My Trails into the Past

I have completed one hundred seventy-seven (177) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. I left the house only twice this week, once to the bank and to operate at the train club. Genealogy   This week, I attended virtually, the course “For Land's Sake--Advanced Analysis and Platting” at IGHR. The class met from 7:30-3:30 Pacific time and pretty much took up most of my time during the weekdays. This was a great class, with some lectures, but mostly time in breakout rooms to work on multiple practical problems, where we studied deeds, platted the calls, and tried to answer the research questions. I especially liked learning how to import USGS maps into DeedMapper software. I have ancestors who lived in states with metes and bounds: North and South Carolina, and Kentucky. I have started platting some deeds of my Loveless family in Newberry County, South Carolina. Genealogy Meetings Because of the institute class, there were fewer meetings this week. Jacqueline and I met late Mo...

Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to report on what genealogy search/research we did this past week. Did we have a research goal or plan? Did we make any breakthroughs in your research? Here's mine: I spent all week at IGHR (Institute of Genealogy and History Research) taking an advanced land platting class, where we had multiple platting problems to solve. It was fun and I got much better using the platting program called DeedMapper. Once class was over, I returned to my research on Warren E. Gilbert, husband of my great-grandaunt, Mary Martha Gleeson. I am working on a Kinship Determination Project for my BCG renewal due later this year. In doing newspaper research in the towns in South Dakota (actually, it was Dakota Territory at this time), I came across a newspaper article published on 20 April 1886 about Warren being indicted by the United States for perjury. “Warren E. Gilbert, indicted by the late United States grand jury for perjury in a land case...

I have completed one hundred seventy-six (176) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. I attended a family reunion on Saturday and hugged everyone – the first time since Covid started. Maybe this is a sign I’m ready to end my semi-lockdown. Genealogy Genealogy Meetings Jacqueline and I met on Monday afternoon. We talked about diets, cemeteries, ordering death certificates, and the court records I got from NARA-KC. My mentee and I met for the first time in nearly two months. I was on vacation in June and she was gone most of July. She is so close to submitting so I gave lots of encouragement. Our Contra Costa County Historical Society board of directors met on Thursday and I took the minutes via Zoom. We got an Owl but there were some audio problems we still need to solve, but the sound and visual worked great when it worked. Lastly, I attended the orientation for the IGHR (Institute of Genealogy and History Research). The classes start on Monday and I’m taking an advanced co...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment tonight from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to: 1) Which of your ancestors was the LAST immigrant to your current country?  When did they arrive?  Where did they arrive?  Why did they migrate?    Here’s mine: The last ancestor of mine to arrive in the United States would be my paternal great-grandmother, Anna Maria Gleeson , who came to the United States perhaps in 1879 from Canada with her parents, John Gleeson and Margaret Tierney, and her nine siblings. They settled in Dakota Territory in Davison County. Now, where they came in is a mystery. Four of the family filed Intent to Naturalize and gave conflicting dates and places of immigration. Name Immigration  Date Immigration  Place Date of  Intent Age at  immigration Age at  1 st paper ...

My paternal grandmother's paternal aunt, Mary Martha Gleeson Gilbert, celebrated her 98th birthday at Santa Teresita Hospital in Duarte, located in Southern California. A photo of the celebration was published in the  Los Angeles Times  and also in  The Tidings , the paper of the Catholic Diocese in Los Angeles. Aunt Martha is technically my great-great-grandaunt. She was born 8 July 1863 in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada to parents John Gleeson and Margaret Tierney. The family moved to Dakota Territory in 1879. She married Warren E. Gilbert in Mitchell, Dakota Territory, on 9 September 1886. They had one child, Muriel. Warren worked many jobs, mostly as a salesman and they ended up in Southern California.  Martha outlived her husband, who died in 1930, and her daughter, who died in 1956. She died in 1962 at the age of 99. It is interesting to see the two articles. The photos and captions differ a little, though likely were taken near the same time. The junior volu...

I have completed one hundred seventy-five (175) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. Had a scare this week about Covid, as our executive director came down with it and she and I had been together on Tuesday. I tested Friday and Saturday but tested negative. I stayed home Friday from train club just in case. Genealogy Genealogy Meetings I had more meetings this week than last. The Kinseekers Military SIG met on Monday and KB shared books she uses in her military research. Many of them can be found on the Internet Archive. Jacqueline and I met on Monday afternoon but I don’t remember what we talked about. We always talk for at least two hours, so it was likely very interesting! At Amigos, three of us discussed citations and genealogies and probably bored Jacqueline. Our CGS Roundtable meeting was very lively and the time went by fast. Everyone had something to share. I hosted the Sonoma County Genealogical Society’s board meeting on Tuesday and we made a little progress on ...

Do you collect the signatures of your ancestors? It sounds like a trivial pursuit like collecting baseball cards or postage stamps, but collecting signatures of your ancestors can be useful in your genealogy research. Let’s talk about signatures we find in records. Clerk-recorded Records Records that we find online at Ancestry and FamilySearch that are in registers and other record books likely have only facsimile signatures. Those were written by the clerk responsible for recording the transaction. So be careful. If the ancestor’s signature handwriting looks just like the handwriting of the rest of the document, then you have only a clerk’s copy of the signature. The actual signature was on the document that was either put in a court packet (loose papers) or on the deed that the buyer took with them. Yes, occasionally I find original signatures in record books, especially those of marriage records. Home Records A great place to find original signatures is in records found in ou...

I have completed one hundred seventy-four (174) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. I went out on Wednesday to the Oakland FamilySearch Center and bought dinner at Whole Foods before going. I’m feeling more comfortable without masks in the grocery store. I was required to wear a mask to my eye doctor appointment though. Genealogy Genealogy Meetings I met up with Jacqueline and we decided to postpone our Texas research trip, which would have begun this week. I was not ready, it’s too hot there, and Jacqueline is in pain with hip issues. So perhaps in the fall or even next winter. Four of us met up with the Peer Cert group and it was so nice catching up with Alex. Everyone has been so busy but are looking forward to meeting up again in a month to discuss an NGSQ article. I attended the last session of my friend, Linda’s Japanese research and writing course. They concluded it by creating a Shutterfly book of their Japanese research. Since she had shared some of my Shutterfly ...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing is to: 1)  Marcia Philbrick wrote  Goal Update  this week on her  Heartland Genealogy  blog.  Linda Stufflebean suggested this would be a good topic for SNGF. 2)  What were your 2023 genealogy goals?  How are you doing in achieving them?  [If you didn't do goals this year, what goals would you like to achieve by the end of 2023?] Here’s mine: On 7 January 2023, we were asked for SNGF to make a list of our 2023 goals. I made three goals. I’ll list them here and update my progress. 1. Turn in my renewal portfolio for my CG recertification . My recertification isn’t due until the end of the year, and in fact, I received the application from BCG and see that I have a two-month extension, so it’s not due until the end of February 2024. I have been working on it and have 24...