Using the ABC method described in Using Artificial Intelligence In the Ancestor Biography Creation (ABC) Process, here is another ancestor couple biography using the Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5 AI tool.
(AI NotebookLM Infographic of the Philip and Mary (Smith) Row Family)
2) For the Claude AI biography, I attached the PDF of the genealogical sketches for the two ancestors using the plus (+) icon, and then prompted the AI tool with: "You are an expert genealogist and family historian. Please create a biography based on information in the attached files for the Philip and Mary (Smith) Row family, including parents, siblings, spouses and children (with birth, marriage and death dates and places). Summarize life events, add historical events as appropriate, but do not add or embellish any extra genealogical details. Use section headings. Expand the information in each section to add more details. The tone should be engaging and suitable for family members."
3) The Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5 biography (lightly edited), after requesting more detailed information, is:
The Philip Row and Mary (Smith) Row Family of New
Jersey
Early Life and Origins
Philip Row was born in December 1752, likely in New Jersey, though
the exact location remains uncertain. His heritage was probably
German, reflecting the strong German settlement patterns in colonial
New Jersey. The identity of his parents has not been conclusively
established, though some genealogists have suggested various
connections to German immigrant families in the region.
Mary Smith entered the world in November 1750, also believed to be
in New Jersey. Like Philip, she was likely of German ancestry, part
of the vibrant German-speaking community that had established roots
in the colony. Details about her parents and early childhood have
been lost to time, leaving only her later life documented through
official records.
Marriage and Building a Family
On July 9, 1772, nineteen-year-old Philip Row married
twenty-one-year-old Mary Smith in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. The
ceremony was performed by Reverend Frederick Dellicker, marking the
beginning of a partnership that would endure through war, hardship,
and the challenges of frontier life. Philip carefully recorded the
details of their marriage in his German family Bible, noting both
their ages at the time of their union—a document that would prove
invaluable decades later.
Just over a year after their wedding, on July 19, 1773, their
first child Mary arrived, beginning what would become a family of
eight children. The young couple settled in New Germantown (now
Oldwick) in Tewksbury Township, Hunterdon County, where they would
raise their family and build their lives. The area was home to many
German-speaking families, and five of the Row children were baptized
at the Zion Lutheran Church in Oldwick, with their names recorded in
the German style as "Rau."
The Revolutionary War Years
When the American Revolution erupted in 1775, Philip Row answered
the call to defend the new nation. He served as a militia soldier in
the New Jersey Line throughout the entire conflict, from its
beginning to its end. His service took him away from home repeatedly,
sometimes for weeks or even months at a time, leaving Mary to manage
their farm and care for their growing family alone.
Philip began his service as a private in Captain Godfrey
Reinhardt's company of the Hunterdon County Militia, carrying his
rifle into battle. As the war progressed and Captain Reinhardt was
promoted to Major, Philip rose through the ranks himself, first
becoming an Ensign and later achieving the rank of Lieutenant. Mary
would prepare his knapsack with provisions, fit him out with clothes
and ammunition, and send him off wearing his officer's regimentals—a
blue coat faced with red and bearing an epaulette on his shoulder.
The militia operated on a rotation system, with different classes
called up for month-long tours of duty. When danger from the British
was particularly acute, the entire militia would be mobilized.
Philip's service record reads like a chronicle of New Jersey's
Revolutionary experience. In July 1776, he served under Captain
Reinhardt at an undisclosed location. The following month found him
at Elizabethtown. In October and November 1776, he served under
Lieutenant Cramer at Raritan and Elizabethtown, following General
Washington's retreat through Jersey from Elizabethtown to New
Brunswick during those dark days when the Continental Army seemed on
the verge of collapse.
The winter of 1776-77 brought Philip to Trenton and New Brunswick,
where he served under Captain Emmam during the critical period
following Washington's famous Christmas crossing of the Delaware.
These tours often extended beyond their expected duration—what
should have been month-long assignments sometimes stretched to six
weeks or more as military necessity demanded.
Philip participated in several significant engagements. He fought
at the Battle of Millstone during the winter, serving with the
Somerset troops under various commanders including Colonel
Frelinghausen. Mary later recalled Philip pointing out to her the
spot at Van Eps Mills where a battle had occurred as they rode toward
New Brunswick. He served at Crane's Point near Elizabethtown in the
fall, and on one memorable occasion, crossed at night from
Elizabethtown to Staten Island for a raid on enemy positions. During
this engagement, Philip lost his gun flint in the action and had to
stop behind a corn crib to replace it and reload his rifle while the
enemy closed in around him. As he rejoined his comrades and fired at
the approaching enemy, their shots flew thick around him.
The Battle of Monmouth in June 1778 found Philip serving at
Freehold and Englishtown, where he participated in the fighting, by
then holding the rank of either Ensign or Lieutenant. He also fought
at the Battle of Springfield, as well as at Short Hills and Ash
Swamp. Near the end of the war, in February or March of 1780 or 1781,
he was called out when the Pennsylvania troops mutinied, and the
militia was mobilized to intercept them near Pluckemin.
Throughout these years of conflict, Mary managed the family farm
and cared for their children, demonstrating the resilience and
strength that characterized Revolutionary-era women. She would later
testify that she believed Philip had faithfully performed not less
than ten months of actual military service, though he was subject to
militia duty throughout the entire war.
Family Life in Peacetime
Between 1773 and 1796, Philip and Mary welcomed eight children
into their family, all born in Hunterdon County:
Mary Row (July 19, 1773 - May 17, 1862) married
John Hubert on March 6, 1794, in Oldwick. Though they had no
children, Mary lived a long life, dying at age 88 in Tewksbury.
Elisabetha Row (January 13, 1776 - May 1, 1857)
married Jacob Adam Apgar before 1805. They had three children, and
she spent her final years in Lebanon, Hunterdon County.
John Jacob Row (April 7, 1779 - February 2, 1837)
married Elizabeth Hueven on December 13, 1803, and they had eight
children together. After Elizabeth's death, he married Rebecca
Vesselus on April 19, 1823, though this second marriage produced no
children.
Peter Row (born about 1782, died 1816) married
Catherine Case on March 12, 1808, in Oldwick. They had one child, but
Peter's life was cut short when he died at age 34.
William Row (August 16, 1785) was baptized on
September 7, 1785, in New Germantown. No further records of his life
have been found.
Anna Row (born about 1787 - June 12, 1860)
married Johannes Auble on July 15, 1804, in New Germantown. They had
nine children, and Anna eventually relocated to Stillwater in Sussex
County, where she died.
Phillip Johannes Row (born before October 11,
1791 - April 15, 1874) married Jane Johnson on January 26, 1815, in
Somerset County. They had seven children. Phillip eventually moved
westward, dying in Franklin, Indiana, at the age of 82 or 83.
Johannes Row (born about January 1795) was
christened on September 4, 1796, in New Germantown. Like his brother
William, no further record of his life has been discovered.
Philip kept his accounts and personal records in German,
maintaining the language and customs of his heritage even as his
family put down deep roots in American soil. He could not write in
English, and when business required translation, he relied on
neighbors like schoolmaster John Beammer who understood both
languages.
Philip's Final Years and Death
On June 9, 1817, Philip Row sat down to write his will, describing
himself as being "in a weak and low State of health but of sound
mind and memory." He knew the uncertainty of life and wanted to
ensure his family would be cared for after his death. His will
directed that his personal estate be sold and enough of his real
estate as well to pay all his debts. He made careful provision for
Mary's support, directing that his sons Jacob and John should
maintain her "in a decent and Comfortable manner during her
Natural life" at equal expense, this arrangement serving in lieu
of her dower rights.
To his daughters Mary, Elizabeth, and Anna, and to his son Peter
(if living), he bequeathed five dollars each—token amounts
suggesting these children had already received their portions. To his
son Philip, he left fifty dollars. The residue of his estate, both
real and personal, he divided equally between his sons Jacob and
John, always subject to their responsibility to support their mother.
Philip died shortly after completing his will, before July 2,
1817, when his sons Jacob and John appeared before the Surrogate's
Court in Flemington to prove the document. He was approximately 64
years old. His burial location in Hunterdon County has been lost to
time.
Mary's Long Widowhood
Mary Row outlived her husband by more than a quarter century. She
continued to live on the family farm in Tewksbury Township, likely
residing with one of her sons' families. As she aged, her sight
failed, and she became unable to distinguish one neighbor from
another except by voice. Age brought physical infirmity that made
travel impossible, leaving her largely confined to home.
In February 1840, at the age of 89 or 90, Mary made the arduous
journey to provide testimony for a Revolutionary War pension
application. Because of her blindness and infirmity, Judge Joseph
Smith of Morris County came to her in Washington Township, just
across the county line, rather than requiring her to travel the
twenty miles to the Hunterdon County courthouse.
Mary's testimony, given under oath, provided a detailed account of
Philip's Revolutionary War service—the battles he fought in, the
officers he served under, the months he spent away from home. She
recounted how she had prepared his knapsack and sent him off to war,
how she had managed the farm and children in his absence, how he had
pointed out battlefields to her in their travels together. Her
memory, though frail, retained vivid details of those tumultuous
years.
The pension application process proved frustratingly slow. Mary's
claim was rejected or suspended for several years, caught up in
bureaucratic delays. Finally, in 1849, her pension was approved at
the rate of twenty dollars per annum. By a cruel irony, the
certificate was dated March 1, 1849—over six years after Mary had
died.
Mary Row passed away on October 9, 1843, in Hunterdon County, New
Jersey, at approximately 92 years of age. Like her husband, her
burial location has not been identified. She left behind two
daughters and one surviving son, Phillip, who in 1850 wrote to the
Pension Commissioners noting that he was "the only surviving son
of Philip Row, dec'd an officer in the War of the Revolution."
Legacy
Philip and Mary Row's story embodies the experience of countless
German-American families who helped build the young United States.
They served their adopted country through years of Revolutionary
struggle, raised a large family on the New Jersey frontier, and
established roots that would spread across the growing nation. Their
children and grandchildren would carry the family name and heritage
into the nineteenth century and beyond, with some eventually moving
westward to Indiana and other frontier territories.
Though their graves have been lost and many details of their daily
lives forgotten, the official records they left behind—pension
applications, church registers, probate documents, and a treasured
family Bible—ensure that Philip and Mary Row's contributions to
their family and their country will not be forgotten.
========================================
5) The Video Overview discussing the lives of Philip and Mary (Smith) Row created by the Google NotebookLM AI tool is:
6) I edited the Claude biography text to correct minor inconsistencies and errors. Every large language model (LLM) AI tool writes descriptive text much better than I can write. I was an aerospace engineer in my former life, and my research reports and genealogical sketches reflect "just the facts gleaned from my research." The AI tools are very perceptive, insightful and create readable text in seconds, including local and national historical events and social history detail when requested.
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.
Subscribe to receive a free daily email from Genea-Musings using www.Blogtrottr.com.
