My Trails into the Past

Mom made many of our clothes: dresses, jumpers, shorts, and pajamas. The only clothes she did not make were jeans, coats, uniforms, and items for the boys, though she once made matching outfits for the four oldest children.  She barely used patterns to make our clothes. Yes, she cut out the pattern pieces. She placed them carefully on the fabric and pinned them down before cutting. But I doubt she really read the instructions. She said she had her way of putting the pieces together.  One thing she did as a short cut was to forgo facings and linings. She rolled the seams at the armhole and collars. She made simple hems she could sew on the sewing machine. She had four daughters and made lots of clothes for them. One special time for sewing was those hours between when Dad left for work at 5 a.m. and we got up at 7. She hid the clothes away if they were to be gifts for birthdays or Christmas. She also made doll clothes for Barbies, baby dolls, and trolls, though the clot...

Spent three days at Train Club, two days helping with the installation of the electrical panels for the Diablo Yard project, and one day attending an inspector’s class. Too hot for hike this week, so we visited Delia’s garden. Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: I spent two days at the History Center, working on the library database and answering queries. On Saturday, I spent time researching for an article for the Contra Costa County Genealogical Society’s newsletter. I presented on colonial land records at the Oakland FamilySearch Center for CGS.   Genealogy Meetings:  Jacqueline and I met and discussed her trip to California. I attended the Kinseekers Military SIG.  On Friday, I attended the OFSC staff meeting. Genealogy Writing/Research : I did some research on George Wilson Lancaster this week, and checked some locked films at the OFSC on Wednesday, but did not finish. I did not get a post written this week. Instead, I have been working on an Airtable base ...

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)  March 21 is National Memory Day.  How can we celebrate, and participate, in the day?  I asked AI tool ChatGPT how, and it suggested "Capture a Memory Before Its Gone;" "Rescue and Identify Old Photos;" "Record an Oral History;" "Organize One Small Thing;" "Share a Story with Family;" and/or "Visit or Virtually Honor Ancestors." 2)  For SNGF this week, do one or more of those tasks or some other related tasks of your choosing. [Thank you to Genea-blogger Janice Sellers for telling Randy about the National Memory Day and suggesting this topic.] Here's mine: Surprisingly, this is a tough challenge. I did capture a memory this week in the 52 Ancestors challenge, writing about my childhood home. Check out “ 130Paulson Lane: A Family Home that the Fr...

We lived in the best house and neighborhood growing up. In 1963, my parents purchased a home in Walnut Creek, California. They had been living in a rental on East 9th Street in Pittsburg, that had two bedrooms for six people. My parents made the dining room into their bedroom and the girls had one of the upstairs bedrooms and the boys had the other. It was definitely too small for the growing family. There were probably other factors in the decision as well. They were paying for tuition to St. Peter Martyr School for two kids. The schools in Walnut Creek were top-notch, so they would not need to pay tuition in the new town. My father got a new job at Loray Market in Walnut Creek and the commute added to his time away from home. The new home was only three blocks away and he would walk if my mother needed the car. How my parents pulled it off financially was with the help of my grandparents and their friends. I believe money was loaned to them for the down payment and other money ...

Spent the weekend at Train Club working the set-up position for our open house. Our hike was at Black Diamond Mines Regional Park but I forgot my phone, so no photos were taken.   Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: I sent out the remaining BCG-sponsored webinar press releases. At the History Center, I worked on answering queries and entering more details to the library database. I attended and took minutes for the Sonoma County Genealogical Society board meeting. On Thursday, I led the writing group and we discussed a couple of submissions, and gave a webinar on church records to Root Cellar. On Saturday, I hosted the third installment of the Precision series at CGS. Genealogy Meetings:  I met with my Renewal Accountability group, Jacqueline, and Military SIG on Monday. Jacqueline and I discussed my trip to visit her this month. I was the only attendee on Friday in the Writing Accountability group. Genealogy Writing/Research : I am still working on the Lancaster fam...

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)  How was your genealogy day?  Tell us about it - what genealogy-related activities did you do today, yesterday, or another day this past week? Researching, summarizing, transcribing, analyzing, writing, etc. Here's mine: I shall also select Friday, March 13, 2026. My day started at 8 a.m. with a writing accountability group where we get together to write for an hour on whatever genealogy topic we are working on. I set up the meeting but no one came. I started a new article about full-text searching for George Wilson Lancaster at FamilySearch. A 10 a.m., I joined the first session of the Writing for Discovery course I’m taking where we had 90 minutes of writing time. We first explained what we’re working on, then we wrote leaving our cameras on, and then checked in at the...

I do not remember when I started doing genealogy research. It was sometime in the early ‘90s. I remember the place where I first found my great-grandfather on the 1920 Soundex and then the 1920 census record. I was taken to Sutro Library in San Francisco by my friend, Susan. I was hooked. I spent any free moment to keep at it, though it was hard at that time because not much was online except RootsWeb and county pages on USGENWeb . I visited libraries and wrote letters to libraries and repositories, sending along my self-addressed stamped envelopes. It was fun coming home to the mail with one of my envelopes in it, wondering what treasures might there be. I also read books, beginning with Doane’s book, Searching for Your Ancestors , and later reading Ancestry’s The Source. Somewhere along the way, I knew I should keep track of what I was finding and I kept spiral-bound notebooks of my searches, whether positive or negative. I just wished I had been more organized, separating out ...