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. I have completed twenty-four (24) weeks of semi- “lock down” due to Covid-19. I went out a little more this week (mask on): I attended training at the Acalanes Adult School for the new program Canvas, delivered empty jars to Jacqueline, weeded with the Native Plant Team, did phenology at the meadow, and visited with brother- and sister-in-law at the local brew pub. I also got a haircut! It is still a bit smoky outside, with some days better than others. At least the hot weather has passed us by for a while. Genealogy Blog Writing : Blogs posted this past week: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 35: Unforgettable—Raymond Hork of Montana   I wrote about my great-uncle, Raymond Hork, who died young and unmarried at 28. Study Groups Attended:   ...

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. Many of my ancestors’ siblings were either unmarried or had no children. I don’t want their lives to be forgotten when they had no descendants. Raymond Joseph Hork, my grandfather, William Cyril Hork’s brother, is one such person. Raymond Joseph Hork, the eighth child of Johan Anton Hork and Julia Ann Sievert, was born 11 November 1889 in Stuart, Guthrie County, Iowa. [1] His father was a tailor and moved every two years or so until they finally settled in Hamilton, Montana. [2] Raymond at a young age of twenty-eight years old, died on 1 December 1917 at the Montana State Hospital. Cause of death was exhaustion of dementia and precox. [3] According to Wikipedia , “this is a chronic, deteriorating psyc...

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. I have completed twenty-three weeks of semi- “lock down” due to Covid-19. I left the house this past week to meet with a friend for a quick lunch on Monday, a quick trip to the History Center to find a divorce record for a query, and to do phenology at the meadow. This week was hot and we ran the air conditioner most days. Plus the smoky air kept us from opening windows. Genealogy Blog Writing : Blogs posted this past week: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 34: Chosen Family—The Gleeson Family of Ontario, South Dakota, and Oregon   I wrote about writing a family history on my Gleeson family using photos from a photo album. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Your Disaster Genealogy Go Bag. I wrote about which items I would grab if we had only fifteen...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing has our assignment if we choose to play along (cue the Mission Impossible music, please!): 1) Thank you for this topic to Jacqi Stevens for her post today on  Your Genealogy Go Bag  on her blog  A Family Tapestry. 2)  My daughter Lori evacuated her home in the Santa Cruz mountains on Tuesday due to a large fire.  Am I, or are you, prepared to react to a local disaster like a fire, earthquake, hurricane or civil unrest?   3)  That prompted me to worry about "what genealogy/family history items would I take with me if I had 15 minutes to collect them?"  4) Write about it in a blog post on your own blog, in a Facebook post, or as a comment on this blog post. Thank you, Jacqi, for prompting us to do this! It certainly has been a tough seven days this past week. Fi...

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. I am choosing the Gleeson Family, from my father’s maternal line, to write about this week. This family was the first one I chose to write a book about in 2004. It started with receiving a photo album that Muriel Martha Gilbert, daughter of Mary Martha Gleeson and Warren Edmond Gilbert, put together of her Tierney grandparents and great-aunts and uncles, and of her Gleeson parents and their children. It is in a beautifully leather-bound album. Most of the photos are photo cards, taken in the late 1800s, some in Canada and some in South Dakota. Many of the photos are labeled in an index in the front. There are missing photos, where they are listed in the index but the photos do not appear in the album. ...

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. I have completed twenty-two weeks of semi- “lock down” due to Covid-19. I left the house this past week only to do phenology at the meadow and visit the History Center for a walk-through with Priscilla. This weekend is so hot, we have turned on the air conditioner. Genealogy Blog Writing : Blogs posted this past week: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 33: Troublesome—Trying to Find Mary Davey   I wrote about trying to find out what happened to my husband’s great-grandfather’s sister. Study Groups Attended:     Monday Morning Group . Our biggest group every with seventeen people attended and we talked about a lot of miscellaneous topics.     Met with Jacqueline and we caught and then agreed to meet in person next w...

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 past week, while attending a genealogy class on writing up our research, I have been researching what became of Mary Davey, who married at least twice, once to a Crosby, and another to a Smith. Her death date is still unknown as well. Researching Mary has certainly been troublesome.   However, writing up the research has helped with some progress. Below is what was known before the start of the new research: Mary Davey , born 23 May 1839 and the sixth child of Thomas Davey and Mary Nicholas, came to the U.S. with her family in 1851. She was baptized at fourteen at St. Peter’s Church in Reading, Pennsylvania. [1] In 1885, her mother visited Mary Crosby in Indianapolis when she was suffering from cance...