I dream of geneology. Do you? I love discovering local history
and also family history. Geneological Web sites are the number two
most popular Web sites on the Internet (second only to porn).
I dream of geneology. Do you? I love discovering local history and also family history. Geneological Web sites are the number two most popular Web sites on the Internet (second only to porn).
Researching one’s family tree has become a top hobby; Americans want to find their roots. You wouldn’t believe the places people go and the hours they spend slogging through old cemeteries and searching the archives of museums. My poor husband got dragged all through Oak Mound Cemetery in Healdsburg on our honeymoon, so I could search for my great great grandfather’s grave.
There had always been a rumor among my Oklahoman relatives that Ransom Powell had been buried there, but no one had ever confirmed it. I wanted to find out more about this pioneer ancestor of mine. After we discovered his grave, we went to the local museum to see what we could find out about him. He learned that he came to California by covered wagon and made his fortune in the 1849 Gold Rush. He became the largest landowner in Sonoma County and one of Healdsburg’s first mayors. He had five wives – every time one died, he married another. Three of them are buried there in the family plot with him.
The museum knew the location of the 1869 Victorian Ransom built, now a bed and breakfast called the Camellia Inn. The curator at the museum sends me any articles about my family that she finds.
The point is I couldn’t have discovered all this history without the invaluable assistance of the museum, and this is true in small towns and cities all across America, including Gilroy. You would be surprised at how easy it can be to become a family detective, the way one clue leads to another … and another. It’s a lot of fun learning the stories of the past that connect to one’s own family. So much information is out there, just waiting to be discovered. It’s the closest thing to time travel that we have available to us in this day and age.
“In every conceivable manner, the family is a link to our past, bridge to our future” (Alex Haley). Every year, hundreds of Americans set out to find their roots, and many Gilroy residents come to the Gilroy Museum on Fifth Street to look up information on their family history. Gilroy’s prized collection of newspapers that date back to 1868 gives researchers access to135 years of Gilroy city history. Gilroy’s museum hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and the first Saturday of each month only, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (for more information, call 848-0470). It is important to preserve Gilroy’s history and keep the museum’s doors open, in spite of California’s current economic struggles. We are a young country compared to the rest of the world, and we need to nourish our roots and establish them deeply and firmly in our American soil – don’t let something so precious and so one-of-a-kind become lost forever.
Today you have the opportunity to come get your own copy of “Gilroy,” local author and storyteller Claudia Salewske’s new book telling the story of our town and how it came to be. She will be signing copies of her latest book at the Wize Owl Book Store on Thursday, Dec. 11, from 4:30 to 6:30. She will also be signing at BookSmart in Morgan Hill on Dec. 13 from 2 to 3:30 p.m. A percentage of the book’s proceeds and royalties will go to support Gilroy’s museum. It makes a great Christmas gift and supports our museum at the same time. Buy this book and keep the history of our town alive!
