Using AI to Create a Research Plan

Recently, Randy Seaver’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun prompt asked us to “identify an ancestor who seems to have gone missing.” I wrote about Hiram M. Currey, a lawyer active in Peoria, Illinois, before 1850. A long-circulated note says he “went to the gold fields,” but there’s no documentation for that claim. Rather than chase an unproven story, I asked ChatGPT to help me outline a research plan focused on what we can prove after 1844, the last year I can place Hiram in the records.

The prompt I gave ChatGPT

The information that Hiram Currey went to the gold fields is from another researcher’s notes and is undocumented. Hiram Currey is believed to have had four children. The son, Hiram, appears in the 1850 census living with Jane Currey, widow of Thomas M. Currey (brother of the missing father). The daughters haven’t been located in 1850. Julia married James Smith in 1853 (Peoria Co.); Mary Ellen married Jeremiah Kellog in 1853 (Tazewell Co.); Caroline married William Kelso in 1854 (Peoria Co.). Suggest a strategy to learn more about Hiram after 1844.

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What ChatGPT returned (and why I like it)

1) Re-evaluate late-1830s/1840s local records

• Pin down Hiram’s last verified appearance by re-reading Peoria/Woodford/Tazewell deeds, taxes, and court minutes.
• Check grantor/grantee indexes (1842–1850) for spelling variants (Currey/Curry/Currie/Curray).
• Capture associates (neighbors, witnesses, buyers) from the 1842 and 1844 deeds who might show up with him elsewhere.

2) Probate, guardianship, and court actions (1844–1860)

• Look for administration or guardianship entries (especially for minors Hiram Jr. and Caroline).
• Scan circuit court dockets for suits that mention his absence or change of residence.

3) “Gold fields” as a testable hypothesis

• Search California Great Registers (early voter lists) and California Pioneer files for Currey/Curry with Illinois origins.
• Check Overland trail rosters and arrival lists (1850–1853) and the 1850 census of CA/OR/MO/IA for a c.1787–1790 Hiram Curry.
• Read Peoria newspapers (1848–1853) for California companies and rosters.

4) Newspapers & local histories

• Target 1840–1870 with terms like “Hiram Curry,” “Major Curry,” “attorney Peoria.”
• Revisit county histories (1870–1900) for retrospective mentions.

5) Collateral research on associates

• Follow Jane (widow of Thomas M. Currey) and Currey households in 1850–1860 for overlaps with Hiram’s known associates.
• Track names that appear with Hiram (e.g., Charles Ballance, Blewford Stringer, Linus Scoville) to see if any resurface in California/Kansas/Oregon.
• Check in-law families (Kellogg, Smith, Kelso)—obits and family sketches sometimes mention a missing father.

6) Military & land-based benefits

• Because Hiram served in the Black Hawk War, look for bounty-land or pension files (heirs often filed later and left affidavits about death/disappearance).

7) Church & cemetery leads

• Review Methodist Episcopal registers (he married by a Methodist minister), burial/plot books, and township sexton records.
• Scan Find a Grave/BillionGraves for family plots that might include Hiram without a stone.

8) DNA triangulation

• Cluster matches who descend from Julia, Mary Ellen, and Caroline to see if a segment group points toward Missouri/Kansas/California.

9) Geographic widening along migration corridors

• Given that Hiram Jr. ends up in Kansas, search Platte/Clay/Buchanan (MO) and adjacent Kansas counties in 1850–1860 for an older Hiram Curry.

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What I’ll do next

1. Abstract Hiram’s 1842 and 1844 deeds and build an associate list (witnesses/buyers/neighbors).
2. Scan probate & guardianship in Peoria/Woodford/Tazewell, 1844–1860.
3. Run a variant-spelling search in 1850 census across CA/OR/MO/IA.
4. Check California Great Registers/Pioneer files and Peoria newspapers (1848–1853).
5. Start a simple DNA cluster for descendants of Julia, Mary Ellen, and Caroline.

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Takeaway

ChatGPT didn’t give me an answer—it gave me a roadmap. By layering courthouse work, targeted California checks, collateral lines, and DNA, I can test whether Hiram truly left Illinois or died there unrecorded. Most importantly, the plan keeps me anchored to documented people, places, and dates, not rumors.