My Trails into the Past

I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (April 2016), where we write 26 blog posts featuring each letter of the alphabet. O is for Olivia Jones Johnston When I discovered that my second great grandfather, Reuben Mack Johnston had married Olivia Jane Jones, I had about cried.  Johnston was hard enough to research but now I had a Jones. Would I ever find her parents? Question: Who were the parents of Olivia Jones Johnston? R.M. Johnston married Miss Olivia Jones on 23 Dec 1879 in Erath County, Texas. [1] 1879 Marriage R.M. Johnston to Olivia J. Jones What I learned about Olivia and her family came from an article in the Comanche Chief about her son, O.D. Johnston, nicknamed “Pig.” [2] He was interviewed by the newspaper when he was 81 years old and the paper printed photographs of the family. Reuben & Olivia Olivia Jane Jones was Reuben’s second wife, his first wife dying between 1877 and 1879.  She helped raise the three da...

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing has a new assignment for us: 1) CVGS colleague Karen Y. found this fun website - http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/write-your-name-in-runes.html . So click on the "Launch Interactive" button, enter your name, or some phrase of your choice, and see how it looks in runes. 2) I thought it would be ideal for a fun and fast SNGF project. You can impress your friends and grandchildren with it, and maybe it will be a chart-storm on Facebook. 3) Share your runic names or phrases with us in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this post, in a Facebook post or a Google+ post. Please provide a link to your response if you can. So I gave it a try and here is my name: Lisa Suzanne Gorrell in Runes: Copyright © 2016 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.

I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (April 2016), where we write 26 blog posts featuring each letter of the alphabet. N is for Nilsen kids Nils Arthur Nathaniel Nilsen and Agnes Hilma Carolina Lundquist were my husband’s maternal grandparents. They married 29 Nov 1917 in Hilmar, Merced County, California in the Swedish Mission Church in Hilmar by Arthur’s father, the Rev. N.M. Nilsen. [1] They were the parents of ten children, seven who lived to adulthood. Hilmar was a farming community, settled originally by Swedes. The Lundquist had come from Montgomery Co, Iowa, and Rev. Nils Malkom Nilsen had come from Harcourt, Webster County, Iowa, where he was pastor of the church there. Living on a farm was hard work but the kids probably still found time to have fun. Here is a photo of the five oldest Nilsen children, taken probably around 1928. My mother-in-law, Thelma is on the left, the only girl among those brothers. rear: Arnold, Ernest, Leonard...

I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (April 2016), where we write 26 blog posts featuring each letter of the alphabet. M is for Elizabeth McCormack & Sarah Milholland: two brick wall ancestors These two women are at the end of the line for myself and my husband. Elizabeth McCormack is my maternal third great grandmother and Sarah Milholland is my husband’s paternal third great grandmother. I am hoping that in writing about these two women others who are also researching these women will contact me. Elizabeth McCormack Elizabeth McCormack was the wife of Samuel Johnston, born 5 Jul 1814 in South Carolina. She died 4 Nov 1891 in Comanche County, Texas. [1] They had seven known children: Isabella Johnston (1840- ) Reuben Mack Johnston (1841-1924). He was my 2nd great grandfather. Luvina J. Johnston (1842- ) Washington J Johnston (1844- ) Marion Jackson Johnston (1846-1838) David Newton Johnston (1850- ) Sarah A. Johnston (1854-1923) ...

I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (April 2016), where we write 26 blog posts featuring each letter of the alphabet. L is for Lela Ann Loveless Lela Nell, Lela Ann, & Pansy Louise Lela Ann Loveless was my maternal great grandmother. My mother, Lela Nell, was named after her two grandmothers, Lela Ann Loveless and Nell Hutson. I have written previously about Lela Ann Loveless Lancaster on my other blog, “Mam-ma’s Southern Family” here and here , where you can see a photo of Lela as a young girl. Lela Ann married George Warren Lancaster on 15 December 1912 in Erath County, Texas. [1] Her older brother, William “Hutts” Loveless married Warren’s sister, Josephine Lancaster on 14 December 1915. [2] That made their children all double-cousins! Four children were born to Warren and Lela Ann. My grandmother, Pansy, was the oldest. Seven years later, Rayburn Dinion “R.D.” was born. A son, Carl, Jr., was born in 1924 but he lived only six day...

I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (April 2016) , where we write 26 blog posts featuring each letter of the alphabet. K is for Ann Kethley                                    I have quite a few “K” surnames in my database, but the only direct ancestors are of the Kethley/Keathley/Keithly line. Nancy Ann Kethley married John Coor around 1816, probably in Mississippi. John Coor died in 1838 but Ann lived past 1870. Seven known children were born to them: John W. Coor (1816-1896) Daniel K. Coor (1819-1895) Elizabeth N. Coor Heard (1823-??) Rufus K. Coor (1825-1877) Ann Jemima Coor Welch (1828-1902) Sarah K. Coor (1832-??) James Madison “Matt” Coor (1833-1890) My research for the Kethley line consists mostly of derivative sources. When I first began this journey of genealogical research, online sources were mostly surname and locality messa...

I am participating in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge (April 2016) , where we write 26 blog posts featuring each letter of the alphabet. J is for Joseph Norman Gorrell, the lineman Joseph Norman Gorrell was my daughters’ great grandfather, born 19 May 1869 in Blackwater, Cooper County, Missouri to Amos Gorrell, Jr. and Catherine Elizabeth Shotts. [1] The first record I found for Joe where he was not in the household of his parents was the city directory for St. Joseph, Missouri. Joe was listed as a lineman for the Missouri & Kansas Telephone Company. [2] He worked for the company for several years. Later he worked for the Empire District Electric Company and was honored as a 25-year employee at a Christmas party in December 1941, marking his hiring in 1916. [3]   ID card for the Empire District Electric Company, 1942 He served on the Webb City board of electrical inspection [4] and he had also been a member of the International Brotherhood of ...