My Trails into the Past

I have completed one hundred thirty-three (133) weeks of semi-lock down due to Covid-19. We were on vacation in Chicago and New York City this week, so we’re not on any lockdown, but whenever we were in crowds, on the subway, or indoors, we wore our masks. Genealogy Blog Writing : New to Me—Civil Death Records in North Rhine Westphalia on My Heritage . I wrote about a database I found on MyHeritage that had death records for some collateral Hork family members. Because we’re on vacation, I have only kept up with genealogy stuff on email. I attended no meetings or study groups. One night I did get in a webinar. Webinars Viewed : Mastering Digital Filing for Genealogists by Cyndi Ingle —I’m going to use the shortcuts she discussed. Vacation : Monday : We arrived in Chicago aboard the California Zephyr, a few hours late. We walked to La Quinta where we stayed overnight. Tuesday : We tried to go to the Museum of Science and Industry but our Lyft driver dropped us off at

Once the unification of the various German states in the German Empire in 1871, all areas of the German Empire now had civil registrations. I discovered a new database with images at My Heritage , “ Germany, North Rhine Westphalia (Arnsberg, Detmold, and Münster), Deaths 1874-1938 . ” My Hork family came from the towns of Oberhundem, Kirchhundem, Altenhundem, and Elspe. This database covers those locations. I found quite a few entries for Hork. One entry was for Maria Catharina Hork, who was born Kremer. She married Franz Joseph Hork in 1865 in Elspe. He was the brother of my great-grandfather, Johan Anton Hork. I have found their baptism and marriage records but did not know when they died. So, this is a great database. What I can cipher out of this document (not in the exact order) is: Maria Catharina Hork died on 17 January 1903 in Elspe at 3:30 in the afternoon. Peter Hork reported her death on the eighteen of January. She was sixty-two years old, which matches her birth of 17 Ma

I have completed one hundred thirty-two (132) weeks of semi-lock down due to Covid-19. Most of my outside activities involved taking walks around the neighborhood, visiting the History Center, and starting our train trip to the east. Genealogy Blog Writing : Highs & Lows – Births & Deaths of Children of Thomas & Mary Dave y . I wrote about the children of Thomas and Mary Davey who did not survive infancy. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Elementary School Memories I wrote about attending school in Pittsburg and Walnut Creek. O nline Study Groups & Meetings Attended: I had four meetings this week: military SIG with Kinseekers, Amigos, CGS Roundtable, and AppGen with Mary. Client Work/Presentations : Nothing this week. Volunteer Work : I did my shift at the History Center and attended the board meeting for the Contra Costa County Historical Society. I also attended the board meeting for the Sonoma County Genealogical Society. Own Work : I did some comp

It's  Saturday Night  - time for more  Genealogy Fun! Our mission from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to: 1) The new school year has started in the Northern hemisphere, and for most children that means a new grade, a new teacher, and perhaps new friends. 2) Tell us about some of your elementary school memories when you were a child.  What are your memories of starting school in a new year?  Who were your teachers?  How did you get to school?  Who were your best friends?  What subjects did you like best?  What extra-curricular activities did you participate in?  Make up your own questions if you'd like! Here’s mine: I had just written about my early elementary school days in my biography and will take snippets of that for this post. I attended three different elementary schools. Kindergarten The kindergarten classroom was in a separate building from the primary school building that held grades one through five. Neither building is there today in Pittsburg; a hou

Outside of St. Agnes, Cornwall, England Thomas Davey and Mary Nicholas, my husband’s 2x-great-grandparents, lived first in Cornwall, England, then in London, and finally emigrated to the United States. They had fourteen children born in England and their last child was born in Pennsylvania. Of the fifteen children born to them, only six lived to adulthood. Fourteen children came to them like clockwork, every year or so. The first three children, Elizabeth, Susan Nicholas, and Thomas Nicholas lived to adulthood. There was probably great joy when they were born. However, in 1837, their fourth child, Edward Nicholas was born and I have no idea how long he lived. Another Edward was born in 1838 and he, too, died. Two sons, named Edward, and both died as infants. Two daughters were born next, Mary Jane in 1839 and Lydia Nicholas in 1841. More joy as they survived to adulthood. Next was a very low point in their family. Six children were born and six died as infants. Another Edward

I have completed one hundred thirty-one (131) weeks of semi-lock down due to Covid-19. Most of my outside activities involved talking walks around the neighborhood, visiting the History Center, and going to the train club. Genealogy Blog Writing : An Easy Way to Map an Ancestor’s Migration Route Using Google Maps . I wrote about how to use Google maps’ direction feature to make migration maps. It was highlighted on Friday’s Family History Finds  and Randy Seaver's Best of the Genea-blogs . Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: What is Your Favorite Research Resource? I wrote about newspapers and how I use them to add to my family’s story and find historical, social, and political context. O nline Study Groups & Meetings Attended: I met with my writer’s group on Monday and the rewrite of my research report was well-received. On Sunday, I met with my geno book club and we discussed The Lady from the Black Lagoon . Client Work/Presentations : I gave my Farm talk to the Bo

It's  Saturday Night  - time for more  Genealogy Fun! Our mission from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to: 1) What is your favorite genealogy research resource?  Not a website, but a type of record, like census, cemetery, tax, etc. Why is it your favorite?  [Thank you to Linda Stufflebean for suggesting topics!] 2)  Write your own blog post, or add your response as a comment to this blog post, in a Facebook Status post or note. Here's mine: I first want to say, as a dedicated genealogist who tries to adhere to the Genealogy Proof Standard (GPS), all record types are my favorite research resource. We answered a similar question back on March 19 and I wrote about directories. My second favorite source is newspapers. Researching in newspapers has helped me add flesh to the bones of my ancestors, add historic and cultural context to their lives, and solve some genealogical research problems. Sometimes, newspapers have given me a surprise. Besides obituaries, I searc

In exploring ways to visually show the migration route of an ancestor, I have chosen an easy way. Just use the directions function on Google Maps. Start with their starting point and add each leg of their migration to the directions until you arrive at the last place they settled. Hork Family . Here is an example. My great-grandfather emigrated from Germany and the first place I locate him in records is in Joliet, Illinois when he married my great-grandmother. I entered Joliet, Illinois in the get directions box. To choose another direction, you’ll have to exchange Joliet’s position to the top using the little arrows to the right. He next lived in Aurora, Illinois, where he obtained his U.S. citizenship. So, I add Aurora as the next destination. While you do this, keep track of the number of miles between locations. It is 23 miles between Joliet and Aurora by automobile. You might want to move the route to make it most direct, as our ancestors did not have interstate highways and Goo

I have completed one hundred thirty (130) weeks of semi-lock down due to Covid-19. Most of my outside activities involved talking walks around the neighborhood and visiting the History Center. Genealogy Blog Writing : Free Space for a Burial – Davey Cemetery Plot . I wrote about how when visiting the cemetery of my husband’s great-grandmother, I found no tombstone marker.   Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: A Surprising Discovery . I wrote about how my 3x-great-grandfather left his wife and children and that was why I couldn’t find what had happened to them. O nline Study Groups & Meetings Attended: I met with four groups this week: my mentee and the Certification Discussion Group on Wednesday, the monthly peer group on Friday, and the Geno Study group on Sunday. I had no other meetings. Client Work/Presentations : I continued working exclusively on my AppGen Foundations 2 course this week and I am about 99% finished. I’m giving it a rest and will read through it to add

Both of my husband’s paternal great-grandparents, Fred Davey and Matilda Wollenweber Davey are buried in unmarked graves. Fred was buried in 1915 at Odd Fellows Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. I have his grave location and in the summer of 1996 on my way to a model railroad convention, I visited the cemetery. I walked up and down the avenue where he was supposed to be, but did not find him. There was no office open on Sunday, so I left disappointed. After I got home, I sent a letter to the cemetery and they verified there was no tombstone. Along with the reply were brochures to purchase a tombstone. His space is still free of a marker and I took no photo. Years later, while on vacation, we had a chance to stop by Park Cemetery in Carthage, Missouri, where Matilda Davey was buried in 1885. This time I was able to visit the cemetery office and once the woman helping me found her in their files, she got all excited. She then took us out to the gravesite. There we saw only grass.