My Trails into the Past

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing started this meme and I loved the idea. Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great documenting our own. I’ll write about what I’ve been doing the past week. Genealogy My entire week was spent doing genealogy! CGS Research Trip Sunday, April 22, I left Oakland for Salt Lake City to lead a group of genealogists from the California Genealogical Society to research at the Family History Library. There were a total of fourteen of us, including me, at the library. On our way to Wednesday's dinner at the Garden Restaurant On the first day, where I gave a tour of the library to those who were interested. Then I was available on the third floor at the tables near the windows for consultations from anyone in the group. Sometimes I sat with a participant helping with their interpretations of a document they found or helped them navigate through the FamilySearch catalog to find the images they wanted. ...

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to: 1)  Have you ever wondered what the weather was like on the day you were born?  Was it a bright, sunny day, or a wet and windy dreary day? 2)  Go to the website http://weather.sumofus.org/ and follow the directions.  Put in your birth date and birthplace and find out what the weather was on that day. [Note that it only goes back to 1901.] I was born on 26 March 1954 and according to the online report, it was sunny. I got verification by checking out the Oakland Tribune for the weather report on 26 March 1954. I used Newspaper.com to find the issue. I then checked if my mother noted the weather in my baby book and she had! Copyright © 2018 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past . I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. On a recent trip to New York City to visit my youngest daughter, my husband and I took a side trip to Brooklyn via the subway to visit Holy Cross Cemetery. The walk from the subway stop wasn’t too far, perhaps 6-8 blocks. We reached the entrance to the cemetery at 3620 Tilden Avenue and found the cemetery office nearby. The staff inside were very helpful, telling us where we would find Clementine Hork’s grave site.   What we didn’t consider was the long walk we would have to get there. Holy Cross Cemetery is huge! It has ninety-six acres. [1] Clementine is buried in the center of St. Michael Clementine is buried in the St. Michael section, in row 32, plot 19. So we took off quickly for the sit...

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing started this meme and I loved the idea. Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great documenting our own. I’ll write about what I’ve been doing the past week. Family Saturday we had the memorial service for Thelma Gorrell, my husband’s mother. The service at Northminster Church in Sacramento went very well with Peggy officiating. I read some readings that Thelma picked out. Several people spoke up about memories of Thelma that made us smile and cry. At the reception, we viewed a beautiful power point tribute created by her niece, Maddy. It was a nice way to have our final good-bye. Genealogy Blog Writing : I wrote this week’s 52 Ancestors post about Emil Carlson’s poem about his feelings after his wife died. Also wrote a On This Day post about my parents’ 65th wedding anniversary. Class/Webinars I attended four webinars and discussions this week: the laws of war, especially the Civil War, by Judy G...

Randy Seaver of GeneaMusing has another great Saturday Night Genealogy Fun task: 1)  We each have 32 3rd great grandparents.  How did their birth and death years vary?  How long were their lifespans?  2)  For this week, please list your 32 third great grandparents, their birth year, their death year, and their lifespan in years.  You can do it in plain text, in a table or spreadsheet, or in a graph of some sort. 3)  Share your information about your 32 great-great grandparents with us in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or on Facebook or Google+.  Please leave a link to your information as a comment to this post. Note:  Only list those you know about.  If you don't know many of them, do your 16 2nd great-grandparents. I decided to do the 32 third great-grandparents of my daughter, so that my husband’s and my 16 great great-grandparents are both listed. Her paternal are in blue. Her matern...

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past . I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. After the death of his wife, Emil Carlson wrote this poem in his autobiography: Emil & Wilhelmina                 It is Fall.                 Storms are raging in my breast                 shadows hang before the sun                 and hides its light.                 In vain the heart seeks comfort,            ...

Today would have been the 65th anniversary of my parents. They were married 19 April 1953 at Queen of All Saints Catholic Church in Concord, California. The Walnut Creek Sun has a very nice story about the wedding. Lela wore an antique taffeta dress, an ice blue picture frame hat with open crown, blue gloves, and white shantung silk shoes. Her bridesmaid was Barbara Boyenger. The best man was Bill's brother-in-law, Eugene Soares. Family Photo on the Wedding Day - Queen of All Saints Church steps A party with cake and punch was held at her parents' home, Tom J. and Pansy L. Johnston at 307 Nancy Lane, Pleasant Hill. On their way for a honeymoon, Lela wore navy blue linen dress with white trim. She carried a navy blue bag and wore a white linen jacket, white gloves and navy and white spectator shoes. Off on their honeymoon Happy Anniversary, Mom & Dad! Copyright © 2018 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing started this meme and I loved the idea. Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great documenting our own. I’ll write about what I’ve been doing the past week. Baseball My first game at AT&T Park to see the San Francisco Giants play the Arizona Diamondbacks. My girlfriend, Beth, and I purchased these tickets back in November and we were sitting up on the third deck—way out in left field. We always ride BART in, meeting at MacArthur station near 6 pm and then riding the Muni streetcar to the ballpark. This evening we decided to have pizza and entered the stadium at the bleachers area where I can get a gluten-free flatbread pizza. Once loaded with our dinner, we take a ride up the elevator, though this time we got off at the club level—to my surprise. Beth had something to show me. She showed something from her iPad to the guard and we entered. Low and behold, she and Brad bought season tickets and he was there with Be...

1) What states in the USA and what provinces in Canada have you visited or lived in? 2) Either list, or make a map of them (at the https://www.gasfoodnolodging.com/visitedstates/us-canada/ website ) and indicate the following: * red for states/provinces where you've not spent much time or seen very much. * amber for states/provinces where you've at least slept and seen some sights. * blue for states/provinces you've spent a lot of time in or seen a fair amount of. *  green for states/provinces you've spent a great deal of time in on multiple visits. 3) For extra credit, you could make a map to show where your ancestors resided at any time (e.g., in 1900), or perhaps where your 16 great-great-grandparents or 32 3rd-great-grandparents married, or where your ancestors were born, all with an appropriate legend. I have been to 46 states and 6 provinces. I made three trips across Canada (two aboard a bus and on aboard a train) and have traveled many times across t...

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing started this meme and I loved the idea. Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great documenting our own. I’ll write about what I’ve been doing the past week. Genealogy Intermediate Class . The fifth class in this six-week series was about probate records. I created three exercises and I think they were received well. It did take about two hours, so maybe next time, I’d cut one of them out. Webinar & Hangouts : I attended the class, “Southern Church Records” by J. Mark Lowe, through the Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research. It was four sessions over two weekends. I got a lot out of the class and some great resources. I really enjoy listening to Mark. CCCHS History Center . I got a chance to work on the Finding Aid and made some good progress. We had no customers, so it was quiet. BCG Cert Discussion Group: We discussed the NGS Quarterly article, “Working with Historical Evidence: Genealogical ...

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past . I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. My aunts all married, so I have no maiden aunts, though one had no children. However, my grandmother, Anna Sullivan, had three aunts who never married: Elizabeth M. Gleeson, Helena M. Gleeson, and Margaret T. Gleeson. One thing these sisters had in common was they were school teachers. In 1900 in Anaconda, Montana, Helen M., Elizabeth M., and Margaret Gleeson were living together at East 5th Street. Helena was the school superintendent, while her sisters were teachers. [1] City Directories give more detail: Helena M. was principal at Bryan School, located at 4th Street at the southwest corner of Washington, and Margaret was a teacher at Prescott School, located at Park Avenue at the southwest corner of Elm, in 190...

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing started this meme and I loved the idea. Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great documenting our own. I’ll write about what I’ve been doing the past week. Genealogy Intermediate Class . The fourth class in this six-week series was about military records. The time was just right, but I need to create some kind of exercise with this class so it’s not all lecture. I worked on the next lesson about court records over the weekend.  Webinar & Hangouts : I listened to one webinar “Formulating a DNA Testing Plan,” by Blaine Bettinger. On Wednesday morning, I participated in the DearMyrtlestudy group working our way through Val Greenwood’s  Researchers Guide to American Genealogy.  Marceline and I were the moderators and except for some dead air space, I think it went well. Cheri helped out by speaking freely about the homework, too! Oakland FHL : Volunteered again this week. I held my place ...

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past . I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. The Bend Bulletin , 18 August 1924 Martin Gleeson had an accident while working at the Brooks-Scanlon planing mill in Bend, Oregon. According to the Bend Bulletin: The injury of July 24 came when a board going through the planer split, and a large jagged splinter was thrust into Gleeson's hip. Infection lowered his vitality and he was in no condition to make a successful fight against pneumonia, contracted later. [1] The death certificate gave the cause of death as “myocardial degeneration, contributed by infected wound buttock” and the doctor also stated an operation on 28 July 1924 had preceded death. [2] The injury at the mill was on July 24 and his death was 18 August.  Another obituary, in ...