My Trails into the Past

I have completed eighty (80) weeks of semi- lock down due to Covid-19. This past week we were part of a tour aboard private rail cars and as long as we were together on the train, we could remain maskless. However, inside stores and restaurants and train stations, we wore our masks.   Genealogy Blog Writing : I wrote both the 52 Ancestor and the Saturday Night Genealogy Fun blogs this week. Last week’s post about Amos’ diary and on the farm was highlighted in the Generations Café blog post. 52 Ancestors—Week 38: Fun & Games—Scrabble I wrote about my love of playing Scrabble with anyone who is willing to play. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Your Great-Grandparents Locations . I wrote about the birth, marriage, and death dates and locations for my eight great-grandparents. O nline Study Groups & Meetings Attended:   Although I was on vacation, I managed to meet up with my AppGen partners for our weekly planning meeting and with three others in the Peer ...

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)  We all have 8 biological great-grandparents.  Where and when were they born, where and when did they marry, and where and when did they die? 2)  Tell us in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or on Facebook.  Be sure to leave a comment with a link to your blog post on this post. Here's mine: Paternal Great-grandparents Johan Anton Hork (Horoch) was born 9 November 1843 in Oberhundem, Kreis Olpe, Westfalen. He died 15 August 1906 in Sheridan, Sheridan Co, Wyoming. He married Julia Ann Sievert 6 June 1872 at St. John’s German Catholic Church in Joliet, Will Co, Illinois. Julia Ann Sievert was born 31 October 1854 in Joliet, Will Co, Illinois. She died 4 August 1828 in Hamilton, Ravalli Co, Montana. John H. Sullivan was born 20 June 1854 somewhere in Ireland. ...

Our mother played games with us often. Chutes and Ladders and Candy Land were popular board games and Old Maid and Go Fish were early card games. As we grew older, she’d introduce more games. We had Sorry, Chinese Checkers, and regular checkers. There was always a new board game under the Christmas Tree every year. One year we received Risk but had no idea how to play so made up our own version.   Card games became for sophisticated. We learned how to play Rummy, Gin Rummy, Solitaire and Double Solitaire. Monopoly and Clue were other fun games but had pieces that were prone to get lost. Dice games included Yahtzee and Liar’s Dice. My favorite game was Scrabble and Boggle—actually any game involving words. I played with my mother and sometimes my sister. Once I was married, I played with my mother-in-law, Thelma, and her daughter, Sylvia. Sylvia always beat us, whether it was Scrabble or Boggle. She was quick and knew a lot of words, I think from doing lots of crossword puzzles....

I have completed seventy-nine (79) weeks of semi- lock down due to Covid-19. Except that this week we left on Thursday for a three-week train ride & visit to New York City. We’ll stay masked up whenever there are crowds or indoors. Genealogy Blog Writing : I wrote only one post this week. I completely forgot about Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. 52 Ancestors—Week 37: On the Farm—Amos’ Diaries Gives Us a Taste of Farm Life I wrote about my husband’s great-grandfather’s life in Missouri based on pages from his diary. O nline Study Groups & Meetings Attended:   I met with my AppGen partners for our weekly planning meeting and with the four Amigos on Tuesday.  Volunteer & Own Work : We continued working on the new library at the History Center and I left instructions for Ben for the next few weeks. Other :  I worked on the garden preparing the plants for our three-week vacation. My friend Elaine will stop by and do any spot watering that is needed. ...

Amos Gorrell, my husband’s paternal great-grandfather, grew up on a farm in Ross County, Ohio. After his Civil War service and marriage to Elizabeth (Livy) Shotts Sayre, they moved to Cooper County, Missouri, where they lived the rest of their lives. See this post about their move. We know the details of that move and what it was like the first few years because Amos kept a yearly journal in a small notebook that fit in his pocket. He kept track of small things: the weather, who he saw, what he purchased, what he planted, and correspondence with friends and family. Many years later, the surviving journals were transcribed and copies of the transcriptions were given to descendants of the six children he and Livy raised. My father-in-law received one of the little books. The entries are short and somewhat cryptic, but reading the entries over a few days paints a picture. Here is weeks’ worth of what he wrote in late May of 1871. Spelling and punctuation is kept as written. Sabba...

I have completed seventy-eight (78) weeks of semi- lock down due to Covid-19. This past week, I left the house to volunteer at the History Center twice, and to do phenology. Genealogy Blog Writing : I wrote two posts this week. 52 Ancestors—Week 36: Work—Fred J. Davey, From Machinist to Musician I wrote about my husband’s great-granduncle’s occupation, both as machinist in early life, and his later work as a musician. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun—20 Years Ago . . .  I wrote about what I remember about 9-11 twenty years ago.  O nline Study Groups & Meetings Attended:   I with my AppGen partners for our weekly planning meeting. Our four Amigos met on Tuesday and heard news from Linda and Stewart. I was late to my peer group on Friday but got in the discussion on chapter 11 in Mastering Genealogical Documentation .   Webinars & Classes Attended : I attended no classes or webinars. Client Work/Presentations :  I presented to the Contra Cost...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Here is our assignment Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing : 1)  Today is September 11th, and the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attack on the United States.  Where were you, what were you doing, and how did it affect you? 2)  Tell us in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or on Facebook.  Be sure to leave a comment with a link to your blog post on this post. Here's mine: We did not learn of the attacks until we got to work. Johanna and I carpooled and never had the radio on. Instead, we planned out our day as we drove into work at the Hayward Training Center. Once there, someone told us to come into the classroom and see something. They got the video monitor to tune into a local station using rabbit ears and we saw through a very fuzzy screen the first building had been struck, wondering how a plane could make such a horrible mista...

Fred James Davey, the great-uncle of my husband, and older brother of his grandmother, Matilda Pearl Davey Gorrell, was born 27 November 1878 in Louisville, Kentucky to Frederick Henry Davey and Matilda “Tillie” Wollenweber. [1] He was the oldest of four and was just eight years old when his mother died in 1885. Not much is known about Fred’s early life until his marriage. He married Laura Hollowell in Joplin, Missouri on 16 March 1898 with his father giving his assent to the marriage. [2] Machinist Two years later, he is found living at 904 Main Street, Joplin, living with his mother-in-law, Medley Hollowell. He worked as a machinist, Fred likely following in his father’s footsteps. [3] Laura had died on 29 Jan 1899. [4] A 1906 directory in Springfield, Missouri, showed he was a machinist with Frisco Systems shops. [5] The same year, he married Alice Christine Pfotenhauer on 19 June in Joplin at the First Christian Church. [6] He continued working as machinist in Springfie...

I have completed seventy-seven (77) weeks of semi- lock down due to Covid-19. This past week, I left the house to volunteer at the History Center and the Oakland FamilySearch Library, and do phenology. Genealogy Blog Writing : I wrote two posts this week. My 52 Ancestor post on the McFall actresses was highlighted in the 52 Ancestors’ email this week. 52 Ancestors—Week 35: School—Lela Nell’s School Report Cards Help Tell a Story I wrote about my mother’s report cards from second, fourth, fifth and eighth grades and how they document her family’s moves. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun—What Was Your First Real Job? I wrote about the summer job I had at my high school library.  O nline Study Groups & Meetings Attended:   I met with Jacqueline and we spoke about her past and upcoming motorhome trips. I met with my AppGen partners for our weekly planning meeting. Our four Amigos met on Tuesday and got caught up. I attended the Certification Discussion Group and liste...