June 21 – 27, 2021

JAUNTS 

No jaunts this week due to GRIP (see below)

VOLUNTEER WORK AND MEETINGS

GRIP (Genealogical Institute of Pittsburg) – I was in GRIP all week. This year it was virtual again. It's normally held at La Roach College in Pittsburgh. I like the convenience of virtual but miss the camaraderie of attending in person, hopefully next year. This year's class I attended was, "Answering the Call of Uncle Sam: Research in Military Records" taught by Sandra Rumble and Jonathan Deiss who are excellent instructors. This covered wars in the 19th century meaning any war prior to WWI. We had lots of hands on exercises and documents to review. I have to say this was the best institute session I have attended. I hope I can put what I learned to practice. I have a few ancestors that I need to send for their CSMR (Compiled Service Military Record). I need to get on the ball!

GRIP also offered free evening presentations. I attended three of the four:

1. What’s New at the Family History Library and FamilySearch (David Rencher)
2. Whose Estate Is It Any Way! (Kelvin Myers)
3. Besieged by Baxters: A Case Study for a Common Name (Rebecca Koford)

LISA CALL

No call due to GRIP.

AMIGOS CALL (LISA, LINDA, STEWART)

Short call due to GRIP 4PM speaker.

WEBINAR MEETINGS

Attended CGS webinar "What’s New at the Family History Library and FamilySearch." 

BOOKS READING AND COMPLETED

Mastering Genealogical Documentation Thomas W. Jones (prep for next GRIP)

Company Commander Charles B. MacDonald (some day I will finish this)

Zotero for Genealogy: Harnessing the Power of Your Research Donna Cox Baker

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

Week of June 14 – 20 2021

FAMILY

Our great niece Addison's 11th birthday was this week. We face timed with her and the rest of the family. I can't believe she is 11. Where did that little girl go?

VOLUNTEER WORK AND MEETINGS

Met with Adelle & Linda about RemCom. Linda is stepping back from committee but this was planned all a long. I will miss her input but can always contact her with questions. 

Attended CGS webinar "Using the National Archives Website." Great handout with lots of links. 

GRIP Welcome call was Sunday and I was able to attend even thought it was Father's Day. The call was only 30 minutes. 

LISA  CALL

Met with Lisa but for the life of me I can't remember what we talked about. 

AMIGOS CALL (LISA, LINDA, STEWART)

Same here. Can't remember what we talked about and that is really sad. 

JAUNTS

Spent Saturday afternoon with our neighbors Barbara and Noel. Barbara taught us how to make her incredible caesar salad dressing. 

Adam took us to Page Mill Winery for Father's Day. We went home after and he and his dad BBQ'd bacon wrapped shrimp and I made a caesar salad with Barbara's incredible dressing. Adam even said it's the best dressing he has ever had. It's so yummy!

GARDENING

We pulled up the rest of our garlic, including the elephant garlic. The bulbs need to dry for a week or so. We did share some of the ones we already dried with Barbara for the caesar dressing. We harvested potatoes for the first time and additional onions. The potatoes are so tender.

BOOKS READING AND COMPLETED

Company Commander Charles B. MacDonald (some day I will finish this)

Zotero for Genealogy: Harnessing the Power of Your Research Donna Cox Baker

Photos

Shared this image of my desk on a call

Peonies

First Ever Potato Harvest

Walla Walla Onions

Elephant Garlic

More Elephant Garlic

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

June 7, 2021 – June 13, 2021

FAMILY

Elton came over for BBQ on Sunday. He helped his Uncle BBQ and says he learned a lot. We love having him over and the three of us can talk for hours. We are so proud of him.

VOLUNTEER WORK AND MEETINGS

Hosted zoom class for CGS "Getting the Most Out of Fold3" with Anne Gillespie Mitchell. 

LISA  CALL

Lisa explained to me how to approve blog posts and how to answer in return. Discussed chapters 4-6 of Zotero for Genealogy.

AMIGOS CALL (LISA, LINDA, STEWART)

Meet with the Amigos even though we were staying at Jessie's Grove winery. 

JAUNTS

June 9 – 11 we took our first RV trip to Lodi. We stayed at a Harvest Host Winery, Jessie's Grove. We had a great time. It was windy but we didn't let that stop us. They have the original land grant framed on the wall of the tasting room which I thought was very cool. The winery cat, Ditto, adopted us and even came into the RV and made herself at home. She took numerous naps on one of the chairs. We tasted at 2 other wineries, Klinker Brick and Mettler Winery. Both of these are Harvest Host wineries and we wanted to check out the area they provide for Harvest Host guests. Loved both wineries. We at dinner at High Water Brewery. They have a non-alcoholic Root Beer on tap. It was fabulous. Very successful trip and we enjoyed ourselves!

BOOKS READING AND COMPLETED

Company Commander Charles B. MacDonald (some day I will finish this)

Zotero for Genealogy: Harnessing the Power of Your Research Donna Cox Baker

Photos

Elton and his Uncle Barry

Jessie's Winery Tasting Flight

Jessie's Grove Old Barn

History of Jessie's Winery

Ditto Is The Name And I Rule

Exploring is Tough Work

Our Rig and Toad

Barry Enjoying a Cold Beverage

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

May 31 – June 6, 2021

Family

Tuesday June 1st was my step-son Adam's 39th birthday. He had a get together at Nido's in Oakland. There were about 10-12 of us. We enjoyed Mexican food and margaritas. It was fun meeting his girlfriend for the first time. 

Garden

The wildflower seeds I planted are starting to bloom. They are so pretty. The 3 flower photos below are from the wildflower seeds. 

The green bean seeds I planted last week are starting to come up. I might try to can some this year. 

Volunteer Work & Meeting

Spent about 3 hours this weekend scheduling surveys for CGS upcoming classes. I still have 4 more for July to schedule. 

I  hosted a CGS webinar Tuesday and met with a presenter for a future date I'm hosting this month. 

Lisa Call

Lisa spent the weekend pulling land records for one of her Lancaster ancestors. She shared the spreadsheet she put together. 

Discussed ordering docs from NARA when they open again. 

Talked about doing a round table for CGS. 

Amigos Call  (Lisa, Linda, Stewart)

We decided to cancel this  week.

Trips

I made RV reservations at a winery in Lodi for later this month. I also made future reservations, including 2 dates with our friends Ken & Jan and a trip next year. I didn't realize how much time this takes. 

I put together a spreadsheet to keep track of our upcoming RV trips and organizations we belong too. 

Book(s) Reading or Completed

Company Commander Charles B. MacDonald (some day I will finish this)

Zotero for Genealogy: Harnessing the Power of Your Research Donna Cox Baker

Photos

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

A Bit About My Grandfather's World War II Service

This is an excerpt from a paper I have been working on for the past year and a half about my grandfather's World War II service. He served with L Company 406th Infantry Regiment 102nd Infantry Division.

Growing up, I didn’t realize my grandfather served in World War II. My Uncle Jimmie Griffin started doing our family genealogy between 1970 and 1980. In the early 1990’s he passed his research onto me. At that time, I had no idea what I was doing but he had put together family group sheets for most of the family and gathered quite a bit of information. During this time of my life I was interested is discovering if I had any Civil War veterans in my family tree. I was able to confirm that my 3xgreat grandfather on my maternal side did serve in the Civil War. When I shared this information with my Uncle Jimmie, he then informed me about my grandfather’s World War II Service. 

Uncle Jimmie stated he didn’t know much about Grandpa’s time in World War II because Grandpa said it was confidential and he could not talk about it. My Uncle Richard remembers playing with Grandpa’s army patches as a kid. He has no idea if Grandpa came home with any memorabilia or what happened to his uniform.  My mother’s seventh birthday was days after Grandpa returned and she did not have any memories of his return.

As a kid I remember my cousins, siblings and I were always with our Grandparents. We were very close to our Grandparents and have many, many, fond memories we talk about even today.  I decided one day to delicately approach the World War II subject with my Grandfather. As one of his grandchildren I felt I would be able to get “some” information from him, after all, we could do nothing wrong as my Grandparent’s Grandchildren. 

I was in my early 30s and visiting my Grandparents. We were sitting around their kitchen table after dinner and I decided the time was right. I asked Grandpa where he fought overseas during World War II. Just as I thought, he did not brush me off but told me he fought in Europe and mentioned the Battle of the Bulge. He talked about how he was never shot, he saw General Patton riding in a Jeep as they were marching along a road and how he volunteered to stay for a few months after the war was over to help “round up Germans” that were hiding in towns. He also mentioned his discharge papers listed a different company than he was attached to in Europe. I remember telling him I would try to get his service records and he did tell me I would not be able to because the records were confidential, but, he did not stop talking.  

He went to their bedroom and returned with a few photos. I remember one of the photos in particular. It was a barn with a stack of dead bodies in a pile in the barn doorway. I stared at that photo in amazement! I asked him if he was there and where was the photo taken. He said yes and it was near a German town, but he couldn’t remember where. I could tell he was a bit upset and heard my grandmother from the living room telling him it was enough and to put the pictures away. Needless to say, I was somewhat stunned and surprised by the photos. After my Grandparents passed away these photos could not be found. My Uncles believe my grandmother burned or threw the photos away since they upset my Grandfather. 

According to my uncles, Grandpa most likely suffered from what is referred to today as PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). He took medication for this, but I don’t know when he started. When I asked my Mom (Wanda Lue Griffin) about it, she confirmed the same thing. She said it was never mentioned growing up because it might upset my grandfather. 

It is widely known that PTSD was not officially named until 1980. Numerous books and articles use other terms known during World War II; shell shock, combat fatigue, neuropsychiatric disorder, traumatic war neurosis.  Much of this is covered in the article, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in the Military Veteran. See end notes for link. 

After finding out all the above-mentioned information, in 1992 I did request a copy of my Grandfather’s service records from the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Unfortunately, about a month later I received the notice that his file was burned in the 1973 fire. The majority of the army files were lost in that fire. At that time, I thought finding anything out about my Grandfather’s service history was a lost cause. I do have his draft registration cards and Honorable Discharge papers. 

Right before the Covid 19 pandemic last year I was able to obtain the Morning Reports for his company. I also have newspaper articles of when he left for Fort Sill, Oklahoma. I'm in the process of putting all that information down and creating a timeline. Hopefully when NARA opens back up I will be able to get copies of the unit records. Wish me luck. 

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

May 24–30, 2021

Family

Had a zoom call with Ashlee and Behr. He is crawling now and so quick and into everything. He is too adorable. They will be moving back to California next month and can't wait. We are so excited!! She gave me their new address and I looked it up on Google maps while we were talking. I can't wait to see them. 

Skylar called to let us know she and Jake are moving to Texas. She will finish her Vet Tech schooling out there. She wants to practice Equine vet medicine and feels she has a better chance of finding a job in Texas due to the amount of ranches there. The prison that Jake works at is closing and he wants to go into Law Enforcement. They both have researched this decision a lot and feel Texas is the place for them. 

Lisa Call

This week we decided to get into the program Zotero. We both ordered the book and downloaded the free software. We will read the first 3 chapters on the book and discuss when we meet next Monday. Zotero for Genealogy: Harnessing the Power of Your Research (The Golden Egg Genealogist Series) Donna Cox Baker

Volunteer Work & Meeting

I met with Adelle on Saturday to discuss upcoming events. We have a low registration count for our 4 main classes for the month of June.

Set up Pre-Check meeting for the Fold3 webinar I'm hosting on June 8th. I'm still trying to get ahold of the speaker for the Findmypast webinar on Wednesday June 2nd. I've asked Maureen for her help in getting a hold of the speaker. 

Amigos Call  (Lisa, Linda, Stewart)

Had our call but for the life of me can't remember what we talked about. 

Trips

We picked up our RV from Leale's and brought it home. It was really dusty inside  so I cleaned the inside and put things away we took out while it was getting worked on. Barry installed side cameras and finished a few maintenance things on the inside. He also cleaned the carpets again. Renee came over and finely got to see the RV. She has not been able to due to Covid. She didn't realize how big it was. 

I went to lunch on Wednesday with Renee. We drove down to Niles and did some shopping. I bought a few things for the vegetable garden area and she bought some items for her backyard. Rita joined us for lunch and it was great to see her again. We had a great day and the weather was perfect for our outing. 

Book(s) Reading or Completed

Company Commander Charles B. MacDonald (some day I will finish this)

Zotero for Genealogy: Harnessing the Power of Your Research Donna Cox Baker

Photos

From our garden. 

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

May 10 – 23, 2021

I've been thinking of writing a recap of what I accomplish weekly. My friend Lisa does this and I enjoy reading and seeing her photos from the previous week. This will mainly be for me to document what research I accomplish, meetings or webinars I attend, trips (hence Jacqueline's Jaunts) or any other thing I want to document about my life. I'll see where this leads me. 

Nature

We've been on our houseboat since May 10th. One of the cool things about spending extended time on the boat in a cove is the wildlife. Hearing the geese get into their squabbles, watching the wild donkeys hang out on the shore in the front of our boat. We are very quiet when they come around and they stay for awhile. I think my favorite is watching the eagles catch thermals and rise higher and higher in the sky. It's like they are just floating. They're my favorite bird and I could watch them for hours. There are a few pairs on the lake and we are lucky enough to share this lake with them. Such majestic animals. 

Webinars & Classes Attended

I watched 17 webinars in the past 10 days. I had to watch NGS (National Genealogical Society) webinars I paid for last year that expired on May 15th. BUT....I checked after the 15th and I still have access. Hopefully it stays this way. I have a few I'd like to watch again. 

Volunteer Work & Meetings -I belong to the California Genealogical Society (CGS) and volunteer my time for the Events Committee. 

I posted all the new June and July events for CGS on the Bay Area Genealogy Calendar and Conference Keeper Calendar. I still have to setup surveys for each. I use SurveyMonkey for this. I also sent out a June events flyer to the other genealogy societies we share our events with. 

Lisa Call

• This week we discussed NGS 2020 Virtual Conference videos and if they are still available to watch. Seems they are. I watched 17 last week. Whew!!! I was trying to watch them all before the deadline of 05-15-21. I procrastinated watching these over the last year. There are a few we discussed that we both watched. Come to find out I can still watch them.
• I'm reading Writing Interesting Family Histories by Carol Baxter. Lisa recommended this book during her writing class that I attended last quarter. She teached genealogy classes at Acalanes Adult Education. She'll read the book before our call next Monday and we'll review it together. I need to remember to write down questions for our discussion.
• For some reason we got on the subject of our BP meds and spent a bit of time discussing them. 

Amigos Call  (Lisa, Linda, Stewart)

Stewart discussed the LGBTQ webinar he attended Tuesday evening. It was hosted by SCCHGS, Santa Clara County Historical & Genealogical Society. He speaks on the same subject matter. 

Book(s) Reading or Completed

Writing Interesting Family Histories Carol Baxter COMPLETED

Company Commander Charles B. MacDonald

Trips

We spent May 10th - 20th on our houseboat. We drove the boat to a cove on Wednesday and stayed there until the following Tuesday. We enjoyed many visits from the local wild donkeys. We love to hear them bray and winnie at each other during the day and even at night.  Barry did a lot of normal spring maintenance and I cleaned the inside, refrigerators, and windows (including the tracks). Dust everywhere!

We left the houseboat on Thursday and drove to The Cabin at Don Pedro, about a 20 minute drive. Danny, Jo Ann, Melissa, James, Utah, and Willow were there. Utah is 15 months old now and was born at the beginning of the pandemic. Due to covid we have not met the little guy in person. He is adorable and it took him some time to warm up to us. After all he has not seen anyone but immediate family since he was born. Willow was so happy to see us and could not wait to lick my face. Love that dog. James was cooking tacos so we had to stay for dinner. When we all get together we can chat for hours, what's going on with everyone, news, a little politics but not much, next big family get together, everyone's health and so much more. We decided to spend the night and stayed at the other house on the hill (The Lodge). We left on Friday morning. 

My soul was extremely happy to see family again but it was like we just picked up where we left off when covid hit. Facetime and texting are a wonderful thing. My heart is very happy! 

Until next time. 

Photos

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.