Thursday, March 5, 2026

Randy (Not) at RootsTech 2026 - Day 1 (Thursday, 5 March) Activities

 The RootsTech 2026 Conference started today live in Salt Lake City, Utah with thousands of persons in attendance, and thousands more watching some of the conference classes online for free.  I chose to be an online viewer rather than an in-person attendee due to my physical restrictions.

Over the past week, I have selected online classes for "My Schedule" and have downloaded syllabus articles and slide decks for many of the online and in-person classes.   You can see the current list of RootsTech 2026 online and in-person speakers and presentation titles in https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/schedule/preview.

My activities today were sandwiched around my visit to the dentist but I was able to watch some of the classes on my class schedule.   Here are the classes that I watched, either partially or completely:

  • Beyond the Box: New Search Tools and Strategies by Adrienne Engell of Ancestry.com.

    • Adrienne discussed NEW Full-Text Search (selected collections on Ancestry); Search forms have Date Ranges; Column sorting of results; Collection Explorer (AI); Historical Time Spans.

"Discover how AI tools can revolutionize your family history research, making it easier to find ancestors, uncover records, and write compelling stories. Learn simple ways to use AI to enhance your research process and make discoveries faster."

Laryn told a family story, and also used Anthropic Claude CoWork to analyze an ancestor photograph.

"Learn to determine when research is thorough by evaluating real-world examples. This session demonstrates how to apply the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) to address research challenges, including identifying parents, distinguishing between multiple individuals with the same name, resolving conflicting evidence, and writing biographical sketches."

"Join leaders from FamilySearch as they showcase new features and highlights from around the globe."
The session covered: FamilySearch Family Tree, including Guided merges; Full-text search (now with 2.3 billion images, improved search and filtering, correcting transcriptions; Simple Search;   AI Golden search (tree-extending hints);  AI Research Assistant.
The session included Steve Rockwood on theme “Together” encouraging teamwork featuring his cousin Jennifer coach of BYU Women’s Soccer; Howard Hochhauser – CEO of Ancestry.com (highlight was 250 new collections in 2025); Marlee Matlin presentation and interview (which was pretty good IMHO).

"For more than 40 years, Ancestry has consistently demonstrated its commitment to innovation in service of our community by making significant DNA advancements, adding billions of records, and making family history discoveries easier than ever before. Join Ancestry Corporate Genealogist, Crista Cowan, for the annual look at what new tools and records have been made available over the past year and what to expect in 2026."

The theme for Ancestry is to create stronger family connections, add new features, simplify website workflows.  The discussion included:  Record and document transcriptions (in Person Gallery):  Ideas and census compare; AI stories (Ask Ancestry AI button – more context about image, including audio snip, context suggestions); Hints and Person Page updates (source citation simplification; “Search” button (search other websites); “Ideas” – what to do next?; Add tree tags (pre-determined, custom)); Tree Compare (My tree with another tree); Ancestry Preserve ($$) – a service to help users save documents, records, film, videos, slides, etc. to inventory and digitize. (like Forever or Legacy Box) -- On Ancestry account; Historical Record content (10 million records added daily (65% unique to Ancestry); 2.4 million RevWar pension files full-name index now on Fold3); Education Zoom meetings (at www.Ancestry.com/education; saved to YouTube channel).
Learn how artificial intelligence tools can streamline your DNA analysis workflow. This session covers practical applications of AI for clustering DNA matches, creating descendancy diagrams, and interpreting genetic data. We'll explore how tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini can help with the Leeds Method, network graphs, and pedigree triangulation. You'll discover techniques for using AI to generate visual diagrams from family data and convert research reports into charts. We'll also cover privacy considerations when working with DNA match data and AI tools. Whether you're analyzing shared centimorgan amounts or building proof arguments with DNA evidence, learn how to leverage AI while maintaining accuracy and protecting sensitive information.
Niicole discussed Clustering using Leeds Method and Network Graphs (Gephi); Extract DNA match data by screenshots for Leeds Method; Pedigree Triangulation -- use Colored Labels/Dots. Use Pro Tools to sort shared matches by closest to the match; Agentic Browsers; and more.

"Are you intrigued by AI tools but unsure how they fit into your family history research? Wondering whether you can trust AI with your ancestors' stories, or how to avoid introducing errors or bias into your work?This session is for family historians who want to better understand the role of artificial intelligence in genealogy - without the hype. We’ll explore the practical uses of AI for tasks like transcription, story writing, and research planning, alongside examples where it gets things wrong. You’ll learn a straightforward framework to help you decide when to use AI, how to interpret its results, and how to keep human judgement and historical context at the heart of your research.No technical background is needed - just curiosity and a desire to work more critically and confidently with AI. You’ll leave with greater clarity, practical takeaways, and a downloadable decision-making tool to guide your own use of AI in family history."

"Family history research isn’t what it used to be — and that’s a good thing. MyHeritage’s innovative technologies make it easier and faster than ever to uncover your ancestors’ stories, and even enable discoveries that were once impossible. This session offers an in-depth look at the tools that are transforming genealogy: AI-enhanced photo features, Smart Matches™, Record Matches, advanced DNA tools, and access to billions of historical records. Learn how to leverage these powerful resources to break through brick walls, find relatives, and build a richer, more meaningful family tree with less guesswork and more results."

Daniel covered AI-related Records, Photo enhancing, colorizing, Time Machine, LiveMemory, AI Biography, Scribe AI, and the NEW Color Coding for Family Trees.

I also browsed the Expo Hall page (which first appeared this morning) to get a sense of the companies and organizations that were exhibitors.  The most interesting new technology products I saw included:

  • LifeWeaver ($$)  The product description is:

  • "Your life already exists in your digital footprint. LifeWeaver uses AI to turn decades of text messages, photos, emails, videos, posts, and personal memories into a living, searchable life story. Instead of scattered data, you get daily journals, chapters, and timelines that preserve meaning, relationships, and moments for you and for future generations. LifeWeaver goes far beyond traditional journaling, photo storage, or genealogy tools. It automatically weaves everyday life as it happens, while also allowing you to weave the past from old phones, backups, and archives. You can edit, refine, and add your own voice at any time, keeping you in control of your story. Family history is no longer just names, dates, and records. It is conversations, emotions, milestones, and lived experience. LifeWeaver preserves the full human story, creating a legacy that children and grandchildren can actually explore, search, and understand."

"Family history shouldn’t feel overwhelming—or scattered across files, apps, and hard drives. Activate during RootsTech to lock in our Founders Annual rate. Archoral gives every person, family, and organization one platform to create a living digital archive built around profiles for people and places. Photos, documents, audio stories, videos, memories, and relationships don’t sit in isolation—they interact naturally and grow over time, reflecting how history is actually lived and remembered. Families are shaped by more than names and dates. Neighborhoods, schools, churches, workplaces, and local events matter too. Community memory influences family memory, and family memory shapes community history. Archoral lets you document both side by side without forcing them into a rigid or flattened structure. For genealogists and family historians, Archoral reduces the friction of managing multiple GEDCOM files by bringing them together into a unified, profile-based archive. For caregivers, educators, and preservation-focused organizations, it supports collaboration, inclusive family structures, evolving stories, and clear ownership. Whether you’re preserving one family’s legacy or documenting a shared community history, Archoral helps you organize media, capture stories, and create meaningful archives that endure. RootsTech Show Special: Attendees who activate during the conference receive exclusive Founders Annual benefits available only at RootsTech. Explore a live archive, see how Archoral makes preservation easier and more human, and connect with us at connectwithus@archoral.com. Together, small archives add up to something powerful—a richer, more complete picture of our shared past, preserved for the future."

Lastly, I checked the Relatives at RootsTech page and saw that I have 47,804 relatives listed at RootsTech 2026 (down from over 74,000 in 2025).

My closest Relative at RootsTech is a first cousin 1x removed whom I know in my Seaver line, and the next closest cousin is George, a 3rd cousin 1x removed in my Kemp line.  I am randyseaver1 if you want to see how I am related to you.  

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Disclosure:  I am a RootsTech 2026 "Influencer" but will receive no remuneration for my support or posting of RootsTech information.  I will be an online participant this year because of my health issues.

The URL for this post is:  

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.    I moderate all comments and they may not appear immediately - please write only one comment.

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Trying Out the MyHeritage Scribe AI Tool To Transcribe, Translate, Interpret and Describe An Italian Birth Record

 MyHeritage introduced Scribe AI today in Introducing Scribe AI: Transcribe, Interpret, and Receive Fascinating Insights About Your Family’s Historical Documents and Photos, and MyHeritage Records and I was impressed.

So I tried it.  I didn't think too long about it - I wanted a handwritten record in a foriegn language to demonstrate all of the features.  Ah, how about the birth record of the 2nd great-grandfather of two of my grandsons, Leone Morandi in 1894 in Bagni di Lucca, Lucca, Italy?  Here is the image I have:


Leone Morandi's birth record is the second of three records on this image starting on the bottom of the left-hand page and finishing at the top of the right-hand page.  

I input it into Scribe AI, and it took a minute or two but look at whsat it produced (after I expanded all of the categories:

MyHeritage Scribe AI Results – Leone Morandi 1894 Birth Record

Historical context:

The document you uploaded is a page from the Italian Civil Registration (Stato Civile) birth registers (Atti di Nascita) from the municipality of Bagni di Lucca, Tuscany, dated October 1894.

These records were created by the local civil registrar to officially document the births of citizens, which was a strict legal requirement in post-unification Italy. You will notice a specific historical clause in these records: the fathers were exempted from physically presenting the infants at the town hall due to 'lontananza' (distance). This reveals the rural and mountainous geography of Bagni di Lucca, where traveling from outlying villages like Limano or Casabasciana with a newborn was impractical.

Additionally, you can see handwritten marginal notes next to the records. These are highly significant for your research, as Italian registrars later annotated birth records with marriage dates and spouses' names, providing you with a direct link to the individuals' adult lives.

Details Mentioned:

Based on the document you provided, here are the detailed profiles of the individuals mentioned:

Record 311 (Primary Subject):

  • Leone Giovanni Morandi

    • Role in Document: Principal Subject (Newborn)

    • Birth: October 8, 1894, at 15:00 (3:00 PM) in Limano (sulla rocca), Bagni di Lucca, Italy.

    • Marriage: A marginal note indicates he married Maria Rosa Angeli on September 15, 1926, in Bagni di Lucca.

  • Lorenzo Morandi

    • Role in Document: Declarant / Father

    • Biographical Details: Age 48, carpenter (falegname), residing in Limano.

  • Domenica Angeli

    • Role in Document: Mother

    • Biographical Details: Housewife, residing with her husband. She is listed as the daughter of the late Giovanni.

Record 310:

  • Pellegrina Argentina Filomena Trullani

    • Role in Document: Principal Subject (Newborn)

    • Birth: October 2, 1894, at 15:05 (3:05 PM) in Casoli (in Cornia), Bagni di Lucca.

    • Marriage: Married Francesco Petrucci on January 23, 1921, in Bagni di Lucca.

  • Luigi Trullani (Father, age 43, farmer) and Maria Bernardi (Mother, housewife).

Record 312:

  • Assunta Gaspera Maria Marigliani

    • Role in Document: Principal Subject (Newborn)

    • Birth: October 8, 1894, at 19:30 (7:30 PM) in Casabasciana, Bagni di Lucca.

  • Fortunato Marigliani (Father, age 31, farmer) and Amelia Pacini (Mother, housewife).

Associated Officials and Witnesses:

  • Pietro Corrado Ambrogi: Civil Status Official (Secretary delegated by the Mayor).

  • Lino Morandi: Witness for Record 311 (Age 27, landowner).

  • Michele Barsotti: Witness for Record 311 (Age 60, landowner).

  • Achille Benedetti & Antonio Michelini: Witnesses for Record 310.

  • Annibale Ciannelli & Torquato Borgantini: Witnesses for Record 312.

Key Findings:

Your document contains three civil birth records from Bagni di Lucca, Italy, recorded in October 1894.

  • The primary record (Number 311) documents the birth of Leone Giovanni Morandi on October 8, 1894, to Lorenzo Morandi and Domenica Angeli in the village of Limano.

  • A crucial marginal note on Leone's record reveals that he married Maria Rosa Angeli on September 15, 1926.

  • You can also find the birth records for Pellegrina Trullani and Assunta Marigliani on the same page, complete with their parents' details and marginal marriage annotations.

Suggested Next Steps:

You should search for the marriage record of Leone Morandi and Maria Rosa Angeli dated September 15, 1926, in Bagni di Lucca. The marginal note specifically references register number 169, which will help you locate the exact document.

  • You should look for the birth records of Lorenzo Morandi (born around 1846) and Domenica Angeli to identify Leone's grandparents and extend your family tree.

  • You should explore the Antenati portal (Il Portale Antenati), the free Italian State Archives website, to find digitized civil registration records for Bagni di Lucca.

  • You should check MyHeritage for existing family trees or indexed Italian vital records that might connect to the Morandi or Angeli families in the Lucca province.

Full Text Transcription:

Numero 310. Trecentodieci Trullani Pellegrina [Margin note: 23. 1. 21 ha celebrato matrimonio con Petrucci Francesco nel Comune di B. Lucca come da atto inserito sul relativo registro al N 70 dell'anno [blank] Lucca, Il Cancelliere [Signature]] L'anno milleottocentonovantaquattro, addì quattro di Ottobre a ore dieci meridiane e minuti cinquanta, nella Casa Comunale. Avanti di me Pietro Corrado Ambrogi Segretario delegato dal Sindaco con atto primo marzo mille 887. Uffiziale dello Stato Civile del Comune di Bagni di Lucca è comparso Trullani Luigi, di anni quarantatre, colono, domiciliato in Cutigliano, il quale mi ha dichiarato che alle ore meridiane tre e minuti cinque, del dì due del corrente mese, nella casa posta in Casoli (in Cornia) al numero [blank], da Bernardi Maria, attendente a casa, di lui moglie, seco lui convivente, è nato un bambino di sesso femminile che non mi presenta, e a cui dà i nomi di Pellegrina Argentina Filomena. A quanto sopra e a quest'atto sono stati presenti quali testimoni Benedetti Achille, di anni ventinove, possidente, e Michelini Antonio, di anni trentuno, calzolaio, entrambi residenti in questo comune. A causa della lontananza il comparente è stato da me dispensato dal presentarmi la bambina suddetta, dopo essermi altrimenti reso certo della verità di questa nascita. Letto il presente atto agl'intervenuti, lo hanno essi con me sottoscritto. Trullani Luigi Benedetti Achille Antonio Michelini L'Uffiziale: P. Ambrogi

Numero 311. Trecentoundici Morandi Leone [Margin note: 15-9-926 ha celebrato matrimonio con Angeli Maria Rosa nel Comune di B. Lucca come da atto inserito sul relativo registro al N 169 dell'anno [blank] Lucca, Il Cancelliere [Signature]] L'anno milleottocentonovantaquattro, addì nove di Ottobre a ore nove meridiane e minuti trenta, nella Casa Comunale. Avanti di me Pietro Corrado Ambrogi Segretario delegato dal Sindaco con atto primo marzo mille 887. Uffiziale dello Stato Civile del Comune di Bagni di Lucca è comparso Morandi Lorenzo, di anni quarantotto, falegname, domiciliato in Limano, il quale mi ha dichiarato che alle ore meridiane quindici e minuti nessuno, del dì otto del corrente mese, nella casa posta in Limano (sulla rocca) al numero [blank], da Angeli Domenica fu Giovanni, attendente a casa, di lui moglie, seco lui convivente, è nato un bambino di sesso maschile che non mi presenta, e a cui dà i nomi di Leone Giovanni. A quanto sopra e a quest'atto sono stati presenti quali testimoni Morandi Lino, di anni ventisette, possidente, e Barsotti Michele, di anni sessanta, possidente, entrambi residenti in questo Comune. A causa della lontananza il comparente è stato da me dispensato dal presentarmi il bambino suddetto, dopo essermi altrimenti reso certo della verità di questa nascita. Letto il presente atto agl'intervenuti, lo hanno con me sottoscritto. Morandi Lorenzo Lino Morandi Michele Barsotti L'Uffiziale: P. Ambrogi

Numero 312. Trecentododici Marigliani Assunta L'anno milleottocentonovantaquattro, addì nove di Ottobre a ore undici meridiane e minuti quindici, nella Casa Comunale. Avanti di me Pietro Corrado Ambrogi Segretario delegato dal Sindaco con atto primo marzo mille 887. Uffiziale dello Stato Civile del Comune di Bagni di Lucca è comparso Marigliani Fortunato, di anni trentuno, agricoltore, domiciliato in Casabasciana, il quale mi ha dichiarato che alle ore meridiane diciannove e minuti trenta, del dì otto del corrente mese, nella casa posta in detto luogo (sussamanca) al numero [blank], da Pacini Amelia, donna di casa, di lui moglie, seco lui convivente, è nato un bambino di sesso femminile che non mi presenta, e a cui dà i nomi di Assunta Gaspera Maria. A quanto sopra e a quest'atto sono stati presenti quali testimoni Ciannelli Annibale, di anni trentasei, impiegato, e Borgantini Torquato, di anni quarantatre, impiegato, entrambi residenti in questo comune. Il dichiarante per ragione della lontananza, è stato da me dispensato dal presentarmi il bambino suddetto, dopo essermi in altro modo reso certo della verità di questa nascita. Previa lettura, tutti meno il dichiarante illetterato, lo hanno con me firmato. Ciannelli Annibale Torquato Borgantini L'Uffiziale di Stato Civile: P. Ambrogi

Translation:

Number 310. Three hundred ten. Trullani Pellegrina. [Margin note: On January 23, 1921, she celebrated marriage with Petrucci Francesco in the Municipality of Bagni di Lucca as per the act inserted in the relative register at No. 70 of the year [blank] Lucca, The Chancellor [Signature]] The year one thousand eight hundred ninety-four, on the fourth day of October at ten hours and fifty minutes a.m., in the Town Hall. Before me Pietro Corrado Ambrogi, Secretary delegated by the Mayor with act of March first, 1887. Civil Status Official of the Municipality of Bagni di Lucca appeared Trullani Luigi, aged forty-three, farmer, residing in Cutigliano, who declared to me that at three hours and five minutes p.m., on the second day of the current month, in the house located in Casoli (in Cornia) at number [blank], from Bernardi Maria, housewife, his wife, living with him, was born a child of female sex whom he does not present to me, and to whom he gives the names of Pellegrina Argentina Filomena. To the above and to this act were present as witnesses Benedetti Achille, aged twenty-nine, landowner, and Michelini Antonio, aged thirty-one, shoemaker, both residing in this municipality. Due to the distance, the declarant was exempted by me from presenting the aforementioned child, after I had otherwise made myself certain of the truth of this birth. The present act having been read to the participants, they have signed it with me. Trullani Luigi Benedetti Achille Antonio Michelini The Official: P. Ambrogi

Number 311. Three hundred eleven. Morandi Leone. [Margin note: On September 15, 1926, he celebrated marriage with Angeli Maria Rosa in the Municipality of Bagni di Lucca as per the act inserted in the relative register at No. 169 of the year [blank] Lucca, The Chancellor [Signature]] The year one thousand eight hundred ninety-four, on the ninth day of October at nine hours and thirty minutes a.m., in the Town Hall. Before me Pietro Corrado Ambrogi, Secretary delegated by the Mayor with act of March first, 1887. Civil Status Official of the Municipality of Bagni di Lucca appeared Morandi Lorenzo, aged forty-eight, carpenter, residing in Limano, who declared to me that at fifteen hours [3:00 p.m.] and zero minutes, on the eighth day of the current month, in the house located in Limano (on the fortress) at number [blank], from Angeli Domenica, daughter of the late Giovanni, housewife, his wife, living with him, was born a child of male sex whom he does not present to me, and to whom he gives the names of Leone Giovanni. To the above and to this act were present as witnesses Morandi Lino, aged twenty-seven, landowner, and Barsotti Michele, aged sixty, landowner, both residing in this Municipality. Due to the distance, the declarant was exempted by me from presenting the aforementioned child, after I had otherwise made myself certain of the truth of this birth. The present act having been read to the participants, they have signed it with me. Morandi Lorenzo Lino Morandi Michele Barsotti The Official: P. Ambrogi

Number 312. Three hundred twelve. Marigliani Assunta. The year one thousand eight hundred ninety-four, on the ninth day of October at eleven hours and fifteen minutes a.m., in the Town Hall. Before me Pietro Corrado Ambrogi, Secretary delegated by the Mayor with act of March first, 1887. Civil Status Official of the Municipality of Bagni di Lucca appeared Marigliani Fortunato, aged thirty-one, farmer, residing in Casabasciana, who declared to me that at nineteen hours and thirty minutes [7:30 p.m.], on the eighth day of the current month, in the house located in said place (sussamanca) at number [blank], from Pacini Amelia, housewife, his wife, living with him, was born a child of female sex whom he does not present to me, and to whom he gives the names of Assunta Gaspera Maria. To the above and to this act were present as witnesses Ciannelli Annibale, aged thirty-six, clerk, and Borgantini Torquato, aged forty-three, clerk, both residing in this municipality. The declarant, by reason of the distance, was exempted by me from presenting the aforementioned child, after I had otherwise made myself certain of the truth of this birth. Following a reading, everyone except the illiterate declarant signed it with me. Ciannelli Annibale Torquato Borgantini The Civil Status Official: P. Ambrogi

Here is an image of the screen with the English translation of the image:

I have no ability to transcribe the record - it would take me hours to do that, and I  probabvly would misspell 5% of the letters.  I have no ability to translate the record and have not had the chance to translate the transcription using a tool like Google Translate.  The names, dates and place names in the translation match what I have in my family tree program based on what a translator on the Facebook Italian Research group told me about Leone Morandi's birth record.

This took no more than two minutes for MyHeritage's Scribe AI to perform this task.  Amazing!  This will, I think, greatly improve the transcription, translation and analysis of many foreign language records, documents and photographs.  

                           =========================================

Disclosure: I receive a complimentary subscription to MyHeritage, and have received other material consideration in past years. I uploaded my autosomal DNA raw data to their DNA product. This does not affect my objective analysis of MyHeritage products. I am a paid subscriber to Family Tree Webinars and love it.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/03/trying-out-myheritage-scribe-ai-tool-to.html

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on X, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.  Note that all comments are moderated, so they may not appear immediately.

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Added and Updated MyHeritage Record Collections - Week of 27 February to 5 March 2026

  The following Record Collections were ADDED or Updated in the MyHeritage Collections Catalog during the week of  27 February to 5 March 2026:

                                       =========================== 

There are 4 ADDED record collections in the list this past week, and MyHeritage now has a total of  7,531 record collections (an increase of 3 collections from last week).  The collection has 39,049,583,798 records or entries (an increase of about 48 million entries from last week).  

The number of entries in the family tree collections were last updated this week.

See previous Genea-Musings posts about MyHeritage record collections and features in https://www.geneamusings.com/search/label/MyHeritage.com.

                          =========================================

Disclosure: I receive a complimentary subscription to MyHeritage, and have received other material consideration in past years. I uploaded my autosomal DNA raw data to their DNA product. This does not affect my objective analysis of MyHeritage products. I am a paid subscriber to Family Tree Webinars and love it.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/03/added-and-updated-myheritage-record.html

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on X, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.  Note that all comments are moderated, so they may not appear immediately.

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Life Memoir of John Peter Brocke (1826-1891) of Nebraska in 1890

 I wrote an AI-assisted ABC biography for the family of my wife's second great-grandparents John Peter and Christina (Webber) Brocke in ABC Biography of John Peter Brocke (1826-1891) and Christina Webber (1831-1914) Family of Prussia and Nebraska, based on my genealogical research over 38 years.

I wondered what John Peter Brocke might have said in a life memoir told to his grandchildren in 1890. 

(AI Google NotebookLM Infographic for John Peter Brocke's life memoir)

1)  I requested Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5 to create a memoir told by John Peter Brocke about his life in 1890.  The prompt was:  "Please write a life memoir for John Peter Brocke based on the attached biography, as he might tell to his grandchildren in 1890."

2)  The AI Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5 memoir (edited for accuracy and completeness) is:   


John Peter Brocke's Life Story

As told to his grandchildren, 1890

Come here, children, and sit close. Your old Großvater wants to tell you some stories while these old bones still have the strength. I'm sixty-four years old now, and the good Lord has blessed me with a long life -- longer than many who made the journey I made. You children were born here in America, in this fine country, but your Großvater came from far across the ocean, from a place called Prussia, in the old country -- Germany, you'd call it now.

The Old Country

I was born Johann Peter Brocke, and my parents, your great-grandparents Peter Heinrich Brocke and Maria Helena Diekershoff, they gave me that name in the old German way. That was on the sixth day of January, 1826, in a little town called Herbede in Westfalen. We lived in Prussia then, under the King. I had five brothers and sisters.

It was a different world, children. Herbede wasn't much -- just a small town with narrow streets and old buildings that had stood for hundreds of years. My father worked hard, as all men did then, and we went to the Evangelisch church where I was baptized when I was nearly a year old. That's how things were done there -- everything proper and recorded in the church books.

I don't remember much of being very small, of course. But I remember the streets of Herbede, the sound of German all around me, the smell of my mother's cooking. I remember the church bells on Sunday mornings, calling everyone to worship. And I remember, even as a young man, feeling like there wasn't much future for me there. The old country was crowded, you see. Land was hard to come by, and a young man without much inheritance -- well, there wasn't much hope of getting ahead.

Meeting Your Großmutter

That's where your Großmutter comes into the story. Christina Webber, she was -- born in Prussia too, in September of 1831. She was five years younger than me, a good German girl. I met her when I was a young man, and I tell you, children, she was something special. Pretty as a picture, but more than that -- strong. You needed to be strong to survive what was coming.

We married in 1849 -- I was not quite twenty-three years old. We were young, but we knew what we wanted. We wanted something better than what the old country could give us. All around us, people were talking about America. America! The land of opportunity, they said. Land for everyone who wanted to work. Freedom. A chance to build something for yourself and your children.

So Christina and I, we made the decision. We would go to America.

The Journey Across the Ocean

I wish I could tell you children more about that voyage, but truthfully, some of it I've tried to forget. The ship -- I can't even remember its name now -- it was crowded, dark, and it smelled terrible. We were packed in below decks with dozens of other German families, all of us seeking the same dream. The crossing took weeks, and many people got sick. The ocean was rough, and more than once I thought we'd made a terrible mistake.

But your Großmutter, she never complained. Not once. Even when she was sick as a dog, even when we were eating terrible food and drinking water that tasted like it came from a barrel -- she'd just look at me and say, "It will be better in America, Peter." She called me Peter, you see. Johann Peter was too formal for everyday.

When we finally saw land -- America! -- I can't describe the feeling. We'd done it. We'd crossed the ocean. We'd left everything behind -- our families, our home, everything familiar -- and now we were here, in this new world in Baltimore.

Starting Over in America

Those first years were hard, children. Very hard. We moved around quite a bit, trying to find our place. First we were in Virginia -- that's where your Aunt Catharine was born in 1851, on New Year's Day. Can you imagine? Our first child, born in America! We named her Catharine, a good German name, but spelled the American way.

Then we went to Michigan. Your Uncle John Nicholas was born there on the last day of 1853 -- another New Year's baby! We seemed to have a knack for that. But Michigan wasn't right for us either. We kept hearing about land opening up further west. Nebraska Territory, they called it. Wild country, they said, but good land. Land for farming. Land you could own.

Coming to Nebraska

In 1857, we made the move that would change everything. We came to what is now County, Nebraska Territory. Children, you can't imagine what it was like then. This was before the railroad, before most of the towns you know today. When we arrived, there was almost nothing here. The Missouri River, of course -- that mighty, terrible, beautiful river. Some trees along the bottomland. Prairie grass as far as you could see. And Indians -- yes, the native people were still here then, though most were moving on or being moved on.

We found a spot along the river, in what people came to call Brooke's Bottom. Now, one other fellow had tried to settle there before me, but he didn't stay. I did. Your Großmutter and I, we built a log cabin with our own hands. I can still remember the feeling of cutting those logs, fitting them together, thinking: "This is ours. This is our home."

Your uncle Franklin was born that year, 1857, right there in Nebraska. Then came your uncle Charles in 1859 -- born right there in St. James, our little community. And finally, your aunt Mary in 1866.

Building a Life from Nothing

You children today, you don't know what it was like to start with nothing. Nothing! We had our hands, our backs, and our determination. That first cabin -- it was rough. One room at first. Dirt floor. We chinked the logs with mud to keep the wind out, but the wind always found a way in. In winter, we'd wake up with snow on our blankets sometimes.

But we had land. That was the thing. In the old country, I could never have owned land. Here, I could. In 1862 -- right in the middle of the war between the North and South -- I got a land patent from President Lincoln himself. Can you imagine? Me, a German immigrant, getting land from the President! It wasn't homestead land -- I bought it from a widow named Polly Holland, who'd gotten it as a bounty for her husband's service in the War of 1812. That was 143 acres, children. Our land. Our farm.

I worked that land like my life depended on it -- because it did. We planted crops. We raised animals. Your Großmutter kept a garden, tended the chickens, cooked, cleaned, made our clothes. She worked as hard as I did, maybe harder.

The Community We Built

We weren't alone for long. Other families came. Good German families, most of them, though there were some Americans too. We needed a school for our children -- your parents when they were young -- so we got together and built one right on my land. It was a simple building, but it served two purposes: school during the week, church on Sunday.

That school, children, that's still standing today. They've moved it twice because the river kept eating away at the land, but it's still there. Your parents were baptized in that building. They learned their letters there. Some of them got married there. That makes me proud, I'll tell you. A man wants to leave something behind, something that matters. That school, that's something.

We started calling the area Brooke's Bottom -- that's your family name they used, even if the spelling changed around a bit. I was the first white man to stay and build a home there, you see. That means something.

Watching the Country Grow

I've seen this country change in ways you can't imagine. When we first came to Nebraska, it was a territory -- not even a state. There was no government to speak of, no law except what we made ourselves. If you had a dispute with your neighbor, you settled it between yourselves. If someone stole from you, you dealt with it.

In 1868, I went to file papers to become an American citizen. After all those years, I wanted it to be official. I was from Prussia, yes, but I was an American now. This was my country.

By 1870, we were doing well. I had real property worth $2,500 and personal property worth $2,390. That might not sound like much to you, but children, that was success. That was what we'd crossed an ocean for. Your grandmother and I, we'd sit sometimes in the evening and just look at what we'd built, and we could hardly believe it.

The river, though -- that damned river, pardon my language -- it's been both blessing and curse. It brought rich soil to the bottomland, made the farming good. But it's also eaten away at our land, bit by bit, year after year. Trees that I planted in our yard, they're standing in the river now. The original spot where we built our cabin, that's gone -- washed away. The river doesn't care about a man's work.

Our Children

Your parents and aunts and uncles -- they grew up strong and good. That was your Großmutter's doing, mostly. I was often in the fields, but she was there every day, teaching them, guiding them, making sure they knew right from wrong and the value of hard work.

Your Aunt Catharine married Theodore Beste in 1877 -- a good match. Your Uncle John Nicholas married Anna Grieser that same year. Your Uncle Franklin married Catherine Sutherland in 1879. And your Uncle Charles married Catherine Burgel in 1882. All of them found good spouses, all of them are raising families of their own now.

The saddest day of my life -- well, one of them -- was when your Aunt Catharine died in 1887. She was only thirty-six years old. Too young. Far too young. She left four children behind. That's the hardest thing, children -- when you lose a child. It doesn't matter how old you are or how old they are. Your child is always your child, and when they go before you, it feels like the natural order of things has been broken.

Moving to Dakota

In 1877, your Großmutter and I made another move. Our children were grown, most of them married and settled in Cedar County. We decided to try Dakota Territory -- what they call South Dakota now. We moved to Vermillion City in Clay County.

It was strange, after twenty years in one place, to start again somewhere new. But the land called to us, and we thought maybe we could build something else, maybe have a little more ease in our old age. We've been here thirteen years now, and it's been good to us.

Looking Back

You know, children, when I think back on my life -- sixty-four years now -- I can hardly believe I'm the same person who left Herbede all those years ago. That young German man who'd never seen an ocean, never been more than a few miles from his birthplace, who married a pretty German girl and decided to risk everything on a dream.

We lost so much by leaving. I never saw my parents again after we left Prussia. Never saw my brothers or sisters, if I had any -- that's all so long ago now. We left behind everything familiar, everyone we knew, for an idea. For America.

Was it worth it?

Children, look around you. Look at this land. Look at your parents, your aunts and uncles. Look at yourselves -- free American children, with opportunities I could never have dreamed of in Herbede. You own land. You can vote. You can build whatever life you want.

Yes, it was worth it. Every hardship, every moment of fear, every time we went to bed hungry in those early years, every freezing winter and scorching summer -- it was worth it.

Your Großmutter and I, we gave you something. We gave you America. We gave you a future. That school in Brooke's Bottom -- that's not just a building. That's proof that two immigrants from Prussia could come here with nothing and build something that lasts.

Lessons for You

I'm getting old now, and I know I won't be here forever. So listen to your old Großvater, and remember what I tell you:

Work hard. Nothing worth having comes easy. When we first came to Nebraska, we had nothing but our hands and our will. That was enough, because we were willing to work.

Family is everything. Your Großmutter and I, we survived everything because we had each other. Take care of your family. Take care of each other.

This land -- America -- it will give you anything you're willing to work for. But you have to work for it. Nobody's going to hand it to you.

Remember where you came from. You're Americans, yes, but you're also German. You come from people who were brave enough to cross an ocean for a better life. That courage is in your blood.

And take care of that land in Brooke's Bottom. I know the river's been eating at it, I know things change. But that's where your family made its mark on this country. That's where we proved we belonged here.

One More Thing

Your Großmutter -- they call her Christina, but I still think of her as the pretty young German girl I married back in Prussia -- she's been my partner through everything. Sixty-five years old I'll be next month, and she's fifty-nine now. We've been married forty years, more or less.

She's the strongest person I've ever known. She never complained, not when we were crossing the ocean, not when we were living in a one-room log cabin, not when we didn't know if the crops would come in, not when we buried your Aunt Catharine. She just kept going, kept working, kept believing.

If you children remember one thing from your old Großvater, remember this: Find yourself a partner like that. Someone who'll stand with you when times are hard. Because times will be hard -- they always are. But with the right person beside you, you can survive anything. You can even cross an ocean and build a new life from nothing.

Now, that's enough of an old man's stories for one day. Your Großmutter will have supper ready soon, and these old bones need to rest. But you come back, and I'll tell you more. I'll tell you about the Indians I met, about the blizzards we survived, about the time the river flooded and we had to move everything to higher ground.

I've lived a long life, children, and I've seen things you wouldn't believe. This country was wilderness when I came here, and now there are towns and roads and railroads everywhere. I helped make that happen. Your family helped make that happen.

Be proud of that. Be proud of where you come from. And make your own mark on this land, just like your Großvater did.

Now go on, and let an old man rest.

[John Peter Brocke died less than a year after this memoir would have been told, on February 13, 1891, at age 65 in Vermillion, South Dakota. He was laid to rest at Saint Agnes Cemetery, where his beloved Christina would join him twenty-three years later.]

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3)  The Video Overview of John Peter Brocke's memoir, created by the Google NotebookLM AI tool, is: 

4)  I edited the Claude memoir text to correct minor inconsistencies and errors. Every large language model (LLM) AI tool writes descriptive text much better than I can write. The AI tools are very perceptive, insightful and inspiring, creating engaging text in seconds, including local and national historical events and social history detail when requested.

5)  This is historical fiction, based on my own genealogical research. It is what John Peter Brocke might have told his grandchildren in 1890.  

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Links to my blog posts about using Artificial Intelligence are on my Randy's AI and Genealogy page. Links to AI information and articles about Artificial Intelligence in Genealogy by other genealogists are on my AI and Genealogy Compendium page.

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/03/life-memoir-of-john-peter-brocke-1826.html

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on Twitter, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com. Please note that all comments are moderated, and may not appear immediately.

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MyHeritage Introduces Scribe AI: Transcribe, Translate and Interpret Documents and Photos

 I freceived this information from MyHeritage this morning:

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RootsTech is finally here, and we're kicking it off with our first big announcement! I’m excited to introduce Scribe AI, a powerful new feature from MyHeritage that uses AI technology to transcribe, translate, and interpret historical documents and photos — helping people better understand and preserve their family history.

Introducing Scribe AI

Old family letters, records, and photos often contain valuable information, but handwriting can be difficult to decipher, languages may be unfamiliar, and images may lack context. Scribe AI overcomes these challenges by revealing important insights, providing historical background, and suggesting next steps for further research.

Caution is advised! This feature is highly addictive and genealogists we’ve given early access to this feature have become hooked! It would be fair to say that Scribe AI is one of the most important genealogical features we’ve added to MyHeritage in the past few years.

Anyone can use Scribe AI for free on a limited number of images at myheritage.com/scribe-ai, with extended use available to subscribers.

More details and interesting examples can be found in the blog post and video. 

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Disclosure: I receive a complimentary subscription to MyHeritage, and have received other material consideration in past years. I uploaded my autosomal DNA raw data to their DNA product. This does not affect my objective analysis of MyHeritage products. I am a paid subscriber to Family Tree Webinars and love it.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/03/myhereitage-introduces-scribe-ai.html

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on X, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.  Note that all comments are moderated, so they may not appear immediately.

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Treasure Chest Thursday -- 1684 Marriage of Robert Hill and Elizabeth Cox in Warminster, Wiltshire

It's Treasure Chest Thursday - an opportunity to look in my digital image files to see what treasures I can find for my family history research and genealogy musings.

The treasure today is the 1684 Marriage record of Robert Hill and Elizabeth Cox in the Warminster, Wiltshire Church of England parish records.

The marriage entry for Robert Hill and Elizabeth Cox is the ninth record for 1684 marriages on the page:

"[1684] Sep'r 21  Robert Hill and Elizabeth Cox"

The source citation is:

Warminster, Wiltshire, Church of England records, Robert Hill and Elizabeth Cox marriage entry, 21 September 1684;  imaged, "Wiltshire, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriage and Burials, 1531-1812," Ancestry.com  (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61187/records/486771 : accessed 10 December 2025), Warminster, St. Denys with St. Lawrence > 1678-1777, page 73, image 79 of 226; Original records in Original data in Wiltshire Church of England Parish Registers, Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, Chippenham, Wiltshire, England.

Robert Hill was born about 1660 in Wiltshire, England.  His parents names, his birth/baptism records, and death/burials records are not known. Elizabeth Cox was born before 14 January 1561` in Warminster, Wiltshire, the daughter of John Cox.  Her death and burial records are not known. Robert Hill married Elizabeth Cox on 21 September 1684 in Warminster, Wltshire.  

Robert Hill and Elizabeth Cox are my 7th great-grandparents, through their son Thomas Hill (1702-1757) who married Sarah Adlam (1693-1773) in 1725 in Warminster, Wiltshire.

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Disclosure:  I have a paid All-Access subscription to Ancestry.com now.  Ancestry.com has provided a complimentary subscription and material considerations for travel expenses to meetings, and has hosted events and meals that I have attended in Salt Lake City, in past years.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/03/treasure-chest-thursday-1684-marriage.html

Copyright (c) 2025, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post.  Share it on X, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below.  Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com.  All comments are moderated, and may not appear immediately after posting.

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