Using the ABC method described in Using Artificial Intelligence In the Ancestor Biography Creation (ABC) Process, here is another ancestor biography using the Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 AI tool.
1) I wrote genealogical sketches for almost every known ancestor back through 9 generations in blog posts based on 38 years of genealogical research in my 52 Ancestors/Relatives Biographies series. The genealogical sketch for my 3rd great-grandfather, Samuel Vaux (1816-1880), #54 on my Ahnentafel List), including family members, record abstracts and sources, is 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 47: #54, Samuel Vaux (1816-1880).
(AI ChatGPT5 image of Vaux family in Wisconsin in 1860)
2) For the Claude AI biography, I attached the PDF of the genealogical sketch for the specific ancestor using the plus (+) icon, and then prompted the AI tool with: "You are an expert genealogist. Please create a biography based on information in the attached file for Samuel Vaux (1816 -1880). Include parents, siblings, spouses and children (with birth and death dates and places). Summarize life events, and add historical facts 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) Here is the Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 biography:
Samuel Vaux (1816-1880):
A Life Across Two Continents
Early Life and Family Origins
Samuel Vaux was born on January 14, 1816, in the picturesque market town of South Petherton, Somerset, England. He was baptized less than a month later on February 11, 1816, at the local Parish Church of South Petherton, where the records show his parents as James Vaux (1787-1839) and Mary Palmer (1790-1845).
Samuel grew up as the third son in a bustling household of ten children. His siblings formed a tight-knit family unit that would later emigrate to America. His brothers and sisters included John Palmer Vaux (1810-1874), James Edward Vaux (1812-1871), Anne Vaux (1814-1880), William Vaux (1819-????), George Vaux (1820-1873), Josiah Vaux (1822-1888), Cyrus Vaux (1824-????), Mary Vaux (1826-1828, who died young), and Ernest Vaux (1831-1916).
Growing up in Somerset during the early 19th century, Samuel would have witnessed the tail end of the Napoleonic Wars and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution that was transforming England. South Petherton, with its medieval church and market square, provided a traditional English countryside upbringing that would contrast sharply with the frontier life he would later embrace in America.
Immigration to America
Like many English families seeking better opportunities during the economic uncertainties of the 1830s, the James Vaux family made the momentous decision to emigrate to America. Samuel, accompanied by his parents and five siblings, left Somerset in 1832, sailed from Bristol on the ship Cosmo arriving in New York City on 1 May 1832, and settled in Aurora township Erie County, New York. This was during the great wave of British immigration to America, when thousands of families were drawn by the promise of available land and economic opportunity in the rapidly expanding United States.
Erie County, located in western New York near Buffalo and the Great Lakes, was experiencing significant growth during this period. The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 had transformed the region into a major transportation hub, making it an attractive destination for immigrants looking to establish new lives in America.
Marriage and Family Life
Around 1837, when Samuel was 21 years old, he married Mary Ann Underhill, who was 22 and born on March 5, 1815, in Aurora, Erie County, New York. Mary Ann was the daughter of Amos Underhill and Mary Metcalf, representing one of the established American families in the area. Their marriage united an English immigrant with a local New York family, a common pattern of the time that helped newcomers integrate into their adopted communities.
Samuel and Mary Ann established their home in Aurora, Erie County, New York, where they would raise their family over the next fifteen years. Together, they had six children, all born in Aurora between 1839 and 1854:
- Mary Almeda Vaux (born about 1839) married James G. Woodward on November 3, 1861, in Burnett, Dodge County, Wisconsin, three children. Tragically, she died before 1880 in Bedford, Taylor County, Iowa, leaving behind her family.
- Celia Ann Vaux (born May 23, 1842) lived a full life, marrying twice. She first married Milo Redfield on January 8, 1861, in Burnett, Dodge County, Wisconsin, two children; later married Francis Napoleon Munger on April 27, 1872, in Empire Prairie, Andrew County, Missouri, three children. She lived until November 4, 1919, dying in Belleville, Republic County, Kansas.
- Abigail A. "Abbie" Vaux (born October 28, 1844) married Devier James Lamphier Smith on April 4, 1861, in Rolling Prairie, Dodge County, Wisconsin, five children. She would eventually move to California and died on September 11, 1931, in San Diego, where she provided important family information for future generations.
- James P. Vaux (born January 8, 1847) married Mary Alice Patrick around 1877 in Kansas, three children, but eventually returned to his birthplace, dying on December 29, 1902, in Aurora, Erie County, New York.
- Elizabeth B. Vaux (born August 1, 1849) married Samuel Crouch on October 19, 1871, in Andrew County, Missouri, three children, and later moved to California, where she died on May 10, 1931, in Long Beach, Los Angeles County.
- Amos S. Vaux (born 1854) was the youngest child but tragically died of typhoid fever on August 23, 1876, at only 22 years old in Nodaway, Andrew County, Missouri.
Building a Life in New York
Samuel’s father, James Vaux, went back to visit family in South Petherton, Somerset, and died there on 23 July 1839. His mother died in Aurora in 1845.
Samuel proved to be an ambitious and successful farmer in his adopted homeland. On March 29, 1845, he made a significant investment in his future by purchasing 53 acres of land in Aurora, Erie County, from Seth Sprague for $795—a substantial sum that demonstrated his growing prosperity. The property, known as the Sprague farm, was strategically located in the southwest corner of Lot 22, bounded by highways and neighboring farms.
The 1850 census provides a snapshot of the family's comfortable circumstances. Samuel, then 34, was listed as a farmer with $1,166 in real property—indicating considerable success for an immigrant family. The household included Mary Ann, 35, and their four young children: Mary (11), Cele Ann (9), Abigail (5), and Jane (3) [probably son James], with the three oldest girls attending school, showing the family's commitment to education.
By 1853, Samuel's prosperity had grown enough that he sold the Aurora property to Robert Bartlett for $1,500—nearly doubling his initial investment. This profitable sale provided the capital for the family's next adventure westward.
Westward Movement to Wisconsin
Following the pattern of westward migration that characterized 19th-century America, the Samuel Vaux family moved from New York to Burnett township, Dodge County, Wisconsin, before 1854. This relocation placed them in the heart of America's agricultural expansion, where rich prairie soils promised even greater farming opportunities.
Wisconsin was experiencing rapid settlement during this period, with immigrants and eastern families drawn by the Homestead Act and the promise of fertile farmland. The family appeared in the 1855 Wisconsin State Census, and Samuel's name can be found on the 1859 plat map of Section 29 in Burnett township, indicating his establishment as a landowner in the community.
The Wisconsin years were formative for the Vaux children, who came of age during this period. It was here that three of the family's daughters would meet and marry their husbands, with all three weddings taking place in the Dodge County area in 1861.
The Missouri Chapter
In 1869, Samuel and Mary Ann made their final major move, purchasing 40 acres in Andrew County, Missouri, for $2,000. This land purchase, documented in detail in the county deed records, represented the Southeast quarter of the Southeast quarter of Section 21 in Township 61 of Range 33. The substantial price paid suggests this was prime agricultural land in a developing area of western Missouri.
The 1870 census found the family well-established in Platte township, Andrew County, Missouri. Samuel, now 51, had accumulated significant wealth with $3,500 in real property and $490 in personal property. The household had grown to include their son-in-law James Woodward and daughter Mary Almeda with their children, representing the multi-generational farming families common in rural America.
Tragedy struck the family during the Missouri years when their youngest son, Amos, died of typhoid fever in 1876 at just 22 years old. This devastating loss occurred in Nodaway, Andrew County, highlighting the health challenges that frontier families faced even in established farming communities.
Final Years and Legacy
On January 31, 1880, Samuel and Mary Ann sold their Missouri land to William H. Bulla for $800, suggesting they were preparing for retirement or another move. The 1880 census found them living with their daughter Abigail and her family in Blue Rapids township, Marshall County, Kansas, where Samuel was listed as 65 years old and "without occupation" -- finally able to rest after decades of farming.
Samuel's life came to an end on October 9, 1880, in Concordia, Cloud County, Kansas, where he was staying with his daughter Abigail. He was laid to rest in Pleasant Hill Cemetery in Concordia, where his gravestone bears the simple but dignified inscription recording his birth and death dates.
Historical Context and Significance
Samuel Vaux's life story embodies the great American narrative of the 19th century. Born in the English countryside during the Regency period, he witnessed and participated in the massive demographic shifts that shaped the United States. His journey from Somerset to New York, Wisconsin, Missouri, and finally Kansas mirrors the westward expansion that characterized American development.
His success as an immigrant farmer—accumulating property worth thousands of dollars and raising six children to adulthood—demonstrates the opportunities that drew millions of Europeans to American shores. The detailed records of his land transactions show a man who understood the value of American real estate and used it to build generational wealth for his family.
The geographic spread of his descendants, from California to Kansas to New York, illustrates how one immigrant family helped populate and develop the American continent. Samuel Vaux's legacy lives on through his children and their descendants, who carried his pioneering spirit across the nation and contributed to the building of modern America.
Through his 64 years, Samuel Vaux transformed himself from an English farm boy into an American patriarch, leaving behind not just property and possessions, but a family deeply rooted in the American experience. His story reminds us that the great American story is often written by ordinary people who had the courage to cross an ocean and the determination to build new lives in a new land.
4) A poem and song lyrics to commemorate and celebrate the life of Samuel Vaux can be found in "Samuel's Journey"-- A Family History Poem, Song and Podcast Created by Artificial Intelligence. The song created from the song lyrics can be played in that blog post, and on Suno.com, and below:
5) An Audio Overview (essentially a podcast created by the Google NotebookLM AI tool) discussing the life of Samuel Vaux can be heard here (unfortunately, Blogger won't easily display audio files).
6) The Video Overview discussing Samuel Vaux's life created by Google NotebookLM is:
7) I posted this about Samuel Vaux: Ask AI: "What Factors Caused Samuel Vaux's Moves From New York to Wisconsin (1854) to Missouri (1868) to Kansas (1878)?"
8) 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.
==============================================
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
The URL for this post is:
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.
Subscribe to receive a free daily email from Genea-Musings using www.Blogtrottr.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment