My Trails into the Past

I have completed sixty-six (66) weeks of semi- “lock down” due to Covid-19. Besides going to the History Center, I had a procedure done at Kaiser, picked a file at the court’s office, a ran trains in the cabs at the Train Club during our public open house on Saturday and Sunday. Genealogy Blog Writing : 52 Ancestors—Week 24: Father’s Day—Abandonment & Divorce – Did George W Lancaster Ever See His Children Again? I wrote about the divorce between George W. Lancaster and Martha J (Polly) Lancaster. Martha remarried and moved to California while George went back to Texas. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – What Did Your Father Leave You? We wrote about the qualities that our fathers left us. O nline Study Groups & Meetings Attended:  I attended the Monday Morning until my internet failed. I also met with Jacqueline, Amigos, Thurs PM, and Friday Peer group. They were all great sessions discussing our genealogy. Webinars & Classes Attended : I attended four pres...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Because it’s Father’s Day tomorrow our theme from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is: It's Father's Day in the USA on Sunday, so let's talk about our fathers.  Your father probably lived a complete life, and you probably have memories of him.  What memories and attitudes did he "leave" you with? Here's mine: My father, William Joseph Hork (1930-2007), married my mother, Lela Nell Johnston (1934-1992) in 1953. I was the oldest of six children. He left me the following: 1. My love of sports. My father loved watching all kinds of sports on television: football, baseball, golf, and boxing. I don’t care for boxing or wrestling and I can add soccer and tennis to the list of sports I’ll watch. When I was in high school, I remember attending the Oakland Raider games with him at the Coliseum. This was before the team moved to Los Angeles. We had end zone s...

I have completed sixty-five (65) weeks of semi- “lock down” due to Covid-19. Besides going to the History Center twice and Phenology, I had a doctor’s appointment on Monday, an eye doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, and a visit to the emergency room on Friday. All were with masks. I also had a negative Covid test for a procedure that will be done on Tuesday. Genealogy Blog Writing : 52 Ancestors—Week 23: Bridge—Locating Proof of the Goe Family Playing Bridge From an interview with my aunt, I learned my grandmother’s sister and brother-in-law liked to play bridge and had wonderful bridge parties. Newspaper articles supported that claim. S aturday Night Genealogy Fun – What Happened on Your Mother’s Birth Date? . There are websites that list events on particular days and I wrote about what happened on August 21 and some famous people who were born on that day. Bonus, I found the birth announcement of my mother in an August 31 issue of the Stephenville Empire-Tribune . O nline ...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Here is our assignment from Randy Seaver of GeneaMusing : 1) What day was your Mother born? Where was she born?  What day of the week was it?  Tell us how you found out. 2) What has happened in recorded history on your mother's birth date (day and month)? Tell us how you found out, and list five events. 3) What famous people have been born on your Mother's birth date?  Tell us how you found out, and list five of them. Here's mine: My mother, Lela Nell Johnston, was born on 21 August 1934 in Stephenville, Erath County, Texas. It was a Tuesday. She supposedly was born at 3:20 a.m., but her birth certificate was created nine years later, so I’m not sure if it is true or not. [1] A website, On This Day , gave me the day of the week, but any perpetual calendar could do that, too. She was a Leo and very proud of that. [2] New...

I interviewed my Aunt June and asked about all of her aunts and uncles. She had stayed a year in Anaconda, Montana with her mother’s sister, Nellie Goe. One of her memories of Aunt Nellie was: “She had lots of bridge parties, where she wore long dresses and her maid dressed in a black dress with a white apron. She always had a new deck of cards.” [1] It’s a lovely memory and I thought there might be newspaper articles in the “gossip” columns that described these bridge parties. The Anaconda Standard newspaper is available up to 1927 on Newspaper.com and I was able to find several articles about parties where they played bridge. Although these are before June's visit, they still support the story. Helena “Nellie” Sullivan married Harold H. Goe on 13 August 1912 in Portland, Oregon by the priest from Holy Rosary Catholic Church at Harold’s home. [2] She had been living in Portland with her grandparents, John and Margaret Gleeson. They moved to Anaconda, where Harold worked at the ...

I have completed sixty-four (64) weeks of semi- “lock down” due to Covid-19. Besides going to the History Center twice and Phenology, I had a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday and visited the County Recorder and Court Clerk offices on Friday. Saturday, I went with my husband to two nurseries looking for tomato plants. Genealogy Blog Writing : 52 Ancestors—Week 22: Military—Lemuel J Sayre Death in the Civil War . I researched and wrote about the information found in his wife’s Civil War Widow’s Pension file. This pension was issued during the Civil War in 1863 and very different from those issued much later to the soldiers. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – Your “Place Line” . We were to create a timeline of places: where we lived, worked, and attended school and church. Since I’d written about myself before, I tackled the question in the viewpoint of my parents and ended up with a full post and used photos to illustrate in some places. It was a great exercise and I can use this i...

  Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's Saturday Night again - Time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Randy Seaver of GeneaMusing has our assignment for today: 1)  We're all familiar with Timelines - date, location, event, etc. - for events in our lives.  This week, create a Place Line for your life, or for the life of one of your parents or grandparents - your choice! In that Place Line, tell us the location (address if possible), inclusive dates (if possible), and events. Consider topics like residence, schools, churches, employment, etc. Here's mine: Residences: * After my parents (William J Hork and Lela Nell Johnston) were married on 19 April 1953, they lived with his mother at 3418 Wren Avenue, Concord. I cannot show a photo from Google Maps because it’s tucked into one of those flag driveways and is behind another house. * They moved to 35 Wharf Drive in the housing tract called Shore Acres in West Pittsburg (now called Bay Point). Lela’s parents g...