[The 13th Edition of Smile for the Camera Carnival theme is All Creatures Great and Small–The Family Pets. Get ready to meet my three legged wonder dog, Sierra…] My brother gave us Sierra as a gift. She was a wobbly legged flat faced 8 week old Lab/Golden Mix pup. She cracked us up as she…
Tombstone Tuesday: Willie P. Smith
One of the strangest discoveries at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Oakland, California was coming across the tombstone of Willie P. Smith. Willie was most likely born as Guilherme Pacheco but some how recorded as Wilhelm Pacheco by a 1900 Census enumerator who was obviously a little confused. He is the third child of Theodoro Pacheco…
Tombstone Tuesday: Who Left These Flowers?
While walking through Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Hayward, California, about ten years ago, I came across the grave site for my Great Great Aunt and Uncle, Jose de Braga and Maria Jacinto (aka Joseph DeBraga and Mary Camara). Jose was the son of Jozimas de Braga and Maria da Conceicao de Mello, of Maia, Ribeira…
Tombstone Tuesday: Ana Jacinta’s Crumbled Stone
My Great Great Grandmother, Ana Jacinto de Melo Pacheco, came to Hawaii in 1882. She was widowed bringing her children with her. If I hadn’t seen her immigration records, I would have no evidence that Ana stepped on Hawaiian soil. She isn’t listed in any census, vital records, or church records that I have come…
Anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire
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. …