Three houses side by side on E. 25th Street in Oakland, California are important to my family history. These three houses were where it all began. It’s where the cousins from Hawaii first lived. It sparked a long line of relatives moving to this very street for over 60 years. The First Migration From the…
Tag: Land and Property Research
52 Ancestors, Week 11: Martin Kelly was a Lucky Man
This week’s them for 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks is the Luck of the Irish. This week I’m going to write about my 3rd great grandfather, Martin Kelly, and his brush with the law. Martin Kelly was a native of County Roscommon, Ireland, who came to America during the Potato Famine. I don’t know much…
Oh, the Pain
I’ve been on the hunt for my 3rd great grandfather’s land records this week. I went through the indexes for San Mateo County, California and hit a gold mine. It turns out Martin Kelly owned more land than I ever dreamed possible. The family lore said that he owned “a boardinghouse in San Francisco”. That…
My Very First Deed
My latest discovery has to deal with my first adventure in researching land records. Even though I’ve been researching for over 20 years, I have not had to do land research. It was an aspect of genealogy I hadn’t really delved into. I knew that my San Francisco ancestors held land back as early as…