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-grandfather, William Knapp (1775-1856) of New York and New Jersey, #58 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 William Knapp (1775-1856). I uploaded a PDF of my genealogical sketch which has all of the information I have about the life of William Knapp - see 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 51: #58, William Knapp (1775-1856)) to the AI tools.
(AI ChatGPT5 image of Knapp family in New Jersey in 1831)
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 William Knapp (1775-1856) using the attached document."
2) I chose the poem created by X Grok 3 today:
WILLIAM KNAPP'S STORY
In Dutchess County's shadowed vales, 'neath Revolution's roar,
Born 'round seventeen seventy-five, where cannon smoke would soar,
A boy named William Knapp drew breath in freedom's fragile dawn,
Parents lost to time's cruel veil, their names forever gone.
Yet from that forge of war and will, a pioneer arose,
To weave his fate through frontier threads, where wild ambition grows.
O'er Jersey's rolling hills he roamed, till love in Woodbridge bloomed,
In eighteen-four, he claimed sweet Sarah Cutter, young and schooled
In lineage of Randolph kin, her heart at nineteen bold.
Together they would harvest life, eleven souls to hold—
A bounty rare in mortal coil, where death too oft would claim;
All but one took root and bloomed, in marriage's warm flame.
First came Joseph, steady hand, no heirs but steadfast grace;
Samuel with Delia, nine young sparks, till Newark claimed his place.
Cyrus in Hackensack's embrace, with Catherine, seven strong;
Catherine, the spinster sage, to Indiana's rivers drawn.
Benjamin and Susan's brood of five, ere shadows called him home;
Charles to Terre Haute's distant call, where quiet kin would roam.
Hannah Maria, Foster's bride, four children by her side;
Sarah westward bound at last, six Auble joys her pride.
Young William, namesake bold and brief, four sons in Gotham's throng,
Fell at thirty-seven's toll, his melody cut short in song.
Manning, Anna's faithful mate, two heirs in Bergen fair;
Elsie, last and lingering light, one Wilson's child to share.
By twenties' turn, to Newton came, Sussex's verdant seat,
A frontier hamlet, courthouse proud, where Spring Street met the street.
Shoemaker he, with leather's lore, morocco fine and true,
Crafting soles for souls who strode the paths of old and new.
Justice of the Peace he stood, disputes in wisdom bound,
Marriages sealed, ledgers kept, in township's steady round.
Methodist flames they fanned at first, in barns six miles afar,
Founding church 'mid Second Dawn, where grace outshone the scar
Of frontier toil and fevered nights, of faith that bent but broke not.
Treasurer of Harmony's lodge, in eighteen-fifty-two,
He guarded gold with mason's oath, trustworthy through and through.
Yet shadows crept on Sussex lanes: a horse and wagon snatched
By forged deceit in twenty-two, the Register's tale dispatched.
Still, census spoke of eight hundred lands, a middle hearth aglow,
With Sarah, Catherine, Elsie near, in eighteen-fifty's flow.
Through Constitution's quill, through eighteen-twelve's fierce fray,
Westward dreams and tensions brewing, ere secession's gray.
Into seventies' autumn he plied the awl and last,
Till old age whispered soft retreat, no strife, no tempest past.
On June sixteenth, eighteen-fifty-six, at eighty-one he slept,
In Newton's ancient ground laid low, where loved ones' shadows kept.
Beside his Sarah, stone etched plain: "AEt. Icis vigo" calls,
Latin's echo in the wilds, where vigor's memory falls.
No will in courts, no hoard to fight—gifts given in his prime,
To scatter seeds 'cross Jersey's green, New York's teeming chime,
Indiana's prairies vast, Illinois' windswept plain.
Eleven branches, thriving kin, his legacy's true gain:
A tapestry of toil and trust, of hearths that warmed the night,
Pioneer heart in nation's breast, forever stitched in light.
3) Here are the AI song lyrics created by Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 and the "William Knapp's Story" (based on the song lyrics using Suno.com, using a melodic pop style in a moderate tempo). The song can be played below:
WILLIAM KNAPP'S STORY
(Verse 1)
In seventeen seventy-five he came
Born when the colonies broke their chains
A boy from old Dutchess County ground
Where revolution's drums did sound
With calloused hands and hopeful heart
He'd make in this new world his start
(Verse 2)
Sarah Cutter caught his eye
In Woodbridge town beneath the sky
Married young in eighteen-four
Their love would last forevermore
Children came like spring's sweet rain
Joseph first, then came the chain
(Chorus)
William Knapp, shoemaker's son
Built a life when day was done
Eleven children, one true wife
Legacy of a well-lived life
From New York soil to Jersey's shore
His family name lives on and more
(Verse 3)
To Newton town they made their way
Pioneer settlers of their day
Spring Street home and leather trade
Justice's bench where law was weighed
Methodist faith and Mason's hall
Served his neighbors, served them all
(Chorus)
William Knapp, shoemaker's son
Built a life when day was done
Eleven children, one true wife
Legacy of a well-lived life
From New York soil to Jersey's shore
His family name lives on and more
(Verse 4)
Eighty-one years upon this earth
Measured not in gold but worth
Samuel, Cyrus, Catherine dear
Benjamin, Charles he held near
Hannah, Sarah, William too
Manning, Elsie saw him through
(Bridge)
When the wagon thieves came calling
When the winter snow was falling
Through the seasons, through the years
Through the laughter and the tears
He stood steady as an oak
Simple, honest, working folk
(Chorus)
William Knapp, shoemaker's son
Built a life when day was done
Eleven children, one true wife
Legacy of a well-lived life
From New York soil to Jersey's shore
His family name lives on and more
(Outro)
Now he sleeps in Newton ground
But his echo still resounds
In every child who bears his name
In every heart that knows his fame
William Knapp, remember well
The story that his life did tell
4) Here is the Audio Overview "podcast" file for William Knapp from Google NotebookLM (based on the referenced genealogical sketch).
The Google NotebookLM Video discussing William Knapp'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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