Families are funny things, and it’s always surprising to find out who remembers what. For instance, none of my siblings remembers our street address in California. During the course of their marriage, my parents moved the family many times; as a result, my older brothers and sisters lived in Connecticut, Texas, Maine, California, and Maine again. When they first moved to California (sometime after my brother, Dominic was born in Maine in 1952) they lived with my Uncle Cley and his wife. At an uncertain point after that, my parents moved into the house where I was born in 1954.
It wasn’t until I ran across my birth certificate as a teen-ager that I learned I had been born at home. Apparently my family’s California years were not their happiest, and our life out West was not discussed much. Also, we had been through two house fires by 1965, old photos and other mementos had pretty much disappeared so if a picture of our California house ever existed, we do not have one now.
My birth certificate listed only a route and box number for our address. No help there. Luckily, our genealogical research and the Internet had brought us back together with some distant cousins. I e-mailed one who lives closer to Auburn, Calif. where I was born and asked her if by any chance she knew where we lived, or if her family did. Tina, my first cousin twice removed (I always have to check a genealogical relationship chart to get that right) was happy to try to get me a photo. She rushed out and e-mailed me about 20 pictures of the house from the street, including the street sign and the “ONE WAY” street sign, which she didn’t notice until it was too late, if you get my meaning. She also gave me the street address, so I went to www.vpike.com and was able to get a look at the neighborhood. (Amazing what you can find on the Internet, nowadays.)
I quickly e-mailed Tina’s photos and the story of her adventure to two of my sisters. My sister Bridgett was the first to let me know that the pictures were actually Uncle Cleytie’s house, where, yes we had lived, but not when/where I was born! Ever a good sport, my cousin Tina was confused, but willing to try again. She consulted her grandfather (Uncle Cley’s son) who then remembered, that we had moved but it was about the time he got married, so the most he can remember is that we may have moved about five miles away on Highway 49 near a lumber mill.
I went online, researching the Auburn area and sent out a couple of e-mail inquiries. I e-mailed the Placer County Registry of Deeds to see what they require to search 1953-54 to look for my parents in the Grantee Index. I also e-mailed the Auburn Historical Society to see if they had a suggestion for tracking down a 1954 Route/Box address. It will be interesting to see where these inquiries lead.
Editor’s note: This regular column is sponsored by the Aroostook County Genealogical Society. The group meets the fourth Monday of the month except in July and December at the Cary Medical Center’s Chan Education Center, 163 Van Buren Road, Caribou, at 6:30 p.m. Guests and prospective members are always welcome. FMI contact Edwin “J” Bullard at 492-5501. Columnist Nina Brawn of Dover-Foxcroft has been doing genealogy for over 30 years, is a freelance genealogy researcher, speaker and teacher. Reader e-mails are welcome at ninabrawn@gmail.com.
