RLP 348: William Kelsey’s Diary and Spiritual Manifestations

Nicole (2s):
This is Research Like a Pro, episode 348, William Henry Kelsey’s Diary and Spiritual Manifestations. Welcome to Research Like a Pro a Genealogy Podcast about taking your research to the next level, hosted by Nicole Dyer and Diana Elder accredited genealogy professional. Diana and Nicole are the mother-daughter team at FamilyLocket.com and the authors of Research Like a Pro A Genealogist Guide. With Robin Wirthlin they also co-authored the companion volume, Research Like a Pro with DNA. Join Diana and Nicole as they discuss how to stay organized, make progress in their research and solve difficult cases.

Nicole (43s):
Let’s go. Today’s episode is sponsored by Newspapers.com. Hi everyone. Welcome to Research Like a Pro.

Diana (51s):
Hi Nicole. How are you doing?

Nicole (53s):
I’m great. I’m tired. We’ve been busily preparing for Roots Tech and we just finished writing our new book, Research Like a Pro with AI Workbook. And just like the challenge workbook, the 14 day challenge, it has tasks for you to do along the way and places within the workbook to write down your ideas and results from working with the AI tools. And it’s been really fun to get that ready.

Diana (1m 22s):
Oh, I agree. And it’s been so fun to see how AI continues to evolve and it’s just amazing and exciting and we’re excited because it can help us so much with our research and it’s great to have it all in a book, especially how it follows the Research Like a Pro process. So,

Nicole (1m 40s):
So true. And one of the neat things that I found out this morning while I was working on a syllabus for an AI class I’m doing with the North Carolina Genealogical Society, it’s funny because Steve Little always would talk about the jagged frontier and I think that’s from Ethan Mollick’s book Co-Intelligence. But about, I don’t know, six months or a year ago, I tried transcribing a document with ChatGPT where it had a two page spread and and it couldn’t transcribe that because it couldn’t recognize that there were two pages. Well, today I accidentally put that image into ChatGPT I was trying to get the cropped one and testing out the reasoning model with transcribing and it was awesome.

Nicole (2m 25s):
It did a great job. It recognized both pages and was completely able to transcribe it. It put illegible in square brackets a few times, which it didn’t use to do and it was a huge improvement. And I think that the o-1 reasoning model is pretty amazing. So it goes to show that with AI it’s developing so quickly that if you couldn’t do something a few months ago, you should try it again ’cause it might work now.

Diana (2m 52s):
I absolutely agree and I’ve been working on my locality and AI presentation for Roots Tech. We’re recording this right before Roots Tech and I was doing some experimenting yesterday and the same thing when I was working with Locality Guides a few months ago, it could never find any relevant records. And yesterday I just said, oh, find some Dallas County Texas records for me. And it gave me like a ton of links that were all correct on FamilySearch, two FamilySearch collections, the Dallas County Library. I mean I was kind of blown away with how quickly it found exactly what I needed and I was using ChatGPT search. So

Nicole (3m 32s):
You know, oh, the deep research or just the web search?

Diana (3m 35s):
The web search. Nice. And you did a great job. So You know, I’ve been experimenting with all the different deep research and oh every, every AI model it seems like has come up with something new and exciting. So yeah, I agree. The jagged frontier, that’s absolutely true,

Nicole (3m 53s):
Right? I think the deep research capabilities are just mind blowing. And I did a a deep research on ChatGPT with the prompt to gather information about the settlement of Mississippi from the territorial stage into the 1850s. And that corresponded with my James Keaton research project who migrated from Anderson District South Carolina over to Mississippi in the 1830s. And it was phenomenal. And another deep research project I did for Milam County Texas found quotes from original settlers and cited, you know, in history they call them primary sources.

Nicole (4m 36s):
And it was amazing. It just was really cool to see the difference between what you could do with ChatGPT for researching like that then versus now.

Diana (4m 48s):
Right? And it gave you all your sources, right? So you could go double check and really see where those primary sources came from,

Nicole (4m 56s):
Right? It did.

Diana (4m 58s):
Which is so important with AI because, you know, we wanna make sure we’re actually learning the correct things and not something that’s been made up, but I think we’re seeing less and less of those hallucinations and more real information, which is exciting,

Nicole (5m 12s):
Right? It’s because they really learned that when you provide the exact text you want to the AI model, it can use that. And that really basically eliminates hallucinations. And so then the companies Open AI ChatGPT, they created these models or capabilities within their model to just go find relevant articles first and then only use those to write the report.

Diana (5m 38s):
That’s amazing. Amazing. Well we better get to our announcements and our topic for the day. So our announcements, our Research Like a Pro Webinar Series for March will be March 15th, a Saturday, at 11:00 AM Mountain Time. And this will be done by Heidi Mathis. Her title is Irish 4th-Great-Grandparents – Dealing with Sparse Records and Mild Endogamy. So this case study examines methodologies for identifying the parents of Irish immigrants Patrick Dinan and Bridget Riordan, who settled in Ohio. Through analysis of surviving Irish Catholic parish records and DNA matches with documented ancestral links to specific Limerick townlands, multiple potential siblings emerged.

Diana (6m 24s):
These genetic and documentary connections strengthen hypothesized parental identifications despite the characteristic challenges of pre-Famine Irish genealogical research. So this will be a fabulous webinar and anyone who’s done Irish research knows how difficult it can be to find the homeland. And so using DNA and documentary work, we’ll see how Heidi did that. The next Research Like a Pro study group, begins in August of this fall 2025, and our peer group leader application is on our website if you’d like to join us and have complimentary registration. And we would love to have you join our newsletter for any coupons and news that we have for each week.

Diana (7m 6s):
It comes out every Monday, it keeps you up to date with what we’re doing here at FamilyLocket. And then we’re excited about the National Genealogical Society Conference coming up in Louisville, Kentucky. And that will be May 23rd to May 26th and we hope to see many of you there.

Nicole (7m 24s):
Well, today’s topic is part of a series that I’m doing about the religious context for many of our ancestors who lived early 1800s who were part of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the early years of the church, right when it was formed. This topic is about our ancestor, William Henry Kelsey, who kept a diary and some of the spiritual manifestations that he recorded for about himself and about the people that he was visiting and teaching as a traveling missionary in England. So his diary had always been very fascinating to us and it was fun to dive in and look specifically for things around this topic of spiritual things like visions and whatnot.

Nicole (8m 8s):
And this was kind of an interesting part of the early Church of Jesus Christ. Many people know that the founder, Joseph Smith, had a vision of an angel and like that, William Henry Kelsey recorded visions and things that occurred with himself and others, especially when he was a young missionary. So we’re gonna dive into that today.

Diana (8m 28s):
Well, it’s so fun because I was able to see one of his diaries, he actually had two diaries or maybe three diaries, but there’s one of them that it, the original is found at the Brigham Young University Special Collections. And a few years ago I discovered that it was there and went in and was able to view it and they took images of it, they scanned it for me and then I was able to put that up on his profile and FamilySearch. So it was really neat to actually see his handwriting and see his actual diary. So there were three volumes of this from 1858 to 1861 and it basically is telling all about his missionary travels.

Diana (9m 15s):
So he had joined the church and then he traveled all throughout southern England, so throughout the London area and would stay with different people and would teach and he records all sorts of interesting things in that diary.

Nicole (9m 32s):
Yes, it’s so neat that you got to see some of the originals. Well let’s talk about William Henry Kelsey and his origins, his youth. He is my third great-grandfather. And so he’s your second great-grandfather, which isn’t that far back in time. He was born November 21st in 1830 in Dover, Kent County, England. And he was baptized in the St. Mary the Virgin Church in Dover on January 30th, 1831. So born in November, baptized about a month and a half later. He was the son of Edward Kelsey, who was listed on the baptism as a laborer and his wife Anne.

Nicole (10m 14s):
Edward and Anne were the parents of 10 children and sadly only four lived to adulthood: Elizabeth, Maryanne, William and Matilda. Edward and Anne struggled to provide for their children due to their limited financial circumstances. Well, when William was a young boy, he wanted to learn more about religion and he had several experiences that he later described in his autobiography within his journal and he described them as spiritual manifestations. This is what it says in his diary, “when a lad of between three and 10 years of age, I felt a strange influence often come over my mind and so much that I would often select a solitary place where I could pour forth my soul to the Almighty in prayer, which was faint and very feeble.

Nicole (10m 60s):
My mind would often run upon the coming of Jesus Christ and I felt an impression that I should behold the day that my mother, the main support of the family would often make likewise. At the age of 10 years I was sent to a free school where I spent rather better than three years in learning the first rudiments of education. Often during that time I would feel a peculiar sensation grasp over my mind, beautiful and serene, which would leave a lasting impression.” Well the experiences are interesting. They’re, you know, not super familiar to me and sometimes I wonder like what does he mean as far as like when he mentioned his mother, he felt an impression that his mother would, something about this, the coming of Jesus Christ.

Nicole (11m 44s):
Unsure what that means. It’s interesting trying to read and understand someone else’s diary ’cause they know what they’re talking about, but to us it’s a different country, right? It’s a different whole different world because it’s the past.

Diana (11m 56s):
Well I know when I’m writing my own journal that sometimes my mind skips ahead and I miss entire words. Kind of wonder if something like that happened. Of course we all are just human so you’re writing and so not everything is perfectly written down when you’re writing a diary,

Nicole (12m 12s):
Right? I wonder if the word and was missing in there.

Diana (12m 16s):
Yeah, exactly. But I’m always so impressed with his language. He writes so beautifully. He is just a, and they do say that he was an eloquent speaker and writer. You can really see that in his writing.

Nicole (12m 28s):
Yeah, you can. It is so fun to read it and to think about him speaking. Well, William Kelsey, when he was age 11, was recorded in the 1841 census of England. And at that time he was residing in the civil parish of St. Mary, which was within the town of Dover in Kent County. His household included 50-year-old Ann Kelsey, 20-year-old Mary Kelsey, 9-year-old Matilda Kelsey and John Johnson, age 20 a mariner and also Richard Bartholomew, age 52, a laborer while Ann was the head of the household and she was listed as a laborer.

Nicole (13m 10s):
So William’s father Edward Kelsey was actually still alive, but he was living somewhere else apart from the family. And probably this was due to his work. He was still in Kent County, but he was in Buckland. And I noticed that several of the men on the same census page as Edward were brick makers and laborers and descendants of the Kelsey family remembered that Edward was a bricklayer. So that’s how I came to the hypothesis that he was living there due to his work as a bricklayer. While later as a teenager, William continued to de desire more religious knowledge and he wrote, “I would often read the Bible and other books, treating upon religious matters often would express a desire to behold an apostle and to gaze upon much signs as the ancient saints realized, I considered would be the greatest I could obtain.”

Diana (14m 3s):
Well. And he has a unique experience. In one of his biographies, he talks about seeing a stranger who he later thought might have been a heavenly visitor. So it says, “when William began to earn his living, he worked in a green grocery establishment. He had studied the Bible and was searching for a religion. One day while in the store a stranger appeared. His clothes were beautiful, his hair long and white. He asked Mr. Kelsey how business was and commented on the beautiful fruit. Then he remarked, you are seeking religion, seek and you shall find. He asked the stranger a few questions, then turned away to get him some fruit. The stranger disappeared. He was nowhere to be seen and no one saw him go.

Diana (14m 45s):
He always had the conviction that the stranger was one of the three Nephites.” So that’s a fun little story that’s been passed down through the family and just so fascinating that he was a true seeker of religion and that he had these experiences that he recorded. So we can read about those later, hundreds of years, hundreds of years later, many years later. We’re not that old, he’s not settled.

Nicole (15m 12s):
It does feel like hundreds of years ago sometimes though, just thinking about this, like what is a green grocery establishment like? I would love to research, I’m sure it’s just like fruits and vegetables, but he was working at a green grocery and someone showed up one day and his, he would stood out as being someone whose clothes were beautiful with long and white hair. I don’t think they saw many people with beautiful clothes at that time. And the poverty stricken, you know, streets of Dover. But who knows,

Diana (15m 42s):
Probably the long hair would be kind of an interesting thing in white hair. So,

Nicole (15m 48s):
So true. And then of course the fact that the stranger said seek and you shall find, like how would he know that William Kelsey was seeking religion? So it definitely made an impression on him because it seemed unusual. He always remembered that

Diana (16m 2s):
And that story came down through the family. So You know, he obviously was important to him and he told that story,

Nicole (16m 10s):
Right? I would like to research in his journals. He has so many that it might be hard to find, but I would like to know, did he record that in any of his diaries? Because he did record the things that I read earlier about, You know, he wanted to know the truth and things, but he didn’t say that exact story. Like you said, that was recorded by a descendant. So it would be interesting to see if he ever mentioned it in his own diaries,

Diana (16m 33s):
Right? I agree.

Nicole (16m 35s):
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Nicole (17m 21s):
Come make infinite discoveries today on Newspapers.com. Use promo code FamilyLocket for a 20% discount on your subscription. Well, in 1847, when William Henry Kelsey was 17 years old, he heard about a new church and in his diary he wrote, “in the year 1847, there was much said concerning a body of people known by the name of Latter Day Saints. In my travels one day in the summer of the same year, I was invited to go and hear what the people had to say. Being informed that a man by the name of Martin was expected to preach at their meeting room, the man who cast out devils and saw angels and had seen the same signs displayed that had been spoken of in the scriptures.

Nicole (18m 4s):
Mr. Moses Martin arose and apologized, through having a cold he would not be able to address the spirits and friends present. Consequently, he called on Mr. Paul Harrison, who arose and addressed the company. Still desiring to know more of this doctrine I went again in the evening and much delighted with the discourse given by Moses Martin. From that time forward, I attended the meetings of the Saints. Some months rolled away. When the question was put to me whether I had a mind to be baptized for the remission of sins, I promised that I would obey that ordinance. But not until I was 22 or 23 when I told him I should be more capable of taking a greater responsibility upon myself. Well, a few months later, William regretted his decision to wait to be baptized and he wrote soon the scene was altered.

Nicole (18m 52s):
I had much cause to regret that I had not harken to the voice of those men and obeyed the mandates of Heaven. I soon found myself cast upon a bed of affliction. I knew that I had rejected the simple ordinances of God and neglected to obey the laws and commandments taught by Jesus and his Apostles. Day after day rolled away, the doctor attended time after time, yet I did not realize any benefit. Nearly a fortnight passed. At last the words flew across my mind, Send for the Elders, which I did. Brother Osworth administered to me. I found myself refreshed. The next morning, Elder C Phelps did the disease depart at once. When I felt the fever leave my body and strength take its place. On Saturday, I could scarcely walk.

Nicole (19m 32s):
But on Sunday I went to the meeting of the Saints. The first opportunity I had, I fulfilled the promise I made to my heavenly Father. I would serve him for the remainder of my days. I went down to the seashore on the 16th of February. Brother Field was baptized with me, Brother Osworth officiated and confirmed me the next morning by Elder Phelps.”

Diana (19m 51s):
Well, soon after his baptism, William was ordained to the office of a teacher, then priest, then Elder. And he said “in the spring of 1850, I again began to labor in the business of the Lord. Then I was called an Ordained Elder by Elder Thomas Kafall. The first I visited was High Storm, six miles distant from Dover, accompanied by Brother Norview Dunford.” As a traveling Elder, he was expected to preach and travel like other early church missionaries, often without money or means to support himself, relying on the people he visited for sustenance and lodging. And at the time of the 1850 census, he was a 20-year-old lodger residing in Croydon, Surrey.

Diana (20m 35s):
And he was living in the household of John Barrett, a 23-year-old head of the household. And Mary Barrett, his 21-year-old wife and also residing in the household where Emma Bryant, a 16-year-old sister of John, and fellow lodgers, John Lask age 58 and Henry Buckfield age 24. So that’s so fun that he was on the census there and that correlates with his story of traveling as a missionary and lodging with whoever he could find.

Nicole (21m 6s):
Right? It’s so interesting to imagine being a missionary who traveled without purser script and just had to ask people to allow him to live with them. I can’t imagine taking in a stranger and saying, sure, you can have one of my children’s rooms for the night and I’ll bring all my children into my room. Like that would just be odd. It’s such a different culture and a different time period where people were a little bit more hospitable maybe to guests or just willing to support people who were out there trying to share good news about a new religion. And I am sure the people who ended up saying yes to let him stay were people who were interested in the church.

Diana (21m 53s):
Yeah, I would imagine maybe he had been talking with them and they realized he needed a place to stay. And I know from going through the journal before that, you know, he’s continually saying who he is staying with and what’s happening. And so that obviously was a big deal, You know, getting room and board and making those connections with people. And I think as the years went by, you know, he did this for a while, he probably would return to some of the people he met at the beginning. I mean I would do that, you know, if you’re coming to the same area

Nicole (22m 26s):
My

Diana (22m 27s):
The friendly house, my

Nicole (22m 30s):
Exactly. Yep. That’s so true. And I guess nowadays when visiting leaders of the church come, sometimes they will stay at the homes of like the area leader, like the state president or whatever. So I guess it’s kind of like that.

Diana (22m 43s):
True. Could be. Yep.

Nicole (22m 47s):
Well, William’s spiritual experiences from a young age were not uncommon among early members of the church in his area. It’s interesting because this phenomenon of seeing visions and having dreams, which isn’t commonly heard about as much today, but was commonly mentioned back then. And I think it stems from the origin of the church with Joseph Smith talking about his spiritual experiences and seeing visions. And also when Joseph was still a young man, but after his first vision, he was in his bedroom praying when he saw a light appear in his room and an angel named Moroni appeared and told him about a book of gold plates containing the gospel as delivered by the savior to ancient inhabitants of the American continent.

Nicole (23m 44s):
Well that angelic visit was when Moroni quoted a bunch of Old Testament prophecies about various things about priesthood, return of Elijah, and also spoke of the future fulfillment of different prophecies from the book of Joel. And the one that I noticed that helped understand more about these spiritual manifestations with William Henry Kelsey’s diary was Joel chapter two, verse 28 and 29, where it talks about the prophecy that God will pour out his spirit upon all flesh. And your sons and your daughter shall prophesy. Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those day, will I pour out my spirit.

Nicole (24m 29s):
So early members of the church really were believing that this was going to happen because it had been shared by Joseph Smith that this was coming

Diana (24m 41s):
Well, and that must have really struck a chord with William because he’d had that experience himself. And so I think that would make him more liable to record these experiences. And during his missionary travels throughout southern England, he recorded several spiritual manifestations, visions, and dreams that seemed to be pouring outta that spirit that Joseph had been told. And on January 8th, 1852, he wrote “Croydon, in my absence, the Lord had favored a sister with a vision or opened her eyes as she was about to offer up her evening supplication a person and stood before her. His countenance shone brilliantly, a light surrounded him, everything appeared illuminated equal to the noonday sun.

Diana (25m 26s):
She called upon her daughter crying, there is brother Kelsey looking in the window! Terrified they shuddered, fearing some calamity befall him. Yet he stood with a smile upon his countenance. The mother opened the window, but darkness lay over the neighborhood. Closing it again, the personage had remained. Overcome with fright they entered the bedroom for over half an hour. Strange to say, the daughter though 26 years old, saw only darkness. I remember that at that time I was offering up my evening supplication, praying God to bless his people and pour out upon them manifestations of his spirit.” That’s a very interesting little story, isn’t it?

Nicole (26m 5s):
Right? Yes. And I wonder what the significance of the, the daughter who didn’t see anything was, and that was an interesting thing to include and the fact that he was also praying at the same time. It’s just interesting that they were able to talk about this and figure out oh yeah, at the same time we were both praying.

Diana (26m 27s):
Right.

Nicole (26m 27s):
Well, in September, William recorded another vision of a church member. And this was a young person. He wrote, “a vision seen by a lad of 13 years, the son of Elder Lashbroke, appeared during the day after his father chastised him for folly. The boy fell deep into thought, then into a deep sleep, becoming unconscious of his surroundings. His mother heard him mutter low groans and tried to wake him but could not. When he regained speech he told his mother that the two men of unpleasant countenance had visited him, insisting he go with them. Though reluctant they promised to take him to his deceased brother. He wished his mother and sister goodbye, but again refused.

Nicole (27m 9s):
The men remained at the foot of his bed before leaving. His father found him in a bad condition and laid hands upon his head. As the father prayed, the boy’s lips moved and he was asked to say amen. When the prayer ended at that moment, the boy saw a beautiful vision. Two men in radiant garments stood by the bed and in the room filled with light. He asked, please sir, do you want me? They replied, they had come to give instructions to improve himself, stop playing with boys in the streets, and he heed his parents’ advice. They promised him clothing for Sunday’s meeting and foretold that he would become a useful man, preached the gospel to other nations and gain power to control himself. They also told him that the foundation of the Temple had begun and that he would go to Zion and do much good after revealing all he was permitted to share.

Nicole (27m 55s):
He kept certain things secret as instructed to be made known at a future time.”

Diana (28m 0s):
Oh, that’s another interesting story. I love these. So fun,

Nicole (28m 4s):
Right? The part about don’t play with boys in the streets.

Diana (28m 9s):
Very significant there, very specific. Well, around this time, William’s diary mentioned, Sister Hugget who he baptized on November 27th, 1851. And he mentioned her again on May 17th, 1852. And he said, “after visiting the Saints at Allumington, accompanied by Sister H. Hugget to a festival. It was held by the Saints of the above branch. I realized a blessing in being present and was kindly received by all present, as months has passed away since my last visit there. Meeting broke up about 11:00 PM, returned with Sister Hugget. Weather, very rough thunder, lightning and rain, consequently, I was prevailed to stay at above dwelling.

Diana (28m 53s):
I spent an hour or two in conversation with the master of the house and then prepared for bed. I was kindly provided at the inconvenience of others and they considered it an honor.” So there’s just a little bit of a hint, isn’t there, that people were happy to have him stay and inconvenience themselves. Great. Well, a few months, a few months later, this couple got married. William Henry Kelsey, a bachelor of full age, married Harriet Huggett on September 27th, 1852 at All Saints, Croydon, Surrey, England. And William, his occupation was listed as a traveler, resided in Croydon at the time of the marriage.

Diana (29m 33s):
His father, Edward Kelsey, was a laborer and was deceased at the time of the marriage. Harriet Huggett, also full age, was the daughter of Thomas Huggett, a deceased cooper. And the marriage was conducted according to the rights and ceremonies of the established church after banns by Edward Hardin with Henry Lashbrook and Charles Cole as witnesses, both William and Harriet signed their names in their own hand. And in 1861, William was the head of his household at the age of 30. And he resided in Camberwell, Surrey England with his wife Harriet Kelsey, who was 34 years old. And their family included daughter Harriet, age seven, another daughter Ellen, age six, and their son William, age four.

Diana (30m 19s):
So that’s fun to think of their marriage. And just a little side note, what we know about Harriet was she had come from a very poor family. And so her older sister, who had married well and was quite wealthy, had taken her in and she was all set to marry into a higher class of people. And she turned that all away to marry this poor traveler and join this church and changed the trajectory of her life. So I always love thinking about Harriet.

Nicole (30m 49s):
I know she’s always been one of our favorite and we have so many fun stories about her and her shoes and how tiny she was and her twin sister, and she’s been called the London Twins. It’s just fun that from this far back in time, we know so much. And the diary is so wonderful. I mean, how many ancestors do we have a diary entry about a date that they went on. But here we have a date between William and Harriet, one of their first dates where they went to a festival together.

Diana (31m 20s):
Right, right. It is, it’s neat.

Nicole (31m 23s):
Well, they started their family in England, but by 1870 they migrated to Utah. William was 39 years old in 1870 and resided in Springville, which was part of Utah territory at the time. His personal estate was valued at $400 and real estate valued at 250. He lived with his wife, Harriet Kelsey, who was 43 years old. And their children, Harriet aged 17, Ellen aged 14, William age 13 and Emma. William was a farmer residing in Springville. And this was in 1880. And he was the head of the house.

Nicole (32m 3s):
He was still married to Harriet, who was now 55. Their son William H Kelsey Jr, age 21, worked as a lumberman. The household also included 18-year-old Emma and also Esther age 56 and Laura age 26 were listed as additional wives. And Esther Kelsey, age two and Josephine Kelsey age 10 months were daughters of Laura. So this hints at the polygamist marriages that occurred at this time in the church, which is a challenging topic for us to understand. But during those times we know that it was asked of the members of the church to, some of them asked to take on additional wives.

Nicole (32m 50s):
And in my class at Brigham Young University about Utah history, they really talked about how one of the purposes of this, you know, historians think was to take care of single women in a frontier territory area. But we don’t really know all the reasons and details, but we do know that it was really challenging for the Kelsey family and that William Kelsey Jr. did not like it.

Diana (33m 18s):
Nope, it, yeah, that is probably an understatement there. It was a problem in the family. Well, William passed away on August 5th, 1895 at the age of 64 in Springville, Utah. And he’s buried in the historic Springville Cemetery, which is just such a neat old cemetery. I love to go there and visit. And he has a headstone that has the inscription that’s inviting him to the Paradise of God where no Pain or Death is Known. And to receive the Victor’s Crown. And it’s a neat headstone and on it’s like one of those little pillar type things, you know?

Diana (34m 0s):
And so on each side of it there’s his marker and then Harriet’s and then Esther’s. Anyway, it’s really neat and I do love to go visit that.

Nicole (34m 13s):
That’s neat and interesting that it has his three wives on all the sides of the pillar. Well, as I was writing this article, which was a blog post that you can read, I tried to keep track of any future research ideas that I had. So some of the ones that came to me were more historical context could be discovered to illuminate the early days and mission of William Henry Kelsey. And as we were talking today, I was thinking about even looking into discovering the individuals who allowed him to live with them and seeing if they were members of the church or not, and kind of correlating that with membership records.

Nicole (34m 53s):
And then locating the original of the 1851 diary of William Henry Kelsey, I’m not sure that we know who has that, but it’s probably the people who made the transcription of it and posted that on FamilySearch, discover what a free school was during the 1840s in Kent County, England. William mentions that he was going to a free school and I’d like to know the laws and the history behind that. Then researching what the festival might have been that William and Harriet attended in May of 1852. And then learning more about missionaries of various religions traveling without purse or script in the 1850s to see if this was something that Methodist preachers did or what else was going on with that in the 1850s.

Nicole (35m 37s):
So it’s always fun to make ideas for future research and it always comes up whenever I’m writing about an ancestor of just all these different things that I want to know. And You know, at the beginning of this episode, we were talking about uses for AI and a lot of these objectives or future research ideas could be accomplished by using the deep research features of ChatGPT and Perplexity and Gemini. And Claude doesn’t have one because Claude doesn’t have access to the internet, so poor Claude, but, but it would be fun to try putting these in kinda things in there.

Diana (36m 17s):
Well, Claude can research things prior, you know, up to when its knowledge stops. So, you know, it can still give you a lot of good background and good information. But what I was thinking would be really neat to do would be to put this transcription into, you know, one of the AI tools and have it make a list of all the different people. Oh my. You know, I would love to have like this little chronology just really clearly about where he was and who the different people were. And at one time I thought this would be so fun to write a book about his life and do all this research and you know, really dive deep into what was going on there. But AI would certainly make that much more doable.

Nicole (36m 57s):
It would be a great coworker for that task. And you know, as I was working on a comparison chart of all of the different tools for our AI Workbook, I noticed that there is a difference between what each model can handle as far as PDFs. For example, ChatGPT cannot read images within PDFs. So you have to upload an image, not a PDF if you want it transcribed. But Gemini and Claude, and Claude has a limitation that it has to be less than a hundred pages and uploaded directly to the chat and not a project, but both of those, Gemini and Claude can read images within PDFs.

Nicole (37m 37s):
So if you have a PDF with images of his diary in it, you could put that in probably Gemini and get some good results. So

Diana (37m 46s):
Well, and it, it goes back to that jagged what we can’t do today, maybe we tomorrow we can do and it will just continue to get better. So it’s kind of exciting because it’s going to make these things that we thought would take so much time and we could never do back in the day accessible because we can have our coworker helping us with tasks that would take us hours and hours to do so.

Nicole (38m 10s):
Exactly. It’s

Diana (38m 11s):
Exciting. It’s exciting to think about.

Nicole (38m 12s):
It is exciting. Well, Thank you for talking with me today about William Henry, Kelsey, and all of you out there listening. We hope that you are also taking time to write about your ancestors and see what research ideas you have as you do that and exploring the historical and religious context of your ancestors to see what you can learn about the time period that they lived in. Well, have a great week and we will talk to you again next week. Bye.

Diana (38m 42s):
Alright, bye-bye.

Nicole (38m 41s):
Thank you for listening. We hope that something you heard today will help you make progress in your research. If you want to learn more, purchase our books, Research Like a Pro and Research Like a Pro with DNA on Amazon.com and other booksellers. You can also register for our online courses or study groups of the same names. Learn more at FamilyLocket.com/services. To share your progress and ask questions, join our private Facebook group by sending us your book receipt or joining our courses to get updates in your email inbox each Monday, subscribe to our newsletter at FamilyLocket.com/newsletter. Please subscribe, rate and review our podcast. We read each review and are so thankful for them. We hope you’ll start now to Research Like a Pro.