My Trails into the Past

I have completed one hundred sixteen (116) weeks of semi-lock down due to Covid-19. After a week away from home, I remained home more. I only went to the History Center three times and spent my time there masked. Genealogy Blog Writing : Conflict: World War I Soldiers Study   I listed the names of the men from my family and my husband’s family who served during World War I, as I have created a study of the men’s service. I have not had time to work on it lately and hope to learn more about the sources in the fall with an upcoming course on WWI records. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: My New Normal Randy is still on hiatus while he is recovering from heart surgery. Linda Stufflebean posted using Pauline’s theme from her blog about answering questions about our new normal. O nline Study Groups & Meetings Attended: The only study group I met with this week is the Geno Study group, where we finished discussing The Guarded Gate . I did meet with Jill on Monday and we had ...

Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings is on a blogging hiatus due to having surgery. We wish him a speedy recovery. Linda Stufflebean found a perfect meme to have a SNGF this week from Pauline, who writes at Family History Across the Seas . I am happy to participate this week, too. Has your day-to-day life returned to how it/you functioned previously? No, my day-to-day life has not returned to normal, although I have returned to some functions. If your “new normal” is different from your “old normal”, can you share some of the ways it’s changed? What has changed is I am more careful about being in crowded spaces. I wear a mask when shopping in stores and if in close contact with others. I have done some traveling. In April, I went to a model railroading convention (by auto) and mostly wore no mask. It was not crowded and I came out covid-free. A later model railroading meet did produce some cases, as numbers are climbing locally here. Last week I attended the National Genealogical Soci...

From Souvenir Folder Showing Views of U.S. Army I am studying family members who served during World War I. I began the study with my great-uncle, Jack C. Sullivan, who served with Co. E of the 4 th Engineers. I have written often about his service. Search on “4 th Engineers” to find the posts. Since that time, I have discovered many more who also served. Here are some of them: Charles Robert Coor Dempsey Bryan Coor Oran Franklin Coor Patrick Henry Coor Sandy Alfred Coor George Thomas Davey Cyril W. Hork Luther Enel Hutson Charles P Naber Carl Dave Nilsen Joseph Walter Nilsen John Vir Quigley Frank August Sievert Frank Joseph Soares William Wesley Waldron These men all have Veteran’s Administration Master Index cards that give information about their service with enlistment and discharge dates, and unit served and their rank. There is also birth, death, and address at one time in their life. It is a great source to jumpstart your research into other records documenting WWI service. V...

I have completed one hundred fifteen (115) weeks of semi-lock down due to Covid-19. I spent most of the week in Sacramento attending the National Genealogical Society’s conference. I was masked most of the time: in the conference center, in the hotel, and in restaurants. Genealogy Blog Writing : Three Generations of Yearbook Photos I found the senior year photos of my paternal grandmother, her four children including my dad, and my own photo. Great Adventures at the NGS Conference 2022 Instead of the normal post Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, which Randy Seaver did not do because of his hospital stay, I wrote about my adventures at the NGS conference. O nline Study Groups & Meetings Attended: Just the NGS Conference. See the above blog post for details. Client Work/Presentations : I held my last Writing Workshop class on Monday morning before heading off to Sacramento with Jacqueline. We decided to meet once a month during the summer until fall classes. Volunteer W...

The 2022 conference of the National Genealogical Society ended at 5 p.m. on Saturday afternoon. I attended five days of presentations given by genealogy experts from around the country. The conference was held at the SAFE convention center in Sacramento. This was the first in-person NGS conference since the beginning of the pandemic. The ground rules by NGS for attending made this conference feel pretty safe. We had to show our updated vaccination cards to receive a wristband and wear a mask the entire time we were in the convention center unless eating or drinking. The rooms were large enough that people could sit in every other seat and have that comfort of distance. The presenters took off their masks while presenting but they were far from the first row. There were fewer people than expected, so the halls and restrooms were not too crowded between classes. When we picked up our badges, we were given the option to place colored dots on our name badge to signify our comfort level...

The earliest yearbook photo we have in our family is of my paternal grandmother Anna Marie Sullivan, who attended the Montana State Normal College (now University of Montana Western) and who graduated in 1914. This was a school to train teachers and that is what she did after graduating until she married in 1922. Her yearbook is full of other photos of her and I have written about the activities and included the photos in previous blog posts, here and here . The second generation includes Anna’s four children. Lorene graduated from Chaffey Union High School in Ontario in 1940. Virginia graduated from Napa High School in Napa in 1942 June graduated from Napa High School in 1944. I am not sure if this is her yearbook photo, but it is all I have. Bill graduated from Mt. Diablo High School in Concord, California in 1950. Lastly, the third generation: my senior photo from Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, California in 1972. #52Ancestors-Week 21: Yearbook—Three Generations of Yearbo...

I have completed one hundred fourteen (114) weeks of semi-lock down due to Covid-19. I was too super busy this week. On Monday, I did a court pull and then met Jacqueline at the Walnut Creek library where we worked some until lunch, which we had at a Mexican restaurant. Afterwards I want to shop, so we went to Macy and got some outfits for the upcoming trip to Sacramento and the NGS conference. Tuesday, I got a haircut before going to the history center. Wednesday was at the Oakland FamilySearch Library volunteer shift. Thursday, I had a historical society board meeting at the Museum of San Ramon. Friday, I went to Ukulele club at the senior center. Saturday, we had an outdoor book sale. On Sunday, I went to the first in-person Coast Meet, and Susan came along to sell the rest of Bill’s trains. I wore masks all those days except Monday. Genealogy Blog Writing : Mom Made Our Clothes .  I wrote about my mother sewing clothes for us. Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: How Many Fin...