My Trails into the Past

This is my third 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. My great-grandfather, Johannes Anton Hork traveled a long distance in his lifetime. He was born 9 November 1843 in Oberhundem, Kreis Olpe, Westfalen (now Germany) to Joseph Heinrich Horoch and Maria Catherine Trösster. [1] He died 15 August 1906 in Sheridan, Sheridan County, Wyoming. He was sixty-two years old. [2] He was the fifth child of ten and the fourth son. In early church records, the surname was spelled Horoch or Horock but by the 1870s the name was spelled in records as Hork. His father was a tailor.  Johan Anton was only fourteen years old when his father and two younger siblings died within days of each other of dysentery in 1857. [3]    I don’t know much about his life 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: Week 4–Close to Home .  I wrote about Nana living across the street from us in Pittsburg, California. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Your Favorite Toy or Games . I had written about my favorite toys and games back in 2014 so linked my post back to that one. Webinars/Study Groups Attended:     I attended the Thursday night study group and we discussed classes at SLIG and goals for the next year. Our Friday group was cancelled due to too many would be absent.  However, I met with Jacqueline at the Walnut Creek Library and we worked on genealogy and had lunch at The Silk Road. I attended webinars this week: “New Tools & Ideas for Research,” by Josh Taylor. His beginn...

Calling All Genea-Musing Fans! It's Saturday Night again -- Time for some Genealogy Fun!! Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing has our weekly assignment: 1) Jen on Auntie Jen's Family Trees posted "Throwback Thursday Favorite Toys" on 23 January, and Linda S. thought it would make a good SNGF topic. I agree! 2) What are some (one or more) of the toys you played with as a child? 3) Share your favorite toy(s) with us in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a Facebook message. Please leave a comment on this blog noting where your conjectures are located. Here is my post today: Back in 2014, I followed a meme called "The Book of Me" created by Julie Goucher. We had lots of themes to write about and one of them was Toys & Games. I see no sense in repeating that theme, so you can check out that link here . I hope Randy doesn't mind! Copyright © 2020 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All ...

This is my third 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 Pas t . I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. When we lived on East 9th Street, in Pittsburg, California, in the late 50s and early 60s, my dad’s mother lived across the street and down the block some. As children, we thought it was grand to have Nana so close. She had been a school teacher and we loved it when she read to us or taught us cute little songs. She lived on the east side of a duplex. It had just three rooms: living, kitchen, and bedroom, and a bathroom. In the living room there was a murphy bed. I was always amazed by a bed that folded out of the wall! It was a fun place to spend the night, but I was a little worried about it springing back into the wall while we slept. Also in the living room was a bookcase with children’s books and ...

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: Week 3–Long Line .  I wrote about my Lancaster line and how I had only reached Robert Lancaster in my research, but that there were many more ancestors listed on online trees. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Where Were Your Ancestral Families in the 1950 Census? . We wrote where we thought our families were living in 1950 in preparation for the upcoming release of the census in 2022. 9th Blogiversary! I’m celebrating my ninth anniversary of starting my first blog. Webinars/Study Groups Attended:     I met with the Monday Morning group of the Contra Costa County Genealogical Society, where we shared what we had been doing the past month with our genealogy. Gluten-free panca...

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-Musing: 1)   The 1950 United States Census release to the public is just over two years away (on 1 April 2022).  2)   Who in your ancestral families will be in the 1950 census?  Where will they be residing,  What occupations will they have?  The official "date" was 1 April 1950. 3)  Share your conjectures with us in your own blog post, in a comment on this blog post, or in a Facebook message.  Please leave a comment on this blog noting where your conjectures are located. Here's mine: I wasn’t born yet and neither of my parents were married, so they were living with their parents. 1.  My father, William J. Hork, was living with his mother, Anne M. Sullivan Hork, in Concord, Contra Costa County, California. He would have been 19, almost 20, as his bi...

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: Week 2–Favorite Photo .   I showed a photo of my two grandmother’s doting on newborn me. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2019 . We wrote about highlights of 2019 using Jill Ball’s meme. Webinars/Study Groups Attended:     I met with three study groups this week. Monday was the first of 12 monthly sessions in Cari Taplin’s National Genealogical Society Quarterly study group. We introduced ourselves and learned how the program would work. I’m looking forward to it. I already knew about a half a dozen other participants. Thursday evening I was late meeting with Kim, Linda and Kathryn.  Friday, four of us checked in with our past week’s activities. ...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's Saturday Night again - time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Here is your assignment, should you decide to accept it (you ARE reading this, so I assume that you really want to play along - cue the Mission Impossible music!): 1)  Jill Ball reconstituted her "Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2019" on 30 December 2019 and invited readers to participated.  2)  This week, let's contribute our answers to her questions about our genealogy accomplishments in 2019.  Copy the questions below, and add your own responses. 3)  Share your responses on your own blog, in comments on this blog, or on Facebook.  Please leave a comment on this post so readers can find your post, and please let Jill know about your efforts by emailing her at jillballau@gmail.com . Here's mine: 1.  An elusive ancestor I found was: I could not find my husband’s Davey family ship arrival records, but one day focuse...

This is my third 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. This is a tough one, as I have many favorite photos. I have shared some of them in the past on this blog but probably didn’t identify them as a favorite photo. This photo of my two grandmothers doting on the newborn baby (me) is a favorite of mine. This photo shows both grandmothers, Pansy (Lancaster) Johnston on the left, and Anne (Sullivan) Hork on the right. They both look like they are proud grandmothers. I think the photo was taken at my parent’s house (35 Wharf Dr, West Pittsburg), probably late March 1954, though it is possible that it was taken at Pansy’s home (307 Nancy Lane, Pleasant Hill). The amount of items on the wall point more to my parent’s home and the metal plate looks familiar ...

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: Week 1–Fresh Start .  I wrote about my mother’s southern ancestors who migrated to Texas.   Webinars/Study Groups Attended:     I met with both of my study groups this week. It was great that all of the Thursday evening group were present. In Friday's group we continued discussing our goals. It was great being able to meet with my genealogy friends online. Client Work : During the week, I received calls from two local genealogical societies who needed last-minute speakers, so I have agreed to do that. The first one will be this coming week. Sunday, I spoke about city directories at the Sacramento Public Library. I also met with a potential client, but after the consul...

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 : Goal Setting: What I Accomplished in 2019 and Hope to Accomplish in 2020. I thought about what I had done in the past year and what I hoped to do in the coming. I believe writing down goals will make them easier to accomplish. I shall post them on my bulletin board. 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 52––You (Actually Me) .  I wrote about myself. Webinars/Study Groups Attended:     Our Friday study group met and we discussed the idea of having written goals and sharing with each other. We decided to check in quarterly to see how we are doing. For many of them, the them of the year is “Finish,” mostly to finish their portfolios. Mine is to do more writing. Client Work : None. Volunteer Work : A...