This week I’m combining a research trip and the “At the Library” theme into one blog post.
Research Trip to Turlock, California
I have been planning a research trip to Turlock with my friend Lisa for a few years. We found out right before Covid we both have family that lived in the Turlock area at different times. We decided then to plan a trip together.
We used Trello for planning and this way we could share Trello. We could see where and what each was planning. This enabled us to plan our trip in a logical manner and “kill two birds with one stone.” Below is a snapshot of our Trello board for our research in Turlock.
California State University Stanislaus
We left on Wednesday and our first stop was the Archives and Special Collections at California State University Stanislaus. We both had contacted archivist Mary Weppler with a wish list of items we would like to view. Lisa's list was longer than mine. I mainly wanted to see any information about my dad’s construction company that built the baseball field.
When we arrived, Mary had everything laid out on tables in the Reading Room, 13 boxes of material, most from the Turlock Mercantile, WWI & II material, houseboat photos from Don Pedro Lake, maps, and a few other items. This is my first time visiting this type of facility for genealogy research and I was very impressed.
Mary gave us a tour of the Special Collections room, very organized. She has only been in her position since September 2021. She has done major cataloging and organization since then. She says there is still material that needs to be worked and her students will continue to work on the items when school starts in a few weeks. Come to find out the university newspaper is where I will most likely find information on the baseball field and Mary showed me how to find them online.
Turlock Memorial Park and Turlock Historical Society
We got up early Thursday morning and headed to Turlock Memorial Park. My cousin, Jonathan D. Stearley died in 2019 and I didn’t get to attend his funeral. I wanted to visit his gravesite and take a photo of his gravestone. Turlock Memorial Park has a new feature on their website that you can find where a person is buried in the cemetery. We used that and were able to find him quickly. He’s not far from where other family members are buried. I took my photos, stopped by my parents and my dad's parents and we were off to our 9:30 appointment at the Turlock Historical Society.
We arrived a little early but didn’t have to wait to enter. They are only open on Saturday, but Lisa was able to arrange for us to visit Thursday. Great museum and displays about the canning industry, local police department, how the town was founded and named, packing shed industry, and others. I enjoyed seeing the old photos of the town when it was in its beginning with dirt roads. They had a great collection of Turlock High yearbooks. Lisa found a few photos and I was able to find my mom, her brothers, my dad, and a few of his brothers and sisters from numerous years. We wanted to look at newspapers, but they were not available, and some were too delicate to handle. They are hoping to digitize them in the future. We were disappointed we could not access them but hopefully, the library has them. I consider this stop a success since I was able to take photos of the yearbooks. Now off to Allen Mortuary and Turlock Library.
Allen Mortuary
Many of my dad's family funerals have been at Allen Mortuary. I did not make any phone calls to the mortuary but decided to stop by on our way to the library. I was interested in any information I could find out about my littlest sister, Cynthia Ann. She was stillborn in 1962 but there has always been a family story surrounding her birth. We walked in and I explained what I was looking for and the person at the front stated she thought all the books dating back to the time period Cynthia was born were stored at Turlock Memorial Park. She asked me the date again and said to wait a minute. She left and was gone about 10 minutes and came back. She said I was in luck and they still had the book. She was making a copy. She asked me to confirm my name and how I was related. She confirmed my personal information was what was on the document and she presented me with a document of information I don't have. At that moment I got all choked up and teary-eyed. I asked if there was any information about the funeral arrangements and who paid for them. She informed me that they do not charge for baby funerals. They cover all the costs. What an unbelievable gesture on their part. She said they have done this since they have been in business. Again my eyes welled with tears. I thanked her profusely and in my mind, I couldn't believe I was holding a document that helped explain a few things. I felt I struck gold and if I didn't obtain any other information on this trip I was happy.
Turlock Library
I used to take my little brother (12 years younger than me) to this library for Storytime. I had a seat on my bike for him and he loved the ride there. We would pick out books to take home for me to read to him. Like most libraries they still have a great children's section. We roamed the library just to see what was there. At first, we could not find any microfilm area, but I saw a room with city directories and headed straight for it. I was in heaven! So many years dating back to 1922. Lisa was able to find some of her farming ancestors and I was successful in finding many of my dad’s family and my mom’s. This will help me fill in gaps in my timelines. I was a very happy person! We did find the microfilm reader and The Turlock Journal newspaper microfilm was stored right next to the reader. We both spent time looking through microfilms but unfortunately, we did not find anything. According to Mary at the CSUS library, they are looking into digitizing the newspapers at all three locations. Lisa and I are keeping our fingers crossed.
Lakewood Memorial Park, Hughson, California
Friday and our last stop before heading home. I contacted a person last week and sent a list of family names I wanted to visit and take photos of their gravestones. She was able to find them all and in her last email instructed me to stop by the office and she would map the sites for me. With map in hand and once Lisa and I figured out how to find the row markers, we were able to find each site. What was somewhat unusual is how many gravestones were bronze, including my family. The one below is my great aunt and uncle. I took all the photos I needed, and we headed home to the Bay Area.
I felt this research trip was a HUGE success for me and glad Lisa and I spent the time planning and researching up front what was available at each site. If you plan a research trip another suggestion is to check when the sites are open. We ran into a few roadblocks but that did not stop us.
