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!

A Bio for Jennie, Two Memorials to Manage

My great aunt Jennie Birk Salkowitz was born on this day 134 years ago--on April 9, 1890 in Gargzdai, Lithuania. She came through Ellis Island on September 7, 1909, just 19 years old, and worked in the New York City garment district until marrying her husband, Paul Salkowitz (1889-1957). They were happily married for 38 years, jointly owning and running a Florida citrus grove after moving South from the Big Apple in the post-WWII period.

To honor her memory, I'm sharing her bite-sized bio on additional websites. When I posted her bio on MyHeritage, I also added a link within the bio to lead to her Find a Grave memorial page. It's easy, once I clicked on the link icon. As shown above: I pasted in the URL for her memorial page, chose the text where this link would be (here, the name of the cemetery), gave the link a title ("Find a Grave for Jennie B Salkowitz") and selected to open the link in a new window.

Then I went to her Find a Grave page to submit the same bite-sized bio as an edit, see image below. 

At the top of the page (see arrow) I noticed that Find a Grave was offering me the opportunity to manage Aunt Jennie's page. I don't necessarily feel the need to manage every memorial of every ancestor, just those of ancestors closest to me. But in this case, if the memorial has no manager, I think it makes sense to step up.

I clicked "Request to Manage" and yes, I'm now taking care of her memorial. Once the bio was in place, I clicked on her husband's link and was offered the opportunity to manage his page, as well. I've already posted his bite-sized bio there. Happy to honor their memories in this way!

Eclipse Day 2017 Revisited on Eclipse Day 2024

Today is Eclipse Day 2024 but I'm revisiting the August day in 2017 when I used a pinhole viewer to watch the solar eclipse from a nearby garden. The eclipse was clearly visible through this home-made contraption, and what I saw looked like a bite being taken out of the sun. 

Not as dramatic as the view will be for today's eclipse, but still exciting to experience. Fun to remember as we look forward to the more visible eclipse this afternoon, depending on cloud cover in my neck of the woods.

Wood and McClure Ancestors with Strong Church Ties

In my husband's family tree are a number of ancestors who made big life changes for their faith...were very involved with their churches, some as cofounders or leaders, some who married church leaders, some whose children led or founded congregations. Here are a few of these ancestors:

• Hubby's Mayflower ancestors (Isaac Allerton, Mary Norris Allerton, Mary Allerton, Degory Priest, and Francis Cooke) came to America as Separatists, to worship as they chose. These ancestors are in my husband's Wood family line.

• Hubby's great uncle and great aunt, Marion Elton Wood (1867-1947) and Minnie Miller (1869-1918) helped organize and were the hosts of the very first day of worship for the Bethany English Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1917 in Toledo, Ohio. 

• Hubby's great-grand aunt Mary Ann McClure (1836-1901) married Reverend John J. Cook (1835-1916), a long-time Presbyterian Minister in Indiana and Michigan. Mary Ann's father Benjamin McClure (1812-1896) was a staunch Presbyterian in Wabash, Indiana, and a ruling church elder for 40 years.

• Joseph Charles Rinehart (1872-1932) was a pastor of several United Brethren Church congregations in Ohio, and the founder of the Belle Grove Christian Church in Ohio. His sons, H. Stanley Rinehart and Fred A. Rinehart, both became church leaders. Joseph was hubby's 1c2r.

My bite-sized bios for these ancestors, still in progress, will reflect their religious involvement so future generations know of the strength of their beliefs. "Worship" is the #52Ancestors genealogy prompt for week 14 from Amy Johnson Crow.

Put Yourself into Your Family's History

As I write about my husband's paternal family, I've found a few ways to insert ourselves into the narrative and photos. 

For example, this page in my latest photo book is all about hubby's great uncle, Capt. John Daniel Slatter (1864-1954). John was one of three brothers who joined the British Army as young teens or preteens, working their way up through the music ranks. All three served 15-20+ years in the British military before they came to Canada and became bandmasters. All three attained the rank of captain and were well-known in their regions. Capt. John D. Slatter gained worldwide fame for leading one of the original kiltie bands.

Not only did I tell of John's distinguished military career (which began at the age of 11), his WWI service, and his personal life, I also accentuated the theme of military service through the generations by explaining that two of his sons served in WWI and a grandson served in WWII. 

Also, I wrote that hubby and I had been to the 48th Highlanders Museum in Toronto to learn more. My husband was honored to be allowed to hold Capt. Slatter's special sword, and to see the many medals he was awarded, now displayed in the museum. Who knows, maybe descendants will one day visit the museum and be inspired by this ancestor. 

The two color photos on this page put us into the context of family history. It's part of my plan to keep ancestral stories and faces alive for the future, with us in the picture too!

Easter Greetings from Toledo to Cleveland, Ohio

In the 1910s, a young Wood relative in Cleveland, Ohio received this Easter postcard from his teenaged first cousin in Toledo, Ohio. The sender wrote in cursive, although the recipient could not yet read it! 

Why is a rooster is guarding a nest full of colorful Easter eggs? And why does this holiday-themed scene appear to be in Holland?! 

Happy Easter to all. 

Share "Work in Progress" Genealogy

These genealogy fan charts will appear on pages 2 and 3 of my latest family history photo book. The book focuses on my husband's paternal grandparents, Mary Slatter (1869-1925) and James Edgar Wood (1871-1939). The colorful charts attract the eyes of readers and show, at a glance, the names and the dates (where known) of their ancestors. 

Thanks to one of the Wood cousins, who began his genealogy quest more than 40 years ago, we have a lot of solid, sourced info about James Edgar Wood's paternal family tree (on right). That same cousin tried for decades to learn more about Mary Amanda Demarest (1831-1897) with little success. 

I joined the "research team" 15 years ago and despite promising leads, we never have been able to prove her parentage with high confidence. This cousin did an intensive analysis of the 1840 US Census in New York City, Mary Amanda's birthplace, and narrowed her possible parentage to the household of Henry Demarest and Catherine Nitchie Demarest. 

Should I include these names on the fan chart or not, given the lack of proof? I returned to the research, looked carefully for fresh leads, came up empty, and decided to go ahead and put them on the tree. I'll explain elsewhere in the text that this is the best guesstimate at this time.

Similarly, the fan chart on the left is missing a lot of names and dates. Despite many years of digging, I haven't been able to go far back on Mary Slatter's family tree. I've been reviewing and reworking my research in search of new leads, without any breakthroughs. This branch of the tree is a real challenge, due to "John" and "Mary" married ancestors in multiple generations, few solid maiden names, common surnames, a lack of specific hometown info, and uneven record-keeping. I do know a great deal about Mary and her siblings and parents, so that's going to be my main focus in the photo book.

Despite the many missing slots on the family tree, I believe it's important to share my "work in progress" genealogy (after 26 years of digging) so descendants know what I know already. Each photo book ends with my name as the creator, and the month and year of printing. This will alert future generations that the information is as of that date. 

Sharing (through photo books, online trees, bite-sized bios, and more) is all part of planning a future for my family's past before I join my ancestors.