I've used FREE Artificial Intelligence tools to create biographies, poems, songs and podcasts about my ancestors lives, plus my genealogy research and family history in the recent past. Every ancestor lives a unique life with unique relationships and life stories.
Today, I want to share a poem, song and podcast about my third great-grandmother, Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux (1815-1882) of New York, Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas, #55 on my Ahnentafel list.
I requested ChatGPT, Grok, Perplexity, and Claude (all FREE AI tools) to create poems and song lyrics, and Google NotebookLM to create an Audio Overview (a podcast) and a Video Overview (a presentation), to describe and celebrate the life of Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux (1815-1882). I uploaded a PDF of my genealogical sketch which has all of the information I have about the life of Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 48: #55, Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux (1815-1882) to the AI tools.
(AI ChatGPT5 image of Vaux family in Wisconsin in 1860)
1) The prompt I used for the poem and song lyrics was: "Please write a poem and song lyrics to describe and celebrate the life and legacy of Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux (1815-1882) using the attached document."
2) I chose the poem created by Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 today:
Mary Ann, Pioneer Woman
Born when March winds stirred the New York earth,
In eighteen-fifteen, a daughter's birth—
Mary Ann Underhill, fourth of five,
In Aurora's fields she came alive.
The Underhill name, strong and true,
With Amos and Mary, love grew
Through seasons of planting, seasons of care,
Building a life in the frontier air.
At twenty-two, she wed her Samuel,
An English lad with dreams to tell,
From Somerset hills to New York's plains,
Their hearts beat strong through joy and pains.
Six children blessed their humble home,
From Mary Almeda, first to come,
To little Amos, last to birth—
A mother's treasure beyond all worth.
Through fields of corn and morning dew,
Mary Ann's steady hands made do,
With mending, cooking, children's tears,
The quiet work of passing years.
Westward ho! The call rang clear,
From York to Wisconsin, year by year,
Then Missouri's broader, fertile ground—
Where opportunity could be found.
She packed her life in wagon's hold,
Her children's stories to unfold
In places far from childhood's lane,
Through sunshine bright and prairie rain.
In parlors lit by lamplight's glow,
She'd rock the babies, soft and low,
While Samuel tended field and barn,
Her love was home's most precious yarn.
The census takers wrote her down:
"Keeps house"—but that small phrase can't sound
The symphony of daily grace,
That lit each child's beloved face.
From New York earth to Kansas sky,
She watched her nation growing high,
Through civil strife and westward dreams,
Her faith flowed on like prairie streams.
In eighteen-eighty-two, November's cold,
Her earthly story reached its fold,
In Concordia, with Abbie near,
She closed her eyes without a fear.
The church bells rang, the people came,
To honor Mary Ann's good name,
"A useful life," the paper said,
"A mother loved," the preacher read.
At Pleasant Hill, she sleeps in peace,
Where prairie winds will never cease
To whisper soft her legacy:
A woman strong, a mother free.
Her children scattered east and west,
From California's golden crest
To Kansas plains where wheat waves high—
Her bloodline reaching toward the sky.
No monuments of marble tall
Mark where her footsteps paved the trail,
But in each heart that bears her name,
Burns bright her love's eternal flame.
Mary Ann, our pioneer queen,
Your courage makes the past feel seen,
Through all you bore and all you gave,
You showed us how to be brave.
From Underhill to Vaux she grew,
A bridge between the old and new,
Her story lives in every child
Who dreams of lands both free and wild.
So here's to Mary Ann, who knew
That home is made of love, not view,
Who packed her heart in every move,
And left us all her strength to prove:
That ordinary lives can shine
Like stars across the arch of time,
When lived with love and hope held high—
A legacy that will not die.
3) Here are the AI song lyrics created by X Grok 3 and the "Mary Ann, Pioneer Woman" song (based on the song lyrics using Suno.com, using a melodic pop style in an upbeat tempo). The song can be played below:
MARY ANN, PIONEER WOMAN
(Verse 1)
In Aurora’s fields where the wild winds roam,
Mary Ann was born in a pioneer’s home.
1815, with a heart so bright,
She carved her path through the frontier’s light.
With Samuel by her side, their dreams took flight,
Building love and family in the morning’s sight.
(Verse 2)
Six children grew ‘neath her tender care,
Laughter and lessons filled the open air.
Through fields of toil, she taught them to stand,
A mother’s love in a rugged land.
From Aurora’s roots to Wisconsin’s door,
She led them west, where dreams could soar.
(Chorus)
Oh, Mary Ann, with a heart so strong,
You carried your kin through the journey long.
From New York’s hills to the Kansas plain,
Your love’s the fire that will always remain.
(Verse 3)
Missouri called, and she answered true,
Grandchildren gathered, her heart grew anew.
Through every trial, her spirit held fast,
A beacon of hope in a world so vast.
In Kansas fields, with Abbie near,
She found her rest, her mission clear.
(Chorus)
Oh, Mary Ann, with a heart so strong,
You carried your kin through the journey long.
From New York’s hills to the Kansas plain,
Your love’s the fire that will always remain.
(Bridge)
No fame, no fortune, but a legacy grand,
In the lives she shaped with her gentle hand.
From coast to coast, her children spread wide,
Her courage and love are their endless guide.
(Verse 4)
In Concordia’s arms, she laid down to sleep,
Her memory lives where her loved ones weep.
Pleasant Hill holds her, beneath the sky,
A pioneer’s soul that will never die.
Her story’s written in hearts that endure,
Mary Ann’s strength, forever pure.
(Chorus)
Oh, Mary Ann, with a heart so strong,
You carried your kin through the journey long.
From New York’s hills to the Kansas plain,
Your love’s the fire that will always remain.
(Outro)
Oh, Mary Ann, your light still glows,
In every heart where your spirit flows.
A pioneer woman, brave and true,
America’s dream was built by you.
4) Here is the Audio Overview "podcast" file for Mary Ann (Underhill) Vaux from Google NotebookLM (based on the referenced genealogical sketch).
The Google NotebookLM Video discussing Mary Ann's life is below:
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, song, voice and video 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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Copyright (c) 2025, Randall J. Seaver
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