My Trails into the Past

My outside activities this week included doing phenology, visiting the history center, attending a historical society presentation, and having cataract surgery. Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: At the historical society, I worked on Dean McLeod’s collection, filing papers into archival folders and using smaller document boxes. He gave a talk on Sunday and said he would be sending 2 file drawers full of stuff, so it would be nice to be familiar with the materials we already have. I presented on German immigrants obtaining federal land to the Sacramento German Genealogy Society on Tuesday via Zoom. Genealogy Meetings:  Jacqueline and I met and talked about the retreat . I attended Amigos, and while Stewart took a phone call, Jacqueline and I talked about the NARA SIG she attended on Monday. Later, Stewart, Karen, and I were the only ones at the RootsMagic SIG, and we discussed the Places tab. Genealogy Writing/Research : I worked on next week’s 52 Ancestors post, resear...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's  Saturday Night  again -  Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment from Randy Seaver (via Linda Stufflebean, who suggested the topic) is to: 1) What five reference books (and only 5) would you recommend to a b eginning genealogy researcher to have on their bookshelf? Here's mine: 1. My first pick is Drew Smith’s Generation by Generation (Genealogical Publishing Company, 2023). I recommend this book because of Smith’s approach in covering genealogy research, not by record group, but by methodology. Begin with yourself and work through 20th-century sources first. For a review of the book, see https://mytrailsintothepast.blogspot.com/2023/04/a-new-beginning-genealogy-resource-drew.html . *2. George Morgan,  How to Do Everything with Your Genealogy (McGraw Hill, 2015). Parts of the book would be dated due to changes in online sources, but he covers the fundamentals on researching differe...

As I researched the funeral Masses of my Catholic family members, I often found that the recitation of the Holy Rosary preceded the funeral Mass, or was said the previous evening. My grandmother, Anne M. Hork, died on 14 February 1979, and her funeral was held on 17 February at St. Matthews Catholic Church in San Mateo. I was present at the funeral, but I don’t remember much about it, except for the nice wake we had following it at my Aunt Virginia’s home. According to her funeral card, the Holy Rosary was recited ten minutes before the funeral Mass. Now, ten minutes is not enough time to recite the whole rosary, so I imagine they did only a portion. This past week, I attended the funeral for my cousin, Melanie. We also recited a portion of the rosary before the start of the funeral Mass. I am sure not many in attendance knew what to recite. We had no reading aids to follow along. It had been many years since I learned the parts of the rosary. It was not hard to find online. If y...

My outside activities this week included doing phenology, visiting the history center twice, attending a funeral and a genealogy meeting, and working at the train club show.   Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: At the historical society, I worked on cleaning up the finding aid entries on the computer. We have multiple versions of several of the collections. On Thursday, I took minutes at the board meeting. I hosted the monthly writing group. We discussed Nancy’s article for a New Mexico journal and Lynne’s summary of her trip to Poland. I also worked on the new presentation that I’ll be doing this coming week for the Sacramento German Genealogy Society. Genealogy Meetings:  Jacqueline and I met and she described a bit about their trip . I attended several meetings this week, most of which were on Monday: recertification accountability group, Kinseekers Military SIG, APG Writers SIG, and the C&C NGSQ study group. The NGSQ study group discussed Tom Jones’ article, ...

In 2004, John Quigley retired as a judge for Napa County, California, and his six living cousins attended his retirement party. He was the son of Ethel Sullivan and Vir Quigley. Pictured from left to right: William “Bill” Hork, son of Anne Sullivan and William Cyril Hork; Margaret Patterson, daughter of Loretto Sullivan and James Patterson; John Quigley; son of Ethel Sullivan and Vir Quigley; Mary Brehaut, daughter of Loretto Sullivan and James Patterson; Lorene Waldron, daughter of Anne Sullivan and William Cyril Hork; Virginia Gertridge, daughter of Anne Sullivan and William Cyril Hork; and June Stewart, daughter of Anne Sullivan and William Cyril Hork. Loretta, Anne, and Ethel were the daughters of John H. Sullivan and Anna M. Gleeson. Their two other children were Helena “Nellie” Goe and John Cyril Sullivan. Only Nellie had children and they were deceased by 2004. #52Ancestors-Week 29: Cousins This is my eighth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (...

My outside activities this week included phenology, a train club meeting, and a visit to the History Center. I almost had jury duty, but the midday call excused me. However, I missed our weekly hike. Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: For the historical society, I worked most of the day on Tuesday at the History Center and covered for LeighAnn when she went home sick. I entered the accessions in PastPerfect and gave a tour to a genealogist working on an assignment. Later in the week, the strategic planning Committee #1 met on Zoom to discuss facilities. For BCG, I sent out the last of the press releases for this week’s webinar. Lastly, I took minutes for the Sonoma County Genealogical Society’s board meeting. Genealogy Meetings:  I met with Jacqueline this week, as she is back from her vacation. I showed her the Shutterfly book I created of my vacation. I attended the new Kinseekers Employment & Labor Records SIG, and we were shown a great resource at the Walter P. Reuth...

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)  Taneya Koonce wrote a Happy Birthday post about her own life in  Quick Tip: Create Your Personal History Timeline - The Birthday Edition 🥳 .  What a great birthday idea! 2)  This week, write your own Personal History Timeline - every 5 or 10 years, or the most important events.  If you don't want to do yours, write a History Timeline for one of your ancestors. Here’s mine: I decided to do myself in the same fashion as Randy. I found the early years easier to write than the later years. 1954 (age 0) . I was born at Concord Community Hospital, and the doctor said I was the most beautiful baby. I am my parents’ firstborn. 1959 (age 5). We lived in Pittsburg on East 9th Street. I began Kindergarten. I came down with scarlet fever, and we were quarantined. Now I h...

Three Gleeson sisters were school teachers. Elizabeth (1865-1942), Helena Mary (1867-1950), and Margaret T. (1873-1941) grew up first in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada, and then moved to Davison County, Dakota Territory in 1879. By the 1890s, Elizabeth and Helena were living in Anaconda, Montana, and worked as school teachers. Margaret arrived before 1900 and followed in their footsteps. None of these women married. Helena and Margaret taught school for their entire life. Elizabeth had other adventures after teaching for a few years and ended up being a landlord in Los Angeles. However, what do school teachers do in the summer months? Take trips. Newspapers reported on these trips, so it is interesting to see where they traveled. Summer of 1899 “Miss Elizabeth Gleeson left last evening via the Northern Pacific for South Dakota on a visit to her former home.” [1] Her parents still resided in Mitchell. The Northern Pacific Railroad line traversed from Seattle to Minneapolis. A ...

My outside activities this week included phenology and two trips to the History Center. I also went with Elaine to Watershed Nursery and the 4 th of July Parade.       Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: On Monday, I hosted another CGS neighborhood meeting with three attending. They were all able to share problems they have and get some suggestions. This week I worked at the History Center on Tuesday and Saturday. Saturday, we had a tour group come in, and we set up stations to view some Welch Family items. On Wednesday, I worked at the Oakland FamilySearch Center and helped a gentleman with the newspaper websites. At home, I prepared the upcoming BCG-sponsored press release and will send it out this coming week. I’ve been working on the presentation for the Sacramento German Genealogy Society on land records. I’m giving it later this month. Genealogy Meetings:  No meetings this week. Genealogy Writing/Research : In preparing the 52 Ancestors post, I did a...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's Saturday Night again - Time for some more Genealogy Fun!!   Our mission today: 1)  Did your grandparents know their grandparents personally?  2)  Check your family tree, and share your grandparents' names, birth and death years and places, and their grandparents' names, birth and death years and places. Indicate if they knew their grandparents. Here’s mine: We did this on February 15 of this year. https://mytrailsintothepast.blogspot.com/2025/02/sngf-did-your-grandparents-know-their.html . However, I’ll play, but ask if my parents knew their grandparents. My father, William J. Hork, was born in 1930 in Southern California. His grandparents were: Johan Anton Hork, b. 1843 in Germany, d. 1906 in Wyoming. – No Julia Ann Sievert, b. 1854 in Illinois, died 1928 in Illinois.  – No John H. Sullivan, b. 1854 in Ireland, died 1932 in So. California. – Maybe, but he was too young to remember Anna Marie Gleeson, b. 1860 ...

My outside activities this week included two trips in one day to the dentist for a crown, phenology at the meadow where I saw a gopher snake in the grass, and the train club where I operated trains for a show.    Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: Because of the dentist on my History Center day, I only spent a couple of hours there. John and I met to discuss what to do with the small books and textbook collection. I got a request to do a presentation in November and took care of filling out their contract. Genealogy Meetings:    I attended the Renewal Accountability Group this week, and we discussed some of the research I had done on my vacation. The Monday Morning group met and I shared about my research trip to Indiana and Kentucky. Amigos didn’t meet due to other commitments, but I attended the RootsMagic SIG and spent time adding headshot photos to my program. Genealogy Writing/Research : This week, I have worked on processing the research I conducted in...

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 )  FamilySearch has a page for "Famous Relatives" at   https://www.familysearch.org/en/discovery/famousrelatives .  It works if you are connected to the FamilySearch Family Tree. 2)  Check out the website.  Which connection surprises you?  Do you believe that the connection is correct? Here's mine: None of the relatives listed on this website are closely related to me. Once we get past 5th cousins, we are in the part of the tree where I have not done the research and don’t have the sources to prove the connections. All of the matches are on my mother’s side, as my father’s side is more recent immigrants from Germany and Ireland. George Washington is my first cousin eight times removed, through Amanda Deborah Oldham. I don’t know her parents, but the FamilySearch Family Tree shows Mary Ann ...

I can't believe I have been blogging on My Trails into the Past for fourteen years. I still manage to write at least three posts a week. I even managed the posts while I was on vacation.  So on average, I do 52 posts on the following themes: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks . I sometimes write the post at my other blog, Mam-ma's Southern Family. Genea-pourri. These posts document my genealogy week. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun. We write a post using a theme thought up by Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings. I sometimes write those on my other blog. Occasionally, I'll write a fourth post when I have something interesting to write about. This past year, these were those extra posts: Progress on the Polly Line: Keeping the Timeline Up to Date Analysis of the new AI Summary at FamilySearch Goals for 2025 RootsTech 2025, Day One RootsTech 2025, Day Two Artificial Intelligence Helped Consolidate Multiple Blog Posts into a Coherent Story Statistics for the blog: It's cool that there are m...