My Trails into the Past

In Silver Bow County, Montana, the school districts took a census of children in their community. They counted children as young as infants up to twenty years of age. This helped them determine the number of classrooms and teachers needed. Here is the page from the 1910 school census for School District No. 1, where my 2x-great-uncle, Michael & Sarah Sullivan’s children were listed. [1] The bonus in this school census for me is that the published census included each child, their birthdates, ages, parents’ names, and addresses. I can use this information to support the birth of the child and their parentage. Of course, this derivative record is not as reliable as a birth certificate. Still, if no birth record was created or the birth record is not available due to access restrictions, then this is a suitable alternative, as the parents likely gave the information. Finding School Census Records In checking the FamilySearch catalog using the keyword search of “school census,” I ...

My outside activities this week included doing phenology, hiking in Briones, visiting the history center, one doctor’s appointment, and driving up to Oregon. Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: I opened and closed at the History Center on Tuesday, covering for our executive director, who is on vacation. I finished up the McLeod collection and took a potential volunteer for a tour of the archives. My writing group met and we discussed Sheila’s new chapter, which covered her ancestor’s Revolutionary service and life in Pennsylvania as new immigrants. Lynne’s writing about her dog, who passed away, was very touching. I read my latest post about my dad’s work. Genealogy Meetings:  The CCCGS Roundtable met on Monday, and we discussed the closing of the Plaza Hotel in Salt Lake City. I also met with the accountability group and with Jacqueline on Monday. Jacqueline spoke about her troubles researching her McCurdy family in Arkansas. Keith showed us how to search in several differ...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's  Saturday Night  again -  Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to: 1)  If you could go back in time to interview one of your ancestors, what questions would you ask him or her?  Tell us your selected ancestor's name, their birth and death years/locations, and their spouse's name and marriage date/location.  List at least five questions to ask that selected ancestor. Here's mine: The ancestor I’ll ask questions of is my great-grandmother, Anna Maria Gleeson , born 13 February 1860 in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada, [1] and died 3 January 1912 in Anaconda, Deer Lodge Co, Montana. [2] She married John H. Sullivan sometime in 1882, likely at Mitchell, Davison Co, Dakota Territory. [3] I wished I had asked my grandmother questions about her childhood and her parents. But she died before I became interested in genealogy. Questions to ask: ...

When my father went off to work, it was to grocery stores or supermarkets as a produce clerk or produce manager. He worked for several different stores, but the longest was for LoRay Market and Safeway. Safeway When we lived in Pittsburg, he worked at Safeway. The city directory just says clerk, not specifically produce clerk. The directories from 1955 to 1962 identified his place of work as Safeway. In 1963, they purchased a home in Walnut Creek. My father may have already been working there, and buying a house closer to work was more desirable. LoRay The LoRay store in Walnut Creek was only a few blocks away. There were three or four LoRay stores in the county. The name came from merging the owner's and his wife's names. My father always drove to work, primarily because he started work at 5ish. This gave him time to put out all the produce that had been removed from the shelves and put into cold storage refrigerators. I believe this was before they created refrigerated displa...

My outside activities this week included doing phenology, hiking in Pt Richmond, visiting the history center twice, volunteering at the OFSC, three doctor’s appointments, lunch with two friends from German class, and having a 45th anniversary dinner with hubby. It didn’t seem like I was that busy! Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: I did two trips to the History Center this week. On Tuesday, I worked on accessions, and on Thursday, I attended the board meeting and took the minutes. At the Oakland FamilySearch Center, I assisted a researcher in trying to fix a wrongly linked person in the FamilySearch Family Tree. The son was linked incorrectly as his mother’s husband. Genealogy Meetings:  I attended the Kinseekers NARA SIG, and I shared about seeking record groups that might have resources about the agencies where my great-aunt worked. Jacqueline and met and we talked about the upcoming retreat. I cannot wait. Genealogy Writing/Research : This week, I managed to download...

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)  Do you recall the layout of one of your family homes (a parent's home, a grandparent's home, your first home with your spouse/SO, etc.)?  Can you estimate the size of the house and the size of the rooms?  What features were in each room?  Can you draw the floor plan, showing doors, windows, etc.? Here's mine: I could describe both of my childhood homes, one in Pittsburg and the other in Walnut Creek, but I will save Walnut Creek for another day. Pittsburg, California, at 467 E. 9th Street We lived here from about 1955 to 1963. During that time, four children were born, and the six of us lived in a two-bedroom house. By the time we left, the kids slept upstairs, two to a room, which worked out as there were two girls and two boys. Our parents slept in the dining room downs...

Play time was always a fun activity for my daughters. I encouraged play using their imagination and their physical skills. So, we spent a lot of time at the park where they played on the play equipment. I also encouraged them to use their own imagination in playing. We had almost no electronic devices—only a PC. However, they had blocks from Lincoln Logs to Legos, where they built towns. They always put the Lego kit together with the instructions, but afterwards the pieces became part of a big bin where their imagination in building could go wild.   I am glad I raised my daughters before so many electronic devices were available. They did have a few PC programs. One program had them design amusement parks, and another create ice-skating routines. I felt these games allowed them to use their imaginations in play. #52Ancestors-Week 34: Playtime This is my eighth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow ( https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/ ) at  Genera...