Ancestry's Ask AI Feature

This week, when looking at a German language Hamburg passenger manifest for one of my ancestors, I noticed that Ancestry was offering me the opportunity to explore this document using its Ask AncestryAI feature. Of course I took a look! I haven't tried any Ancestry AI feature before this.

Above, part of the screen, with the AI interpretation on the right and the transcribed record (plus the original image) on the left. The AI seems to have used the info from the record detail and constructed a narrative that began "Bela Roth, a Hungarian male, departed from N. Bereg, Hungary, at the age of 42 on October 17, 1907..." 

The AI named the ship, the ship's ownership, and said he was a merchant (true) and was accompanied by six other household members (true) including his mother (not true) sons (true), and father (not true). The AI concluded by citing the source of this record.

In actuality, Bela was accompanied by his wife and sons, and he named his mother as the nearest relative in place he left. Bela, himself, was the father of the sons.

Deciphering a handwritten manifest is a challenge, and when I don't know the language, it's an even bigger challenge. Here, I had to compare what the AI said to the actual record AND to my family tree to understand what was true and what was not true. Also, the AI had no way of knowing that N. Bereg = Nagy Bereg. But I knew the full place name from prior research. I tried the AI feature on another German-launguage Hamburg passenger manifest, with similarly mixed results. 

I can imagine situations where the AI assist would be helpful. Still, IMHO, there's no substitute for understanding a document's purpose, timing, format, content, and trying to decipher it independently from what the transcription says and what any AI assistance says. I'll continue to test this feature, hoping to learn a few new details--that I'll confirm for myself.

UPDATE: This AI feature is available for a variety of documents. Here's what it told me about a man's WWII draft registration card. I clicked the thumbs down on this description--the man in question did not serve, and the narrative is rather flowery without much substance, unfortunately. Oh, and let me quote the disclaimer from the bottom of the screen: This feature is powered by an AI language model using only information from this record. Responses may be inaccurate. 

Try this feature if you can, and see what happens!

Cousin Bait on Find a Grave

Find a Grave memorial for Grandma Henrietta

Free and easy cousin bait: post photos and link family members on Find a Grave, the giant gravestone memorial website now owned by Ancestry.com.

Here's an example from my father's family tree. This is the Find a Grave memorial for my Grandma Henrietta Mahler Burk (1881-1954).

Look for Family Links

See the arrow pointing to "Family Members" in the middle of this image?

That shows extensive linking of Henrietta to her parents' memorials on Find a Grave, to her spouse (hi, Grandpa Isaac), and to her siblings and one child (hi, Dad).

Most often, only a family member will take the time to link so many family members. And that's a clue to possibly connecting with a cousin. You can "view source" next to the memorial ID number, then write a nice note to the person who manages the memorial, explaining how you believe you're related to the person in the memorial and asking for more info or offering to share more genealogy info.

Look for Personal Photos 

See the two ovals around the words "Added by M Wood" under the grave photo and the person photo?

That tells you who posted the photos. (In this case, me!)

Although volunteers frequently post gravestone photos, they rarely have personal photos of the person who's passed away.

That's why it's a good idea to click on personal photos, read any captions, and then write a nice note to the person who posted them.

Register on Find a Grave to Participate

To send/receive messages, post photos, and link family members' memorials on Find a Grave, you'll need to register, which is free.

Once you've signed in, you can participate in setting bait for cousins and following bait to find possible cousins.

Good luck!

NERGC 2017 Day 2

Well what a wonderful day 2 here at NERGC. My first session was Maureen Taylor's talk about dating photos using fashion tips.

Wonderful 8:30 talk and lots of fun guessing "why" as well as "when" the fashions were from. Top tip: remember that older folks (ladies in particular) may be wearing clothes from a few years earlier, not the more daring fashions of contemporary time. Motivated me to look more closely at my "mystery" photos!

Next session I attended was Michael Strauss's fascinating session on 1930s-1940s records that aren't well known but are available (usually via NARA).

Top tip from that session was--check the finding aids and try to conceive of where/when your ancestor would have come in contact with one of the government programs of that time, whether unemployment or CCC or even as a business hiring unemployed folks vis NRA. Really intriguing session!

Lunch: Table topics were fascinating, and after deliberating, I sat at a DNA discussion table. We chatted about Gedmatch.com, DNA testing older relatives, considering more indepth testing, and everyone's pet peeve--people who test but post no trees and answer no emails about matching.

The afternoon began with Christine Crawford-Oppenheimer's "Grandma Married Whom?!" all about evaluating gen info on the Internet. She showed some great examples illustrating why it's important to question stuff posted online. You mean I'm not really descended from Charlemagne? Bummer.

I had just a few minutes to skip over to Warren Bittner's talk, "Writing to Engage," which was still going on, lucky me! He had some great suggestions for vivid and active writing. Our choice of words can really bring our ancestors alive, in a literary sense, for future generations.

Next was Pam Stone Eagleson's interesting presentation about resolving conflicting evidence. Rarely does every source agree on every point. So how do we decide which name is correct or which date is correct? Consider the quality of the evidence (original/derivative source, direct/indirect source, etc). Think about when the document was created and why. Excellent advice.

Finally, I enjoyed Juliana Szucs' talk about Ancestry's arrival records. Very practical, "how to" review of what records are available, how to search (wildcards and all), and the human dimension of immigration. Top tip: Search in the specific record collection and vary spellings and dates to find elusive immigrant ancestors.

Stay tuned for day 3. Can't believe the conference is nearing its end.

Who Do YOU Think You Are?

I decided to watch this week's episode of Who Do You Think You Are--featuring the background of producer Lisa Kudrow (above)--because (1) Ancestry sent me a reminder notice and (2) I was flat-out curious. What genealogical secrets would be revealed? What researching tricks would be mentioned? 

As Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter points out, any show about genealogy that gets millions of viewers to watch has to be considered a success. This week's show looked, to my eyes, like 30 minutes (tops) of content stretched to the usual 60 minute slot. At a crucial moment, Lisa uses Ancestry to look up the name of a long-lost relative, and presto! She finds out just enough to locate him in Poland and have a reunion (one that was actually touching, especially when Lisa's father ultimately has a long-distance conversation with this cousin). Seriously, Ancestry is a great tool (2022 update: I've had a World subscription for years). 

This show is a wonderful intro to genealogy for those who have done little or no family research. If, like Roots in the 1970s, it prompts people to ask relatives about stories about their parents/grandparents and other ancestors, it will have done its job. And the show did reinforce an important genealogy lesson: Do your homework so you can recognize ancestors' names in their native languages. If Lisa's researcher had not been able to recognize her great-grandmother's name, all tracing would have stopped. 

 My niece Katie has been kind enough to explain how the Russian alphabet works and show me a site with common Russian names in Cyrillic and English letters. Now when I search for my Schwartz relatives in old microfilmed records of Eastern Europe, I have some idea of what their names might look like. 

UPDATE in 2022: My must-watch genealogy show of the week is Finding Your Roots with Dr. Henry Louis Gates.

Great-Aunt Anna

My cousin had always told me that her aunt Anna Gelbman Schwartz (my great-aunt) died in 1940, but I had no exact date and didn't follow up--until last month, when I used the excellent Italian Genealogical Group web site's databases to find her among the NYC records the volunteers have painstakingly cross-indexed and made available. I sent for the death cert, thinking it would be months before it arrived. NYC surprised me and processed the request in less than 2 weeks. Now I have Anna's parents' full names and birth countries! And using that, I've already found them in, of all places, Connecticut. More research ahead. 

2022 Update: This post is now linked to my Schwartz ancestor landing page.

Insider's Look at Genealogy

Maps online from the New York Public Library clipped from ancestryinsider.blogspot.com Notice: The Ancestry Insider is independent of Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. The opinions expressed herein are his own. Trademarks used herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The Ancestry Insider is solely responsible for any silly, comical, or satirical trademark parodies presented as such herein. The name Ancestry Insider designates the author's status as an insider among those searching their ancestry and does not refer to Ancestry.com. All content is copyrighted unless designated otherwise.

Independent but expert, this featured blog takes us inside the latest developments at Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org (and other genealogy sites). Valuable tips and loads of links--as you can see from these recent post titles. It's now on my (lengthy) bookmark list of must-visit genealogy sites and blogs. Because my Eastern European relatives lived in towns that belonged to different nations at different times, links on this blog to historical maps are helpful in figuring out where to continue searching. My maternal grandfather came from a town that was once in Hungary, later considered part of Czechoslovakia, and today is in Ukraine. Can't wait to find out about the towns in Latvia etc. where my paternal ancestors originally lived.

Update: The Ancestry Insider ceased posting as of 2017. 

When did great-grandpa die?

One of the biggest mysteries of my family's genealogy has been finding out exactly when and where (and why) my father's grandfather died. Come to think of it, I wasn't sure exactly when and where he was born. When nearly every other Mahler ancestor died, he or she had a brief obit in the New York Times. Not Great-Grandpa Mahler. 

But yesterday I reexamined the 1910 Census very carefully and sure enough, Great-Grandma Mahler was a widow in April, 1910. I checked NYC death records and found an entry for Great-Grandpa in January, 1910. Quick as you can say "ten bucks" I sent to NYC for the record. 

Thanks to Ancestry, I already knew that Great-Grandpa had become naturalized in 1900. Out came my checkbook again and I sent for that record, as well. It will take weeks, but I'll know a lot more about my Mahler roots (in Latvia) when these two documents show up in the mailbox.

Since this was posted, I learned a lot more. See my summary "ancestor landing page" for Mahler, here.