My Trails into the Past

In 1988, we attended a Gorrell family reunion in Odessa, Missouri. It was a three-day affair, the first day was at the Senior Center in Odessa and the following days were held at my father-in-law's cousin, Linnie Oma Hackley's home. Those invited were the descendants of Amos Gorrell and Catharine Shotts. They had six children, four who had offspring. It was the grandchildren who arranged the reunion. My husband and I flew in and stayed with Linnie Oma's son, John, and his wife. Most of the family attended the first day, where they roasted a whole pig and had a group photo taken. There was a huge family tree on the wall and a booklet made for each of us to take. I really hadn't started doing genealogy at this time, so purely missed out on asking questions of family. On Sunday of the three-day weekend, a group set out to Blackwater, Missouri, to look at the land that Amos Gorrell owned and farmed. There was some discussion about where it was exactly by a couple of the gra...

I have completed one hundred sixty-eight (168) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. My outside activities included volunteering at the History Center, hiking at Mt. Diablo, phenology, operating at the train club show, attending an outdoor memorial, and attending a historical society presentation about the San Ramon Branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad. I also did a little shopping at REI. Genealogy Blog Writing : Breaking Brick Walls . For week 21 of 52 Ancestors, I wrote about tips for handling brick walls, using some examples from my own research. This post was highlighted on Linda Stufflebean’s “Friday’s Family History Finds” at Empty Branches on the Family Tree . SNGF: Then and Now – Your First Foray into Genealogy Social Media I wrote about using USGENWEB and Rootsweb to interact with other researchers in the early days of online genealogy. Meetings/Discussion Groups This week was busier with meetings. I hosted the Monday Morning Roundtable meeting and we had...

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)  What was your first foray into genealogy social media on the computer?  Here's mine : I do not remember the year I got started doing genealogy research, but because I had been using computers since the early 1980s, once one could connect online, I connected, too. My early forays were using the bulletin boards at American Online (AOL) with a dial-up modem. I would read queries asked by others and occasionally ask one myself. In those days, people focused on surnames and wanted “everything” you had on something. Most of the time, I had no connection to the other researcher’s families. The best progress I made was when I discovered the state and county sites on the USGENWEB. This was a wonderful user-input site where people created indexes and published them on the county page. I used the sites much like someone...

If we do genealogy research long enough, we will get a tough problem we cannot solve that many call “brick walls.” These might be questions we cannot answer such as who a parent of an ancestor is, or wanting to know when an ancestor married or died. I have some strategies I use when I get tough problems. Often the answer is there but I have not looked in the right place. Let’s look at my tips, one by one. Review Previous Research My first strategy is to review all my previous research. I look at every document I have saved, whether digital or on paper. In fact, we sometimes forget about those older paper files we have. We might have written down a note about someone whom we could not place in the family at the time, but with time, we have more information and can now place them properly within the family. When reviewing the research, I review any handwritten notes I have made and that I have transcribed and extracted all the information pieces from every document. Sometimes just...

I have completed one hundred sixty-seven (167) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. My outside activities included teaching at Acalanes Adult School, attending a concert with my daughter (masked), presenting to a genealogy group in Placerville, attending the CCCHS board meeting, and running trains at the train club. I actually entered stores and restaurants without a mask. Genealogy Blog Writing : A Semi-bearded Ebenezer Loveless . For week 20 of 52 Ancestors, I showed a photo of my great-great-grandfather, Ebenezer Loveless along with his wife and his youngest child, my great-grandmother.   SNGF: Then and Now – Oral Interviews I wrote about how I gathered the information for the Gleeson, Sullivan, and Hork family history I wrote in 1998. Meetings/Discussion Groups The only meetings I attended this week were the board meeting for the Contra Costa County Historical Society and the founders’ meeting for AppGen. Volunteer Because of my presentation in Placervill...

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)  Then and Now - Did you ever conduct oral interviews of family members or friends and neighbors about your ancestors over the years?  Who did you interview, how did you record the interviews, and what did you learn from them?  Please share your experiences. Here’s mine: When I first started, I did ask my mother’s mother and my father and his sisters, questions about the family. It should be how we all start. I got names and dates when they remembered them and from there, I began researching using census records. Later, after I had received a family photo album, I decided to write a story about the Gleeson, Sullivan, and Hork families. I had photos. I had facts I had gathered from documents I had found. What I didn’t have were the stories. So, I sent out a survey to my dad and his sisters. I asked...

I have completed one hundred sixty-six (166) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. My outside activities included teaching at Acalanes Adult School and working at the History Center. Genealogy Blog Writing : The Many Hats of George Gorrell . For week 19 of 52 Ancestors, I wrote about my bald father-in-law and how he dealt with it. SNGF: Then and Now – Source Citations I wrote about the evolution of how I handled source citing in genealogy software and in my writing. I also posted a postcard and a photo on both blogs for Mother’s Day: Happy Mother’s Day   and Happy Mother’s Day . Meetings/Discussion Groups This week I attended the Kinseekers Military SIG on Monday. On Wednesday, I met with my mentee and discussed her portfolio progress, and in the evening, I hosted the CGS Roundtable discussion group, where the nine attendees shared interesting stories. On Thursday, the CCCGS had its annual meeting and several members shared stories of their research. Voluntee...