My Trails into the Past

This is my fourth year working on this year-long 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 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. There was always music playing on the radio. Mom liked listening to the current hits and as a very young child, when we still lived in Pittsburg, California, I remember my mother demonstrating how to do The Twist to my father. She said to “act like you’re putting out a cigarette with your toe while you’re drying off your bottom with a towel, twisting your arms back and forth.” We thought it was great fun trying it out. Later, we moved to Walnut Creek, and our school program in fourth grade taught us to read music using black plastic song flutes they loaned out to us. I don’t remember the details except I wasn’t very good at it. But my brother, Jon and sister, Danna, must have because they...

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 fifty-four (54) weeks of semi- “lock down” due to Covid-19. This past week, I went out to the History Center, to Kaiser for my second vaccine shot, and to Lafayette for a walk around the reservoir and dinner for my birthday. Genealogy Blog Writing : Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – “Who Was Your First Ancestor Born in …” . I wrote about both my ancestors and my husband’s ancestors who were first born in the New World. Some were born during colonial times and some were more recent immigrants. Week 12: Loss--John E Lundquist . I wrote about the losses John felt in his lifetime, from death of two wives to the loss of his eye sight and use of his right arm from serving during the Civil War. Online Study Groups & Meetings Attended:  I a...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Here is our assignment this week from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings : 1)  Lorine McGinnis Schulze, in her blog post " Who Was Your First Canadian or American Born Ancestor? " asked that question. 2)  Let's broaden it a bit to "Who was your first ancestor born in your chosen county, state, province, or country?" based on your known ancestry. 3)  Put it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link in a comment to this post. Here is mine: My mother’s side: Her seventh great-grandfather, John Selman , was born in 1680 in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. He married Martha Groce there in 4 December 1707. His parents were John Sellman, born in England, and Elizabeth Brashear, birthplace unknown. I have not personally researched this line. Many online trees cover this line, as...

This is my fourth year working on this year-long 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 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. The first person in my husband’s Lundquist line to immigrate to the United States felt many losses. John E. Lundquist, born Johannes Eliasson on 8 December 1824 in Grolanda, Skaraborgs, Sweden to parents Elias Pehrsson and Kjerstin Ericsdotter. [1] Sometime before his marriage to Eva Charlotta Johansdotter on 12 December 1845 in Fivlered, he took the surname Lundquist. [2] When the rest of the family emigrated, they took the name as well. John’s first loss was his wife, Lottie’s death in 1854 in Bureau County, Illinois. [3] He and Lottie came to the U.S. with their three children, Josefina, Gustaf, and Emily on 12 July 1852. [4] After Lotta’s death, there is no knowledge of what beca...

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 fifty-three (53) weeks of semi- “lock down” due to Covid-19. This past week, I went out to the History Center, to phenology, and to the library to pick up a couple of books. Genealogy Blog Writing : Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Your High School Years . I wrote about my times at Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek. Week 11: Fortune—Homesteading for the Gleesons . I wrote about the Gleeson family homesteading in Dakota Territory. Online Study Groups & Meetings Attended:  I attended several study group meetings this week: Monday Morning met with 19—I think our highest ever. Jacqueline and I met for an hour or so of conversation on Monday. Amigos on Wednesday afternoon. Friday, the Cert Peer group checked in with only three o...

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) This week we travel down Memory Lane again - tell us about your high school years with answers to ten questions. 2) Put it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link in a comment to this post. Here's mine: 1. What was your high school's full name, where was it, and what year did you graduate?   Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, Contra Costa County, California. I graduated in 1972. We’ll have our 50 th reunion next year. Image of Las Lomas High School in the 60s 2. What was the school team nickname, and what are/were your school's colors?  Our school nickname is Knights. Our colors are maroon and gold and I still have a fondness for those colors. 3. What was the name of your school song, and can you still sing it?  I don...

This is my fourth year working on this year-long 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks 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 have no wealthy ancestors. Most just made enough of a living to support their families. But one family might have felt great fortune at the start of homesteading in Dakoka Territory. The Gleeson family came to Dakota Territory in 1879 from Carleton County in Ontario, Canada. The family consisted of John Gleeson and his wife, Margaret Tierney, and ten children, ranging from the oldest at twenty to the youngest at two. Was it the lure of homestead land that brought them? In all, John, his sons, Martin and John J, and his daughter, Ann, all initiated the homestead process acquiring 160 acres each. They ended up purchasing their land in Sections 5, 9, and 10 before the five years was up. ...

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 fifty-two (52) weeks of semi- “lock down” due to Covid-19. One full year! It’s probably going to be at least another six months, maybe more before some resemblance of normal, at least for those who have been vaccinated. Our private car train trip has been rescheduled again to September, so that may be our first trip somewhere (LA to Chicago). We’re also thinking about a trip to Oahu in October. This past week, I went out to the History Center, to phenology, to the bank on my bike, and out to dinner at Vic’s with our daughter, Elizabeth. I'm so glad that most people in my town still wear masks. Genealogy Blog Writing : I fulfilled my blog post writing this week by writing both last week’s and this week’s 52 Ancestors posts, and participat...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! O ur assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing is: 1) What is your all-time favorite song? Yep, number 1. It's hard to choose sometimes. If you made your favorite all-time Top 40 music selections, what would be #1? 2. Tell us about it. Why is it a favorite? Do you have special memories attached to this song?  3. Put it in your own blog post, in a comment to this post, or in a Facebook post.  Please leave a link in a comment to this post. Selecting a number one song would be very difficult. I can remember the first LP album I received for a gift: Herb Alpert’s Tijuana Brass “Whipped Cream & Other Delights.” The cover seemed scandalous to me with the naked women covered in whipped cream. There were some really good songs and I probably played it a lot.  Here is “A Taste of Honey.” My first 45 rpm I bought with my own money was ...

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 fifty-one (51) weeks of semi- “lock down” due to Covid-19. Now going into our 52 nd week of this pandemic in California. I left the house this past week to teach at the adult school on Zoom, go on two walks, do phenology with Shirley at the meadow, volunteer at the History Center, and go to Kaiser to get my first Covid shot. Genealogy Blog Writing: I didn’t write any of my blog posts this week. I’ll have to work on two 52 Ancestors next week. Online Study Groups & Meetings Attended:  I attended several study group meetings this week: Jacqueline and I met for an hour or so of conversation. Amigos on Wednesday and we heard about Linda’s research. Linda and I met up with the Ladies Group for about 30 minutes. Friday, the Cert Peer ...

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 fifty (50) weeks of semi- “lock down” due to Covid-19. Two more weeks and it will be one year of this pandemic in California. I did leave the house this past week to teach at the adult school on Zoom, go on a walk, and do phenology with Shirley at the meadow. This coming week I get my first vaccine shot! Genealogy Blog Writing : Week 8: Power—Was Thomas N Davey VP of Empire District Electric Company? ) . I wrote about the research I started to determine if my husband’s great-granduncle was the vice president of the Empire District Electric Company in 1909. He was listed as VP in the Carthage city directory as being VP of the Empire Electric Power & Supply Company. I’m thinking they are two different companies. Some queries are out to the...