My Trails into the Past

It’s February and time to move on to another genealogical couple, this time, my husband’s paternal 2x-great-grandparents, Frederick Henry Davey (1853-1915), and Matilda “Tillie” Wollenweber (1859-1885). Introduction Frederick Henry Davey was born on 10 October 1853 in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, the only child of Thomas Davey and Mary Nicholas born in the United States. He married Matilda “Tillie” Wollenweber on 26 June 1878 and they had four children: Fred James, Matilda “Tillie”, William Edward, and Leon Thomas. Matilda “Tillie” Wollenweber was born on 27 August 1859 in Louisville, Jefferson County, Kentucky, to Ludwig “Louis” Wilhelm Wollenweber and Philappina Margaretha Voehringer. She was the oldest child of five. She died on 1 November 1885 in Carthage, Jasper County, Missouri. Fred married her sister, Julia Wollenweber on 28 July 1887. They had one son, George Thomas Davey. Julia divorced Fred in 1892. He married Angeline McDonald Grace on 16 Mar 1898 in Jasper Coun...

Outside activities included two trips to the History Center, phenology, Oakland FamilySearch Center, phenology, and attending a model railroad meet.   Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: I made two trips to the History Center on Tuesday and Thursday. I entered more descriptions into the library database answered some email research requests. On one of them, I visited the county recorder’s office to retrieve some deeds and a map. Genealogy Meetings:  The BCG renewal group met and we discussed the projects we’re working on. Jacqueline and I met and we discussed the work I’m doing with the Hutson/Selman family. The CCCGS Roundtable met and we discussed Ancestry DNA during most of the time, as well as the changes at the FS Library. Genealogy Writing/Research : I have been working on my Hutson/Selman project and spent most of the day at the Oakland FamilySearch Center looking at locked films for Leon and Cherokee Counties in Texas. I still haven’t finished but the month i...

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)  What genealogy fun have you had this past month?  What is your genealogy research highlight of the past month?  It could be attending or watching a webinar or local genealogy society meeting,  it could be finding a new ancestor, or it could be reading a new genealogy book, or anything else that you have enjoyed. Here's mine: This past month, I have been working on a month-long project concerning my 2x-great-grandparents, Peter H. Hutson and his wife, Sarah H. Selman, who married in 1879. Their families lived in Texas in Cherokee, Leon, and Comanche Counties. I have been collecting whatever documents I can find using traditional searches in records and through the catalog, and also using full-text search. Some of Leon and Cherokee Counties’ records are availa...

Many years ago in 1997, a kind church secretary sent me the page from the St. John the Baptist Church in Joliet of the marriage of my great-grandparents, Johan Anton Hork and Julia Ann Sievert on 6 June 1872. [1] It was the breakthrough I needed to research my German ancestors in Germany. This record named both Johan Anton’s parents and the place where they were from in Germany. The writing was hard to read but with the help of an online Westphalia Rootsweb group, we figured out the town he was from was Oberhundem in the District (Kreis) Olpe. Today, the church records of that Joliet church are now on Ancestry and I have found the records of all their children, Julia’s aunts and uncles, and cousins. I might find more when Ancestry’s full-text search includes these records. [2]   Finding German Records While researching in 2010 at the Family History Library, I used the catalog to find church records from Oberhundem. Oberhundem is in Kreis Olpe, and part of Westfalen, Prussia, ...

Outside activities included two trips to the History Center, phenology, hike in Crockett Hills, Oakland FamilySearch Center, and attending a luncheon meeting.     Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: I made two trips to the History Center on Tuesday and Friday. I’m still working on the library database, but I also answered some email research requests. I gave the presentation “General Land Office: Get the Most Out of the BLM-GLO Website” at the Oakland FamilySearch Center during my stint on Wednesday. It was a hybrid meeting, with about six in the classroom and about eight on Zoom. I was too busy presenting to actually count. Saturday was the Contra Costa County Historical Society’s annual meeting and I helped set-up and tear down afterwards. Our society is celebrating 75 years. We had two presenters after lunch: one about the formation of the society and the other talking about the 250th anniversary of the Anza Expedition into California. It was well-attended. We had...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's  Saturday Night  again -  Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment tonight from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to:  1)  Are you registered for  RootsTech 2026  yet?  It's less than six weeks away - March 5-7, 2026.  2)  What are you looking forward to either attending in-person or online?  What keynote talks, classes, or other events are you planning to attend?  For each day, list at least one class that is a "can't miss" for you. At present, there are 206 online classes listed, but some are foreign language Keynote talks and replays . Here’s mine : I have registered for the online version this year, as I’ll be just getting back from vacation right before it begins. I am not a fan of keynote speeches by “famous” people that I don’t know. I am most interested in talks given by Certified or Accredited genealogists, that are more advanced. I am also inte...

Outside activities included three trips to the History Center, lunch with Nancy and Terry, phenology, and a walk in the marina.   Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: I made three trips to the History Center on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday. I’m still working on the library database but also did some email and in-person research requests. I also took minutes for the historical society board meeting and the Sonoma County Genealogical Society board meeting. I also meeting with the History Center volunteers about the Stein Collection. I gave a presentation to the Fiske Library in Seattle on Wednesday called “How to Leave Your Genealogy.” Genealogy Meetings:  Jacqueline and I met. I also attended the renewal accountability group and the Kinseekers Military SIG. Josh and I met in the Peer Group meeting and talked about certification. Genealogy Writing/Research : Josh and I wrote for an hour during our writing accountability session on Friday. Other research I did was ...