Writing & Education

Avoiding “Pinball Genealogy” | Bridging the Past

Haven’t we all been there?  Avoiding “Pinball Genealogy” | Bridging the Past & The Pinball Approach to Genealogical Reasearch| DearMYRTLE

Both DearMYRTLE and Bridging the Past both offer apt descriptions of that craziness we encounter when we become overwhelmed by the sheer volume of genealogical data available to us.  I’m there now with my family history – to the extent that I’ve taken a break from following the links to more information, and am just trying to settle in with the resources I already have available to me.

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Tough Ass B*tches

Touch Ass B*tchesI had lunch with my cousin yesterday, and we were talking about family.  I was telling her the story of Kate Dulk, who survived the Morro Castle disaster.  She made a comment that made me laugh:  “We’ve come from a line of tough ass b*tches.”

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The Morro Castle Ship Disaster
The Morro Castle burning at sea.

The Morro Castle burning at sea.

The Morro Castle was a luxury cruise ship that made regular runs between New York and Havana in the first part of the twentieth century.  On September 8, 1934 disaster struck the ship, and my third great-grandmother, Kate Dulk, and her twin Michael were on board.  They were 72 years old at the time.

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The Baldwin Family Mystery

New York Subway Map, CIrca 1918, Library of Congress
New York Subway Map, CIrca 1918, Library of Congress

 

My 2nd great-grandmother Sadie Donnelly Reilly was a nickle-snatcher – a subway token clerk in New York City.  She was raising three children in Brooklyn, the youngest of whom as 2 years old when her husband disappeared.  John Reilly was riding the ferry one day when he allegedly fell overboard.  No body was ever recovered, and he was declared dead, leaving Sadie to raise their children alone.

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The USS Frank E. Evans

Logo, USS Frank E. EvansI write about the USS Frank E Evans with admitted bias – my uncle Larry was one of the seventy-four men lost at sea that fateful night in June 1969, and my beloved grandfather was one of the ones lucky to survive.  The repercussions of the collision of the USS Evans and the HMAS Melbourne have now spanned four generations of Reillys.  I grew up with the accident – it colored many a family occasion.

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