My Trails into the Past

I have a census enumeration that has puzzled me for years. The head of the household in the 1900 Mitchell, Davison County, South Dakota, census is John Gleeson, my 2x-great-grandfather. With him in the household is his wife, Margaret, and children, Martin, William, Margaret T, and Frank T. Gleeson. These people are known to me and their information is consistent with other sources I have. There are also a woman and two children, Mary Frink, May Frink, and John Frink, listed as daughter and grandchildren, but I am not sure who these people are. Gleeson, John, w, m, Jan 1834, 66, mar. 40 yrs, b. Can, parents IR, imm. 1880, 20 yrs in US, no nat., rents, house.    Margaret, wife, w, f, Apr 1836, 64, mar, 10/10, Can, IR/IR, 1880, 20 yr    Martin, w, m, 21, son, Jan 1861, mar, 7 yr, Can, Can/Can, 1880, 20 yr, farmer,    Willie, son, w, m Jun 1874, 25, sing, Can, Can/Can, 1880, 20 yr, rr laborer    Margaret T, w, f, dau, sing, Jul 1876, 23, sing,...

Outside activities included a hike at Tilden Park Botanical Garden, volunteering at the History Center, phenology, voting in person, and attending a patriotic concert.   Genealogy Genealogy Volunteer/Work: At the History Center, John and I boxed up some of the studies to put into long-term storage. On Saturday, I worked on the Pleasant Hill Historical Society Collection refiling their clipping files into new archival folders. I also caught Maxine up with what’s happening in the archives. I prepared the monthly press release for the BCG-sponsored webinar. I also prepared a draft of the Sonoma County Genealogical Society board meeting next week. I worked on the PowerPoint and handouts for the upcoming presentation of Focused Research: Using Research Plans that I’m giving twice this coming week. Genealogy Meetings:  I attended the Labor SIG on Monday, and the AirTable session on Friday. Genealogy Writing/Research : I worked on researching and writing about John...

Calling all Genea-Musings Fans:  It's Saturday Night again -  time for some more Genealogy Fun!! Our assignment from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings , is to: 1)  The life of every person has events and decisions that have a risk factor that can significantly affect their life. 2)  Describe a risk that one of your ancestors made that affected their life. How did it all turn out?   Here's mine: When I think about people who take a big risk, I think of those who either moved away from family to make a new life, or quit their job to start a new career. My grandfather, William Cyril Hork, who was known familiarly as Cyril, moved his family to Los Angeles from Montana sometime after his marriage to Anna Marie Sullivan on 30 November 1922. [1] Their first daughter, Lorene, was born on 3 August 1923 in Santa Monica, Los Angeles County, California, just about nine months later. [2] I don’t know much about his occupations. He tended to work as a labore...

My 2x-great-grandmother, Anna Maria Gleeson, was born on 13 February 1860 in Carleton County, Ontario, Canada. [1] Through her, I am eligible for Canadian citizenship. I should work on gathering all the documents I need to prove my relationship to her. The problem I have is there is no marriage record for her and her husband, John H. Sullivan. [2] I also have no marriage record for her parents either, though with full-text search, I will investigate the records for John Gleeson and his wife, Margaret Tierney. I have previously written about this family for my BCG renewal. It will be interesting if more can be learned about them. This month, I will also investigate the parentage of Margaret Tierney. Timeline of John Gleeson Carleton County, Ontario, is further divided by townships. The earliest records show the Gleeson family lived in Goulbourn township. After being married, they had their children baptized at St. Philip Catholic Church in Richmond. However, their land was closer to...

On a trip in the Spring of 2024, I made a research trip to Texas, spending time researching my mother’s family in Comanche, Dallas, Erath, and Rockwall Counties. This was my second trip to Texas. I had previously made a visit to Stephenville in Erath County with my grandmother in the late 1990s, and had taken photographs of resting places of her side of the family. This trip, I spent time visiting the cemeteries in Comanche County for the gravesites of my grandfather’s side of the family. Most of the Johnston family were buried in Hazeldell Cemetery. There is a discrepancy about the spelling of the name. The sign at the entrance spelled it Hazledell Cemetery. [1] Hazeldell Cemetery, Comanche Co, Texas Find a Grave spells it as Hazeldell or Hazledell Cemetery. [2] Wikipedia has Hazel Dell Cemetery. [3] This is probably the original spelling and the sign is just missing the extra space to support it. Hazel Dell was a small community in southeastern Comanche County. It had a schoo...