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.
I wondered if the FREE AI tools could provide me with information about a young Shrewsbury, Massachusetts boy's life in 1770. My 4th great-grandfather, Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816) was age 13 in 1770.
1) I chose to use the responses from free Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5 (as of 1 November 2025) today.
My Prompt was: "Please describe the life of 13-year-old Benjamin Seaver on the Seaver farm in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts in 1770? Family, work, education, entertainment, fun?"
I uploaded a PDF of my updated Genea-Musings blog post (52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 57: #64, Benjamin Seaver (1757-1816)) to provide information about Benjamin and his family to the AI Tool.
2) Here is the Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5 response:
A Day in the Life: Benjamin Seaver, Age 13
Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, 1770
The Seaver Household
In 1770, thirteen-year-old Benjamin Seaver lived in a bustling household in Shrewsbury, Worcester County, Massachusetts. The Seaver family farm was home to a crowd of children, and young Benjamin was right in the middle of it all.
His parents, Norman and Sarah, had their hands full with ten children by this time (two more would be born after the family moved to Westminster). Benjamin, at thirteen, was the eldest son—a position of both privilege and responsibility in colonial families. His older sister Eunice was fifteen, old enough to be a significant help to their mother with the younger children.
The younger siblings created a constant whirl of activity:
Sally (Sarah) was eleven, two years younger than Benjamin
Joseph was nine years old
Isaac was seven
Ethan was five
Daniel was three
Heman was just one year old, still in leading strings
The house would have been cramped by modern standards. Most likely a two-story structure with perhaps four rooms total—a keeping room (kitchen/main living area), a parlor for special occasions, and two sleeping chambers upstairs. Benjamin probably shared a bed with at least two of his brothers in the unheated upstairs, huddling together for warmth during the brutal New England winters.
Benjamin's Daily Work
At thirteen, Benjamin was no longer a child in the eyes of colonial society—he was a young worker, essential to the farm's operation. His father Norman would have expected a full day's labor from him, training him in all aspects of farming that he would need as a man.
Dawn to Breakfast (5:00 AM - 7:00 AM)
Benjamin's day started before sunrise, even in winter. His first task was often helping with the livestock. He would have:
Fed and watered the oxen, essential for plowing and hauling
Milked the cows alongside his sisters (yes, boys milked too)
Fed the pigs kitchen scraps and grain
Checked on the sheep, particularly in lambing season
Gathered eggs from the chickens
The barn was drafty and cold in winter, warm and buzzing with flies in summer. The smell of animals, hay, and manure was the constant backdrop of farm life.
Morning Work (7:00 AM - 12:00 PM)
After a breakfast of cornmeal mush or porridge, bread, and perhaps some salt pork, Benjamin worked alongside his father at the season's tasks:
Spring: Plowing fields behind the oxen (exhausting work for a thirteen-year-old), spreading manure, planting corn, wheat, rye, and vegetables, repairing fences damaged by winter, shearing sheep
Summer: Weeding endless rows of crops (tedious, back-breaking work), haying (cutting grass with a scythe, raking, and stacking it to dry—one of the hardest jobs of the year), tending the vegetable garden, beginning harvest of early crops
Fall: Harvesting corn, wheat, and rye, threshing grain with a flail (rhythmic, repetitive work), digging root vegetables, helping with butchering, cutting and stacking firewood for winter
Winter: Threshing grain in the barn, repairing tools and equipment, cutting firewood (a never-ending task), caring for livestock, ice harvesting from ponds
Afternoon Work (1:00 PM - Dusk)
After a midday dinner (the main meal), the work continued. Benjamin might:
Help his father clear new land—removing stumps was particularly brutal work
Mend fences using split rails
Repair the roof, barn, or outbuildings
Hunt for game to supplement the family's food supply
Fish in local streams and ponds
Help his mother with tasks like hauling water from the well or spring (many trips per day)
Education: Limited but Valued
Benjamin's formal education was minimal by modern standards, but he wasn't illiterate. Colonial Massachusetts took education seriously, even for farm children.
Winter School
Shrewsbury likely had a district school that operated primarily in winter when farm work was lighter. Benjamin probably attended for 6-8 weeks each winter, learning:
Reading from the Bible, psalters, and perhaps the New England Primer
Writing with a quill pen on precious paper (or on a slate for practice)
Basic arithmetic—addition, subtraction, multiplication
Some geography and history, though limited
The schoolmaster ruled with strict discipline, often using the rod for misbehavior or poor recitation. Students of all ages crowded into one room, sitting on hard benches, with the younger children often learning by listening to older students recite.
Home Learning
Much of Benjamin's real education came from his parents:
His father taught him practical mathematics—measuring land, calculating yields, figuring prices
He learned animal husbandry through daily practice
His mother or older sister taught him to read from the family Bible
He memorized psalms and catechism for Sunday services
Skills Training
Benjamin was learning to be a farmer, which meant mastering dozens of skills:
How to judge good soil
When to plant by the moon and weather signs
How to sharpen tools on a whetstone
How to handle oxen and horses
How to slaughter and butcher animals
How to build and repair fences, tools, and structures
Which wild plants were edible or medicinal
Entertainment and Fun: Precious Moments
Life wasn't all drudgery, though fun was usually mixed with work or community obligations.
Sabbath (Sunday)
Sunday was the Lord's Day—no work allowed except essential animal care. The family would:
Dress in their best clothes (Benjamin had perhaps two outfits—work clothes and "meeting" clothes)
Walk or ride to the meetinghouse, possibly a mile or more away
Sit through two long services, morning and afternoon, each lasting 2-3 hours
Listen to lengthy sermons (children who fidgeted risked being struck by the tithing man's rod)
Socialize with neighbors between services—this was vital community time
Sunday afternoon was for visiting, quiet Bible reading, and rest. Benjamin might have time to talk with other boys his age, hear news from other farms, and simply relax.
Seasonal Celebrations
Colonial life had fewer holidays than today, but certain occasions brought real festivity:
Thanksgiving: A day of feasting after harvest, with neighbors sharing food and company
Election Day: A spring civic celebration with games, contests, and drinking (for adults)
Training Day: When the militia drilled, turning into a social event with competitions—Benjamin was just a few years from joining
Huskings and Barn Raisings: Work parties that turned into social events with food, competition, and courting opportunities
Daily Pleasures
Benjamin's fun came in small moments:
Swimming in local ponds and streams in summer—one of the few truly carefree activities
Hunting and fishing with his father or alone—this combined work (providing food) with adventure
Playing with siblings—games like tag, hide-and-seek, hoops, marbles, or jackstraws (pick-up sticks)
Exploring the woods—colonial Massachusetts was still heavily forested, offering endless adventure
Listening to stories on winter evenings when the family gathered around the fire
Music—if anyone in the family played an instrument or sang, this was precious entertainment
Competing with other farm boys—who could throw farther, run faster, lift more
Winter Evening Activities
After supper, before the expensive candles were lit (or by firelight alone), the family might:
Sit together working on small tasks (Benjamin whittling, his mother spinning, sisters sewing)
Tell stories and riddles
Sing hymns or folk songs
His father might read from the Bible or an almanac
Practice writing letters in the ashes of the hearth
Food: Plain but Plentiful
Benjamin ate simple, hearty food:
Daily fare: Cornmeal mush, brown bread, salt pork, beans, turnips, cabbage, onions, apples, milk, cider
Occasional treats: Fresh meat (beef, pork, chicken), maple sugar, berries, pie
Seasonal variations:
Spring: Maple syrup, early greens, eggs
Summer: Fresh vegetables, berries, fish
Fall: Game, fresh apples, new cider
Winter: Stored root vegetables, dried foods, salt meat
Food was filling but monotonous. Most dishes were boiled or baked in the fireplace. Meals were eaten quickly, often in shifts, with the men and older boys eating first.
Clothing: Practical and Precious
Benjamin owned very little clothing:
One set of work clothes (linen shirt, wool breeches, wool stockings, leather shoes)
One "Sunday best" outfit
A wool coat for winter
A felt or knitted cap
Perhaps one spare shirt
His mother and sisters made most clothing by hand—spinning wool or flax, weaving cloth, cutting and sewing garments. Nothing was wasted. Clothes were patched repeatedly and passed down through siblings. When beyond repair, they became rags or quilting material.
Benjamin likely went barefoot much of the summer to save shoe leather, and his feet would have been tough and calloused.
The Wider World: Brewing Tensions
Even in rural Shrewsbury, Benjamin would have heard adults discussing the growing conflict with Britain:
The Boston Massacre had just occurred in March 1770
Talk of taxation without representation
Anger at the Townshend Acts
Growing tension between Patriots and Loyalists
At thirteen, Benjamin might not have fully understood the political complexities, but he would have absorbed the atmosphere of resentment and resistance. His father and neighbors discussed these matters at meeting, at the tavern, and around farm tables. Seeds were being planted that would lead Benjamin to enlist in the Continental Army just five years later.
A Hard but Normal Life
For young Benjamin Seaver in 1770, this was simply life—the only life he knew. He worked hard, played when he could, learned constantly, and grew strong in body and character. The farm taught him discipline, persistence, and resourcefulness. His family taught him values and faith. His community taught him civic responsibility.
He didn't know that within five years he'd be a soldier, within thirteen years a married man, and that he'd spend his entire life in Worcester County, eventually owning substantial property and raising ten children of his own. But the thirteen-year-old boy working alongside his father in Shrewsbury was already becoming the man he would be—steady, hardworking, and reliable, a true son of colonial New England.
3) The Google NotebookLM Audio Overview (essentially a podcast) about this post is here.
The Google NotebookLM Video Overview of this post is below.
4) I have no easy way to double check on these responses from Claude. I don't have many book resources for the subjects and the locality, but there are published books available for this time period and general location. The families mentioned are my ancestral families and I have significant information about their lives from the available records, but know nothing about their daily lives.
5) As genealogists, we can usually find the 17th to 19th century town records, and the later census and vital records, for Massachusetts families, and we may find occupation, immigration, land and probate records. However, there are books and websites about the daily lives of people in those times. The AI tools have been pre-trained on historical events, social history, geography, literature and other disciplines so they can provide information for questions like this one, and in recent months have the ability to search the Internet.
6) After I read these types of social history summaries, I wish that I could be a time traveler for one day to visit the Seaver family in Massachusetts and witness their daily lives. I'm glad that the general lifestyles and occupations are known from historical records and witness accounts.
Subscribe to receive a free daily email from Genea-Musings using www.Blogtrottr.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment