SNGF - Create a 500 Word Biography Using AI from Genealogical Notes or Timeline

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: 

It's Saturday Night again - 

Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!

Our mission from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to:

1)  Select an ancestor, and a genealogical sketch (or research notes, or a timeline, or Ancestry Member Tree profile, etc.) for that ancestor, and create a PDF of the sketch/notes/timeline/AMT Facts page/etc.  

2)  Go to one of the FREE AI Large Language Models (LLM) like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, etc., and write a prompt (create your own, or modify mine below) for the LLM to create a biography of that ancestor in, say 500 words.  If you want something longer, ask for more words.

Here’s mine:
Off the bat, I prefer to write my own ancestor biographical sketch, but I will give it a try with ChatGPT and Claude and compare the two. I will use the same prompts as Randy.

ChatGPT
"You are an expert genealogist. Please create a draft biography with no more than 500 words for Frederick Henry Davey from the attached file, including parents, siblings, spouses, and children (with birth and death dates and places), summarize life events, and add historical facts 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."

I uploaded the individual summary created in RootsMagic for my husband’s great-grandfather, Fred H Davey. I got back a reasonable summary from ChatGPT. It cited my individual summary throughout the document instead of using the actual sources in the summary.

I asked it to use the sources provided in the document. This is what it returned, along with a Word document I could download.

✅ Updated Word Document with Real Citations is Ready!

I’ve now recreated the biography of Frederick Henry Davey using the actual source citations from your uploaded document. Here’s what was done:

✅ What This Version Includes

• ✔ Word document (.docx) format
• ✔ Section headings (Early Life, Marriages, Work, Later Years)
• ✔ Superscript citation numbers in the text
• ✔ Endnotes using the original sources from your “Individual Summary” file
• ✔ No added genealogical facts beyond your document

Here is the bio:

Biography of Frederick Henry Davey

Early Life and Family

Frederick Henry Davey was born on October 10, 1853, in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, to Thomas Davey (1807–1886) and Mary Nicholas (1811–1893).¹ He was baptized at St. Peter’s Church on July 4, 1854.²

By 1860, the family had moved to Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana.³ Frederick appeared again with his parents in the 1870 census in the same place.⁴

Marriages and Children

Frederick married Matilda “Tillie” Wollenweber on June 26, 1878, in Charlestown, Clark County, Indiana.⁵ They had four children: Fred James (1878–1947), Matilda Pearl “Daisy” (1880–1958), William Edward (1882–1953), and Leon Thomas (1883–1965).⁶

After Matilda's death in 1885, Frederick married her sister Julia Wollenweber on July 28, 1887, in Carthage, Jasper County, Missouri.⁷ They had one child, George T. Davey (1889–1966). Their marriage ended in divorce on January 18, 1892, in Louisville, Kentucky.⁸

Frederick married Angeline McDonald on March 16, 1898, and moved to Colorado around that time.⁹

Work and Life Events

Frederick worked in skilled trades throughout his life. In 1877, he was listed as a carpenter in Jeffersonville, Indiana.¹⁰ By 1880 and 1881, he worked as a machinist in Louisville, Kentucky.¹¹

Frederick lived in Missouri in the 1880s and 1890s, working as a machinist and later as a pattern maker in Joplin and Webb City.¹² He was involved in a fracas at McBean's Oyster Parlor in Carthage in 1886.¹³

In 1898, Frederick moved to Colorado with Angeline.¹⁴ By 1902, he returned to Missouri and was listed as a carpenter in Joplin.¹⁵

Later Years and Death

Frederick eventually moved to Los Angeles, California. He died on January 1, 1915, at the age of 61.¹⁶ He was buried on January 8, 1915, in Los Angeles, though no gravestone is present at the cemetery.¹⁷

Endnotes

1. Family Bible; copied by M. Davey Korn.

2. St. Peter's Church Baptism Record, Reading, Pennsylvania.

3. 1860 U.S. Census, Jeffersonville, Clark Co, Indiana.

4. 1870 U.S. Census, Jeffersonville, Clark Co, Indiana.

5. Clark County, Indiana Marriage Record, 26 June 1878.

6. Individual Summary: Children of Frederick and Matilda.

7. Jasper County, Missouri Marriage Record, 28 July 1887.

8. Divorce Record, Louisville, Jefferson Co, Kentucky, 18 January 1892.

9. Jasper Co Marriage License and move to Colorado (31 March 1898).

10. 1877 Jeffersonville City Directory.

11. Louisville City Directory, 1880–1881.

12. Joplin City Directory, 1891 and Webb City, 1 February 1895.

13. Carthage Press, 11 December 1886.

14. Joplin News-Herald, 31 March 1898.

15. Joplin City Directory, 1902.

16. California Death Index, 1 January 1915.

17. Burial information from family letters and cemetery visit.

My Comment About ChatGPT
This is not how I would cite these statements. The provided summary had full citations as endnotes. It took some work with the AI to get it to use the full citations, matching them to the statements. If I were to do this again, I would work on these new instructions.

After 15 minutes, while waiting for the insertion of the citations and endnotes, I asked if the AI had given up. Oh, no, it said. It takes a little longer. I waited again, 15 minutes or so, and still no product. This is something that it might not be able to do at this time. I finally gave up on ChatGPT.

Claude
I tried the same prompt with Claude, this time adding that I want source citations. The first output omitted them, but when I noted that it left them out, it corrected them. This is the end product. Nicole Dyer said in the class I took with TIGR that she liked Claude best for writing.

Frederick Henry Davey: A Life in Motion

Early Years
Frederick Henry Davey was born on October 10, 1853, in Reading, Pennsylvania, to Thomas Davey (1807-1886) and Mary Nicholas (1811-1893).[1,2] He was baptized at St. Peter's Church in Reading on July 4, 1854.[3] By 1860, when Frederick was about six years old, the family had moved to Jeffersonville, Indiana, where they appeared in the census that June.[4] The family remained in Jeffersonville through Frederick's teenage years, as shown in the 1870 census when he was sixteen.[5]

Career and Moves
Frederick trained as a skilled tradesman, working as a carpenter in Jeffersonville by 1877.[6] By 1880, he had transitioned to work as a machinist, living at 464 Kentucky Street near 12th in Louisville, Kentucky.[7,8] He later became a pattern maker, a highly skilled position in foundry work. According to family letters, Frederick was considered "the best pattern maker at the Carthage Foundry" and could "turn out splendid work in a remarkably short time" when sober.[9]

Frederick's work took him to Joplin, Missouri, where he appeared in the 1891 city directory as a pattern maker.[10] He continued working in the area, listed as a pattern maker in Webb City, Missouri, in February 1895.[11] By 1902, he had returned to carpentry, living at 1109 Byers Avenue in Joplin.[12]

Marriages and Family
Frederick married three times. His first marriage was to Matilda "Tillie" Wollenweber (1859-1885) on June 26, 1878, in Charlestown, Indiana.[13,14,15] Together they had four children: Fred James (1878-1947), Matilda Pearl "Daisy, Tillie" (1880-1958), William Edward (1882-1953), and Leon Thomas (1883-1965).

After Tillie's death, Frederick married her sister, Julia Wollenweber (1868-1926), on July 28, 1887, in Carthage, Missouri.[16,17] They had one son, George T. Davey (1889-1966), before divorcing in Louisville on January 18, 1892.[18]

Frederick's third marriage was to Angeline McDonald (1857-1936) on March 16, 1898, in Carthage, Missouri.[19,20] Shortly after, in late March 1898, the couple moved to Colorado, possibly to Leadville.[21]

Personal Struggles and Final Years
Family letters paint a picture of a handsome, talented man who struggled with alcohol. He was described as "tall, slender, very handsome with heavy black hair" who had "a very fine singing voice and played the guitar beautifully."[9] However, his drinking affected his ability to maintain steady employment. In December 1893, Frederick became ill in South Joplin,[22] and his brother eventually placed him in an expensive California sanitarium to receive treatment.[9]

Frederick Henry Davey died on January 1, 1915, in Los Angeles, California, at age 61.[23,24] He was buried on January 8, 1915, at Odd Fellows Cemetery in Los Angeles, with his father fully paying all expenses, though no tombstone or marker was ever placed.[25]

---

Sources

[1] Gorrell, Tillie Davey, Family Tree of Thomas Davey and Mary Nicholas (Handwritten notes on binder paper, 1943, photocopied).

[2] Family data, Thomas Davey Family Bible (Cincinnati, Ohio: Moore, Wilstch, Keyes & Company, 1859); original owned by [not specified], transcription done by Mary Davey Korn, granddaughter of Thomas Davey.

[3] Central United Methodist (Reading, Pennsylvania), Historic Pennsylvania Church and Town Records. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania., St. Peter's Church, Baptisms p 2, Frederick Henry Davey; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 7 June 2012).

[4] 1860 U.S. census, Clark County, Indiana, pop. sched., Jeffersonville, 426, 722, 774, Thos Davis; NARA microfilm publication National Archives M653, 248.

[5] U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, 1870 Clark Co, IN Census (microfilm), pg 476, Thomas Davey.

[6] Haddock's General and Business Directory of Jeffersonville, Indiana, compiled by T.M. Haddock, digital image, "U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995," Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com), 1877, p. 41, Fred H Davey.

[7] Caron's Directory of the City of Louisville, Caron Directory Co., digital images, Ancestry (http://www.ancestry.com), "U.S. City Directories, 1822-1995", 1880, p. 199, Frederick H Davey.

[8] Caron's Directory of the City of Louisville, Caron Directory Co., 1881, p. 210, Frederick H Davey.

[9] Letter written to Ada Thomason from Marie Korn, dated Aug 2, 1937, pg 3-4; describing Frederick Henry Davey's physical appearance, talents, struggles with alcohol, and final years in California sanitarium.

[10] Jasper Co, Missouri--Joplin Missouri City Directory 1891, FHL 977.872/J1, E4j, pg 7: Davey, Frederick, pattern maker.

[11] Missouri. Joplin., Joplin News-Herald, 1 Feb 1895, p. 3, col. 2.

[12] Hoyes City Directory Joplin & Carthage Missouri (Sutro film 1642), 1902: pg 118--Davey, Fred H, carp r 1109 Byers Av Joplin.

[13] "Jeffersonville," Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), 25 June 1878; digital image, ProQuest (http://proquest.com : accessed 21 June 2013), Historical Newspapers.

[14] Clark County, Indiana, Marriages, Bk K, p 372, Fred N Davy to Tillie Wollenweber, 1878; FHL film.

[15] Jeffersonville (Indiana) Daily News, NewspaperArchive.com (http://newspaperarchive.com/), "More Trouble," 26 Jun 1878, p. 1.

[16] Jasper County, Missouri, marriages, v. J, p. 261, Fred H Davey to Julia Wollenweber, 1887, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QS7-998M-16HK : 17 Aug 2025); IGN 007514010, image 741 of 803.

[17] The Carthage Weekly, 4 Aug 1887, p. 1, col. 5.

[18] Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky), "Four Divorces Granted," 19 Jan 1892, p. 8, col. 3, imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QHN-R3YG-B6H : accessed 29 Aug 2025); "Louisville, Newspapers January 1892-Feb 1892," IGN 009053698, image 210 of 647.

[19] Jasper County Missouri Marriage License, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : 27 Apr 2012), based on Missouri Marriage Records. Jefferson City, MO, USA: Missouri State Archives. Microfilm., pg 267, Davey-Grace, 1898.

[20] Missouri. Joplin., Joplin News-Herald, 25 Mar 1898, p. 5, col. 1.

[21] Missouri. Joplin., Joplin News-Herald, 31 Mar 1898, p. 5, col. 4.

[22] Missouri. Joplin., Joplin News-Herald, "South Joplin," 12 Dec 1893, p. 3, col. 4.

[23] State of California, Dept of Health Services, Death Certificate of Frederick Henry Davey (15-001219), 15-001219, Los Angeles Co, Fred Henry Davey, 1915.

[24] Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, "Davey," 8 Jan 1915, p. 10, c. 6.

[25] Letter written by Thos N. Davey to daughter, Tillie on 24 Mar 1915, stating Frederick was buried in the Odd Fellows Cemetery in LA, Grave Number 12, Lot 4, Avenue 17, with all expenses fully paid. Note: Cemetery visited but no tombstone or marker found.

This is a greater improvement. It suggested pasting into Google Docs as “markdown” to preserve the formatting. That is something I’ll have to work on.

Comment About Claude
I prefer the Claude version, but I would still write my own biographies to share with family or to include in a BCG portfolio.

PS: ChatGPT never finished the job, and I finally closed it.

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