My Trails into the Past

When my mother, Lela Nell Johnston, was a young child, they moved around a lot due to her father’s job as carpenter before and during World War II. Because of their frequent moves, they don’t appear in city directories. They were enumerated in Stephenville, Erath County, Texas in 1940, living with her mother’s parents, Warren and Lela Lancaster. Lela Nell was five in that census, having not yet turned six that year. [1] In family papers, we have copies of some of her report cards that help fill in that story. I’ll highlight the cards and fill in with additional research I have done. The first report card is for the school year 1941-42 where she was in second grade at Nash School in Fort Worth, Texas. She was in lower second grade and her teacher was S. Moore. I don’t think she was there long. She attended only part of the first semester, fifteen days in the second report and 23 days in the third. [2] The school building still stands in Fort Worth and is called Charles E. Nash Elem...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - Time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing has our assignment for today: 1)  It's Labor Day weekend in the USA.  Do you have memories of your first real job?  What and where was it?  What did you learn from it?  How did it affect the rest of your life? Here’s mine: My first real job was working during the summer at my high school library at Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, California. Previously, I had done lots of babysitting where I was paid 50 cents per hour. This job paid minimum wage at $1.35 an hour and I received a check from the district office. There were two parts of the job. One, I had to inventory all of the textbooks that were turned in at the end of the year. I checked them for any mars or writing, checked off that the student turned it in, and then put them away. The second part was checking the inventory of the library books. I s...

I have completed seventy-six (76) weeks of semi- lock down due to Covid-19. This past week, I left the house to have an anniversary dinner, work at the History Center, do phenology, and work the WCMRS show on Friday. Genealogy Blog Writing : I wrote two posts this week. 52 Ancestors—Week 34: Character—McFall Daughters Both Actresses.   I wrote about May Noble and Julia Gray, two daughters of Joseph & Catherine Rose (Davey) McFall. They were the first cousin, twice removed of my husband. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun—Your Junior High School (or Middle School) Memories.     I wrote about attending Parkmead Intermediate School in Walnut Creek and the outside activities I did.  O nline Study Groups & Meetings Attended:  I had fewer meetings this week. I hosted the Monday Morning meeting, while some members were in Salt Lake City researching at the Family History Library. I met with my AppGen partners for our weekly planning meetings. I recent...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's Saturday Night again - Time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Here is our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings : 1)  Do you have memories of your Junior High School (or Middle School) years?  Please share several of them. Actually, I attended neither a middle school or junior high but an intermediate school consisting of seventh and eighth grades. Parkmead Intermediate was located on Newell Avenue in Walnut Creek, California adjacent to Parkmead Elementary, which I also attended. I walked to school. In the low water part of the year, I took a shortcut by crossing the creek and cutting through Mr. Newell’s property. Both grade years had English, math, science, social studies, P.E., foreign language, music/art in 7th grade and home ec. in 8th grade (boys had shop), and one elective, which for both years was girls’ chorus. I took German for foreign language from Mrs. Harvey. My grades were average (couldn’t find the report cards I...

Last week I wrote about the tragic death of Joseph McFall (1836-1908) . At the end of the newspaper article was a paragraph about his two daughters, both who were actresses: Sue McFall, known as Julia Gray, and May McFall, known as May Noble. These ladies were my husband’s first cousin twice removed. Their mother was my husband’s great-grandfather, Frederick H. Davey’s sister. May McFall, was born about 1869 in Indiana, likely Jeffersonville. I have not found much about her, but did find a connection with her birth name and her stage name. “The Dramatic News says that Miss May Noble, of the John Dillon comedy Company, now playing in the Northwest, has made a great hit and has won justly deserved promotion. “May Noble” is known in Indianapolis, which is her home, as May McFall.” [1] I found a few articles of her with the Dillon company, and then no more. There are articles about a May Noble with the Leonard Grover Company, starting in Los Angeles in 1894. [2] From there, the compan...

I have completed seventy-five (75) weeks of semi- lock down due to Covid-19. I left the house on several occasions: went to the History Center twice, phenology, and the Maker’s Faire where we had a booth selling used books. Wore my mask when around people or going into a restaurant. Genealogy Blog Writing : I wrote two posts this week. 52 Ancestors—Week 33: Tragedy—Death By Train . I wrote about Joseph McFall being killed by a train he stepped in front of. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun—Tell Your Life Story in Two (or even Five) Minutes . I wrote a brief biography about myself.  O nline Study Groups & Meetings Attended:  On Monday, I met with Jacqueline and heard out her trip to the coast, and later with my AppGen group to do more planning. I met for a short time with Amigos on Wednesday. We’re going to move our meeting time to Tuesday afternoons so I can work my volunteer shift at the Oakland FamilySearch Library. Our Friday peer group caught up with our progre...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans: It's  Saturday Night  again - time for some more  Genealogy Fun!! Here is our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings : 1)  Everyone has a life story, and mine is still ongoing.  Tell us your life story - start with today and go back to your birth.  Do it in 200 to 500 words so you could tell it in two to five minutes. 2)  Tell us in your own blog post, in a comment to this blog post, or on Facebook.  Be sure to leave a comment with a link to your blog post on this post. Here's mine: I like Randy’s idea of starting at the end of the life. I am Lisa Gorrell, born Lisa Suzanne Hork. I’m in my 68th year and will be married 41 years in two days. We have two beautiful daughters, one who lives within an hour and the other across the country in New York. I am retired and spend most of my day doing some kind of genealogy. I also volunteer with the Contra Costa County Historical Society and serve on their...