A Hostler in Oakland

Written from my Great Grandma Katie, born in 1893 in San Francisco:

“When I was 5 1/2 years old, my father took me to stay with his widowed cousin in Oakland. I called her “Grandma Ellen”. I like living in Oakland. My Grandma had three cows and lots of chickens. I would scatter the wheat and yell “chick, chick” and see them all come running.”

As I was diving back into my Bay Area roots on Ancestry.com, I came across this “Grandma Ellen’s” side of the family. I am not blood related to her. She married into our family. Last name was “Cronin.” And the Cronins were already established in Oakland as far back as the 1860s. Tonight I came across a fun word for the occupation of one of Grandma Ellen’s brothers:

What’s a “hostler” I thought? So I looked it up:

A hostler (/ˈhɒslər/ or /ˈɒslər/) or ostler /ˈɒslər/ was traditionally a groom or stableman who was employed in a stable to take care of horses, usually at an inn, in the era of transportation by horse or horse-drawn carriage.

Then I asked AI to draw me a picture of a hostler:

I like Wikipedia’s picture better:

I think I have become obsessed with this Grandma Ellen because according to my Great Grandmother, she lived in a big farmhouse in Oakland and there was a fireplace in the living room and…

“Quite high above the couch was a sort of mantle made from a long shelf. It was draped with yellow silk edged in the same color chenille balls. On the shelf was a big black onyx clock that had little marble columns on each side. It was always wound on Sunday after mass. A few fancy framed pictures of members of the family were on the mantle along with a cut glass vase.”

This memory would have been around 1899 in Oakland. All I can think of now, is…who inherited those family pictures? Did any of her descendants inherit them? The descendants of the family she married into, the Connollys, have sort of died off according to my research on Ancestry.com. But I think the Cronins are still around as she came from a huge family, and now I am obsessed!

Wednesday, October 22, 2025 in Oakland:

• 

• 

• 

Zoom Rehearsal

Today I had a Zoom rehearsal with my fellow solo performers for an upcoming performance on February 25th at the Marsh Berkeley.

7:00 p.m., at The Marsh Berkeley cabaret

I haven’t had a Zoom rehearsal since 2021 probably, and I have to tell you, I do not miss it. Staring into the tiny little camera on my laptop drains me as I emote for the lens. And no, it’s not the same as being on a movie set. Not by a long shot. The part that makes it draining is being able to see my image staring back at me as I say my lines. I know that younger generations have gotten used to staring at themselves when doing a YouTube clip or Reel or whatever, but as an actor, being aware of what you look like actually pulls you out of the moment. When you are on stage or on camera doing a scene, you are supposed to be listening to your partner, not caring about what you look like as you talk to them. Whenever I see an actor or influencer constantly touching their hair as they talk, I just know there is a monitor where they can see their image and it’s making them self-conscious. The minute that happens-the moment is ruined, in my opinion. So yeah, I hate Zoom.

But these are the times we are living in and even though I don’t like it, I have gotten pretty good at learning some camera tricks when having to use Zoom in regard to playing multiple characters. I have learned how far out of frame I can be, I have learned where to look off camera (directionally speaking) and when to address the camera as the narrator. I have learned those things, begrudgingly. And today it all came back to me.

I also think using the computer for rehearsal makes me feel like I am at work, rather than at play. I am a tactile person and need to be moving around and in my body. But there is another part of me that loves to write and do research and that is done on the computer. It didn’t use to be though.

I remember going to the library in high school and college for research. I would scroll through microfiche and dig through books. I am not saying that method is better, but I found it less draining. It definitely took longer though. If younger generations asked me the question –is life better now in 2025 than when I was growing up, I would say “yes and no”. I think the answer is always “yes and no”. Yes, in that the internet has saved me so much time in doing things like research or booking travel or finding a long-lost childhood friend- it’s amazing that way. But then No, it’s worse because in all this convenience, nobody wants to wait for anything anymore. People have lost patience and character and maturity. Instant gratification definitely delays maturity. I know I sound like a Boomer, but I am 100% Gen X. The official “Slacker Generation.”

We had fun though.

Saturday, February 15, 2025:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The Fighting Irish

I know, I know, it’s Valentine’s Day, not Saint Patrick’s Day, but I stumbled upon a couple of feisty historical records recently while doing research on my Irish ancestors.

Kate Connolly– My Great Great Grandfather’s Sister:

According to my Grandma Gerry, “Kate stayed in Ireland and married Dan O’Sullivan. They had a huge family.”

Ancestry.com said I had a “hint” about her, so I checked it out:

Obviously, I don’t think that’s her, but OMG – this chick got thrown in the slammer for USING OBSCENE LANGUAGE? What did the other inmates do to get arrested? Look at the last one on the list below.

BEING A “ROGUE VAGABOND” it says if you can’t read the handwriting. That sounds like the name of a night club or something.

Not to be outdone, I received another “hint”, this time for her husband, Daniel O’Sullivan. Look at the first line under the OFFENCE column. Can you read it?

MANSLAUGHTER.

Dang, Ancestry,com, what are you trying to tell me?

I am pretty sure these are not our people. According to my grandma, the O’Sullivans stayed in Ireland, had a big family and “one of their kids married a Crowley, hence, the connection with Father Pat“. I mean, they had religious ties and everything.

These coincidences simply mean that people in Ireland all have the same freaking names.

Friday, February 14, 2025:

• 

• 

• 

Second Great Grand Uncle Richard

The other day I was with some friends, and we couldn’t quite figure out the whole “second cousin” vs. “first cousin, once removed” thing. I admit I get quite confused, so I go to my family tree on Ancestry.com to get some answers. But even then – I am not quite sure they are right.

2nd Great Grand Uncle or….Great Great Grand Uncle Richard Connolly and my Great Great Grandfather Jeremiah Connolly.

I like to brag about Richard because apparently he owned a saloon in San Francisco in the late 1800s, South of Market near 10th and Folsom Streets. But he also, according to one of my Grandma Gerry’s letters, “ran an inn in Baden.” I didn’t know what that meant when I read it, but then I found his obituary on FindaGrave.com, and someone (who never responded to my inquiry about how they found this information) had posted this newspaper article about how the Baden Hotel was robbed and someone died!

I wish I could find the original article – the font is quite small, but from what I could make of it was that Great Great Grand Uncle Richard was shot, but survived, but his friend didn’t. I also noticed that Patrick Ferriter is in this article and from my research, I know that was his brother-in-law. And “Baden” was a town that was founded in 1856 but is now a neighborhood in South San Francisco. Interesting.

Road Trip!

Tuesday, January 21, 2025

• 

• 

• 

•