI-assisted tools like Mapbox or even ChatGPT plugins (for premium users) to visualize how your ancestors moved—and how their religious affiliations may have shifted regionally.
  6. Creating Devotional or Reflective Writing Prompts
    If you’re writing a memory book or family devotional, AI can suggest prompts like “Describe a time your ancestor might have questioned their faith” or “What church rituals did your grandmother pass down?” You might be surprised what you – or family members – know.

Challenge for Readers

Try one of these:

  • Option 1: Paste a church newsletter or old religious diary into ChatGPT and ask it to summarize key events or beliefs.
  • Option 2: Ask ChatGPT to help rephrase a story about a family religious split in a more compassionate or neutral tone.

Want to Learn More?

A few resources, all free:

FamilySearch Wiki – Church Records by Country
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Main_Page
Great for learning how to find religious records across different traditions and regions.

Internet Archive – Denominational Histories
https://archive.org
Search for books like A History of the Baptist Churches or Roman Catholicism in America for church context.

ChatGPT Prompt Directory for Genealogists
Want more prompt ideas? Check out Steve Little’s AI prompt guide for genealogists (available via his site or podcast).

Pictured: Rev. Dr. Dale D. Hansen after baptizing my son — one of our family’s returns to church.

Figure 1 Rev. Dr. Dale D. Hansen and my older son

Next Week’s Topic: “Earliest ancestor”

AI 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.

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 29: Cousins

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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 29: Cousins

Grace Hopper: The Admiral Who Debugged the Future

Introduction

Every once in a while, someone comes along who changes the course of technology – not with a bang, but with a well-placed line of code and a sense of humor. Grace MURRAY HOPPER (1906-1992), a Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy and one of the earliest computer programmers, didn’t just break barriers – she moved them. She also once carried around pieces of wire to teach people about nanoseconds. You know… as one does.

She’s also my sixth cousin once removed.

Who Was Grace Hopper?

Born in 1906, Grace Hopper was the kind of child who took apart alarm clocks to understand how they worked. As an adult, she brought that same curiosity to computing – only now she was dissecting early computers and writing code that would shape generations.

While many of us are mystified by how our phones magically order groceries or suggest suspiciously perfect ads, Hopper was building the foundation for all that. She was one of the first to argue that computers should “speak English” rather than requiring users to speak in ones and zeroes. (Honestly, she had a point.)

What Made Her So Memorable?

Here are a few things about Grace Hopper that might surprise – and inspire – you:

  • She created the first compiler in 1952. That means she figured out how to tell computers what to do in a more natural language – and taught them how to translate that into machine instructions.
  • She helped develop COBOL, a language still running the back end of banks, government agencies, and airports around the world. Not bad for something she helped write over 60 years ago. [Back in the day, I programmed in COBOL myself.]
  • She’s credited with coining the term “computer bug.” After finding an actual moth stuck inside a computer relay, she taped it into her notebook with the note: “First actual case of bug being found.”
  • She was told she was too old and too small to join the Navy during WWII. She joined anyway – because when has “no” ever stopped a determined woman?
  • She didn’t retire until age 79. And she did it with flair. She retired as the oldest active-duty commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy.
  • She taught with props. Her famous nanosecond wire demonstration helped people visualize how fast computers operate. It’s still used in classrooms today.
  • The icing on the cake: Her hobby was genealogy.
"If it's a good idea, go ahead and do it. It is much easier to apologize than it is to get permission." - Grace Hopper

Challenge for Readers

Want to understand Hopper’s genius with your own hands? Try this:

  1. Measure a nanosecond. Cut a piece of string about 11.8 inches long. That’s how far light travels in one nanosecond. Now imagine your computer doing millions of things in that time.
  2. Write a plain-language “program.” Pretend you’re telling a computer how to make a peanut butter sandwich. Sounds easy? Give your instructions to someone else and see if it works without guesswork. That’s what Hopper was solving: making computers understand clear, human instructions.

What Can We Learn from Her?

Hopper wasn’t just smart – she was practical. She believed in making things simpler, not fancier. She valued curiosity over credentials, and patience over prestige.

As genealogists and digital explorers, there’s something deeply familiar about that mindset. We spend hours untangling family trees and wrestling with clunky software. Hopper reminds us that tech doesn’t have to be mysterious – it just needs the right instructions and a little stubbornness.

But what about that cousin business?

Grace Brewster Murray was born in New York City, as per her Wikipedia entry. She was the eldest of three children. Her parents, Walter Fletcher Murray and Mary Campbell Van Horne, were of Scottish and Dutch descent, and attended West End Collegiate Church. Her great-grandfather, Alexander Wilson Russell, an admiral in the US Navy, fought in the Battle of Mobile Bay during the Civil War.

Grace Brewster Murray (1906-1992) – Mary Campbell Van Horne (1883-1960) – John Garret Van Horne (1853-1932) – Mary Jane Britton (1832-?) – Abraham Britton Sr. (1803-1866) – Cornelius Britton (1778-1832) – Abraham Britton (abt 1752-bef 1791) – Nathaniel Britton (bef 1729-1792) and Mary ?Fountain? (?-aft 1792), my sixth great grandparents, so Grace and I are sixth cousins once removed.

Grace’s Find a Grave entry.

From Grace to GPT: What Would Hopper Think of AI Today?

Grace Hopper argued for the idea that computers should speak a human-friendly language. Today, AI takes that concept to a whole new level – chatting, summarizing, and yes, even writing blog posts. If Hopper could debug a room-sized machine with a moth and a notebook, she’d probably have a field day with AI’s quirks.

For genealogists, AI isn’t about replacing the thrill of a good document find – it’s about translating messy, hard-to-read data into searchable hints, or helping you brainstorm blog posts (like this one). Hopper’s compiler turned human language into machine instructions. AI, in a way, brings that full circle: it turns data back into human language, stories, and sometimes… cousin connections.

Next time you ask ChatGPT to help you explain the difference between a second cousin and a cousin once removed, just remember: you’re standing on the nanosecond-length shoulders of giants like Grace Hopper.

Want to Learn More?

Next Week’s Topic: “Religious traditions”

AI Disclosure

This post was drafted with the help of GenAI Blogging Buddy, your AI-powered assistant for turning good blog posts into great ones. It was reviewed and shaped by a human for clarity, tone, and wit (OK, maybe I wasn’t the witty one).

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 28: Travel

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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 28: Travel

Introduction

“Who is someone in your family tree who traveled?” asks Amy Johnson Crow in this week’s prompt.

Here are some people who came to mind:

  • My grandfather’s grandfather, John T. West, moved from Maryland to Virginia to New Jersey to Pennsylvania to Ohio, and according to a letter my grandfather’s grandmother wrote to her son, was thinking about moving out to Michigan.
  • My father, Robert E. Anderson, newly divorced, fought for longer visitation with his children than the typical Saturday visit given to divorced dads at the time. He used the two-week summer visits to take us on road trip adventures, which I fondly remember (and long to recreate) decades later.
  • Perhaps my best-traveled ancestor was Louis Thibou, who migrated from France to England to the Carolinas to Antigua, with apparently trips to New York and Philadelphia as well.

Discussion

But the well-traveled ancestor who is intriguing me this week is my grandmother, Edith MAKEY WEST (1913-1997). She and her husband A. Gordon WEST (1907-1981) truly enjoyed their road trips. When possible, they took their grandchildren with them. When I was 7, we went on a trip from New York to the fairly new Disney World in Florida, with a stop at Colonial Williamsburg. I remember being driven to many, many fairs (State fairs? County fairs? I’m not sure).

They proudly hung photos from an Alaska cruise in their den.

I remember well a photo of my grandfather on a trip they took to Hawai’i.

They celebrated their 45th wedding anniversary with a trip to Bermuda with friends, reported in their local newspaper for both their old and new residences.

After Grandpa died, Grandma went on trips with the town’s Senior Center, including one memorable paddleboat trip on the Mississippi River, which I’m determined to do as well. Grandma told me very proudly that she and Grandpa had visited 37 of the 50 United States.

I am determined to honor my ancestors’ adventurous spirits by doing traveling of my own! I have two maps hung in my kitchen: a map of the countries of the world, and another of the states in the country, with magnetic pins marking the places the family has traveled. Where do I travel? Should I travel to ancestral locations? Or perhaps Wonders of the World? Or maybe I should aim for all seven continents. I’ve seen a great list of the best botanical gardens in the world. Last summer we did a waterfall tour in our state.

How AI can help

AI can be a terrific partner in trip planning! It can help give you ideas, and it can help plan a trip you decide on.

I used ChatGPT and Claude.

  1. Where should I go? I used ChatGPT because it has successfully read GEDCOM files for me in the past.

I asked ChatGPT:

Using the attached gedcom file, please list all the places in Ireland which are mentioned.

It replied:

Specific Locations in Ireland Mentioned:

  • Delvin, Westmeath, Ireland
  • Killucan, Westmeath, Ireland
  • Kilkenny, Ireland
  • Trim, Meath, Ireland
  • Carroll, Ireland (possibly a reference to a townland or misrendered from “County Carlow”)

2. Help me plan a trip! I used Claude for this because it helped me to plan a hypothetical trip in the past.

I asked Claude:

You are an expert travel guide.

I plan to visit Ireland to visit my ancestral homelands. Please plan a realistic itinerary for me

* Timing: end of June

* Duration: 7 days

* Style: hotels

* Activities: historical sites, a Roman Catholic church at each location, moderate physical activity (no excessive stairs/climbing), hidden gems

* Special interests: genealogy and history

* Must-visit locations: Delvin, Westmeath, Ireland; Killucan, Westmeath, Ireland; Kilkenny, Ireland; Trim, Meath, Ireland; County Carlow

Claude’s itinerary truly surprised me—detailed, thoughtful, and full of hidden gems. See a sample here, and a link to the entire itinerary below.

I forgot to specify my travel in and out but it assumed travel via Dublin airport. Each day noted the location, the home base, the accommodation, events in the morning, afternoon, and evening, and a hidden gem. Overall it gave practical information such as car rental, GPS need, petrol stations. It provided genealogy research tips which included four resources, notes on Catholic churches, weather preparation, budget, and so much more. You can view the entire itinerary here.

But note that it gave me notes in the chat which are not reproduced in the itinerary:

I’ll create a wonderful 7-day Ireland itinerary focused on your ancestral homelands in the heart of the country. Late June is perfect timing – long daylight hours, mild weather, and everything in full bloom.

This itinerary is designed specifically around your ancestral locations in the Irish Midlands while incorporating the historical depth and genealogical opportunities you’re seeking. The route flows naturally from north to south, minimizing driving time while maximizing your connection to the landscape your ancestors knew.

A few special highlights for your genealogical interests:

Westmeath County Library in Mullingar has excellent local history and genealogy resources, and the staff are incredibly helpful with family research. The Delvin Heritage Centre may have specific records about families from that area.

Late June timing is ideal – you’ll have nearly 18 hours of daylight, the countryside will be lush and green, and you’ll avoid the peak summer crowds while still having everything open and accessible.

The hidden gems I’ve included – like Fore Abbey with its ancient legends and Kilfane Glen’s fairy-tale atmosphere – will give you a deeper sense of Ireland’s mystical character that your ancestors would have known.

I mean, really, are you not floored?

For full disclosure, I asked Claude for a map and am less than impressed. I need to refine my prompt or use a different model.

I then asked what reservations I needed to make and was again impressed. First, it listed them in time order (4-6 weeks out, 2-3 weeks ahead, on arrival). Second, it listed all sorts of reservations: sites to visit, car rental, special dining, genealogy research.

Challenge

Pick one AI model (Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, or Copilot) and ask it to help you plan a genealogy research trip.

If you’re not sure where to start, try prompts like:

  • “Here is my ancestor’s hometown. What genealogy sites can I visit nearby?”
  • “Create a 5-day itinerary for a research trip to [location].”
  • “List Catholic churches and local libraries in [ancestral town].”

Even if you’re only dreaming today, seeing the plan might just get you packing.

Summary

Sometimes our ancestors traveled by necessity. Sometimes by choice. What if we made space for the kind of trip they wanted—but for ourselves? I tested AI to plan a genealogical research trip to Ireland, but you can use it for any adventure. Let the past inspire your next destination.

Whether it’s retracing an ancestor’s steps, seeing the Seven Wonders, or trying voluntourism, the possibilities are wide open. And if you’re stuck on where to start, AI can spark ideas too. Dream it, map it, maybe even book it.

Further Resources

Next Week’s Topic: “Cousins”

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.

52 AI Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 27: Family business

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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

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.

[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