My Trails into the Past

Our family is fortunate that Amos Gorrell kept a yearly diary, at least from 1861 through 1872. Those are the years that we have transcribed. The early diaries are of his time during the Civil War, though 1862 & 1863 are missing. He might have lost them sometime in battle. They picked up again in 1864 and continue yearly through 1872. Like many farmer diaries, they are full of weather observations, purchase and sales figures, and the work he did on his farm or a neighbor’s farm. When I share entries during a talk I give about researching our farming ancestors, I point out that these need to be read over a period of time to get an understanding of their life. However, today, I shall share a few entries from 1866. I have not read these in a long while and I might pick up something I hadn’t realized earlier. That’s a good thing. Read diaries more than once. You’ll notice different things at different readings. These diaries I'm working from are transcribed. The originals were ...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Our mission from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing is to: 1)    Michael John Neill wrote  "Pick a Day"  on Thursday in his  Genealogy Tip of the Day  blog and I thought it would be a good SNGF topic. 2)    Read Michael's post, and then write your own post.  Tell us your day, and your person, and then answer the ten questions. Here's mine: I shall select my paternal grand-aunt, Helena M. Sullivan, who was the wife of Harold Hutchinson Goe. The day is January 2, 1920, the date of the 1920 census, though they were enumerated on January 7. Helena and Harold Goe lived in Anaconda, Deer Lodge County, Montana at 611 Maple Street, which they owned with a mortgage. Harold was 39 years old, while Helena was 37. By this time, their two children had been born. The oldest was Elizabeth A., who was six, and their son, John H. was fou...