The Artificial Intelligence tools (like ChatGPT, Claude, CoPilot, Gemini, Grok, Meta, Grok, and Perplexity) can provide much useful and nearly instant information about subjects in a concise format, especially when they have been pre-trained on a large volume of information about the subjects.
Several ancestral families of mine migrated from the eastern states to the midwest statesx in the 1850 to 1900 time frame. I wondered why they moved several times and asked the free AI tools for the factors that may have caused the moves. I used my 3rd great-grandfather Samuel Vaux (1816-1880) and his residence history as the subject for this query. Samuel Vaux's genealogical sketch is in 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 47: #54, Samuel Vaux (1816-1880).
My Prompt was: "My 3rd great-grandfather, Samuel Vaux (1816-1880) was a farmer. He married Mary Ann Underhill in 1838, and they had six children beteen 1840 and 1854. He resided in Aurora, Erie County, New York in 1850, moved to Burnett, Dodge County, Wisconsin in 1854, moved to Platte, Andrew County, Missouri in 1868, and moved to Blue Rapids, Marshall County, Kansas before 1880. What factors might have caused each move?"
Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 response:
Looking at Samuel Vaux's migration pattern, each move likely reflected the westward expansion opportunities and challenges of 19th-century America. Let me break down the probable factors for each relocation:
New York to Wisconsin (1854)
Samuel's move from Aurora, Erie County, New York to Burnett, Dodge County, Wisconsin was part of a massive demographic shift during the 1850s. In the 1850s, two-thirds of immigrants to Wisconsin came from the eastern United States, with early migration to Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota from the east came disproportionately from New England and New York. The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 had created a direct transportation corridor that made Wisconsin accessible to New York farmers seeking opportunities.
By 1850, western New York's agricultural land had become increasingly expensive and subdivided among multiple generations of families. The Genesee Valley region, where Erie County is located, had been settled since the 1790s, and good farmland was becoming scarce and costly. Meanwhile, Wisconsin Territory was actively promoting settlement through land agents and promotional literature distributed throughout New York State. The federal government was selling Wisconsin prairie land at the minimum price of $1.25 per acre under the Pre-emption Act of 1841, while similar quality farmland in New York was selling for $20-50 per acre.
Wisconsin's Dodge County offered particular advantages: it featured fertile prairie soils that didn't require the backbreaking labor of clearing forests, and it was situated along emerging railroad lines that would provide market access. The timing of Samuel's 1854 move coincided with Wisconsin's wheat boom, when the state was becoming known as "America's Breadbasket." Railroad construction was connecting Wisconsin farms to eastern markets, and wheat prices were strong due to international demand, particularly from European markets disrupted by the Crimean War.
Wisconsin to Missouri (1868)
Samuel's move to Platte, Andrew County, Missouri in 1868 came at a pivotal moment in American history. The Civil War had ended just three years earlier, and Missouri was experiencing significant economic and demographic changes. During the war, Missouri had been a deeply divided border state, with guerrilla warfare and military occupation disrupting agricultural production and displacing many farmers.
By 1868, Missouri was actively recruiting settlers to rebuild its agricultural economy. The state offered several advantages: farmland was considerably cheaper than in Wisconsin, sometimes selling for as little as $3-8 per acre compared to Wisconsin's $15-25 per acre. The climate was milder, allowing for a longer growing season and different crop varieties. Missouri's river systems, particularly the Missouri River near Andrew County, provided excellent transportation for agricultural products to markets in St. Louis and beyond.
The psychological factor of "war weariness" may have also influenced this decision. Wisconsin had contributed heavily to the Union cause, losing over 12,000 men, and many communities were dealing with the aftermath of the war. Missouri, despite its wartime troubles, represented a fresh start and potentially greater prosperity. Additionally, there's evidence that many Wisconsin farmers were experiencing soil depletion from intensive wheat cultivation, making Missouri's virgin prairie soils particularly attractive.
Samuel's move may have also been influenced by family networks or community connections. Chain migration was common during this period, where one family member would relocate and then encourage relatives and neighbors to follow. The 1860s saw significant movement of Northern farmers into Missouri as the state worked to rebuild its agricultural sector.
Missouri to Kansas (before 1880)
Samuel's final move to Blue Rapids, Marshall County, Kansas represented participation in one of the most significant land rushes in American history. The 1870s Kansas land boom was driven by several converging factors that made the state incredibly attractive to agricultural settlers.
The Homestead Act of 1862 offered 160 acres of free land to any family willing to settle and improve the property for five years. By the 1870s, Kansas had become the primary destination for homesteaders, with over 100,000 people claiming homesteads during the decade. The state's promotional campaigns were extensive and sophisticated, with immigration agents distributed throughout the Midwest and East, distributing pamphlets and testimonials about Kansas's agricultural potential.
Railroad development was crucial to Kansas's appeal. The Kansas Pacific Railroad reached the state in 1870, and by the mid-1870s, multiple rail lines crisscrossed the state, providing farmers with direct access to markets in Kansas City, Chicago, and beyond. The railroads themselves were major promoters of settlement, since they needed customers to ship agricultural products to make their lines profitable.
Climate and soil conditions in Kansas were promoted as ideal for wheat cultivation. The state's semi-arid climate with hot summers and cold winters was perfect for hard winter wheat, which was increasingly in demand for bread making. The deep, fertile soils of the Great Plains were being promoted as superior to the worn-out soils of older farming regions.
Blue Rapids, specifically, was located along the Big Blue River in Marshall County, an area that offered both fertile river bottom land and access to water for irrigation and livestock. The town was established in 1869 and by the 1870s was a thriving agricultural center with grain elevators, mills, and shipping facilities.
For Samuel, now in his 60s, this move likely represented both economic opportunity and family considerations. Many of his adult children may have been drawn to Kansas by the promise of free land, and family solidarity often influenced such decisions. The move also represented the culmination of a lifetime of westward migration, following the advancing frontier from New York through Wisconsin and Missouri to the edge of the Great Plains.
3) The Claude Sonnet 4 response to the prompts was interesting and probably is accurate. I asked the same questions of ChatGPT4, Grok, and Gemini and received similar responses.
I like how the LLMs work - they answer the question, they organize the answers into sections, and they provide descriptive text that makes sense. They are well-trained on historic events and social history.
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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.
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