Contagious Genealogy: A Pandemic

Jesse Pitcock's name might appear fairly average upon first examination, but there's something fun hidden in his middle name. He was my 1st cousin 4x removed on one of my mother's lines. And before a day ago, I didn't even know he existed, let alone would have picked him for this blog's subject line. But due to coincidental timing this week, I happened to discover him and have the perfect opportunity to shine a spotlight on him and his family. Jesse was born in 1890 in Greene County, Pennsylvania to parents John and Sidney Pitcock. John was my 3rd great granduncle. I believe Jesse was their youngest child out of 9 kids! He went on to marry a woman named Lucy John and they had 5 daughters together. Now, I don't have any strong evidence to back up this suspicion, but I believe Jesse's parents had a wonderful sense of humor. Jesse's name only sprung out at me while leafing through my Ancestry.com tree's image hints. His obituary had been uploaded by ano...

Every genealogist should eventually make the trek out to SLC to visit the FamilySearch Library (formerly known as the Family History Library). It is open access and free to the public, like a city library, except it is wholly focused on genealogy research materials and managed by the company FamilySearch (founded by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Kira D. Foltz, photo of entrance to FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Mar 2025. One of the genealogy societies I belong to, Ventura County Genealogical Society ( VCGS ), makes an annual pilgrimage to the library on what they have termed the Salt Lake City Safari. I learned about their trip a couple years ago and felt I'd need to tag along when the schedule made sense for me. 2025 was the year! James McAleney, photo of VCGS Safari group at FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Mar 2025. Used with permission. A group of about 35 of us joined together in Utah for a week in March filled with family history resea...

There's about a million "Eddies" in my family tree, which automatically puts me off in terms of researching any of them, because on the surface, they already don't seem very unique or interesting. However, at this point in my genealogy journey, I should definitely know better. Everyone has a fascinating story to tell, even if their name isn't as glamorous or one-of-a-kind. Eddie Dean is one of those cousins who I didn't think twice about when I initially saw his leaf dangling on my maternal branch. But in 2009, I travelled to Oklahoma for a family gathering and learned little nuggets of info here and there on my mom's Dean side from three of my great aunts, Frances, Sheila, and Thelma. I was curious about their brother, Raymond, who had passed away long before I was even born. From what I gathered, Raymond had had a wife and two sons. And yet, I found it odd that I did not know this great aunt of mine or her kids (who would be around my mom's generatio...

Whenever I try to think of some interesting living situations in the family tree, my mind always jumps to this photo of my great grandaunt, Grace Helen (Hinman) Boodleman. She moved in with Charles Boodleman on his homestead in Faith, South Dakota. This is them in front of their sod house with their two dogs in 1910. It truly looks as if the house was constructed to utilize as much of the shape of the land as possible, expending as little energy as needed to support the structure over their head. The patent was awarded to Charles in 1912, meaning he made all necessary improvements on the land to satisfy the Homestead Act requirements. It's as if they were living in their only little cave of sorts, and I love the plank walkway that curves and winds its way up to, what I imagine, was their front door. They also all look like they're enjoying their time lounging out front and posing for the photo -- even the pups! Grace (as well as her sister Fanny!) also obtained her very own hom...

In the year leading up to the 1932 Summer Olympic Games, my grandfather, Harry Foltz, hitched a ride from Portland, Oregon down to Los Angeles to be a spectator. But that spontaneous change in scenery became much more than just a fanciful holiday. He ended up settling in Pasadena, California, and with that move, LA and its surrounding suburbs became the new fixture for the Foltz family. Some time around 2016 or 2017, my uncle, Roy Foltz, called me in a seemingly talkative mood one evening while I was still stuck at the office working. He began heading down memory lane, touching on all sorts of topics that related to the past. And unfortunately it took me a few minutes to realize I'd need to jot down some notes if I was ever to remember any of the stories he was regaling. One of the tales took me by much surprise, as he noted that his father had worked as an extra in the background of old movies to make some extra money when he had first arrived in LA. It was the Depression Era, so ...

I think it's possible that without my 5th great grandfather, Isaac Wilcox, I may never have become as infatuated with genealogy as I am. He was supposed to be my ticket into the lineage society, Daughters of the American Revolution. My great grandmother, Ethel (Hinman) Eggenberger, and her daughter, Vera, had become members based on his alleged participation as a patriot in the war for independence. However, when his records didn't hold up under the scrutiny of modern day genealogical standards, he became that enigma for me that has held my interest ever since. While I did, eventually, gain admittance into the DAR (via another ancestor's service), Isaac has remained a constant question mark for me. Upon submitting my original application to DAR's offices in D.C., the genealogist assigned to verify my case, wrote me a kind rejection letter explaining why Isaac Wilcox was no longer considered a "valid" patriot. It turned out that when this registrar did their d...

After my maternal great aunt, Frances (Dean) Wise, passed away in 2019, her daughter saw it fit to ship me two of the enlarged, framed photographs that had adorned her walls in Tulsa, Oklahoma. They had hung above the ancestral bed that had once belonged to her great grandmother, Elizabeth (Pitcock) Rockwell, who happened to be my 3rd great grandmother. I was already well acquainted with the two pictures, seeing as I was already in possession of much smaller versions in the photo albums I had inherited from my grandmother (Frances' sister). But I was stoked to add the framed stills to my personal collection, all the same. The frames themselves are pretty unique as they are made with sturdy wood and convex bubble glass over the picture. My best guess is that the frame may date back to the 1930s or '40s. The other thing that makes the photographs interesting is the fact they were hand-painted to bring color to minute details within the image, such as rosy cheeks. The smaller vers...

At the June 2018 Southern California Genealogical Society's Genealogy Jamboree event in Burbank, California, I had the pleasure of sitting down with The Photo Detective, Maureen Taylor, on the convention floor. She was offering immediate, in-person consultations on two photos for just $20. I couldn't pass up this opportunity to get her expertise on a photo of my 3rd great grandmother (actually two of my 3rd great grandmothers!). I admit I was a little intimidated. Although I had been studying my tree for years, I was still a baby genealogist and was rather green when it came to doing research the right way. Maureen was already well-known and established, so this was kind of like meeting a celebrity in genealogy circles. And I could tell she meant business when we began our session and she broke out her audio-set with a microphone that helped amplify her voice above the buzz of the expo floor. I asked if it was okay to record our session and her response was, "Absolutely!...