[Genealogy] When Mom Does it, Consultations from AI, Farm Tracking
Michael John Neill
mjnrootdig at gmail.com
Tue Sep 15 08:59:12 CDT 2026
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Genealogy Update 13 Sept 2026
** When Mom Does What GGG-Grandmaa Did
** Using AI as a Genealogy Consultant
** General Suggestions for Tracking the Family Farm
** Recorded Webinars
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When Mom Does what GGG-Grandma did
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They say time heals all wounds. That may or may not be true.
Perspective matters. Emotional attachment matters. Knowing the individuals
involved personally involved in a situation matters.
Sometimes individuals wax poetically and eagerly share the “black sheep” in
their family. Some view it as romantic when a 18th century relative leaves
their family, heads to parts unknown, and starts a new life. It can be
entertaining to read about a relative’s exploits in the newspapers and
criminal court records.
I’m not saying that we should hide these stories or that we should be
embarrassed by them. We shouldn’t. Genealogists have an obligation to
report accurately what information is given in records. We are not
responsible for the transgressions of the deceased or activities in which
we took no part.
But it’s different when the discovery involves someone the researcher
personally knew. What is eccentric about an aunt in the 1850s is an
entirely different challenge when it involves your own mother. That 1890
secret about uncle Herman is a something else when it’s your mother’s
brother. It’s understandable when a relative does not want to talk about
“negative” events in which they were personally involved or that involves
individuals the relative knew personally. We can’t force someone to share
things they don’t want to share. We can’t force them to react in ways that
we would–or think we would.
And we can’t know how we would respond to certain discoveries about our own
immediate family until we make them. We can’t know how members of our
immediate family we react until these discoveries are made.
It’s academic when an article written by someone you don’t know discusses
the three brothers they discovered through a DNA test. It’s not so academic
when your own DNA test reveals your mother had children you never existed.
The “isn’t that neat?” reaction turns into “holy crap” in an instant.
In the pre-DNA test days of genealogical research, it was easier for some
secrets to stay hidden. DNA has changed that. Secrets that some thought
would never be discovered are being discovered.
Just remember that when the secrets involve living individuals, the
excitement over a “scandal” might not be the sort of excitement you are
looking for.
Using AI as a Genealogy Consultant
*Our approach is to always use AI responsibly and practically.*
*See how to use AI as your own genealogy consultant.*
Maybe you can’t afford a consultant for your own research or you have too
many genealogy problems to hire help with every one. AI can serve as your
own genealogy research consultant.
As with a human consultant, you’ll need to do the initial work on your
ancestor, gather what you have, and familiarize yourself with basic sources
in the area. There is no guarantee that AI will solve your problem.
But using AI as your personal research consultant can help. Not by doing
the research for you, or inventing ancestors that never existed, but by
doing what a good consultant actually does: looking at what you have,
summarizing it, discussing it, and giving you ideas on where to look next
or to help you see things in a different way. It may even tell you where
you need to go to improve your research skills.
After using AI, you still may decide to use a human consultant. The work
you did with AI will help you prepare to get the most from that advice from
a real person and to make the best use of your time and money should that
be necessary. We acknowledge in this presentation and approach that AI does
not know everything, is not perfect, and cannot solve every problem. It’s
just another tool.
You'll see how to frame a research problem so AI gives you something useful
instead of something vague. You'll learn to recognize when it's guessing,
because it will, and how to catch hallucinations and how to use AI in a
discerning fashion.
The goal isn't to replace your judgment. It's to give you a thinking
partner available at two in the morning when you finally realize you need
to get outside your own mind on a certain ancestral problem.
Pre-order the presentation now.
<https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=3SJCPREXK5EUC>
Release date: 25 September
Price: $15.99
Includes the full presentation, a detailed handout, and a ready-to-use set
of prompts you can adapt to your own research problems.
-----------------------------
General Suggestions for Tracking the Family Farm
-----------------------------
>From a reader:
“My ancestors came into possession of farmland in Indiana circa 1815. A
portion of that original land has been passed to me and I am a current
owner – and nonresident farmer. I would love to identify the start of this
land ownership and the subsequent transfers by will or otherwise – no
family exists today to ask. Do you have any recommendations for me on how
to begin and what records to begin with? I have some particulars on land ID
numbers, etc., but that’s about it.”
Since the land is still in the family, the number of transfers should not
be all that great and would probably have been done by either a deed or a
will. The place to start looking is at the local Recorder of Deeds office.
The first deed by which the family acquired the property should be recorded
there. It is possible that the original acquisition was by the purchase or
patenting of federal land, but there should still be a record copy of that
document at the county Recorder of Deeds office.
Subsequent transfers of land are probably within the family either through
deeds or wills and probate documents. Deeds would have likely been from
parent to child or from a group of heirs to the remaining heir. It is also
possible that the transfers from one generation to the next were effected
by will or probate records.
Searching the land records can be done by searching for the various family
owners in the grantor/grantee indexes in the recorder’s office. Given that
Indiana is a federal land state it is also possible that lot or tract
indexes exist. These geographic indexes would be the ideal ones to use
since you know the location of the property and are wanting to document the
chain of ownership over time.
The real estate in question could also be referenced in will or probate
records for the various owners. As a consequence those records should be
checked as well.
Lastly, real property tax records should indicate who was paying tax on the
property during what time. Those records could augment what is found in
other records and may help to fill in gaps that can’t be located in land
and will/probate records. Given the goal of your project, I would research
the tax records last as the other record types discussed will likely
provide the details for which you are looking.
--------------------
Webinars
--------------------
Ready-to-Go Webinars from Michael–download immediate:
-
Creating Children’s Stories from Genealogy Events
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/creating-childrens-stories-from-genealogy-information/>
-
Creating Families from pre-1850 Census Records
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/creating-families-from-pre-1850-census-records/>
-
DeedMapper webinars
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/deedmapper-intro-and-more-deedmapper-webinars/>
-
FamilySearch Catalog
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/02/19/using-the-familysearch-catalog-webinar/>
-
Farming Ancestor webinars–landowner and non-landowner versions
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/rooting-around-for-farmers-and-tenants-and-laborers/>
-
Full-Text Search at FamilySearch
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/08/05/updated-familysearch-full-text-search-webinar/>
-
Full-Text Search at FamilySearch with Common Names
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2025/11/04/common-names-at-familysearch-full-text-webinar/>
-
How Errors Get in Records
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/how-errors-get-in-records-webinar/>
-
Illinois Genealogy Research
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/2026/03/10/genealogy-research-in-illinois-webinar/>
-
Unburying Funeral Home Records
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/unburying-funeral-home-records/>
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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
PO Box 17
Henderson, IL 61439
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