Using Artificial Intelligence In the Ancestor Biography Creation (ABC) Process - Updated

This is a one-year update to my initial blog post defining the ABC Biography Creation Process.  The intent has stayed the same, but the process has changed a bit as the Artificial Intlligence tools have improved and expanded.

I have been experimenting for over two years now with Artificial Intelligence tools to determine how I can best use them for my genealogy research and family history work.  After 38 years of research, and blogging about genealogy since April 2006 on Genea-Musings, I have a wealth of material to work with.  It is all imperfect and can be improved!

A)  The Ancestor Biography Creation (ABC) Goal

My present life goal is to create eBooks and videos to document the lives of my ancestors for my relatives and descendants, and anyone else interested, about my own ancestry and my wife's ancestry.  I have lots of genealogy records about all of my ancestors back many generations, but very few family stories about my close family, plus any information that I have found in books, periodicals, blog posts, etc. while doing family history research.  How best can I do this with consistency and better wordsmithing than I can create myself?

I also want to create audio and video files about the lives of my ancestors, and about my own life, for my descendants, and try to tell their and my stories in my own voice.

Here is my current process (in April 2026) to create consistent ancestor and relative biographies and stories, along with audio and video presentations, that may interest my relatives and descendants.

B)  Using Artificial Intelligence to Create An Ancestral Biography and Stories

NOTE: I will use my 5th great-grandfather Norman Seaver (1734-1787) for examples.

1)  Ancestor/Relative Research Notes:  Using the RootsMagic family tree program, I create ancestor and family research notes in Person Notes with references to sources for all of the events in each ancestor or relative profile.  I put everything I know about the person or family into the Notes -- "The Kitchen Sink" approach.  The Person Notes often include a summary or transcription of each record found to document the life of the person, and are essentially chronological.

NOTE:  If a user does not have Person Notes, they could use a Narrative report or a Timeline report to create a summary of their research. 

2)  Ancestor/Relative Genealogical Sketches:  Using the RootsMagic Person Notes, and some of the record images, I write a blog post on Genea-Musings for each ancestor, ancestral couple, or relative of interest.  A compendium of the Genealogical Sketch blog posts can be found on the 52 Ancestors/Relatives Biographies page on Genea-Musings.  I create a PDF document of the selected ancestor genealogical sketch. 

My Genezlogical Sketch for Norman Seaver (1734-1787) is 52 Ancestors - Week 105: #128 Norman Seaver (1734-1787).

NOTE: If a user has not created a sketch to date, but has an Ancestry or  MyHeritage family tree, they can create a sketch using the techniques in In Search of the Perfect Genealogical Sketch - Updated!  

NOTE:  Consider doing an Ancestor Couple Sketch to include the early life of husband and wife, including their parents and siblings, and then cover their children, life events, sources, etc.

3)  Ancestor/Relative Biography:  I attach the PDF document  of the genealogical sketch to the free Anthropic Claude (now usually Sonnet 4.6) AI tool to write the biography, using the prompt:  "You are an expert genealogist. Please create an engaging biography from the attached file, including parents, siblings, spouses and children (with birth and death dates and places), summarize life events, and add historical events 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 casual and suitable for family members."

The result of this is copied to a word processing file and saved as a PDF, and stored in my computer "AI Biographies" file folder for the person or couple.

My ABC Biography for Norman Seaver is ABC Biography of Norman Seaver (1734-1787) of Massachusetts.

4) Ancestor/Family Stories: Once you have the Biography, the user can request the AI Tool to write stories about the person in a time and in a place adding social history and dialogue. These should be labeled as "historical fiction" if the stories are not based on factual information with a source.

You can ask the AI Tools to create suggestions for interesting “Family Stories” or “Turning Points” based on the Genealogical Sketch or Biography. Select specific suggestions and ask the AI Tool to tell a "Historical Fiction" Story ("the way it might have been") based on what it knows based on the Genealogical Sketch or biography with historical events and social history. Or use your own “Family Story” or “Turning Points” ideas as prompts of the AI Tool. 

Typical Family Stories might be:

• Tell a life memoir to grandchildren
• Describe their life at age [10, 15 or 20] – family, education, work, entertainment, fun
• What was their family life like at age [40 or 50]?
• What advice did their mother/father provide before marriage?
• Describe how they performed their occupation in the year [1900].
• Describe their migration trip.
• Describe their military service.
• Create a family discussion about an important decision.
• Provide additional known information to tell a longer multi-chapter story.

Download and save the Story Idea AI outputs to your computer as a Word document. Review, edit and verify the details, and save it as a PDF. Use this Story as input to Google NotebookLM in a separate request for an Infographic and Video Overview.

Some of my Norman Seaver family stories are in:

• Norman Seaver's Life Memories - An AI-Assisted Memoir 
• Ask AI: "Please Write a Short Story About Norman Seaver Returning Home After Lexington in 1775"
• Ask AI: "Please Create Dialogue Between Norman and Sarah Seaver in 1780 in Westminster, Mass." - Historical Fiction! 
• Ask AI: "Please Describe Norman Seaver's Revolutionary War Service"
• A Hallmark Holiday Movie Story: Thirteen Blessings

5) Ancestor/Relative Poem and Song Lyrics Text and Video: I use one or more of the free ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, Gemini and Perplexity AI tools to write a poem and song lyrics based on the uploaded genealogical sketch PDF. My prompt is usually "Please create a poem and song lyrics to commemorate this person's life."  I copy the resulting poems and song lyrics in a word processing document and save it in my computer file folder for "AI Poems and Songs." I choose one poem and one song lyrics to use in a blog post.

The song lyrics are used to create a 3-5 minute song on www.Suno.com for the subject person, which I save as an MP3 file in an "AI Songs" computer file folder. The poems and songs could be collected into an audio book or video for a family library, a YouTube channel, or even bedtime stories. <G>

The Poem and/or Song audio from Suno can be added to a one-page graphic (or more) in Canva.com (free to use) to create an MP4 video of the poem and song, which could be put on a YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram, or other social media account.

My Norman Seaver Poem and Song are in "The Ballad of Norman Seaver" - A Family History Poem and Song.

NOTE:  Suno.com requires a paid account now to download an MP4 video of the song. This changed in late 2025. 

6) Ancestor/Relative Briefing Document, Infographic, Audio Overview, Video Overview and Slide Deck: I use the free AI Google NotebookLM to upload the Ancestor Genealogical Sketch (or Biography or Story) PDF to create:

• a Briefing Document -- a text summary of the Sketch/Biography/Story
• an Infographic -- a large image highlighting important features in the Sketch/Biography/Story in a JPG file
• an Audio Overview -- essentially a podcast in an 8 to 20 minutes .MP3 file,
• a Video Overview -- a 6 to 8 minutes MP4 file with narration
• a Slide Deck -- a 10 to 15 page set of slide images telling the biography/story in a PDF file or PPT file

NOTE:  A user can create a limited number of Infographics, Audio, Video, and Slide Decks per day with a free account. 

I save the Audio Overview in an "AI Podcasts" computer file folder, the Video Overview in an "AI Videos" computer file folder, the Infographics in an "AI Infographics" file folder, and the Slide Deck in an "AI Slide Deck" computer file folder after renaming them appropriately to identify the subject and AI tool.

The Infographic for Norman Seaver's biography is: 

The Video Overview YouTube video for Norman Seaver's biography is: Captain Norman Seaver (1734-1787) Biography.

7) Ancestor/Relative Podcast Transcription and Video: I use the Audio Overview MP3 files from NotebookLM to create a text transcription of the Audio Overview podcast using TurboScribe.com. I save each podcast transcription in a word processing file and save it in the "AI Audio to Text" computer file folder for the person.

The Podcast audio from NotebookLM can be added to a one-page graphic (or more with family photographs, document images, etc.) in Canva.com (free to use) to create an MP4 video of the podcast, which could be put on a YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram, or other social media account.

The Norman Seaver Canva Video for the Podcast is: Norman Seaver 1734 1787 Biography Born 1734 in Sudbury, Massachusetts

NOTE:  Turboscribe limits a free user to three transcriptions (30 minutes each maximum) a day.

8) Ancestor Slide Presentation and Narrated Video: I use Google Slides to create a Slide Show using a Title slide, the NotebookLM Infographic, the NotebookLM Slide Deck (usually 10 to 15 slides), and a Credits slide to create a Presentation. In Google Slides, the File menu has a "Convert to Video" link that can create a free Google Vids narrated video of the slide show as an MP4 file.

I save the Slide Show to my Google Drive account, and the Google Vids presentation to an "AI Slide Presentation" computer file folder. The narrated Google Vids presentation could be put on a YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram, or other social media account.

My Norman Seaver Slide Presentation on YouTube is: Video Presentation of the Life of Norman Seaver (1734-1787), a Revolutionary War Soldier

NOTE: The number of free Google Vids that can be created each day is limited.

C) What I've Done to Date:

1) I have completed all of the above for my two parents, my four grandparents, my 8 great-grandparents, my 16 2nd great-grandparents, and 32 3rd great-grandparents as individuals. In additon, I have done biographies for some of my wife Linda's ancestors basck through her 2nd great-grandparents, and also for some of my Revolutionary War veterans.

Then there are historical fiction stories for many of my ancestors.

2) All of my Artificial Intelligence work on Genea-Musings and YouTube are listed on my Randy's AI and Genealogy page.

3) All of my AI created videos are on my Randy Seaver, Geneaholic YouTube Channel.

4) I gave a one-hour presentation about this subject on 7 April 2026 to the Genealogical Socieiy of Santa Cruz County. It is in a YouTube video -- GSSCC: Randy Seaver, "From Census to Story: Bringing Ancestors to Life with Evidence, Context and AI."

5) I can usually perform all of the AI tasks after creating the PDF of the ancestor genealogical sketch in about 4 hours. Creating and listening to the song, and waiting for the Audio and Video Overview to complete, take the longest time. My creation process from start to finish usually spans several days or weeks for any particular ancestor subject.

NOTE: There is a learning curve for every step of this process with each AI tool. A person with competent research, writing and technology capabilities should be able to master each task in a number of hours (10 to 20?) using each tool.

D) The Future?

Dedicated Genea-Musings readers will recognize the elements in this Ancestor Biography Creation (ABC) Process as what I roughly outlined in words in my blog post on 1 April 2025 titled "Announcing YOUR GENEA-GENIE."  See, there was method to my madness!! And it's expanded in the year since then.

I foresee a dedicated Ancestor Biography Creation (ABC) AI Agent tool that can do this ancestor biography creation in one prompt, along with the PDF (or other) input to provide the information for the ancestor in image, audio and video presentations.  The researcher will have to do the research work, but this process should turn out a decent set of outputs that can be used or modified to the user's wishes. 

Unfortunately, I am not a good programmer or promptmeister to create this type of AI Agent tool.  I would be happy to work with someone on it, though!

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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.

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/04/using-artificial-intelligence-in.html

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Ancestry.com's New Artificial Intelligence Stories - Text Stories and Audio Clips About Events

 I watched Connie Knox's Genealogy TV YouTube channel program Ancestry’s New AI Stories: IT TALKS TO YOU (2026) last week while I was away for the holidays, and finally found my round tuit over the weekend.  

I asked Google how it works, and it told me:

Ancestry's new AI Stories feature (currently in beta) uses generative artificial intelligence to transform static historical records into engaging, narrated audio stories. This technology aims to add depth and context to family history research, making factual data more personal and shareable.

How Ancestry's AI Stories Work

• The AI Stories feature is designed to bridge the gap between raw data on a historical document and the rich life experience it represents. Data Transformation: The AI takes key details from a single record (e.g., employment history, physical attributes, next of kin from a draft card) that might otherwise be overlooked as simple facts.

• Contextualization: It then pairs these facts with relevant historical context, describing what life was like in the country at that specific time to shape a broader narrative.

• Narrated Audio: The generated story can be listened to as an audio file, read as text, and downloaded to share with family members.

• User Uploads: Users can also upload their own family documents or letters via the Memories tab and use the "Ask AncestryAI" function to generate stories from that content.

Accessing the Feature

To use AI Stories, members with an active subscription can explore records through a person on their family tree or by uploading content to their ancestor's gallery. The feature is available in six languages and works with the platform's extensive collection of over 940 million records.

1)  I tried this out using my father's profile in my Ancestry Member Tree.  Here is his profile (I had to add "Ancestry" sources from the Hints to make this work - all of my sources were using my RootsMagic family tree sources which are better quality than Ancestry's sources):

2)  I clicked on the "View" button on the 1940 United States Federal Census entry on the Source list on the above image and saw:

The record summary lists all of the indexed fields for this record. I can click the thumbnail image or the blue "View image" button to see the image of the record, the "View record" button to see the record summary, and "Listen and explore" button to see and hear what the new AI Stories feature has to say. 

3)  Here is the screen when I click on the "Listen and explore" button (it took about ten seconds to appear):

The right-hand panel shows the printed Ancestry AI story, and the "Listen to this story" "Play" button plays the AI-created story.  I can't include the audio segment (1 minute, 31 seconds long) to this blog post.  It is not word-for-word to the printed story.  Here is the printed "Story:"

The 1940 United States Federal Census record for Frederick W. Seaver documents his residence at 918 Main Street in Leominster, Worcester County, Massachusetts. At the time, Frederick was living with the Fisher family as a brother-in-law, aged 28, and worked in a "Loan Bant Comp" company. This census entry provides a snapshot of Frederick's life during this period, capturing details of his personal and professional circumstances.

Frederick was born in Massachusetts around 1912, as inferred from the census, and his education included completing the first year of college. His employment as a wage or salary worker in a private setting reflects the economic conditions of the time, as many Americans were navigating the economic recovery from the Great Depression. Census records like this one are valuable tools in understanding the social and economic fabric of communities during the early 20th century.

The user can Download the audio clip to their computer using the Down arrow on the right-side of the button on the "Listen to this story" button. The three-dot icon on the button provides a transcript of the audio clip.  Here is that transcript:

A brother-in-law in Leominster

This record brings the past close enough to touch.

In 1940, your father, Frederick W. Lawon, was living at 918 Main Street in Leominster, Massachusetts.

At 28, he was single, working as a loan bank clerk, and living with his sister Ruth and her family.

The census lists him as the brother-in-law to the head of the household, A. Fisher.

Frederick's life, this snapshot in time, is set against the backdrop of a world on the brink of change.

The United States was emerging from the Great Depression, and the economy was beginning to recover.

Frederick, like many others, found work in a private sector job, contributing to this recovery.

With a first-year college education, Frederick worked an impressive 40-hour week and brought home an income of $1500—a respectable sum for the time.

The census also tells us that five-year-old Jadith, his niece, was part of this bustling household.

In 1940, Leominster was a small but growing town in Worcester County.

Frederick had spent at least the last five years there, as the census infers his presence in Leominster since 1935.

This document captures not just a location, but a life intertwined with family and community.

Frederick's details on this page speak of stability and shared lives—a brother-in-law, an uncle, a man making his way in the world.

While the record holds these facts, it also hints at the connections and commitments that shaped his everyday life.

Stories live on when they're shared. Pass this one along, and explore more of your family's history with Ancestry.

Interestingly, my Member Tree says his name is Frederick Walton Seaver,, but the name in the record was indexed as "Frederick W. Lawon."  The printed story uses Seaver, but the audio clip uses "Lawon" because that's what the index says.  I need to add an alternate name to this profile.

4)  But that's not all there is.  Below the Audio Clip, the page continues as shown below:

Under the title "Explore what shaped their life" are four more buttons that result in more AI stories.  I clicked the "Economic roles post-Depression" button and the Ancestry AI Stories feature provided this:

Economic roles post-Depression

Show employment conditions during economic recovery.

The early 1940s represented a critical juncture for the American economy, as the nation emerged from the Great Depression and began mobilizing for World War II. The 1940 United States Federal Census captured these shifting employment conditions, providing insights into individual livelihoods. Frederick W. Seaver, a 28-year-old single man residing in Leominster, Massachusetts, was recorded as working for a "Loan Bant Comp" (likely a loan or banking company). His occupation as a "wage or salary worker in private work" reflects the ongoing economic recovery and the types of white-collar jobs available in the service sector.

Following the widespread unemployment of the 1930s, the federal government's increased spending, initially through New Deal programs and subsequently for wartime production, significantly stimulated job creation.1 While manufacturing and defense industries absorbed a large portion of the workforce, sectors like finance also saw renewed activity. Frederick's role likely involved clerical or administrative duties, which were integral to financial operations and represented a growing segment of the urban workforce. His consistent employment, working 40 hours a week for 50 weeks in 1939 and earning $1500, indicates a stable position in this evolving economic landscape.

Frederick's educational background, noted as one year of college, would have been advantageous in securing such a position. Even partial higher education could provide individuals with the literacy, numeracy, and organizational skills increasingly valued in office-based roles.2 This period underscored a growing recognition of education's role in career advancement, as the economy moved towards more specialized and technical forms of labor. The census record for Frederick W. Seaver thus illustrates how individual employment experiences were intertwined with broader national economic policies and the evolving demands of the labor market in post-Depression America.
Footnotes:

1. United States Census, 1940, Leominster, Worcester, Massachusetts.
2. Robert M. Collins, More: The Politics of Economic Growth in Postwar America (New York: Oxford University Press, 2000), 12-34.

One or all of these AI-created stories could be copied and pasted to the Facts or Person Notes in my Ancestry Member Tree, to my RootsMagic desktop family tree program, or to a word processing document to create a genealogical sketch.

5)  What about the other Record Hints that I added to my father's Ancestry Member Tree profile?  

• 1920 United States Federal Census - the "Explore and listen" provides similar information.
• 1930 United States Federal Census - the "Explore and listen" provides similar information.
• 1950 United States Federal Census - the "Explore and listen" provides similar information.
• California U.S. Death Indexs, 1940-1995 - the "Explore and listen" provides information.
• Massachusetts U.S. Birth Records, 1840-1915 -  the "Explore and listen" does not appear.
• U.S. Find A Grave, Index, 1600s-Current -  the "Explore and listen" provides information.
• U.S., Newspapers.com™ Marriage Index, 1800s-current - the "Explore and listen" does not appear.
• U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014 -  the "Explore and listen" provides information.

6)  Apparently, the "Listen and explore" audio clip and printed AI stories are not available for some record collections.  

7)  I can foresee Ancestry.com combining these stories and audio clips into a Profile AI Story and Audio Story for one person using Artificial Intelligence to put it all together in an AI Agent that might or might not be free to obtain (i t could be another Pro Tools feature).  Combining, say, ten stories from the attached records might be a bit too much repetitive information, but could be used to provide an AI-generated biography in a more engaging story and audio file for the Ancestry user that could be saved for use in a user's collections.

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Disclosure: I pay for an All-Access subscription from Ancestry.com. In past years, Ancestry.com  provided a complimentary All Access subscription, an autosomal DNA test, material considerations for travel expenses to meetings, and hosted events and meals that I attended in Salt Lake City.

The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/01/ancestrycoms-new-artificial.html

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

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 so they may not appear immediately.

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Saturday Night Genealogy Fun -- What New Genealogy-Related Skill Have You Developed?

 Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

 It's Saturday Night again - 

Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to:
 
1)  Learning about how to pursue genealogy and family history is a lifetime task.  Once you've mastered one record type (census, church, certificates, probate, directories, immigration, etc), or one skill (family tree software program, record transcription, source citations, DNA matches, AI prompting, etc.), a new record, or skill, presents itself.  With the constant advances in technology and knowledge, doing genealogy and family history well requires constant learning to do something new. 

2)  This week's challenge is to tell us a new genealogy-related skill that you have, or are working on, developing.  Tell us about your progress.  Are you having fun?

3)  Share your latest genealogy-related skill and results in your own blog post or in a Facebook, SubStack, BlueSky or other social media post.  Leave a link to your post on this blog post to help us find your post.

Here's mine:

Last year's new skills were using FamilySearch Full-Text Search to help my ongoing research and also using Artificial Intelligence tools to help me with my genealogy research and family history story-telling. 

In the last two months, I've made an effort to learn how to make family history videos and put them on my long-ignored YouTube channel.  The challenge is creating the content, and not the actual task of putting it on YouTube.  

I have all of these stories about my own life, along with notes and reports about the lives of my ancestors, and now I have AI-assisted biographies, poems, songs, podcasts and stories about the lives of some of my ancestors.  

How can I put them in an audio and/or video format that my brothers, children, cousins and grandchildren might be interested in?  Can I create them using my own voice so that they can learn, and recall, the stories of their ancestors?    

I tried making a Zoom video discussing the life of Isaac Seaver (1823-1901) along with reading a poem and playing the song about his life.  That was just OK in my humble opinion - my public speaking limitations (hesitations, mutterings, etc.) without a script are painfully obvious, and the song music disappeared - you can watch the result in my video Isaac Seaver 1823 - 1901 Biography.  My judgment was that I wasn't ready for YouTube primetime.  

Using the artificial intelligence tool Google NotebookLM, I know that I can create an Audio Overview (like a podcast) of one of my blog posts (say a genealogical sketch, or a story of my own life), and just recently NotebookLM created a Video Overview feature.  I love these features because they tell "my story" in a concise and interesting way.  How can I turn them into a video on my YouTube channel?

Following Marcia Philbrick's suggestions, I started making videos of the AI-assisted songs (about 4 minutes) and podcasts (usually 10 to 20 minutes) using the Canva.com free tools.  Each video uses a short biographical summary slide of the selected ancestor as the image (created on Canva) and attaches the AI-assisted song (from Suno.com) or the AI-assisted podcast (from NotebookLM) to the slide.  I save the videos and can upload them to YouTube with an appropriate title and descriptive text.  Here is one of the Canva-created song videos in Rebecca Hill Rich 1788 1862 AI-assisted Song on my YouTube channel:

On the songs, the music comes through on YouTube and the audio is better!

Here is a Canva-created podcast video in John Richman (1788 1867) AI-assisted Podcast on my YouTube channel:

The recently added Google NotebookLM Video Overview can be downloaded and uploaded directly to YouTube.  Here is one of the Video Overview for an ancestor biography in Daniel Spangler (1781-1851) of Pennsylvania - A Life in Documents on my Youube channel:

Is all of that "good enough?"  I don't think so, and I will continue looking for something better that can use my own voice (e.g., perhaps an avatar voice that sounds like me and can read text that I've written - don't laugh, it can be done, I did it with EmulateMe 20 months ago.  I want to tie the biography, poem, song, podcast and stories of a family together.  The avatar reading feature exists, but there is a recurring fee to use it.  Suggestions are welcome!!

What's next?  Well, I still want to write eBooks to document my research, perhaps using the AI-assisted biographies, poems, songs, podcasts and stories for one ancestor, or for a string of ancestors (say, my Seaver line from Robert Seaver in 1608 to Randall Seaver in 1943). Maybe next year!  Again, suggestions are welcome!!

Am I having genealogy fun?  YES.  And I'm learning much more about my ancestors and social history in this process as I take a deeper dive into the lives of my ancestors. 

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The URL for this post is:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2025/08/saturday-night-genealogy-fun-what-new.html

Copyright (c) 2025, Randall J. Seaver

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. Note that all comments are moderated, and may not appear immediately.

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The Watchful House on 30th Street Remembers: "The Great Bedroom Shuffle of 1960"

I was awed and inspired by Paul Chiddicks "Under The Watchful Tree" and "The Tree On The Green" stories, but I realized that I don't have an old oak tree or similar in my memory bank.

However, I do have memories of the upstairs apartment in the two-story house at 2119 30th Street in San Diego where I grew up (from age 4 to 24).  Did my house "watch" and "hear" and "feel" and "remember" my time living there?

I wrote a description of the layout of the 30th Street house as I recalled it, described each inhabitant (my father, my mother, me, my two brothers, but not the cats) and some of the daily events that happened in each room over my 20 years residing there, plus some memories of specific events. I created a PDF of that document and attached it to the AI tool to use.

(2115-2119 30th Street house in 1929, from family sources, colorized by MyHeritage)

1)  The first AI prompt that I used for the free AI tool Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 was for story ideas, and a short description of each idea:  "Please provide ten family history stories from my house's point of view, based on the information in the attached document."   

Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 provided ten wonderful story ideas - here is one of them (lightly edited for accuracy, consistency, and detail).

2)  My next prompt was:  "Please write a short story about ''The Great Bedroom Shuffle of 1960."

Here is the Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 short story:

The Great Bedroom Shuffle of 1960

When Randy (age 16) and Stan (age 13) outgrew my back bedroom by 1960, changes needed to be made. I think Betty and Fred got tired of the complaining by two teenagers who wanted more room and workspace. The sun room was larger and more rectangular, and the two boys would have more space. Scott at age 4 would move from the sun room into the back bedroom and have room for his toys and his own closet. All three boys were happy. Win-win!

Fred approached the bedroom shuffle like a military operation. I watched him measure every doorway, every corner, calculating angles and clearances with the precision he usually reserved for insurance policies. "The bunk beds won't fit through the sun room door," he announced after his reconnaissance mission.

"Can you take it apart and make two single beds?" Betty said simply, as if furniture could be modified in no time. But Fred's eyes lit up with a look I recognized – the same expression he wore when tackling home improvement projects for the Carringer rental units. Of course he could, and did, make the bunk beds into two single beds.

What followed was two weeks of controlled chaos. Randy and Stan camped out on the living room couches while Fred transformed my sun room from Scott’s bedroom and Betty's art sanctuary into a proper bedroom for two growing boys. Every evening after work, Fred would disappear into the garage, emerging with sawdust in his hair and satisfaction on his face.

The masterpiece was the desk – a long, beautiful stretch of wood that Fred built to run along my entire inner wall of the sun room. "Homework central," he announced proudly, running his hand along the smooth surface. "And plenty of room for your projects, boys."

I marveled at his craftsmanship. The desk seemed to grow from my very bones, perfectly fitted to my angles and proportions. He added a standing closet in the corner, painted everything a crisp white, and hung simple curtains that Betty had sewn during Scott's afternoon naps.

The night of the great move-in, Randy claimed the bed against my outside wall closest to the master bedroom– prime real estate for his late-night radio adventures because he could put an antenna out the east-facing window. Stan took the spot near the door to the living room, already planning how to arrange his growing collection of baseball cards and cap guns.

"It's like having our own apartment," Randy whispered that first night, and I felt a flush of pride. My sun room had always been special, but now it hummed with the energy of boys discovering their own space within the family space.

The transformation wasn't without its adjustments. Betty mourned the loss of her art corner, though she tried to hide it behind enthusiastic praise for Fred's handiwork. "It's perfect for the boys," she'd say, but I caught her pausing in my doorway sometimes, remembering watercolor mornings and the smell of heated copper.

Scott settled into the back bedroom like he'd always belonged there. The room that had witnessed Randy and Stan's childhood adventures was newly cleaned and painted, and now prepared to nurture a new set of memories – though Scott would prove to be a different kind of boy altogether, quieter but just as energetic as his older brothers.

Within a month, my sun room had found its new rhythm. The long desk became mission control for dice baseball championships and the launching pad for countless creative projects. The afternoon light that once illuminated Betty's paintings now fell across arithmetic worksheets and model airplane construction sites.

But the real magic happened in the evenings, when Randy would tune his radio and they would listen to the San Diego Padres games. After the game, he used his headphones, searching for distant radio stations between the local stations. Stan would pretend to be asleep while secretly listening to his brother's whispered call letters and programs from cities he'd never seen. In those quiet moments, I understood that change didn't mean loss – it meant growth, adaptation, love finding new ways to express itself within my walls.

The great bedroom shuffle of 1960 taught me that families aren't just about the spaces they occupy, but about how gracefully they can rearrange themselves around new love. Fred's beautiful desk wasn't just furniture – it was a father's way of saying, "You matter. Your dreams deserve a proper place to grow." And in giving Randy and Stan their own corner of independence, my sun room became not just a bedroom, but a launching pad for the young men they were becoming.

Years later, when the boys had grown and moved away, Betty would reclaim this space once more. But the desk remained, Fred's lasting gift to the idea that every family member – no matter how small – deserves a place to call their own within the larger home.

3) The Audio Overview, created by the Google Notebook AI tool is here.   The Google NotebookLM Video is below:

4) All of this AI material is historical fiction since I don't have details of every day or every year in the lives of my ancestors, or even my own life.  I have scattered memories of our life in this house.  I keep adding more memories to my source document as I  recall them. But all of the above happened and the house explains it better than I can, with inspiration and insight.

5)  Does it matter that  I am presenting these as seemingly real answers or conversations?  I don't think so - because my purpose is to enable my descendants to know who their ancestors were and to help them understand the lives of their ancestors.  The AI-generated responses are much better than any response I have in my memory bank or that I can dream up.

                        ==============================================

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:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2025/08/the-watchful-house-on-30th-street.html

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.

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"Daniel's Road"-- A Family History Poem, Song and Podcast Created by Artificial Intelligence

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, Daniel Spangler (1781-1851) of Pennsylvania and Virginia.

I requested ChatGPT4, Grok, Gemini, and Claude (all FREE AI LLM tools) to create a poem and song lyrics, and Google NotebookLM a podcast, about Daniel Spangler (1781-1851).

I uploaded a PDF of my genealogical sketch which has all of the information I have about the life of Daniel Spangler (1781-1851)  -- 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks - Week 43: #50 Daniel Spangler (1781-1851).

(AI ChatGPT4 image of Spangler family in Pennsylvania in 1840)

1)  The prompt I used for the poem and song lyrics was: "Please write a poem and song lyrics to celebrate the life and legacy of Daniel Spangler (1781-1851) using the attached document."

2)  I chose the poem created by X.ai Grok 3 today:

                       DANIEL'S ROAD 

In York’s green cradle, ‘neath October’s sky,

On ninth day born, where German roots ran deep,

Daniel Spangler, with a pioneer’s eye,

In Pennsylvania’s heart, his dreams did leap.

Baptized in faith at Trinity’s old stone,

With Balthasar’s blessing, he was not alone.  

Eighth child of Rudolf, Dorothea’s son,

In a brood of eleven, strong and bold,

He grew where York’s broad crossroads had begun,

A German name to Spangler’s tale retold.

Through childhood’s fields, with siblings hand in hand,

He learned the grit that built this growing land.  

At thirty-three, with Elizabeth he wed,

In Trinity’s embrace, their vows were sworn.

The War of 1812 had barely fled,

Yet westward hopes in their young hearts were born.

To Winchester they ventured, Shenandoah’s call,

Where fertile valleys promised life for all.  

In Virginia’s arms, their family took root,

Though Anna Katrina’s loss brought early pain.

Yet Anna Maria, Elizabeth, resolute,

And Sarah, Dorothea, bore the Spangler name.

Two babes were lost, as oft the times would steal,

But love and faith forged hearts as strong as steel.  

In twenty-nine, to Mercer’s wilds they came,

Sandy Creek’s frontier, where forests stood tall.

On Donation Lot, Daniel staked his claim,

A farmer’s life, two hundred acres’ call.

With Elizabeth, their children grew apace,

Eight daughters, strong, to carry forth their grace.  

The census speaks of fields and hearth well-kept,

At sixty-eight, his plow still turned the sod.

With kin like Carringers, ties tightly wept,

His legacy was sown in mortal clod.

In Sheakleyville, his final rest he found,

July’s warm earth, his body gently bound.  

No will he left, yet trust in sons-in-law,

Benjamin, John, to guide his children’s way.

A hundred acres sold, by court’s just law,

To guard the young through life’s uncertain day.

Elizabeth, steadfast, lived on till war’s grim dawn,

In Conneautville, her final breath was drawn.  

From York to Winchester, to Mercer’s plain,

Daniel’s life traced freedom’s boundless quest.

Through war and growth, through joy and piercing pain,

He built a life where pioneers found rest.

His children spread, from Iowa’s fields to West,

Their Spangler blood, America’s own zest.  

Oh, Daniel Spangler, son of German stock,

Your story hums in fields and family lore.

Through church and farm, on valley’s limestone rock,

You carved a path where hope could ever soar.

In history’s weave, your quiet strength remains,

A pioneer’s heart in America’s vast plains.

 3) Here are the AI song lyrics created by Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4 (used as custom lyrics on Suno.com), using a traditional American folk ballad style in an upbeat tempo - the link to the song is here: "Daniel's Road." 

DANIEL'S ROAD

(Verse 1)
Born in York when the nation was young
October seventeen eighty-one
Eleven children, the Spengler name
In Pennsylvania's morning sun
Trinity Church bells rang that day
When baby Daniel found his way
From German roots to American ground
A family's love, a sacred sound

(Verse 2)
Elizabeth King became his bride
twelfth of March of eighteen-fifteen
Together they would chase their dreams
To places they had never been
Winchester Valley, rich and green
Where children's laughter could be seen
But some were called to heaven's door
While others stayed to love him more

(Chorus)
Down Daniel's road, through joy and tears
Across the valleys, through the years
From York to Winchester, then back again
Following hope where the heart leads when
Love builds a home and faith lights the way
Down Daniel's road, day after day

(Verse 3)
Mercer County, eighteen twenty-nine
Two hundred acres of his own
Sandy Creek Township, fertile land
Where Daniel made his final home
Eight children lived to carry on
The legacy when he was gone
Carringer weddings, family ties
Beneath Pennsylvania's wide blue skies

(Chorus)
Down Daniel's road, through joy and tears
Across the valleys, through the years
From York to Winchester, then back again
Following hope where the heart leads when
Love builds a home and faith lights the way
Down Daniel's road, day after day

(Bridge)
When the census man came calling
He found a farmer, proud and strong
Sixty-nine years of honest living
In a nation still finding its song
From Revolution to expansion
He watched America grow
A simple man with simple dreams
But oh, the seeds that he would sow

(Verse 4)
July of fifty-one he rested
His work on earth was finally done
Georgetown called him to his peace
Beneath the summer sun
Elizabeth walked on without him
Twelve more years of memories made
Until she joined him in the ground
Where all their love and hope was laid

(Final Chorus)
Down Daniel's road, the journey's done
But his legacy has just begun
Through every child and grandchild's name
The Spangler spirit burns the same
Love built a home and faith lit the way
Down Daniel's road, we remember today

(Outro)
So here's to Daniel, here's to Elizabeth
Here's to the road they chose to take
From Pennsylvania to Virginia and back
For their children's sake
The road goes on, the story lives
In every heart that loves and gives
Down Daniel's road... down Daniel's road
Where love will always find a home.

4)  Here is the Audio Overview "podcast" file for Daniel Spangler from Google NotebookLM (based on the referenced genealogical sketch).  The Google NotebookLM Video describing this post 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, and podcast 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.

==============================================

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:  https://www.geneamusings.com/2025/08/daniels-road-family-history-poem-song.html

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.

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