My Trails into the Past

I watched a webinar this week called “Creating Your Ancestor’s Resume.” It was presented at Kinseekers in November by Karen Molohon. This topic intrigued me as another way to get information about my ancestors and family members onto paper (figuratively speaking). Creating a resume about an ancestor can have two purposes. If this is all you do, then you have written something about their life. A collection of these could be shared with your family. The other purpose is that it can serve as a starting point for further writing, such as adding historical and social context about their work. I thought I would create a resume for one of the ancestors I am working on. I will use these headings: genealogical summary, parents' names, spouse’s name, children’s names, skills, education, hobbies, and work history, starting with the most recent job down to their first job. My grandfather, Tom J. Johnston, saved some of the letters of recommendation he had five men write, who knew him we...

An heirloom we have is the autograph book belonging to Joseph Norman Gorrell. It appears the book was signed between 1893 and 1898. [1] Joseph was born on 9 March 1869 to Amos Gorrell, Jr, and Catherine E Shotts in Blackwater, Cooper County, Missouri. [2] He was the third child of six and the first son. [3] Autograph books back then were not about collecting signatures of famous people. But rather, friends, family, and classmates wrote sentimental sayings, along with their signatures. Autograph books have been around a long time. In Germany, they were called Stammbuch , Töpferalbum , or Album Amicorum (book of friends). [4] They were often used by university students, much as yearbooks are used today. This autograph book has a lovely cover with the letters “Autographs” embossed along with flowers. The pages inside have yellowed, but might have been buff colored. What would have been the occasion of Joseph receiving or purchasing the book? There is no title page, or a page that ...

Outside activities included two trips to the History Center, phenology at the Meadow, a hike in El Sobrante, volunteering at the Oakland FamilySearch Center, Kaiser for flu and COVID shots, John Muir hospital for lab work, and a trip to Stockton for an APG-NorCal potluck. Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: At the History Center this week, I worked on queries and entered details for some library books. Our director was ill, so I opened the Center. Later that week, committee number 1 met to discuss building issues. Wednesday was my volunteer day at the Oakland FamilySearch Center. There was no one there to help that evening, so I worked in FamilySearch’s full-text search. On Saturday, I presented “How to Leave Your Genealogy” to the Solano County Genealogical Society. There were lots of follow-up questions, which I love. Genealogy Meetings:  I attended the Labor SIG at Kinseekers, where we had a great discussion. Jacqueline and I met twice, first to discuss our weekly ac...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's Saturday Night again -  Time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings : Join in, accept the mission, and execute it with precision. Here's your chance to sit on Genea-Santa's lap (virtually) and tell him about your Christmases past. Rev up the old thinking cap and cue up the Mission Impossible music - your mission, should you decide to accept it - keeping with the Christmas theme - is: 1)   Today's challenge is to share memories of December holiday gatherings and celebrations with your families (as a child, a young adult, a parent, a grandparent, a great-grandparent, an aunt or uncle, a nibling, a cousin, an in-law)!   2)  Pick two or three questions from the list in my blog post:   Ask AI Gemini:  "What questions can I write about concerning family gatherings and celebrations during the December holidays?"   This is a new list of q...

Jack C. Sullivan was a soldier of the 4th Engineers during World War I. His military file was among many that burned in the 1973 fire at the National Personnel and Records Center (NPRC) in St. Louis. More than 75% of the Army and Air Force records were destroyed. The NPRC sent me only the last pay voucher, a three-page listing of soldiers’ final pay. At least I have his signature. Because of that, I have had to build his service information using other documents. I have found departure and arrival passenger lists, muster rolls, rosters, and morning reports for the unit he served; all created during his service. Other records were created after his service, such as the Veterans Administration Master Index (VAMI) cards and the Montana Military Cards. [1] With this information, I have been able to construct a timeline of his activities. Still, he was mentioned only once in the morning reports, and his Montana card said he was gassed on August 5. Besides that, I do not know much about...

Outside activities included a trip to the History Center, phenology at the Meadow, Thanksgiving at our daughter’s, and working the weekend at the Train Club. Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: At the History Center this week, I worked on queries. One researcher whom I had been helping via email came into the Center to look at some other items we have. Genealogy Meetings:  I attended the CDG Renewal group and then read Carol’s submission. I sent her some suggestions. Jacqueline and I met, and I heard about her trip to Hawai‘i, and I told her about the news articles I was finding about the Train Club from its inception to the mid-2000s. Genealogy Writing/Research : I am reading two books to help with my research. I’m taking notes as I read them and checking the sources in the endnotes. They are two different subjects: one on WWI and the other on farming during the westward expansion. Blog Posts Published: Swedish Recipe Treats For the theme of “family recipe,” I shared...

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)  Larry Smith invented six-word memoirs (see  https://www.sixwordmemoirs.com/ ).   2)  How do you want to be remembered?  What is most important to you?  What six-word memoirs would you write?   3)  Write at least one on any subject, and the sky is no limit. Here's mine: A part of me didn’t want to do this. It sounded too much like writing poetry, and I don’t like poetry. But then I thought, what the heck, I’ll give it a try. Baseball, tennis, soccer: sports I love. Train watching, train riding, utter joy. Bird watching, binoculars in hand. Lookout! Wildflowers on hikes, pictures to make. Researching is fun, writing is hard. Teaching genealogy brings knowledge to all. I guess those aren’t too bad. I couldn’t figure out how to ...