I've used FREE Artificial Intelligence tools to create biographies, poems and songs about my ancestors lives, genealogy research, and family history in the recent past. Today, I want to share a poem and a song about my third great-grandmother, Hannah (Hildreth) Sawtell (1789-1857)
I requested ChatGPT4, Grok, Gemini, and Claude (all FREE AI tools) to create a poem and song lyrics, and a podcast, about Hannah (Sawtell) Hildreth (1789-1857) of Townsend, Massachusetts.I uploaded a PDF of my genealogical sketch which has all of the information I have about the life of Hannah (Sawtell) Hildreth - see 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 30: #37, Hannah (Sawtell) Hildreth (1789-1857).
(image created by OpenAI ChatGPT4)
1) The prompt I used was: "Please write a poem and song lyrics to commemorate the life of Hannah (Sawtell) Hildreth (1789-1857) using the attached document."
2) I chose the poem created by Anthropic Claude 3.7 Sonnet today:
HANNAH'S THREAD
From Brookline hills to Townsend's quiet streets,
A life was woven, stitch by careful stitch.
November child of seventeen-eighty-nine,
Hannah Sawtell, daughter of the land.
At twenty years, she gave her hand in vows
To Zachariah Hildreth, partner true.
October winds brought marriage in their wake,
A union blessed with forty-seven years.
Nine children born beneath her watchful gaze,
Their names like constellations in her sky:
Aaron, Clarissa, James, Elizabeth, Milo and Moses,
Edward following after, And Harriet Augusta, final star.
She buried two Clarissas to the earth,
The first just five years old, a blossom brief.
And Harriet, not fifteen summers grown,
When death, unwelcome visitor, returned.
Through seasons harsh and gentle, Hannah stood,
Her hands forever working, mind engaged.
In census pages, quietly she waits,
Her presence marked by simple words: "born NH."
Paralysis claimed her form that winter day,
January's chill of eighteen fifty-seven.
Mere days before her husband followed her,
As if one could not linger without the other.
In New Cemetery, her bones now rest,
But through her children's children, onward still,
The thread of Hannah weaves through time and space,
In Seavers, Hildreths, all who bear her blood.
No probate tells the treasures of her hands,
No journal shares the wisdom of her thoughts,
Yet in the living chain of those who came
From Hannah's womb, her legacy endures.
From Brookline hills to Townsend's quiet streets,
To distant shores her children never knew,
The daughter, wife and mother,
Hannah lives— Her story etched in generations' hearts.
3) Here are the AI song lyrics created by X Grok 3 (used as custom lyrics on Suno.com), using an Americana storytelling style in an upbeat tempo - the link to the song is here: "Hannah's Thread:"
HANNAH'S THREAD
Verse 1
In Brookline’s fields, where the wildflowers sway,
Hannah Sawtell greeted the dawn’s early ray.
Born in the glow of a nation’s first light,
November’s child, with a spirit so bright.
Eldest of nine, in a home built on care,
She wove love’s foundation with dreams in the air.
Verse 2
At twenty, she walked down a Townsend lane,
With Zachariah’s promise, through joy and through pain.
Their home took root where the heartlands abide,
A farmer’s life, with her love by his side.
Nine children she raised, through the years’ steady call,
Her hands held their dreams, through the rise and the fall.
Chorus
Oh, Hannah, your flame burns clear,
Through the ages, we feel you near.
With courage bold and a heart sincere,
Your love’s a song we’ll always hear.
Verse 3
But grief came to call, with a merciless hand,
Three daughters lost to a faraway land.
Clarissa, Harriet, their names softly fade,
Yet Hannah’s resolve never broke, never strayed.
Through sorrow’s deep shadow, her spirit stood tall,
A mother’s fierce love, rising over it all.
Bridge
In fifty-seven, her body grew frail,
Paralysis whispered, but could not prevail.
She slipped to the stars on a January night,
Zachariah followed, drawn to her light.
In New Cemetery, they rest hand in hand,
Their love etched forever in Townsend’s green land.
Chorus
Oh, Hannah, your flame burns clear,
Through the ages, we feel you near.
With courage bold and a heart sincere,
Your love’s a song we’ll always hear.
Verse 4
From humble beginnings, her story took flight,
A life full of grace, through the day and the night.
The home that she built, the lives she embraced,
Her strength and her kindness, no time can erase.
In every heart touched by her gentle command,
Hannah’s sweet legacy forever will stand.
Outro
Oh, Hannah, your name softly sings,
On the breeze, through the joy that it brings.
From earth to the heavens, your light carries on,
In our hearts, dear Hannah, you’re never gone.
4) Here is the Audio Overview "podcast" file for Hannah (Sawtell) Hildreth from Google NotebookLM (based on the referenced genealogical sketch):
5) The AI tools do this so much better than I could, and weaves the poem and song along a story theme that is true and heartfelt. Each tool provides a different poem and song from the same prompt --I love fishing in all of the AI streams!! Frankly, doing the poems and song are the most genealogy fun I have every week!
6) These stories, told in verse and song, are part of my genealogy and family research. My hope is that they will be passed down to my grandchildren and their descendants to highlight the importance of sharing stories, memories, admiration, and love of our ancestors. I will add them to my Google Drive and to my YouTube channel and my FOREVER account.
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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) 2025, Randall J. Seaver
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