52 Ancestors-Week 48: Gratitude – Thankful for My Grandmother’s Interest in My Family Research

This is my third year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow. I will write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or at My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

I cannot remember the year I started doing family research. It was after the birth of my children, so perhaps in the early 1990s. My daughters’ babysitter was a genealogist who visited the Family History Library in Salt Lake City every year and was actually there when my second child was born. I must have expressed an interest because she took me to Sutro Library in San Francisco where she set me down at a microfilm machine to look at the 1920 Soundex roll for Ravalli County, Montana. When I found my paternal grandfather, William Cyril Hork in that census and then in the 1910 census, I was hooked and wanted to go to the Family History Library with the group the following year!

After my mother died in 1992, us six children made it a point to visit our maternal grandmother, Mam-ma, once a month. We took turns driving down to Pleasanton to take her to doctor’s appointments, shopping, or out to lunch. Other times, my sisters and I would go down together and she would have piles of stuff she was ready to get rid of. We would take turns going around the table selecting an item until all were gone. These were always great visits.

Mam-ma was very interested in the things I was learning about her family. She helped with the basic information about her parents and grandparents, and about my grandfather’s parents, the Johnstons. She got me in touch with her niece, Sandra, who lived in Texas, who was a big help with the Johnston side of the family.

The more I learned through my research, the more Mam-ma was interested in what stories I had to tell. We never found that Indian blood, and her Loveless family’s name was spelled lots of different ways, not just LOVELESS. We aren’t related to the Coors beer family (our Coor line is from early colonial times in the south). I never found that connection to Will Rogers either.

It was a shame she didn’t live long enough to see the people we’re supposedly related to through Relative Finder, like Harper Lee (my 6th cousin, 2x removed), Merle Haggard (7th cousin, 1x removed), and Richard Nixon (7th cousin, 2x removed). Well, maybe not the last one, as she was a long-time Democrat. She might have liked being related to President Lyndon Johnson as 8th cousins, 1x removed.

She also took a DNA test for me, starting first with the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) because that was all there was and then we upgraded to the autosomal DNA (atDNA) test. The mtDNA test hasn’t revealed any revelations yet, but I’m so glad to have secured it.

I have much gratitude for the interest Mam-ma took in our family research. My only regret is not writing about her family. Someday, when I do get a book written, it will definitely be dedicated to her, for her support and encouragement in my work.

Copyright © 2020 by Lisa S. Gorrell, Mam-ma's Southern Family, All rights reserved.

Comments

  1. Linda StufflebeanNovember 29, 2020 at 9:10 AM

    Mam-ma was a huge influence in both your family life and your genealogical pursuits. What a nice tribute to her.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lisa S. GorrellNovember 29, 2020 at 9:14 AM

      Thanks, she was. My father-in-law also encouraged me and was very interested in what I learned about his family. I wish I could tell them now what more I know about their families.

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