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, podcast and video about my third great-grandfather, Alexander Sovereen (1814-1907) of Ontario, #62 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 Alexander Sovereen (1814-1907). I uploaded a PDF of my genealogical sketch which has all of the information I have about the life of Alexander Sovereen in
(AI ChatGPT5 image of Sovereen family in Ontario 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 Alexander Sovereen (1814-1907) using the attached document."
2) I chose the poem created by Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4.5 today:
ODE TO ALEXANDER SOVEREEN
Born in eighteen-fourteen's winter cold,
When Upper Canada was young and bold,
In Charlotteville, where wildcats prowled,
And wolves still sang when darkness cowled.
Second son of Frederick's clan,
The tavern keeper's grandson-man,
Who threw those stones down chimney wide,
And caught a "lambastin'" for his pride.
Three days a week in Sandy Ford's log school,
While others learned each grammar rule,
Young Aleck worked the family land—
His education: axe in hand.
But oh, how he regretted still,
The learning lost to clearing hill,
While brother William got his letters right,
Alexander labored dawn to night.
In eighteen-forty, March the third,
He spoke the matrimonial word,
To Eliza Putman, New York born,
Together faced each blessed morn.
Fourteen children graced their door,
Though four were laid beneath the floor,
In Delhi Cemetery's hallowed ground—
Such sorrow in a father found.
Young Frederick, barely three years old,
Rosella, Amart, Rachel—stories told
Of tiny graves and parents' tears,
Of faith sustained through darkest years.
But life pressed on with daughters strong—
Mary Jane, Gertrude, Sarah's song,
Nancy, Hattie, and the boys,
Addison and Wilbert—pride and joys.
Six acres cradled in a day!
The grain fell perfect where it lay,
No tangled swath, no broken stride,
The county's finest cradler's pride.
At eighty-seven, in the field,
Heavy coat, refusing yield,
He swung that scythe the old way still,
While young men watched from atop the hill.
"A rare constitution," people said,
"The Sovereen vigor," widely spread,
Through Frederick's line the strength did flow,
In muscle, bone, and afterglow.
His father's land, in seventy-five,
Came down to keep the farm alive—
Lot twenty-one, Concession Eleven,
His earthly plot, his patch of heaven.
No stranger turned from Sovereen door,
No hungry soul denied the store,
Though charity cost comfort dear,
His conscience stayed forever clear.
Baptist faith and open hand,
Generous heart across the land,
"Less helpful as a neighbor"? Never!
His kindness was his greatest treasure.
From Turkey Point's judicial seat,
To Delhi's modern, paved street,
He watched the wilderness transform,
From log-hewn cabin, rough and warm,
To nation proud with train and wire—
The Canada he'd helped acquire.
Innkeeper, farmer, laborer true,
No task too hard, no work he'd rue,
"In the vanguard" always found,
Whether employer or the ground.
When Eliza passed beyond the veil,
His heart grew heavy, growing frail,
But still he worked the land he knew,
Still swung the cradle straight and true.
Nineteen-oh-seven, August's heat,
At ninety-three, his life complete,
Four days of illness, then the call—
"Old age" it said, but that's not all.
It was a life of grinding toil,
Of clearing stone and breaking soil,
Of buried children, heartbreak deep,
Of promises he strove to keep.
The twinkle in his eye remained,
Though time-withered, weather-stained,
That smile his children all recalled,
Through every trial, never palled.
Now in Delhi Cemetery's shade,
Where five small stones mark where he laid
His babies down in grief profound,
Alexander rests in hallowed ground.
Remember him who swung the blade,
Remember him who never strayed,
From hospitality's warm embrace,
From giving strangers dwelling place.
Remember him who built a farm,
Who kept his family safe from harm,
Who wished he'd learned to read and write,
But worked instead from dawn to night.
Remember him who never won
Great fortune's favor, golden sun,
But died content, his conscience clear,
His faith intact, his loved ones near.
From eighteen-fourteen to oh-seven,
Ninety-three years 'tween earth and heaven,
He lived the life he chose to live—
To work, to love, to give, to give.
So raise a glass to Alexander's name,
To Sovereen strength and Sovereen fame,
To pioneer hearts that forged the way,
To memories that live today.
In every field he cleared by hand,
In every acre of this land,
In every child and grandchild's face,
Alexander lives—his legacy, his grace.
3) Here are the AI song lyrics created by X Grok 3:
ODE TO ABRAHAM SOVEREEN
(Verse 1)
Born in the wilds of old Upper Canada’s land,
In 1814, with a pioneer’s hand.
Alexander Sovereen, with a heart strong and bold,
Carved a life from the forest, where stories were told.
In a log cabin’s glow, by the fire’s warm light,
He grew with the vigor to face any fight.
(Verse 2)
With Eliza by his side, through joy and through pain,
Fourteen children they raised, though some didn’t remain.
Their hearth was a beacon, no stranger turned away,
Hospitality’s warmth lit the night and the day.
From Fredericksburgh’s roots, where his father once stood,
He tamed the wild land with his sweat and his blood.
(Chorus)
Oh, Alexander, with your cradle and plow,
You built a legacy that’s living still now.
Through the fields and the years, your spirit won’t fade,
A pioneer’s heart in the home that you made.
(Verse 3)
Six acres he cradled, with a scythe in his hand,
A master of toil, the strongest in the land.
At eighty-seven, in mittens and coat,
He swung that old “turkey wing,” never to gloat.
No task was too heavy, no labor too grand,
For a man who held life in the palm of his hand.
(Chorus)
Oh, Alexander, with your cradle and plow,
You built a legacy that’s living still now.
Through the fields and the years, your spirit won’t fade,
A pioneer’s heart in the home that you made.
(Verse 4)
A Baptist, devout, with a generous soul,
His door was wide open, his heart made folks whole.
Till ’07 he lived, ninety-two years strong,
In Windham’s embrace, where his roots did belong.
In Delhi’s old ground, with his kin he now lies,
But his story still shines ‘neath Canadian skies.
(Bridge)
From the tavern’s wild tales to the fields that he cleared,
He lived for his family, with no task ever feared.
Through losses and triumphs, his faith never swayed,
A pioneer’s spirit, in the land that he paved.
(Chorus)
Oh, Alexander, with your cradle and plow,
You built a legacy that’s living still now.
Through the fields and the years, your spirit won’t fade,
A pioneer’s heart in the home that you made.
(Outro)
So sing for Sovereen, let his name ring afar,
A man of the earth, ‘neath the pioneer star.
From Ontario’s heart to Manitoba’s new shore,
Alexander’s legacy lives evermore.
"Ode to Alexander Sovereen" (based on the song lyrics using Suno.com, using a ballad style in a moderate tempo) can be played below:
4) Here is the Audio Overview "podcast" file for Alexander Sovereen's life from Google NotebookLM (based on the referenced genealogical sketch).
The Google NotebookLM Video discussing Alexander Sovereen'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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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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