My Trails into the Past

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to: 1) What was your best genealogy "research find" in May 2016?  It could be a record, it could be a photograph, etc.  Whatever you judge to be your "best." 2)  Tell us about it in a blog post of your own, or in a comment to this blog post, or in a Facebook or Google+ post. After listening to three presentations from Jennifer Holik at Rootstech, I have been wanting to learn more about my great uncle, John Cyril Sullivan’s military service during World War I. He was injured during the war that caused him problems his whole life. I felt that I knew nothing about where he served. I was really bummed out when the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis sent back my request for his military records saying they had no record for him. Mm. I have a photo of him in an Army uniform. His tombstone says he was in the Navy. So the fire didn’t destroy the Navy record...

This is republished from 2015. Today is November 11, a day we honor veterans who served in the Armed Forces. I do not have many direct ancestors who were veterans, but I still want to honor those who were. This list includes those ancestors of my husband (in blue) and mine (in red). World War II Tom J. Johnston Jr. Tom J. Johnston Jr ., U.S. Navy. He served just a short time and was discharged due to a medical disability. He had been stationed in Idaho. George J Gorrell George Joseph Gorrell , U.S. Army. He was a staff sergeant with the 913th Air Engineering Squadron. He served in England and Germany. World War I William Cyril Hork William Cyril Hork , U.S. Navy. He served in submarine service and was last stationed in Long Beach aboard the submarine tender,  USS Alert . Civil War Amos Gorrell Jr. Amos Gorrell , Jr.,  Union Army. Co A, 18th Ohio. G...