I’ve written many times about how my great grandfather fled Hawaii when he was diagnosed with leprosy. They had a fresh start in Oakland, California, but what kind of a fresh start was it really? I found many details about the home they lived in when they first arrived. At the end of the article,…
Tag: California
Relationship Notes on Photographs Can Be Deceiving
A cousin shared some of her unknown photographs with me. One was taken around 1915-1920 and was labeled “My nephew Freddy with his first pair of short pants”. We almost missed identifying little Freddy because the real relationship with the person who owned the photograph was different than the note implied. In order to solve…
Ellen Figg, Navy WAVES: Recovering One Woman’s History
It pays to randomly search the internet for your relatives. No, not to spy on them. For genealogical purposes, of course! I do this periodically and sometimes come up with a gem. I uncovered a lost part of my grandfather cousin, Ellen Figg’s, story. She was a Navy WAVE! Who Was Ellen Figg? She born…
Mary (Riley) Jackson’s Genealogy Journey is Complete: The End of the Jackson Line
Mary L. (Riley) Jackson means very little to my family tree. She isn’t one of my ancestors. She is my great aunt. She married my great uncle, John Jackson, ca 1925. They divorced about 10 years later. I can go beyond her to the next generation easily. Yet, I feel compelled to research her. John’s…
SNGF: My Best Genealogy Day Ever
Randy Seaver has this week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun posted. The question for tonight is “What is your very best genealogy day ever?” Ever is such a long time. Truth be told, there were many best genealogy days since I began researching in 1990. I’m going to tell you about the first time I found…