I wrote an AI-assisted biography of my 2nd great-grandfather James Richman (1821-1912) in ABC Biography of #20 James Richman/Richmond (1821-1912) of Wiltshire and New England based on my genealogical sketch of James.
Based on the same genealogical sketch, I requested Claude Sonnet 4 to create a memoir written by James Richman answering certain questions posed by his children and grandchildren, and told in a West Country English dialect. Here are James's AI-assisted memories:
James Richman's Memoir - A Life Remembered (1901)
As told to his children and grandchildren at age 80, in his native West Country tongue
Tell me about your childhood. Who was in your family, where did you live, did you go to school, did you work, what fun did you have?
Well now, my dears, I were born second son among eight of us young'uns to John and Ann Richman on April the twenty-second, eighteen twenty-one, down in Hilperton village in old Wiltshire. 'Twere a right busy cottage we had on Marsh Lane in Hilperton Marsh, always full of noise and bustle, it were.
Our dad John, he were a weaver and laborer who'd haul coal about, and our mam Ann, she worked the looms too. We was all working folk, every last one of us, no putting on airs in our house, I can tell 'ee.
There were our Elizabeth, the eldest of us all, then John Junior what were older than me, meself, and all the little'uns after. We all lived together in that small place, sometimes sharing with John Junior's own growing brood. 'Twere cramped as anything, but full of love and the sound of them looms going clack-clack-clack all day long.
As for schooling, well now, there weren't much chance for book learning for the likes of us. My first proper go at letters came through Sunday School, where I learned me alphabet from a copy what a friend had made. I had such a hunger for knowing things, even as a little'un, and I'd read anything I could lay me hands on. Books were precious as gold in our house, they were.
From when I were just a slip of a lad, I worked alongside me dad and brothers. By the time I were twenty, they had me down as agricultural laborer. The work were hard - farming on a small patch, like - but it learned me the worth of honest graft. For fun, we young'uns would play about by the Avon and Kennett Canal what ran north of our village, though little did I know that waterway would bring such trouble to me later on.
What occupations did you have?
I've turned me hand to many a thing in me long life, each one teaching me summat useful, like. I started as agricultural laborer back in Hilperton, working the fields and doing whatever wanted doing. For a bit in me youth, I found work down in Cardiff, Wales - quite the adventure for a country lad like meself, it were.
Back home in England, I worked as coal merchant laborer too, which brought me nowt but trouble later on, sad to say. When we came to America in fifty-five, I found work straight away in a woolen mill in Pascoag, Rhode Island. The mill work suited me well enough, and I learned quick, I did.
Come sixty-six, I started working for Michael Moriarty's woolen mill in Putnam, Connecticut, where I managed the engine till seventy. After that, I worked as engineer at them LaFayette Reynolds woolen mills in Windsor, Connecticut, till the place burned down.
But the work what's given me most satisfaction has been dairy farming here in Putnam, where I bought me land from Nathaniel Battey and worked it ever since. There's summat right satisfying about working your own bit of earth, raisin livestock, and watching crops grow from seed to harvest, there is.
What was the hardest challenge in your life?
Without a doubt, the blackest time of me life came when they accused me of stealing coal from the Avon and Kennett Canal back in Hilperton. Though I were examined, tried, and found innocent as a newborn lamb by the court, just being accused were enough to blacken me name in our little village. Folk started looking at me sideways, whispering when I passed by.
For a man what had always prided himself on honest work and good character, 'twere like a knife to the heart. Even though the law cleared me name, I knew some would always wonder. The weight of that suspicion, that cloud hanging over me family's name, became more than I could bear. 'Twere this trouble what drove me to make the hard decision to leave everything I'd ever known and take meself off to America.
What major life decision did you make and how did it work out?
The biggest decision of me whole life were leaving England for America in fifty-five. When that trouble with the coal business happened, I realized that no matter me innocence, me reputation in Hilperton would never be right again. I had to think of me family's future - Hannah and our little'uns deserved better than living under that shadow.
So I made the bold choice to emigrate. I sailed from Liverpool on the ship Calhoun with me brother-in-law Samuel Rich, and we landed in New York on October the twenty-second, fifty-five, after a month on the water. I hadn't hardly two pennies to rub together, but me hopes were high as the sky. I went straight to Pascoag, Rhode Island, where I had friends waiting to help me start fresh.
The year after, me dear Hannah made the even harder journey, bringing our five little'uns across that great water on the ship Osprey. They were at sea for six weeks and two days - I can't hardly imagine her courage, traveling alone with them babies.
How did it work out? Better than I ever dared dream, it did. We found chances here what never would've existed back in England. Me children have all done well, found good work, married proper, and built lives I never could've given them in that little English village. We own our own farm now - eighty acres what belongs to us, not some lord. In America, a man can rise through honest work and gumption.
What was your biggest accomplishment?
While I'm right proud of building our farm and providing for me family, I reckon me greatest doing is the family Hannah and I raised together. We brought nine children into this world, and though we lost little Ann when she were just a babe, the eight what lived have all become fine, useful folk.
Thomas has become a boss carder. James an expert designer - he even managed that famous business of making a whole suit of clothes from sheep's wool to finished garment in just six hours and four minutes! Elizabeth Ann married well to Abram Sykes, Emma to Arthur Fitts, Hannah Rebecca has made two good marriages, John Henry works our farm with proper skill, and Charles Edward has become an expert mechanic. Louisa bides with us still, a blessing in our old age.
Each of me children learned the worth of hard graft, and each has found their own success. That they've all stayed close to family, that they've built good lives for themselves - that's worth more than all the gold in California to me.
Ah, me grandchildren! Now there's a blessing what fills me heart with joy every day. Twenty-eight of them little souls, can you believe it? Each one different as chalk and cheese, but all carrying a bit of the Richman spirit in them.
What are you proudest of?
I'm proudest that despite our humble beginnings and all the troubles we faced, I never bent me principles. When that false accusation came in England, I could've let bitterness eat me up. Instead, I chose to build summat better for me family.
I'm proud that though I had little proper schooling, I never stopped learning. I read everything I could lay hands on, watched everything around me, and tried to better meself every blessed day. Folk say I'm now "an unusually well informed and intelligent man," and that means more to me than they might know.
Most of all, I'm proud that we took that leap of faith to come to America and that it worked out so well. Every one of me children has chances here they never would've had in England. That makes every hardship, every sacrifice worthwhile, it does.
How do you want to be remembered?
I want to be remembered as a man what faced trouble with courage and never let hard times beat him down. When life knocked me flat, I got back up and found a way forward. I want me descendants to remember that I were honest in all me dealings, that I worked hard for everything we have, and that I never gave up on me family or me dreams.
I hope they'll remember that learning and bettering yourself matters - that even a poor weaver's son from Hilperton could build a good life through grit and the will to learn. And I want them to remember that sometimes the greatest courage is knowing when to start over completely.
What advice do you have for your grandchildren?
First off, never be feared of honest work. There's dignity in any job done proper, whether you're working in a mill, on a farm, or in some fancy office. Hard graft opens doors what nothing else can.
Second, never stop learning. I learned me alphabet from a friend's copy at Sunday School, but that were just the beginning. Read everything you can get your hands on, ask questions, watch the world around you. Knowledge is one thing no soul can ever take from you.
Third, have the courage to take chances when opportunity shows itself. Coming to America were frightening - leaving everything familiar, crossing that great ocean with little money and great uncertainty. But sometimes you got to risk everything to gain everything. Don't let fear keep you from chasing your dreams.
Fourth, remember that your good name is your most precious thing. Guard it fierce, but if it's ever wrongly damaged through no fault of your own, don't let that stop you from moving forward and building summat better.
Finally, remember that family is everything. Stay close to each other, help each other, and never forget where you come from. The love and help of family can carry you through any hardship and double any joy.
This country has given us chances beyond our wildest dreams. Make the most of them, and always remember to lend a hand to help others climb as you've climbed. That's the American way, and it's the Richman way too.
James Richman
Putnam, Connecticut
1901
I would have received similar memories from OpenAI ChatGPT4, X Grok 3, and Google Gemini. I could ask the Chatbots to expand on the memoir because some points in the reference document were missed in each of them. I think that these relatively short memoirs are poignant and would be interesting to his family members, especially to his grandchildren, and even to his 2nd great-grandson.
This format provides a different perspective than a biography, doesn't it? It is historical fiction, but many of the historical facts are included and it rings true to me. Now if I could only get a Wiltshireman's voice to tell the stories!
I will write more of these memoirs or life memories as told by my ancestors as time goes on. This is great genealogy fun for me!
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