My Trails into the Past

For this week's mission, Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing has challenged us to:  1)  Tell us about your "other" hobbies or interests outside of genealogy and family history research, writing, speaking, etc.  Be mindful of your family's privacy, though! 2) Write a blog post of your own, respond with a comment to this post, or write a Facebook status post or a Google+ Stream post. I do have another life outside of genealogy, even though I could spend 8-10 hours per day doing genealogy research and writing. I do have other kinds of fun as well. a. Birding. I’m a birder and try to go out at least once a week, even if only in my yard and neighborhood. I do try to get to Moorhen and McNabney Marshes, Heather Farm Park, or the Martinez Shoreline to watch for birds. b. Gardening. I have a small native plant garden that is in full bloom right now. I also care for many varieties of geraniums in pots. c. Reading. I love mysteries and historical fiction and if I c...

Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible! music) is to: 1)  We each have 16 great-great grandparents.  How did their birth and death years vary?  How long were their lifespans? 2)  For this week, please list your 16 great-great grandparents, their birth year, their death year, and their lifespan in years.  You can do it in plain text, in a table or spreadsheet, or in a graph of some sort. 3)  Share your information about your 16 great-great grandparents with us in a blog post of your own, in a comment to this blog post, or on Facebook or Google+.  If you write your own blog post, please leave a link as a comment to this post. I didn't get to this until Sunday afternoon, but here are my 16 great-grandparents with their lifespans. The blue are my paternal great-grandparents and the green are for my maternal. Joseph Heinrich Horoch 1804 1857 53 years M...

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. Z is for Zilpha “Mama Zip” Johnston Zilpha was the second wife of my great grandfather, Thomas N. Johnston. They married 12 December 1931 in Stephenville, Texas. This was the second marriage for both of them; he was a widower and she was divorced.  She had previously married Walter Burford and in 1920, they lived in Fort Worth, Texas. He worked for the railroad as a receiving clerk and she was a telephone operator for a hardware company. I found her in the 1930 census and she worked as a PBX operator for a lumber company. She was divorced sometime between 1920 and 1930. I bet she worked at the same lumber company as Thomas N. Johnston! She was the only grandmother my mother knew. She called her “Mama Zip.” A cousin of my mother wrote: She “was a grandmother to die for. She was very neat about everything. Dressed really wel...

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. Y is for Elizabeth Young Elizabeth Young was my 4th great-grandmother. She married Dempsey Welch on 21 Jan 1821 in Clarke County, Alabama. I scanned a copy of their marriage record from microfilm today. 1821 Marriage for Dempsey Welch & Elizabeth Young Not long after marrying, Dempsey got land in Copiah County, Mississippi where they lived until their deaths.  They had possibly sixteen children, depending on the sources. I have records for seven known children. Here is the only census record with Elizabeth’s name on it. In 1850 it was the first federal census that listed everyone in the household. Dempsey was a planter, not just a farmer, and his property was worth $2400. Perhaps they also had a large house and Elizabeth had household slaves. The Melissa A. that is 10 years old was my 3rd great-grandmother, who marrie...

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. X is for the Cross of Churches I have no ancestors with the first or last name starting with X. I could have shown the X-ray of my back but that’s pretty boring. Yes, I have scoliosis just like my grandmother. So I thought about all of the churches my ancestors have attended. My dad’s side of the family was Roman Catholic; all the way back. I’ve collected some photos of churches my families have attended, and some were captured from Google street view. St. Mary's Church, Walnut Creek I was confirmed and married here. Two of my siblings were baptized here. St. Peter Martyr Church, Pittsburg My first communion was here and three of my siblings were baptized here. Queen of All Saints, Concord My parents were married here and I was baptized here. St. Patrick's Church, Butte, MT My grandparents, Wm Cyril Hork ...

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. W is for William Joseph Hork William Joseph Hork was born 23 April 1930, just days after the 1930 census, so he wasn’t listed. His parents were William Cyril Hork and Anna Marie Sullivan. As a child he was called Billy and he was the youngest of four children. I think his older three sisters probably doted on him a bit. His sisters still called him Billy. He was young when his parents separated and was ten when his mother moved the family to Napa, California. There he served as an altar boy at St. John’s Catholic Church and was in Boy Scouts. In high school he played football. He once told me he could throw the football with either hand, and it was a clever deception to the other team. Although he was left-handed, he could print very well and if the times had been better, perhaps he would have worked as a draftsman or even an arc...

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. My dear Aunt Virginia passed away this past week so I changed the focus on my V ancestor to honor Virginia. My Dad's three sisters: June, Lorene, Virginia when living in Napa She was my father’s sister and one of four children born to William Cyril Hork and Anna Marie Sullivan.  She was well-loved by all and a sweetheart to everyone. She had such class as well as being very beautiful.  Before her marriage she worked as a stewardess for Western Airlines and was once a contestant for Miss Aviation. She met her future husband, John H. Gertridge while flying. They married 19 August 1950 at Carmel Mission and had four children. June, me, Virginia I always enjoyed visiting my Aunt Virginia and we had such a wonderful afternoon together on our last visit talking about family both past and present. I will miss you, Aunt ...