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 ...

It's the second week in January, and that means I'm in Salt Lake City to attend the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG). It's always a fun week co-mingling with other like-minded genealogists from all over the US and from several countries. I'm happy that it was not snowing when my plane landed on Sunday afternoon. The weather is cold, but so far dry. There is some inversion and the air quality is not perfect, but we stay indoors most of the day. I'm taking Advanced Southern Research from J. Mark Lowe, along with additional instructors of Anne Gillespie Mitchell, Deborah A Abbott, Kelvin L. Meyers, and Ari Wilkins. This is going to be a great class with wonderful instructors. My mother's entire ancestry is southern. I have found family in the states Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia. I have not gotten back far enough yet to know their origins, but likely they have been her...