My Trails into the Past

I have completed two hundred and thirty-nine (239) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. This week was spent recovering from my trip to Utah, especially trying to heal my swollen knee from too much walking on concrete. The Salt Lake City streets are long and with so few restaurants close to the library, meant walking far just to eat. I had difficulty walking to the Southwest Airlines gate at the airport, but since I was nearly two hours early, I took my time and rested by browsing a few stores and eating dinner in a restaurant in terminal B. I cannot wait for terminal B to be completed. I imagine there will be a closer tunnel to it (escalators directly across security had barricades blocking it). Genealogy Genealogy Meetings:   Two of us from our recertification renewal accountability group met (by mistake). Still, we covered a lot of topics. I have a possible assignment to write an article for the Connecticut Genealogy News . At Amigos, we discussed the Salt Lake City trip. At

Four children born to Christoph Siewert and Anna Marianna Ewald immigrated to the United States in early 1850s and settled in Joliet, Will County, Illinois. They were born in Schneidemühl in Prüssia before heading to the U.S. My ancestor, Vincent, left Hamburg aboard the Johanna Elise on 15 May 1852. [1] He, his wife, and a young son, arrived in New York on 23 June 1852. [2] Two years later on 22 May 1854, his sister, Eva, and her husband Christoph Wienke, and their three children, arrived in New York on the bark Alida from Hamburg. [3] Another brother, Johan Sievert, his wife and two children, and a sister, Henrietta, her husband, Joseph Freitag, and their daughter, were also on the ship. Further down on the passenger list page was Wilhelmine Radenz, the sister of Vincent’s wife, Susanna. [4] By 1860, all four families, as well as Wilhelmine Raduntz Hartung, were living in Joliet. What I want to know: what are their origins? A distant cousin hired someone to do research in the

I have completed two hundred and thirty-eight (238) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. I spent five days in the FamilySearch Library in Salt Lake City, eating out a couple of times in restaurants, and flying home on Friday evening, wearing a mask in the airport and on the plane. Genealogy Genealogy Meetings:   Jaqueline and I met on Sunday afternoon and talked about my trip to SLC and her upcoming procedure. Steward, Jacqueline and I talked via phone one day while we were in SLC, as Jacqueline couldn’t go at the last minute. Genealogy Writing/Research: I conducted lots of research on the Polly family in Lewis County, Kentucky, and did a little writing, in preparation for a case study writing class I’ll start this week. On my last day at the FamilySearch Library, I worked on my husband’s friend, Rod’s family. Blog Post Published: Least Amount of Maternal Cousins . For 52 Ancestors’ theme of “Least,” I wrote about how few cousins my mother had. SNGF: Share How You’ve Im

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's Saturday Night again - Time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings has given us an assignment tonight to: 1)   Share one way in which you've implemented Artificial Intelligence (AI) in your genealogy research  (You can do more than one if you like!).  What AI tools did you use? [thank you to Linda Stufflebean for suggesting this topic!] Here's mine: I have subscribed to ChatGPT+ since I took an NGS class on using AI last year. I also follow Steve Little, who instructed the course, and Mark Thompson on their podcast AI Genealogy Insights.  I also have watched the Family Locket gals’ Diana Elder and Nicole Dyer, videos and listened to their podcasts on how they have utilized AI in their work. I follow these genealogists because I don’t want to fall behind in understanding the technology, but I have decided to do my own writing rather than have the AI bot do it for me. However, I use artificial intelligen

My mother, Lela Nell Johnston, was an only child, so we have no first cousins on our mother’s side. We had an abundance of cousins on my father’s side, as two of his three sisters had children totaling nine first cousins. We saw them perhaps once or twice a year. My mother had seven first cousins from her uncle, R.D. Lancaster, and two from her uncle, Wayne Lancaster. That totals nine maternal first cousins. On her father’s side, her Aunt Mildred Johnston Bay had two daughters, her Uncle Hal Johnston had three children, and Luther Johnston had one child, for a total of six first cousins. That means I have fifteen first cousins, once removed. Of my mother's cousins, she was probably closest to Aunt Mildred’s oldest daughter, Sandra, who was near her age. The other children were much younger than she. I have many photos of Sandra and her together before my grandparents and my mother moved to California. Lela Nell Johnston, left, Sandra Bay, right   #52Ancestors-Week 40: Least

I have completed two hundred and thirty-seven (237) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. Outside home activities involved my volunteering at the History Center, phenology, attending a Giants baseball game, and flying to Salt Lake City out of Oakland Airport. Genealogy Genealogy Meetings: At our weekly Zoom meeting, Jacqueline and I discussed her research with the McCurdy family in Arkansas. I attended a peer group about BCG renewals and the Monday Morning group on Zoom. Genealogy Writing/Research: The only writing and researching I accomplished this week was preparing to write the two blog posts. Blog Post Published: Homesteading in Minnesota – A Poor Illiterate Irish Miner Gets Land . For the 52 Ancestors’ theme of “Homestead,” I wrote about Jeremiah Sullivan’s homesteading in Todd County, Minnesota. It was highlighted on Friday’s Family History Finds and by Randy Seaver in his "Best of . . ." SNGF: An Ancestor Who Experienced or Did Something Unique or Memor

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's Saturday Night again - Time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Here is our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings : 1)   Choose an ancestor who experienced or did something unique or memorable (such as an event, family life, trip, etc.).  2)  Share about your ancestor and his/her unique experience and how it may have affected their life in your own blog post or on your Facebook page.  Be sure to leave a link to your report in a comment on this post.  [thank you to Linda Stufflebean for suggesting this topic!] Here's mine : My great-grandaunt, Helena Mary Gleeson, was a school teacher, principal, and superintendent of schools in Anaconda, Montana. She was born on 31 October 1867 in Ontario, Canada, to John Gleeson and Margaret Tierney. [1] The family moved to Dakota Territory in 1879. By 1892, she lived in Anaconda, Deer Lodge County, Montana. She and her sister, Elizabeth, performed in Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Engaged.” [2]