My Trails into the Past

This past week I attended a class at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy called “From Sea to Shining Sea: Researching Our Ancestors’ Migrations in America.” [1] We learned so much about migrating families in the United States these some 400 years. We have learned about trails, roads, canals, and railroads that took them to new places. We learned about possible economic and social reasons (and push and pull of migration) that prompt their moves. Moving to a new place often were due to seeking freedom, a better life, free land, or being with family. I started thinking about why my ancestors moved. Of course, any of the above reasons probably factored in their moves, depending on the time period and their circumstances. Specifically, what brought my Hork family to California in the early 1920s? Cyril’s Move Cyril Hork had married Anna Sullivan in Butte, Montana on Thanksgiving Day in 1922. [2] At the time of his marriage, he was working as a warehouseman with the Northern Pacific...

Four o'clock has come and we sadly finished up our class in Advanced Southern Research. It has been a great week learning about the particulars of southern research from the very esteem instructors, J. Mark Lowe, Kelvin Myers, Ann Gillespie Mitchell, and Ari Wilkins. Anne taught us about cluster research and gave us tools to help us. Ari spoke about archives and special collections that are filled with wonderful resources that might have clues about our ancestors or help us learn more about the social, economic, and political history where they lived. I learned about specific manuscript collections from Kelvin and even used the resources to look at some records in the Shane Collection. And Mark spoke endlessly about listening for the story and to be ever ready to received the story from the records we collect. My main take away from this class is to study the documents our ancestors created or were created about them. Study them deeply and listen for the stories they tell ab...

It's Wednesday and we are over halfway through our week. I'm enjoying my class in Advanced Southern Research. Our instructors have given us great resources that will help add to knowing much more about our ancestors beyond the vital and census records. Today at the Family History Library after class, I searched through some records of the Shane Manuscripts about the Chillicothe Presbytery. I was hoping to see some of my husband's ancestors' names Bishop, Shotts, and Gorrell, but these records didn't seem to cover the area in Ross County where they might have attended church. I spent time looking at some Jefferson County, Kentucky and Louisville records for my husband's Wollenweber line. I did find a few court records, one that was available only on microfilm. I did not find everything, and might have to write to the court clerk in Louisville. Today I also want to highlight some of the friends I have photographed this week. Our Certification Peer Group ...

#SLIGExperience The theme for our Land class today was online maps. We learned about many different websites that house lots of images of maps. Some great sites are: Library of Congress National Archives National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Bureau of Land Management USGS David Rumsey’s Historical Map Collection to name a few good sites. State archives, libraries, and historical societies are also other great sites for historical maps. Screen shots of two sites we visited in the Family History Library lab: David Rumsey's Map Collection BLM website Here’s a map I found that was interesting—wish I noted which site I found it! This depicts the San Francisco Bay Another classmate and local genealogy society (California Genealogical Society). Laura Lee and me   I’m so excited by what we’ve learned so far! Copyright © 2018 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My ...

#SLIGExperience The second day at the Advanced Land Tools: Maps was fantastic! After learning all about migration routes, we worked on land platting. With protractors and rulers, and the land description, we were able to plat it out. It’s not so hard. Reminded me a lot of high school geometry class (which was my favorite math class). After learning to do it on paper, we went to the Family History Library computer lab and learned how to plat the same land using a program called Deedmapper . It’s a program I definitely want to buy. I walked back to the library, stopping first at the Salt Lake City Visitor’s Center and the gift store there. They have lots of neat stuff – some with “Salt Lake City” written on it, some candy treats, some jewelry, and books. Check it out. After dinner, I visited the Ancestry Pro Genealogists open house and had fun socializing with lots of SLIG participants and Ancestry employees. I even met a member of my local genealogy society I...

#SLIGExperience My syllabus and name tag along with this year's lapel pin I’ve completed first day of Advanced Land Records: Maps with Rick Sayre as the Coordinator. We also met our other instructors: Melinda Kashuba, Kimberly Powell, and Jerry Smith. The morning was an overview of what our week will be, plus Rick gave us an introduction to mapping America and a lesson on land division. After lunch we headed via bus to the Utah State Archives, where Melinda led a discussion about how to read maps and then we met in small groups to look at and analyze a few maps. Luckily we received a list of what to make notice of and to think about how the maps could help us genealogically. My team: Linda & Jane One of our maps we analyzed It was much fun seeing the variety of Utah maps that the archives have in their collection. I really love hands on activities. Copyright © 2018 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.

#SLIGExperience That’s what I’m writing about this week—my experiences at the 2018 Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. We had a great kick-off Sunday night with a welcoming reception with nice hors d’oeuvres. After introducing the SLIG staff and then all of the instructors for the 14 courses, we were treated to entertainment. I am taking Course 12: Advanced Land Tools: Maps. It is coordinated by Rick Sayre, cg . After quickly looking at the schedule, I can see that this will be a great course. This is my sixth SLIG experience. I love learning about a subject in depth. I love seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I look forward to the energy at SLIG Central. Better go to bed early—the week starts tomorrow! Copyright © 2018 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.