My Trails into the Past

Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great documenting our own. I’ll write about what I’ve been doing the past week. This idea came from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing, who started this meme. I have completed twelve weeks of “lock down” due to Covid-19. I left the house this past week twice. Once to have blood work done and the second time to accompany my husband to Berkeley Bowl to grocery shop. I also went to the meadow to do phenology and took walks to the mailbox. Otherwise, I’m meeting people on Zoom. Genealogy Blog Writing : Blogs posted this past week: My post last week was chosen as one of the three highlighted in the 52 Ancestors weekly email. That will make three times this year! 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 23: Wedding—The Wedding of Bill Hork & Lela Johnston .  I wrote about my parents’ wedding on 19 April 1953. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Pauleen’s Crazy Month of May Pandemic Meme Part I . We answered the fir...

It's  Saturday Night  - time for more  Genealogy Fun! Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to: 1)  Check out Pauleen Cass's blog post,   Crazy Month of May 2020 Meme: Pandemic Experiences.   2)  Let's do the first 10 of the prompts and save the last 11 for next week. 3)  Tell us about your own pandemic experience in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a post on Facebook.  Be sure to leave a link to your work as a Comment to this post and also on Pauleen's post. 4)  Thank you, Pauleen!! Here are my responses: 1) What are you most grateful for during this covid-19 crisis? I am grateful for the health of my family. Neither of us have gotten sick, nor have our two daughters. We’re fortunate that the one who lives in New York City has kept well. I am glad for telephone and Zoom meetups to keep in touch with other...

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. In documenting the wedding of one’s parents, when one couldn’t have been present because it occurred before their birth, it is wonderful that newspapers documented them. One must remember that the article was written or at least dictated by someone in the family. There seems to be a format for the woman’s page in the newspaper, as most of the articles are similar in style and content. Even so, I have an idea of how the wedding of my parents occurred from the newspaper article. I also have a few photos of pre- and post-wedding activities at the home of my mother. William Joseph Hork, son of William Cyril Hork and Anna Marie Sullivan, married Lela Nell Johnston, daughter of Tom J. Johnston, Jr. and Pansy Loui...

Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great documenting our own. I’ll write about what I’ve been doing the past week. This idea came from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing, who started this meme. I have completed eleven weeks of “lock down” due to Covid-19. I left the house only to do phenology at the meadow and walks to the mailbox. Otherwise, I’m meeting people on Zoom. Genealogy Blog Writing : Blogs posted this past week: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 22: Uncertain-What Was the Maiden Name of Rebecca Ro(d)gers? I wrote about our trip to Conway, Arkansas and trying to find 8 different cemeteries where my Loveless family was buried. Study Groups Attended:     Many online meetings again this week: Our Monday Morning Group met for ninety minutes. As always, we had sharing and questions and answer time. I met with Jacqueline for our weekly talk about our own genealogical projects. I attended the Facebook Certification ...

Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great documenting our own. I’ll write about what I’ve been doing the past week. This idea came from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing, who started this meme. I have completed ten weeks of “lock down” due to Covid-19. I left the house only to do phenology at the meadow and walks to the mailbox. Otherwise, I’m meeting people on Zoom. Genealogy Blog Writing : Blogs posted this past week: 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Week 21: Tombstones: Finding Tombstones. I wrote about our trip to Conway, Arkansas and trying to find 8 different cemeteries where my Loveless family was buried. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: Share a Childhood Memory   I wrote about my first trip on an airplane, a trip I took to Southern California with my Nana in 1969. Study Groups Attended:     Many online meetings again this week: Our Monday Morning Group met for ninety minutes. As always, we had sharing and questio...

It's Saturday Night -  time for more Genealogy Fun!  Randy Seaver’s mission for us this week is: Your mission, should you decide to accept it (cue the Mission Impossible music here) is to: 1) Have you written your memoirs yet? If so, please share with us one story from your childhood. If not, then start your memoirs! The story could be a memory of your family life, your schoolwork, your neighborhood, etc. It doesn't have to be a certain length - just something you recall. 2) Tell us about it in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or in a post on Facebook. Be sure to leave a link to your work as a Comment to this post.. Here's mine: First Trip on a Plane I took my first trip on an airplane with my grandmother (Nana) in the summer of 1969. We went down to southern California, primarily to attend a wedding of Nana’s great-niece, Christine. We stayed three weeks with Nana’s sister, Loretta, in Pomona. We then were driven down to San Di...

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails Into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways. In the spring of 2015, my husband and I made our first trip to Arkansas to visit his cousin’s husband, who lived in Hot Springs. Since Hot Springs was so close to Conway in Faulkner County, I planned a three day trip to Conway and Little Rock where I would conduct research in the local museum, courthouse, recorder’s office, university library, and the state archives. The highlight of the trip was visiting the eight cemeteries located in Conway and the outskirts. I thank my husband for being so patient, first for trying to find the very small, old cemeteries on narrow country roads, and second for helping me find the various tombstones to photograph. We had no maps and only names and dates to search for. ...