My Trails into the Past

The continuation of the 15 month, weekly writing project about my life and memories, created by Julie Goucher . The prompt for week 6 is Journals and Diaries Do you keep a journal or diary? How far back do they go? What do you record? Where do you keep them? Do you always buy the same one or vary them? Have you inherited any? Do you intend to pass along your journals or destroy them? Pictures Do you have a favorite? What do you use to write with – biro, pencil, ink or fountain pen? I currently do not keep a journal or a diary. I have not really kept either one any long period of time. In high school we had to keep a journal in an advanced writing class I took as a senior. I mostly wrote about the stories I wanted to write, nothing really about myself. I often keep short journals when I am on a trip, writing about the things that I do on the trip. My first one was started in 1974 when I traveled with a school friend across the country on a Greyhound bus...

  I am continuing the 15 month project to write about myself using prompts created by Julie Goucher . The prompt for week 5 is “Your Childhood Home” I lived in at least three houses as a child. I know the addresses and have photos for three of them. When I was born, my parents lived at 35 Wharf Drive in West Pittsburg. [1] They purchased the house when they had married the year before and had to wait for the house to be finished before moving in. It had a flat roof. I don’t think they lived there long. I certainly don’t remember the inside and have only seen the front of the house from photos. The house still stands but the community is called “Bay Point” now.     We next lived at 467 East 9th Street in Pittsburg. [2] This was a two story house with a basement and a cellar. There were two bedrooms upstairs with a bath. Downstairs was a living room, dining room and a kitchen. From the kitchen there were stairs down to what we called the basement. It actually...

I am continuing the Book of Me, and this week’s prompt no. 4 is ‘Favorite Season’. You can learn more about the prompt & the 15 month challenge at Julie Goucher’s page . It would be easier to choose a least favorite season: I’m not a big fan of summer. I like wearing shorts but I do not like being hot. I loved being out of school—well for a few weeks until I was bored—and couldn’t wait to get back to school. I even played school teacher with my brothers and sisters. In summer we were forced to play outdoors all day and we never went on vacations, so it was the same thing day after day. So spring could be my favorite. My birthday falls just a few days after the first day of spring. The baseball season begins in spring and I can begin to root for my favorite Giants. The budding trees and new wild flowers begin to bloom. My favorite spring tree is the red bud with its dark red blossoms and favorite flower is the California poppy. Hikes in the neighboring hills and parks always r...

  The prompt for week 3 is: Describe your physical self Your size – clothes size Scars Eye color Draw your hands Finger Prints I am 5’2” at least that is what my driver’s license states. However, I know I have been shrinking. Age will do that as the bones in our spine settle together. But I also have scoliosis and that also has an effect on my height. I used to be quite thin, weighing only 100 pounds when I got married, but also with age, the weight has inched up instead of down. I’m not nearly as active as I was when in my 20’s. I always wished I was taller. It would be best to add a few inches just to the legs to make up for my long body and keep me from having to roll up my pants. Still, I wear mostly size 8 or 10 clothes. I have very dark brown hair that is cut short with a part on the side. I have a huge cowlick in the front but I make use of it by flipping up my bangs. This is the same cowlick that is passed down from the Johnston Family. There is a bit of gr...

I am participating in the weekly project that lasts 15 months created by Julie Goucher from Anglers Rest. It is a great way to document my own life. Prompt 2: Your Birth Do you have any baby photos? Where were you born? Who was present at your birth? Dimensions? What day was it? Time? Did you have hair? Eye colors Are you a twin? I am the first born of six children. So there are lots of photos of me and I have my baby book to reference from. I was born in Concord, California at the Concord Community Hospital, located at 2540 East Street. [1] This hospital later became Mt. Diablo Hospital and is now part of the John Muir Medical Center, the Concord campus. [2] According to my birth certificate, I was born at 6:40 p.m. My parents at the time were living at 35 Harbor Drive in West Pittsburg (which is now called Bay Point). My father was 23 years old and a service station attendant at Mel’s Associates. I weighed seven pounds, ten ounces and had a height of 19.5 i...

This is a new project to help genealogist write about themselves for future family.  This was developed by Julie Goucher of Anglers Rest and you can find out more about it here .  There will be a new prompt each week and I have started already 4 weeks late.  I am going to play catch-up now. Prompt 1. The prompt for week 1 is a recognized psychology test.  Ask yourself 20 times “Who are you?” Here is my response: I am: · 59 years old · retired but busier now than when I worked · a sister to three sisters and two brothers, a niece to two aunts, a granddaughter, and cousin to 8 cousins · introverted but love to be involved in the background · a mother to two daughters who graduated from college · a college graduate with a BS degree in Biology though I never worked in the field · a player of the piano, guitar, and recorder · a photographer, birdwatcher, genealogy researcher, and writer · a wife to Norman · a lover of travel but I hate to fly · a...

Michael John Neill posted on his blog, Roots Dig , about the updated database “United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933” on FamilySearch.org . I knew that the two Gorrell brothers, Amos and Joseph W. served in the Civil War and may have received a pension. I decided to search for them.  These payment cards in the database were issued between 1907 and 1933 so I checked to make sure both Amos and Joseph W were alive in that time period.  Their wives, Catherine and Eliza A. were also alive, so perhaps there were cards for them as well. I found Amos Gorrell’s card first. It had the correct regiment, so I’m on the right track. I downloaded the card and then selected the next page to work my way toward the Catherine or Eliza A Gorrell. What did I find on the next page, but the back of the card for Amos! Two for the price of one.  It is always a good idea to move forward a few pages and backward a few pages if you arrived at the page via an index...