Grandma Ellen

A letter written by my Great Grandma Katie who was born in San Francisco in 1893:

“One early memory I have was riding on a horse driven streetcar to the Ferry building to board the ferry boat to Oakland to visit my father’s widowed cousin. I called her Grandma Ellen. My Grandma had two cows and lots of chickens. I loved to scatter the wheat and call “chick, chick” and see them all come running.”

Cows and chickens in Oakland? I have become obsessed with tracking down this farm and Grandma Ellen. But all I knew about her was that she was my Great Great Grandfather’s “widowed cousin”. Where would I even start? But after much digging on genealogical websites, I think I may have found her.

And the “Farm”, I believe, has become the I-580 Exit 19B (West Street Exit by 35th Street). Don’t get me started on the freeway.

Now if I can just figure out how “Grandma Ellen” is cousins with my Great Great Grandfather, then I can properly link her to my family tree!

Friday, January 3, 2025 – Lake Merritt, Oakland

They Came West

So this meme was going around today, and it couldn’t have been more accurate:

OMG, ain’t that the truth. A lot of people took this week off, but I was back at work today and post holidays are rough.

On the days I am in the office I am always so tired when I get home. But no matter how tired I am, if I find a rabbit hole in my Bay Area family tree, I’m going down it and I somehow lose all space and time. Next thing I know it’s 10pm and I still need to write my evening blog.

Now I knew that my Great Grandfather James Edward Noble, built a house in Oakland, but what I didn’t know is that his brother George Mason Noble, lived in San Francisco. So of course, I had to get on Ancestry.com and fill in all those blanks. Anything Bay-related, it’s going in the family tree first!

But while those two brothers came out to California in the late 1800s, the rest of their clan chose to stay in either Vermont or Kansas? Super random. I would like to thank my Great Grandfather for heading west.

Thank You!

Before I left the office today, I took a picture of the sunset outside our 14th floor window in Downtown Oakland.

Across the Bay – San Francisco

The Bay will always be home. And hopefully for generations to come.