My Trails into the Past

Many of the women on my father’s side were teachers. This was a common occupation for women, especially those who never married. This was the case for Margaret Teresa Gleeson, my great-grandaunt. Margaret, the daughter of John Gleeson and Margaret Tierney, was born on 28 July 1873 in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada and baptized on 24 August 1873 at St. Philip’s Church in Richmond. [1] She was their ninth child and fifth daughter. She would have one younger brother. Childhood When she was six years old, her family moved to the United States, settling in Mitchell, Davison County, Dakota Territory. The youngest three children were not listed as attending school in 1880. [2] She attended Mitchell High School. On one program held at the school in October 1889, Margaret gave a recitation titled “A Slave’s Heroism.” [3] In the next month, she recited “Spinning.” [4] During Arbor Day in May 1890, gave an essay on grasses, “showing that many plants not generally known as grasses reall...

Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great documenting our own. I’ll write about what I’ve been doing the past week. This idea came from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing, who started this meme. Genealogy Education I taught the fourth class of  the 5-class session on Intermediate Skills for the California Genealogical Society, being held at the Oakland FamilySearch Library on Wednesday evenings. I covered religious records. There is only one more class left. Blog Writing : 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks  For week 25, the theme was “earliest” and my post was about the earliest family to come to California. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun We were assigned the task of showing our graduation photos. Webinars/Study Groups Attended:   I didn’t view any webinars this week, though I participated in the NGSQ study group on Tuesday morning. I also participated in the Thursday evening Cert group chat. Volunteer Wo...

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing started this meme and I loved the idea. Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great documenting our own. I’ll write about what I’ve been doing the past week. Genealogy Not much happened on my own genealogy or the certification portfolio this week except for the blog writing. Our certification group didn’t meet this week. I did review my case study a bit and it’s churning ideas in my head for some restructuring. Blog Writing : I wrote a couple of blog posts this week: The Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post was about a summer day in our 12th year. For this week’s 52 Ancestors post I wrote about the 1880 census in Comanche County, Texas, where six families were living next door to each other, but all with different surnames. Class I started the California Genealogical Society’s class Intermediate Genealogy: Records Series. I have 10 students who all seemed very interested in the class on land records. ...

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past . I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. My aunts all married, so I have no maiden aunts, though one had no children. However, my grandmother, Anna Sullivan, had three aunts who never married: Elizabeth M. Gleeson, Helena M. Gleeson, and Margaret T. Gleeson. One thing these sisters had in common was they were school teachers. In 1900 in Anaconda, Montana, Helen M., Elizabeth M., and Margaret Gleeson were living together at East 5th Street. Helena was the school superintendent, while her sisters were teachers. [1] City Directories give more detail: Helena M. was principal at Bryan School, located at 4th Street at the southwest corner of Washington, and Margaret was a teacher at Prescott School, located at Park Avenue at the southwest corner of Elm, in 190...

I am working on this year-long prompt, hosted by  Amy Johnson Crow . I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either  Mam-ma’s Southern Family  or at  My Trails Into the Past . I’m looking forward to writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. One of the strongest women I know in my family was my grandmother, Anne Marie Sullivan Hork. When Anna was twenty years old, her mother died. [1]   She was attending the Montana State Normal College in Dillon, Montana, where she played basketball, volleyball, and sang in the Glee Club. [2]   She then spent her time teaching. Anna is the front row on the far left (in sepia tone) I don't know how she met her future husband, William Cyril Hork, but they married 22 November 1922 in Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana. [3]   They then moved to southern California.  William Cyril had been stationed in Long Beach during World War I and probably found the climate better th...