My Trails into the Past

It's been six years since I wrote my first blog post. In this time I have written over 200 blog posts, mostly about my paternal families and my husband's families. I write about my maternal families mostly on my first blog, " Mam-ma's Southern Family ." Most of my blog posts have been about the Hork, Gorrell, Sullivan, and Johnston families. I have also made many "Saturday Night Genealogy Fun" posts and participated last year in the "A-Z Challenge." This year I've been working on my portfolio for BCG certification and have not written as many detailed stories about my family for the blog. Since I have not decided on which family to write for the Kinship Determination Project (KDP), I've been selective in what I write about for this blog. Once the portfolio is complete and turned in, I hope to return to writing about the research process and learning more about my family. Copyright © 2017 by Lisa Suzanne Gorrell, My Trails in...

My three times great-grandparents, Greenlee Bean Selman and Amanda Deborah Oldham were married on 23 Jun 1851 in Cherokee County, Texas. Actually, Greenlee Selman married another Selman, Mrs. Deborah A Selman. Here is a copy of the license for the marriage: [1] “To any Judge Justice of the Peace or Regularly Ordained Minister of the Gospel, you are hereby authorized to solemnize the rites of matrimony between Mr. Green Lee R Selman and Mrs. Deborah Amanda Selman and due return make to within Sixty days after solemnization at my office in the town of Rusk. Given under my hand and seal of ?? In the Town of Rusk this 23rd September AD 1851.    W.P. Brittain Clerk Co Court, by his Deputy O.G. Woods.” 1851 Marriage License for Green Lee Selman & Mrs. Deborah A. Selman, Cherokee Co, Texas Now there is no return recorded in the marriage book. When did they marry? Probably not in the same office on that day. Had the minister forgotten to return the marriage? O...

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing has another great assignment for us. 1)  Do you have photos of all of your ancestors back to the 1850 time frame?  Which recent ancestors do you not have a photograph of?  2)  Review your files, and list the ancestors for whom you want and/or need to find a photograph.  Also list where they resided and where they died.  Where would you look to find a photograph of them? 3)  Share your answers on your own blog post (and leave a comment here with a link), or on Facebook or other social media. So here’s mine: I have photos of my parents, my four grandparents, and seven out of my great-grandparents. I have photos of  ten out of sixteen great-great-grandparents. And I have only two out of thirty-two 3X great-grandparents. Of my great-grandparents: I have not found a photo of Johan Anton Hork (1843-1906). Of my great-great-grandparents: I need a photo of Vincent Sievert (1823-1890) & his wife S...

Another great genealogy challenge from Randy Seaver of Genea-musing . 1)  The Family History Hound listed 20 Questions about your Ancestor, and I'm going to use some of them in the next few months.  2)  Please answer the first question - "Which ancestor moved the farthest from their home?" 3)  Write your own blog post, make a comment on this post, or post  your answer on Facebook or Google+.  Please leave a link to your answer in comments on this post. My great-grandfather, Johann Anton Hork and his brother, Johann Albert Hork, came the furthermost distance from their home. Both were born in the small town, Oberhundem, located in Kreis Olpe of Westfalen. Anton was born 8 Nov 1843 and Albert was born 10 Aug 1853. [1] The 27-year-old, Johan Hork, arrived in the United States on 5 Nov 1870 aboard the HMS Idaho . [2] He married Julia Sievert in Joliet, Will County, Illinois. [3] John was a tailor and he took his family west as far as Portland...

Randy Seaver of Genea-musings has a new challenge today. * 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!   * 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. My immediate family thinks all I do is genealogy. It is true that every day I try to fit in genealogy as part of my day.  In the morning I check emails and Facebook to see what’s happening in the genealogy world. If someone describes a new database, I usually think of someone in my database that this might apply to and do a quick search. I also multitask while watching television with my husband, either writing a blog post, searching in Ancestry or FamilySearch, or entering data into my genealogy program. But I do find time to do other things. Exercise I try to play Pickleball three days a week (Mon/Wed/...

Randy Seaver's post this week has an interesting assignment: 1)  Read Linda Stufflebean's blog post, "Homes In Which I've Lived" on her Empty Branches on the Family Tree blog.  2)  This week, please list the homes in which that you have resided (not just visited) from your birth until the present.  3)  Share your list in your own blog post, in a comment on this post, or on Facebook or Google+.  Please provide a link to your list as a comment to this post. I lived in a total of five addresses my entire life: three with my parents, one on my own, and one with my husband and children. I am grateful that I have not had to move much, but regretful that I didn’t get a chance to see new places. I envy those who move often, as they are able to cull excess belongings each time they move. My grandparents helped my parents purchase a house in West Pittsburg, in an area called Shore Acres. Their address there was 35 Harbor Dr. This is where my paren...

Everything is not online and I recently received from the National Archives the World War II Draft Registrations for my two grandfathers and for my husband’s father. During World War II, there were six draft registrations. The registrations are in two different groups at the National Archives. One group is the 4th registration, known as the “Old Man’s Draft” which registered all the men who were born between April 28, 1877 to February 16, 1897. [1] Images of this draft can be found on FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com as “United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942.” The other group are the rest, those men who were born between February 17, 1897 to July 31, 1927. These records are not available online and I had to order the records from the National Archives in St. Louis. Information about it is here . There is a special form you fill out for the registrant you’re seeking and when the archives personnel find the record, you’ll receive a letter with an invoic...