In 1898, my 2X great-grandfather Baldwin Gardiner was shot and killed after a botched robbery and a daring chase over San Francisco rooftops. More at oconnor.home.blog.

S2E21 - Working on the Railroad

Jul 7th, 2020 20m 37s

In this episode, I take a look at my family’s relationship to one of the major industries that employed several of my ancestors – the railroads. More at oconnor.home.blog.

S1E20 - The Cure

Apr 29th, 2020 15m 11s

With COVID raging and the current occupant of the White House suggesting wild cures, I look back into my family tree where a not-so-reliable treatment scam figured into the life of one of my third great-grandfathers in 1830s Jacksonian America.

S1E19 - Pandemic

Mar 26th, 2020 21m 50s

In this episode, as I shelter-in-place under the coronavirus epidemic, I look into how some of my ancestors endured the Influenza Epidemic of 1918. More at oconnor.home.blog.

S1E18 - The Worst Season

Feb 29th, 2020 17m 4s

In this episode, a great-uncle endures drought and hardship on a Dakota farm once part of the territory of the Lakota Sioux that was broken up and sold under the Dawes Act of 1887. More at oconnor.home.blog.

S1E17 - The Absconder

Jan 31st, 2020 24m 48s

In this post, I continue the story of Baldwin Gardiner, who over the course of his life appears to have been a name borrower, a home-wrecker, and a financial absconder in 19th-century San Francisco. oconnor.home.blog

S1E16 - Thomas and Rose

Dec 24th, 2019 16m 17s

In this episode, I pick up the saga of the O’Connor family after settling in Nebraska, particularly the story of my great-grandparents Thomas O’Connor and Rose Burry. oconnor.home.blog

S1E15 - Prisoner of Rock Island

Nov 27th, 2019 21m 17s

In this episode, I introduce a 2x great-grandfather on my mother’s side who, among other things, was a Confederate POW during the Civil War. oconnor.home.blog

S1E14 - Homestead

Oct 25th, 2019 20m 27s

In this episode, we continue Michael O'Connor's journey from Ireland in 1884 to a homestead outside of Grand Island, Nebraska. oconnor.home.blog

S1E13 - Clerk Stories

Sep 29th, 2019 28m 23s

In this episode, I take a look at the long public service career of my great-grandfather, Michael Desmond, who held municipal offices during the Progressive Era of the early 20th century. oconnor.home.blog

S1E12 - Their Guilty Union

Aug 13th, 2019 17m 5s

In this episode, my second great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Ward, gets divorced, then marries, and dies – all on the same day. More at oconnor.home.blog

S1E11 - Push and Pull

Aug 8th, 2019 12m 58s

In this episode, we visit a non-Irish branch of my family tree and explore what brought them from a little village in Switzerland into the heartland of America. More at oconnor.home.blog

S1E10 - Pretty Houses

Aug 6th, 2019 11m 23s

This episode started out as an attempt to find out more about a duplex that I own in East Sacramento, but I ended up learning more about the people who built it. More at oconnor.home.blog

S1E9 - Off to California 1851

Aug 5th, 2019 14m 13s

In this episode, we take a closer look at the first Baldwin Gardiner from New York. oconnor.home.blog

S1E8 - The First Boycott

Aug 4th, 2019 10m 20s

In this episode, my great-great grandfather Michael O'Connor participates in the very first boycott, and in a way, initiates his own. More at oconnor.home.blog

S1E7 - Words Fail

Aug 2nd, 2019 11m 25s

In this episode, my great-grandmother Mary Morley Desmond writes some words during the worst of the Great Depression. More at oconnor.home.blog

S1E6 - They Did Some Punching

Aug 1st, 2019 7m 21s

In this episode, my great-grandfather and his brother go looking for trouble, and hope to prove the truth of that old adage “it’s not who starts the fight that matters, it’s who finishes it.” More at oconnor.home.blog

S1E5 - Over There

Jul 26th, 2019 6m 56s

In this episode, I look into members of the family who were of age 100 years ago during The Great War – World War I – and tell the story of my great-uncle James Flanagan who served in World War I. More at oconnor.home.blog

S1E4 - Who is B.G. Cooke?

Jul 24th, 2019 7m 21s

In this episode, I begin the story of my great-great grandfather Baldwin Gardiner of San Francisco. It will take multiple posts to tell his story. Trust me. I think. More at oconnor.home.blog

S1E3 - Carried Away

Jul 21st, 2019 7m 49s

At first it appeared to be just an innocuous lapel pin on an image of my great-grandfather, Thomas O'Connor. But wait... is that a hatchet? More at oconnor.home.blog

S1E2 - Full of Feeling

Jul 19th, 2019 5m 40s

In this episode, we’ll look at my 2nd great uncle, John Desmond. I don’t know why I chose to feature him first. Maybe it’s because I recently found an image of him – a drawing that appeared in the Sacramento Bee in 1892. Something about an imag

S1E1 - Meet the Families

Jul 18th, 2019 11m 43s

In this episode, I’ll be setting up the background to this series and introduce the four branches of my family tree that serve as the structure for the program. More at oconnor.home.blog

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