My Trails into the Past

We have had only Australian Shepherds as pets, as they are my husband’s favorite dogs. Our youngest daughter loves dogs of all kinds. Sidney. He was our last dog. He came to us when he was about 9 months old. He had been living his entire life alone in a backyard, so he was not well-socialized. He would bark at anything, especially things with wheels, though not at cars. Whether it was a bicycle, skateboard, stroller, or motorcycle, he would go wild with barking. He was also very hard to control when going for a walk. My husband was careful to keep away from other people and not let anyone pet him. One day, he was not well, and the vet told us he had a larger tumor in his abdomen. It was a sad day for all of us, especially our daughter, with whom we facetimed, so she could say goodbye to him. The photo is Sidney’s last visit at the vet. Toby. He was a red-merle and very beautiful. Many people commented on him. He and I took walks every morning before I went to work. He liked to ru...

My outside activities this week were numerous. I volunteered at the History Center on Tuesday, had eye surgery on Wednesday, and had a follow-up eye appointment on Thursday. On Sunday, I attended a presentation by the Martinez Historical Society. Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: I sent out the press release for the upcoming BCG-sponsored webinar. At the History Center, I worked on new accessions, and then, with the intern, we added descriptions of books in the library to the Excel database. Genealogy Meetings:  I attended the renewal accountability meeting and submitted the first proof summary about the first person in my KDP I’m working on. I got good feedback. Later, I attended the Kinseeker’s Military SIG, where we discussed the WWII morning reports. Jacqueline and I also met to discuss ways to use AI. Genealogy Writing/Research : This week, I worked on Ida (Hork) Colmann, my grandfather’s sister, and her husband, Martin J. Colmann. I found deed records in Los Angel...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's  Saturday Night  again -  Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our mission from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to: 1) Check out  Top Five Surprises  by D.M. Debacker on the  Gathering Leaves  blog. 2)  What are your top five surprises you have found in your genealogy research and family history work?  Here's mine, gleaned from 30+ years of genealogical research: I research both my side of the family and my husband’s side (i.e., my children’s ancestors & collaterals). I have not found much surprising information. 1. I was not surprised that some of my mother’s southern ancestors held enslaved people. However, none had big plantations. 2. I was not surprised that no famous people are among our ancestors. We’re just plain folk. None of the family stories appeared to be true: that we were descended from a Native American, or related to Will Rogers, Adolph Coors, Lyndon Johnso...

Last week, while searching for articles about school census records, I discovered an article about Pleasant Grove School for the 1884-85 school year. Pleasant Grove School was in LaMine Township, Cooper County, Missouri. Amos Gorrell’s children attended the school. The newspaper article gave great information about the school and the top students who attended during that term. The term lasted six months. Fifty-one students were enrolled. Grades The most interesting part of the article was the posting of the students’ grade standings. Two of Amos’s daughters, Lou Gorrell and Linnie Gorrell, had the highest standings at 98. Their sister, Ada, had 95, and their brother, Joe, had 90, and finally, their youngest brother, Arthur, had 80. [1] In 1884-85, these children were the following ages by 14 March 1885, the end of the term. Louella, 18 Linnie Sarah, 17 Ada Leah, 12 Joe, 16 Arthur, 9 The term ended earlier than it does now, probably so the children could be of use at h...

My outside activities this week were eating out at two restaurants in Florence, Oregon, walking on the beach, and collecting shells and rocks. Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: I worked on the press release for the upcoming BCG-sponsored webinar. Genealogy Meetings:  none this week, does this retreat count? Genealogy Writing/Research : During the retreat, I spent time inputting data into RootsMagic and then filing the documents into family folders. Some of it involved looking up the record again on FamilySearch so I could get the correct URL, the IGN number, and the image numbers. Some of the documents I already had had that information because I had downloaded them recently. I now work with a Word document open when I use full-text search at FamilySearch . This way, I can capture all I need for a source citation, which I create while viewing the document. Families I worked on: Fred J. Davey and his daughter, Dorothy Davey. I found many newspaper articles about the...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's  Saturday Night  again -  Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our mission from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to: 1)  Linda Stufflebean posted  "Essential Tools For Today's Genealogical Success"  recently, and Teresa Basinska Eckford followed that with her list in  "Essential Tools for Genealogists."   2)  What are your essential tools for doing your genealogy and family history work? Please list five or more of your essential tools so that readers may find tools that may help us do our work. Here’s mine: I use very few tools, but I will justify my tools here. 1. Word . I primarily work in Word. I keep track of my findings and report my analysis and conclusions. I find it easier to create source citations as I’m researching. There is a lot to capture when finding documents of interest, especially at FamilySearch: the URL, IGN number, image number(s), record type, and the lo...

In Silver Bow County, Montana, the school districts took a census of children in their community. They counted children as young as infants up to twenty years of age. This helped them determine the number of classrooms and teachers needed. Here is the page from the 1910 school census for School District No. 1, where my 2x-great-uncle, Michael & Sarah Sullivan’s children were listed. [1] The bonus in this school census for me is that the published census included each child, their birthdates, ages, parents’ names, and addresses. I can use this information to support the birth of the child and their parentage. Of course, this derivative record is not as reliable as a birth certificate. Still, if no birth record was created or the birth record is not available due to access restrictions, then this is a suitable alternative, as the parents likely gave the information. Finding School Census Records In checking the FamilySearch catalog using the keyword search of “school census,” I ...

My outside activities this week included doing phenology, hiking in Briones, visiting the history center, one doctor’s appointment, and driving up to Oregon. Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: I opened and closed at the History Center on Tuesday, covering for our executive director, who is on vacation. I finished up the McLeod collection and took a potential volunteer for a tour of the archives. My writing group met and we discussed Sheila’s new chapter, which covered her ancestor’s Revolutionary service and life in Pennsylvania as new immigrants. Lynne’s writing about her dog, who passed away, was very touching. I read my latest post about my dad’s work. Genealogy Meetings:  The CCCGS Roundtable met on Monday, and we discussed the closing of the Plaza Hotel in Salt Lake City. I also met with the accountability group and with Jacqueline on Monday. Jacqueline spoke about her troubles researching her McCurdy family in Arkansas. Keith showed us how to search in several differ...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's  Saturday Night  again -  Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is to: 1)  If you could go back in time to interview one of your ancestors, what questions would you ask him or her?  Tell us your selected ancestor's name, their birth and death years/locations, and their spouse's name and marriage date/location.  List at least five questions to ask that selected ancestor. Here's mine: The ancestor I’ll ask questions of is my great-grandmother, Anna Maria Gleeson , born 13 February 1860 in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada, [1] and died 3 January 1912 in Anaconda, Deer Lodge Co, Montana. [2] She married John H. Sullivan sometime in 1882, likely at Mitchell, Davison Co, Dakota Territory. [3] I wished I had asked my grandmother questions about her childhood and her parents. But she died before I became interested in genealogy. Questions to ask: ...

When my father went off to work, it was to grocery stores or supermarkets as a produce clerk or produce manager. He worked for several different stores, but the longest was for LoRay Market and Safeway. Safeway When we lived in Pittsburg, he worked at Safeway. The city directory just says clerk, not specifically produce clerk. The directories from 1955 to 1962 identified his place of work as Safeway. In 1963, they purchased a home in Walnut Creek. My father may have already been working there, and buying a house closer to work was more desirable. LoRay The LoRay store in Walnut Creek was only a few blocks away. There were three or four LoRay stores in the county. The name came from merging the owner's and his wife's names. My father always drove to work, primarily because he started work at 5ish. This gave him time to put out all the produce that had been removed from the shelves and put into cold storage refrigerators. I believe this was before they created refrigerated displa...

My outside activities this week included doing phenology, hiking in Pt Richmond, visiting the history center twice, volunteering at the OFSC, three doctor’s appointments, lunch with two friends from German class, and having a 45th anniversary dinner with hubby. It didn’t seem like I was that busy! Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: I did two trips to the History Center this week. On Tuesday, I worked on accessions, and on Thursday, I attended the board meeting and took the minutes. At the Oakland FamilySearch Center, I assisted a researcher in trying to fix a wrongly linked person in the FamilySearch Family Tree. The son was linked incorrectly as his mother’s husband. Genealogy Meetings:  I attended the Kinseekers NARA SIG, and I shared about seeking record groups that might have resources about the agencies where my great-aunt worked. Jacqueline and met and we talked about the upcoming retreat. I cannot wait. Genealogy Writing/Research : This week, I managed to download...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's Saturday Night  again -  Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our mission from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings , is to: 1)  Do you recall the layout of one of your family homes (a parent's home, a grandparent's home, your first home with your spouse/SO, etc.)?  Can you estimate the size of the house and the size of the rooms?  What features were in each room?  Can you draw the floor plan, showing doors, windows, etc.? Here's mine: I could describe both of my childhood homes, one in Pittsburg and the other in Walnut Creek, but I will save Walnut Creek for another day. Pittsburg, California, at 467 E. 9th Street We lived here from about 1955 to 1963. During that time, four children were born, and the six of us lived in a two-bedroom house. By the time we left, the kids slept upstairs, two to a room, which worked out as there were two girls and two boys. Our parents slept in the dining room downs...