My Trails into the Past

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. This idea came from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing, who started this meme. Genealogy Blog Writing : I was busy with other activities and only got one post in this week. 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks :  For the “cousins” theme, I showed two photos from our archives of Nilsen cousins and Hork cousins. Webinars/Study Groups Attended:   "Civil Law Concepts and Genealogy"—Claire Bettag, Legacy Family Tree Webinars Conference Attended : I attended the Association of Professional Genealogists Professional Management Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah held at the RL Hotel from September 22-24, with a pre-conference activities on the 21st. I was a mentor to two first-time attendees, Robyn Buehler and Marybethe Kelly. I also spent time with other first-timers, especially Franchesca Werden. Robyn, Lisa, ...

This is my second year 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 have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. Happiness is when all the cousins are together in a photo. My husband’s mother’s cousins are all in this one and it is nicely labeled. They are from the Nilsen Family. I also have a photo of my cousins taken in our home on the occasion of my sister’s baptism in 1965. My youngest sister wasn’t born yet, so one cousin is missing. Copyright © 2019 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.

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. This idea came from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing, who started this meme. Genealogy Blog Writing : 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks  For the “mistake” theme, I revisited Daniel K Coor, who was enumerated in 1880 as a female named Anna. “When Did the Thomas Davey Family Come to America?” a post about a possible ship list record that may be the family of Thomas Davey. Webinars/Study Groups Attended:   Advanced DNA Techniques: Using Phasing to Test DNA Segments—Blaine Bettinger, Legacy Family Tree Webinars Own Work: I did not get much work done this week, though I worked on the curriculum for my adult school course. I met with the education coordinator and viewed my classroom, learned how to record roll, operate the projector, and use the copier. I have eighteen students and am looking forwa...

According to the 1886 obituary for Thomas Davey of Jeffersonville, Indiana, the family “came to this country, landing at New York in 1852, and made their home successively at Philadelphia, Reading, Altoona, and prairies of Illinois.” [1]   On the other hand, he reported on his declaration of intent to naturalize in 1853 that he arrived at the port of New York in June 1850. [2] This date is closer to the date he made his intention as oppose to the obituary some three decades later. The family was enumerated in the 1851 English census in Deptford, London. [3]  Why would he say 1850 if he was living in England in 1851? One needed to live in the U.S. for a minimum of two years before applying for the intent to become a citizen. Either he had come earlier and went back to get his family, or he lied to start the naturalization process sooner.  Their youngest child, Frederick, was born in the United States, 10 Oct 1953 in Reading, Pennsylvania. [4] This supports the a...

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. This idea came from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing, who started this meme. Genealogy Blog Writing : 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks  For the “school days” theme, I wrote about my own school days. Lydia Davey Colby Has Been Found , a story about finding her death record. Webinars/Study Groups Attended:   Reasonably Exhaustive Research—Elizabeth Shown Mills, Legacy Family Tree Webinars (BCG) Combining DNA & Traditional Research—Michelle Leonard, Legacy Family Tree Webinars Own Work: I volunteered at the History Center (CCCHS) where I worked on our finding aid, and at the Oakland FamilySearch Library, where there was no one who needed help, so I worked on my own work. I had an interview with a women who interviews and writes life stories for clients. She’s looking for a genealogist to do some ...

The final whereabouts of my husband’s great-grandfather’s sister, Lydia Nicholas Davey, was unknown until now. What Was Known She was born 1 April 1841 in Bristol, England. [1] The family was living in Bedminster Parish of Bristol in 1841 and the two youngest children of Thomas Davey and Mary Nicholas, including Lydia, were born in the county. [2] By 1851, her family were living in London in the Burrough of Greenwich. [3] Sometime before 1854, the family had arrived in the United States. She was baptized at St. Peter’s Methodist Church in Reading, Pennsylvania on 12 March 1854 along with her sister, Mary Jane Davey. [4] All that was known about her was from the listing of the survivors for both of her parents. In February 1886, she was Mrs. Lydia Jackson of New York City. [5] In September 1893, she was Mrs. Lida M. Colbey of New York. [6] She supposedly had twin boys, Albert and Alfred. Well she was found in New York City in 1883, living at 185 Prince. Her name...

This is my second year 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 have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. I always loved school, even if I wasn’t the best student. I liked the structure. Summers were fun, but after a few weeks, I missed the routine of the classroom. I liked learning new things, too. It took a long time for me to finally figure out how to study to be successful. Now, as an adult, I know why I didn’t do as well in school. For one, I’m a visual learner so whenever instructions were given verbally, I usually missed something important. Secondly, our parents didn’t do a lot of things with us. We had few vacations or even day trips. My dad worked six days a week, and by the time there were six kids, it made it hard (and expensive) to take trips. During summers, I liked to play school, and would...

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. This idea came from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing, who started this meme. Genealogy Blog Writing : 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks  For the “at work” theme, I wrote about father and I being in a union. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun  We wrote our high school and college yearbook photos. Webinars/Study Groups Attended:   I watched no webinars this week. I did check in with both of my cert study groups. We had good conversations at both. Own Work: I spent the first part of the week scanning all of the documents in my Nilsen and Lundquist folders that hadn’t been scanned yet. Then I met with my husband’s aunt and cousin to deliver all my files for both of the families. His aunt is donating all of the Nilsen and Lundquist family papers to the California State Archives. I felt my papers should go with the...

This is my second year 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 have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. When we work, we rarely take photos of ourselves or have photos taken of ourselves while at work. I did previously write about my union card-carrying ancestors. The post is here . I did manage to get a few of me in the newspaper while I was at work. Copyright © 2019 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.