[Genealogy] Getting Older, Educational Levels, Your Ancestor Was, Self-Consulting with AI
Michael John Neill
mjnrootdig at gmail.com
Thu Sep 24 10:17:39 CDT 2026
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Genealogy Update 22 Sept 2026
** Getting Older and Educational Levels
** Using AI as a Genealogy Consultant
** Your Ancestor Was
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Getting Older and Educational Levels
---------------
*I posted this to Facebook yesterday and thought I would share it with
readers here as well.*
I was reminded that everyone is not like me and that I'm getting older
every day.
A commenter indicated that their great-grandparents (or at least some of
them) had went to high school). I thought about my great-grandparents
(fortunately they were living in 1940 in the US [some of you know why that
matters]).
My great-grandparents went to school no further than the 8th grade...at
least the 6 who were listed in the 1940 census (5 went to 8th grade and 1
went through 6th grade). Two I don't know.
Great-grandpa Trautvetter (dead by 1940) probably went through 8th
grade....probably. Great-grandma Trautvetter may not have went that far as
I'm not certain how important her family of origin or her foster family saw
school. No one I can ask now.
Then I realized that there are genealogists whose great-grandparents were
probably born long after mine--mine were born between 1869 and 1895). My
children's great-grandparents were born between 1903 and 1924
(interestingly enough the oldest one and youngest one were from my side of
the family). They had four great-grandparents who went through 8th grade,
three who went to high school, and one great-grandparent who got his GED at
some point while he was working in a manufacturing plant in Illinois.
That was an interesting little exercise. Didn't write any of the details
from memory--the 1940 census told me most of the information...except for a
few key details.
Your family may be different. That's fine. It's not a contest...your family
history is what it is.
Using AI as a Genealogy Consultant
*Our approach is to always use AI responsibly and practically a**s 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.
--------------------------------------
Your Ancestor Was
--------------------------------------
At one point in time, all of our ancestors were living, breathing humans.
Sometimes in our search for records and answers this crucial fact is
forgotten. This week we discuss several facts and characteristics of
individuals that can cause them to be listed in records (or even sometimes
to be omitted). Are there features of your ancestor that you are
overlooking? Remember that your ancestor lived in an actual time and in an
actual place and interacted with other people. Perhaps these features or
these interactions, where applicable to your ancestor, have generated
additional records.
*Your Ancestor Was Born*Have you looked for birth records (both civil and
church)? Have you looked for baptismal records?
*Your Ancestor Was Married (Probably)*Have you looked for complete marriage
records (both civil and church)? Have you looked for marriage bonds and
marriage banns? Was there a notice in the newspaper?
*Your** Ancestor Died*
Have you looked for death records (both civil and church)? Have you looked
for cemetery or sexton’s records and obtained the information on the
tombstone? Have you looked for probate and will files and guardianship
records on any minor children?
*Your* *Ancestor* *Owned* *Land*
Have you found records indicating how the land was obtained and how the
land was transferred from your ancestor’s ownership? Have you looked for
property tax records? Have you looked for county plat books or atlases,
which may provide additional information on the property?
*Your Ancestor Paid Taxes*The census taker may miss your ancestor, but the
taxman usually does not. Personal property or real estate tax records may
help you establish when your ancestor resided in a certain area, when he
died, or when he obtained property.
*Your Ancestor Was Not Home When the Census Taker Came to the Door*Did a
child answer the door AND the census questions that soon followed? Did an
uncertain neighbor answer the questions instead of a family member? The
census will not tell you who provided the information or how reliable of a
source they were.
*Your Ancestor Had Neighbors*
Do records on these neighbors–particularly land, probate files, or court
records–mention your ancestor? Perhaps he is mentioned as sharing a
property line, purchasing items at an estate sale, or testifying at a trial.
*Your Ancestor Was an Immigrant*Are there records of his arrival? Are there
records of departure in the country from which she came? Are there records
of a declaration of intent or naturalization?
*Your Ancestor Was a Citizen*
Are there records of the ancestor voting or serving on a jury? If so, these
records may help you approximate the year of birth for your ancestor.
*Your Ancestor Was a Revolutionary Patriot*
If so, there may be records of oaths of allegiance, military service, or
military pension. The National Archives (www.nara.gov) or appropriate state
archives may have additional information.
*Your Ancestor Was a Civil War Soldier*If so, there may be Federal or state
records of his service and Federal records of his pension if he was a Union
soldier. If his service was Confederate, there may be state pension records.
*Your Ancestor Was Well-Known Locally*Have you read the gossip columns of
the local paper where your ancestor lived? There may be significant
information on your ancestor contained in these columns, which are
typically more valuable for smaller papers.
*Your Ancestor Was Less Than Dirt Poor*Perhaps the poor farm or almshouse
registers will mention him and his family. In some cases, particularly
before the American Revolution, church records may make mention of widows
and other families unable to support themselves. Was your ancestor forced
to farm her children out to strangers in order to keep them fed?
*Your Ancestor Was Dishonest*If he got caught, there might be court records
or newspaper accounts of his activity. If he did not get caught, what
records he did leave behind may be inconsistent or intentionally incorrect.
*Your **Ancestor* *Attended* *Church*
* Regularly*If so, the family may appear in records of the church beyond
the typical baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burial records of many
congregations.
*Your Ancestor Was Literate*Did she leave any letters or diaries behind as
a record of her life and existence? Does her will or her estate inventory
mention any books by name?
*Your Ancestor Did Not Speak the Language*
Consequently was she unable to completely understand questions when asked
by various record officials?
*Your Ancestor Was Distrustful of the Government*
As a consequence did he answer census and other questions incorrectly? Did
he try and avoid being listed in any government records at all?
*Your Ancestor Had In-Laws*
Does your ancestor appear in any of their records, particularly as a
witness or a bondsman?
*Your Ancestor Was…*
…more than just a name in a file. He or she was a breathing, living person.
Think about all the events that might have happened in his or her life and
determine if any records might have been created in the process. Think
about how he or she would have responded to various events in his life and
determine if dates of significant events correspond to sudden moves or
changes in lifestyle. Remember that if our ancestors were not human, they
probably would not be our ancestors!
--------------------
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 Record
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/unburying-funeral-home-records/>
-
Using AI to Plat Metes and Metes and Bounds Deeds
<https://genealogytipoftheday.com/index.php/ai-for-metes-and-bounds/>
----------------------------------------
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Michael John Neill
Genealogy Tip of the Day
PO Box 17
Henderson, IL 61439
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