Today marks the 103rd anniversary of the San Francisco earthquake and fire. Though the Richter Scale was not yet in use, it’s estimated that the earthquake was about a 7.8. What the earthquake didn’t damage, the horrific fire destroyed. The death toll sits at 3,000 though that number has come under scrutiny over the years. …
Category: About My Ancestors
From Bresch to Breilh
I’d given up some time ago on finding my Breilh ancestors in the Ellis Island database (www.ellisislandrecords.org). I tried every variation of Breilh that I could think of. I tried first name searches as well. The family was nowhere to be found. Recently, I saw an obituary in the paper for a Lassalle. It listed…
Tombstone Tuesday: Jozimas de Braga and Sophie Guido
This tombstone sits on the gravesite of my Great Great Grandfather, Jozimas de Braga at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Oakland, California. His name is wrong and is age is off by a year. At least they were close! Jozimas was a native of Maia, Ribeira Grande, Sao Miguel Island, Azores. He was born 17 Jul…
John Jackson Did Not Die as an Infant
This weeks genealogy blogging prompt about anomalies brings many things to mind… My Grandma told me about her red headed brother, John Jackson. John was born three weeks before the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. In the turmoil, John got sick and died. Fast forward to the 1990s. I’m sitting at a microfilm reader…
Tombstone Tuesday: The Pacheco Smith Plot
This is the tombstone of my great grandparents, Theodore P. Smith 1877-1914 (aka Theodoro Pacheco) and Mary P. Smith 1878-1938 (aka Maria de Braga). They were buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Oakland, CA. When I visited the grave site for the first time, the fence was bent over and the ivy was seriously in danger…