Using AI for the first time 

I have been working on a DNA project for a friend to find her biological father. I am getting closer but this one is a doozy. I decided to pay for a few months of AncestryDNA Pro tools to see if they would help me with the DNA matches. It did give reveal some things but I am still searching.

AncestryDNA Pro Tools also has a tree checker so I figured if I paid for it I should use it. So I started checking my Mom's tree, my Dad's tree and my husband's tree.

While working on my husband's Telesca tree I started looking for and adding sources to his ancestors. (SQUIRREL!)

I found a death certificate for Wilhelm Friedrich August Hugo Burk who died in 1942 in Berlin, Germany.

He is a brother to my husband's Great Grandmother Martha Burk Ahlendorf.

The problem was it was all in German and I don't speak or read German.

I have been listening to podcasts about using AI for genealogy but just haven't had time to really try it.  So I decided to give it a try with ChatGPT.

I know AI can sometimes hallucinate so you have to make sure you check everything carefully.  

I uploaded the document and gave it a prompt. It quickly gave me a translation to English. But, after looking through it I realized it missed a line and got the maiden names of the women wrong.

I could have given it more prompts to correct the mistakes but I used a translator site to decipher a few words and corrected the maiden names. 

Below is the transcription with my corrections. 

PROMPT

You are an expert genealogist who can translate German to English. Translate this German Death record exactly from German language to English language.

CORRECTED AI TRANSLATION

No. 400

Berlin - Pankow ................ on 26 March 1942.

The pensioner Wilhelm Friedrich August Hugo Burk, Protestant, residing in Berlin - Pankow, Amalienpark 4, born on 19 July 1860 in Apolda in Thuringia, died on 25 March 1942 at 11:50 PM in Berlin - Pankow, Amalienpark 4.

The deceased was the son of the master weaver Georg Burk, deceased in America, last place of residence unknown, and Johanna Burk, née Hanf, also deceased, last residing in Blankenhain in Thuringia.

The deceased was widowed. His wife was Anna Karoline Burk, née Heidelmann, who died and most recently lived in Berlin-Pankow.

The informant is the daughter, bank notary's assistant Emma Burk, residing in Berlin-Pankow, Amalienpark 4. The informant is known personally, and she has been informed about the death from her own knowledge.

The above statement was made on her own knowledge.

The 1st word and 1st digit have been corrected in the text.
Read aloud, approved, and signed.
[signed] Emma Burk

The registrar
[signed] [illegible]

In representation: [illegible]

Cause of death: Stomach cancer, cachexia.

The marriage of the deceased took place on 15 May 1887 in Niederroßla

(Registry Office NiderroBla in Thurigen No. 6)

The entry was issued on 26 March 1942.

I then asked it to give me a summary. I realized it still had the maiden names wrong so I asked it to correct the names and gave it the correct names.

AI SUMMARY

• Deceased: Wilhelm Friedrich August Hugo Burk
• Date of Death: March 25, 1942, at 11:50 PM
• Place of Death: Berlin-Pankow, Amalienpark 4
• Date of Birth: July 19, 1860, in Apolda, Thuringia
• Parents:
• Father: Georg Burk, a master weaver, deceased in America (last residence unknown)
• Mother: Johanna Burk, also deceased (last residence in Berlin-Pankow)
• Cause of Death: Stomach cancer and cachexia
• Marital Status: Widower
• Wife: Anna Karoline Burk, née Heidelmann, deceased in Berlin-Pankow
• Married on May 15, 1887, in Niederroßla
• Informant: Daughter, Emma Burk (bank notary's assistant), residing in Berlin-Pankow, Amalienpark 4.

WHAT I LEARNED

Even though this record was for my husband's Great Uncle, it gave me information about his 2nd Great Grandparents Georg and Johanna Burk that I did not know before. I did not know Georg was a master weaver or that he died in America. It also confirmed where the family was from in Germany.

I was excited to give AI a try and this was the perfect project to try it out.

 RESEARCH PROJECT STUBY

 

OBJECTIVE

Who are the parents of Andrew Stuby born about 1810 in Germany. He married a widow named Elizabeth Wagner. They had one son, Jacob Stuby born between 1842-1847 in Pennsylvania. I will us documentary research and autosomal DNA matches on Ancestry using the matches of a cousin who is one generation closer.

SUMMARY OF KNOWN FACTS

 1845 Oct 08 Deed: William MCloskey and wife to Andrew Stupi

 1848 Jun 20 Deed: Ann Fisher et. al. to Andrew Steube

 1849 Apr 09 Deed: Ezekiel Hughes et.ux. to Anthony Steuby

 1850 Census Blair Co., PA Andrew Stuby age 40 miner born in Germany. Wife Elizabeth Stuby age 50 born in Germany. Son Jacob Stuby age 8 born in PA. Step-sons John Stephens age 23 and Valentine Stephens age 14 both born in PA.

 1853 Sep 2 Deed: James C. Fisher to Andrew Steube (sic) of Cambria County.

 1855 Jan 3 Deed: James C. Fisher deceased to Andrew Stube (sic) of Cambria Co.

 1861 May 8 Death: Obituary – “A man named Andrew Stuby, committed suicide at his residence in Carroll township on last Friday evening”

WORKING HYPOTHESIS

 Using the AncestryDNA matches of a cousin who is a generation closer to Andrew Stuby, discover any connections to other Stuby families or discover new genetic networks. Andrew Stuby was born about 1810 in Germany. He married Elizabeth Wagner Stephens a widow and they had one son named Jacob Stuby born between 1842-1847 in Pennsylvania. Andrew Stuby died about 8 May 1861 in Carroll Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania.  

FINDINGS & ANALYSIS - RESEARCH REPORT

 Filtering the DNA matches of a 2nd Great Granddaughter of Andrew Stuby on Ancestry with known Stuby descendants finds a network of matches who all have the surname Stuppy in their tree. Further research of the trees found they all descend from Johannes Martin Stuppy born 1789 in Germany and died 1844 in Germany and Maria K. Kappler 1791-1852 also of Germany. I will refer to Johannes Martin as Martin.

 The name is spelled in various records as Stuppy and Stuppi.

 The name Stuby and Stuppy are similar sounding and with German accents may have sounded the same. Deeds recorded in the Cambria County courthouse for Andrew Stuby shows his name listed as Stupi, Steube, Steuby and Stube. The census and his obituary spell his name as Stuby. Descendants of Andrew Stuby all use the name Stuby.

 Martin Stuppy and his wife Maria had about twelve children. Many of the births are recorded in the baptismal records in Bavaria. Tracking some of the children, the names Andrew and Jacob are used in every generation. Most of their children married and died in Germany. But two came to America in 1853, Elizabeth Stuppy Hoffman and her husband and son. On the same ship was her younger brother Ludwig/Lewis Stuppy.

 11 DNA matches descend from these two siblings. One DNA match descends from Martins brother Adam Stuppy. Adam’s 2nd Great Grandson came to America in the 1940s and his daughter is a DNA match.

 Martin and Maria Stuppy’s oldest son was Andreas Stuppi born 25 May 1810. Is this our Andrew Stuby born in 1810 in Germany – more research is needed. Quick searches of trees on Ancestry and FamilySearch did not produce any more information after his baptism record. Most of his other siblings showed birth, marriage and death dates and descendants.

 Tracking Ludwig/Lewis Stuppy in America he is listed on the 1860 census in Wiconisco, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania as Lewis Stuby along with his wife and two children. In 1870 and after he is listed as Stuppy.

 This demonstrates that the name Stuppy and Stuby are sometimes interchanged between both families.

CONCLUSION

The parents of Andrew Stuby have not been found. However, it is a possibility that Andreas Stuppy, the son of Johannes Martin Stuppy and Maria K. Kappler is the same person as our Andrew Stuby. The birth year and place of 1810 in Germany are the same. No further information was found on Andreas Stuppy in public family trees, unlike his siblings which had family information listed.

More research will be needed. But it is certain that Andrew Stuby is somehow related to Martin and Maria K. Kappler Stuppy.

 A diagram was built of all the descendants of Martin and Maria Stuppy that matched DNA with our Stuby tester. A centimorgan (cM) is a unit of measure for DNA matches. The higher the centimorgan the closer the relationship. The centimorgans documented in the diagram were within range of the correct cousin match 21 cM to 66 cM. However, this range can have multiple cousin possibilities.

Andrew Stuby was the testers 2nd Great Grandfather, so we are searching for the testers 3rd Great Grandparents which is within the realm of using autosomal DNA.

Further research is listed below and continued research of the DNA matches looking for other genetic networks will continue in a future project.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

 ·         Research the baptism records for each child of Martin and Maria Stuppy

·         Research siblings Elizabeth Stuppy Hoffman and Ludwig Stuppy.

·         Search for a marriage record for Andrew and Elizabeth Wagner Stuby at the courthouse and in the Catholic church.

·         Research Jacob W. Stuby to determine correct date of birth

o   This will assist with possible marriage date for Andrew and Elizabeth

·         Search page by page the 1860 census for Stuby or variants.

·         Write to the Blair County Genealogical Society for records on Stuby.

·         Check Pennsylvania Archives on Fold3 for Stuby

·         Check for other genetic networks in DNA matches

·         Have a male Stuby descendant take a Y-DNA test

·         Have a male Stuppy descendant take a Y-DNA test

o   Compare Stuby and Stuppy Y-DNA haplogroups to see if they are the same

·         Build a WATO tree

·         Research Mr. Stuby married to Elizabeth Earnest.

o   This couple is often confused with Andrew Stuby and Elizabeth Wagner

o   Both couples had a son named Jacob Stuby-which are often mixed up