Elisabeth Grace Foley

Historical Fiction Author

What I’ve Been Up To: January & February

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– writing –

I’ve been working on the first draft of a new novel since the beginning of January. It’s something a bit different than anything I’ve written yet…and I’m pretty excited about it…but I don’t feel ready to talk more about it just yet. I decided I wanted to get to a certain point in the first draft before I shared anything about it or shared any snippets, and I hope to reach that point by next month at least. So, stay tuned…

On an already-published note, I recently released Bridge to Trouble as an ebook at Amazon, Kobo, et al. It came about after Goodreads deleted the book page on the grounds that the title wasn’t available anywhere but for free through my website; and I eventually decided that having it for sale would be a good thing in more than one way, in that it would give readers more of a choice as to how they wanted to get the book. New subscribers to my email list still have an option to download Bridge to Trouble for free, but anyone who wants to read the book yet doesn’t care to subscribe can buy it at their favorite ebook retailer.

– reading –

I’ve been so focused on writing that I actually haven’t read very much this month! That does tend to happen with me: I’ll go through spurts where I’m really involved with a project and don’t read as much, and then read a ton when between projects or in a more relaxed stage of the writing/editing process. I have been re-reading a couple of favorites, though. I’ve been slowly working through Dorothy Sayers’ The Mind of the Maker since before the holidays, and it’s the kind of book with enough depth in it that you take away new thoughts when you revisit it at different points in your life. The chapter “Problem Picture” certainly yielded more now that I’ve read Gaudy Night—which was amazing, by the way, perhaps even more so as a deep and meditative novel than as a mystery. I should mention that that chapter in The Mind of the Maker includes complete plot spoilers for it, which I inadvertently ran smack into on my first reading years ago. I think perhaps since I already knew the basic solution of the mystery when I read Gaudy Night, I was more tuned in to the character development and philosophical themes of the book.

I’m also re-reading Georgette Heyer’s The Unknown Ajax, and oh my, I’m rediscovering why it’s one of my favorites of hers—top three or maybe even top two now. It was one that I liked just moderately when I first read it, but it’s grown on me since, especially this time around. It’s delightful and hilarious and that long climactic scene is just a brilliant piece of writing. In the right hands it would make an awesome movie, by the way.

– listening –

Mainly the playlist for my WIP…which is also a subject for another day. But one of my recent discoveries while listening to classical music radio was a charming waltz by English composer Eric Coates, “Dance of the Orange Blossoms.” I went on YouTube to look it up again afterwards, and of course ended up hopping to another video of a Coates composition and then another, and I think I’m going to enjoy listening to more of his work!

Also, I don’t think I’ve mentioned the Petersens on here before—they’re an amazing family bluegrass band I discovered a little over a year ago, and their music is wonderful. Just about everything on their YouTube channel is worth a listen, but a few of my favorites are “Sweet Beulah Land,” “Landslide,” “Carolina in the Pines,” “You’re Still the One,” “Moments,” and “Amarillo by Morning.” They also have several full live concerts on there which include most of their best songs, including some I just mentioned.

– otherwise –

I finally have a working computer of my own again! I got it for Christmas, actually, but there was a tiny flaw in the screen, so we had to exchange it, and…the second one had an issue with the keyboard, so we had to exchange it again. And then had to spend a couple of weeks after the third one arrived trying to get hold of Microsoft customer service for help with a software issue, and that’s about as easy to do as getting an audience with an emperor. But the kinks are all worked out at last, and I can once more use a word processor and check my email without having to borrow a computer from a long-suffering family member.

I’ve been taking a hiatus from Twitter while working on my new novel, and I think it’s done me good. I haven’t decided exactly what I want to do with my social media moving forward, but even if I don’t leave Twitter I’ll probably spend less time there. In that case I’d like to try and focus more on my newsletter and on this blog (perhaps post a little more regularly, even if not super-often). I’ve also been having fun getting a little more involved with the bookish community on Instagram, so if you’re on there stop by and check out my posts sometime! My username is @elisabethgfoley there, as with most places.

photo credit: me

Genealogy Detective, Part II: Which William?

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For this post to make any sense at all, read Part I.

Very often, after you finally hit on the one little clue that’s the key to a genealogy puzzle, confirmation of it seems to start pouring in from all sides. I can’t even remember exactly what I tweaked in the search I’d been running on census reports, but very shortly after confirming that Mary Geisler’s eldest daughter was named Catherine Jack, an entry from the 1880 census popped up right in my face: Mary Jack, widow, born 1849, with German-born parents (the Geislers were German), eight-year-old daughter Kate and six-year-old daughter Mary. (And, handily, a sister-in-law Elizabeth Jack sharing the household to give me an additional lead.) It looks like Catherine “Kate” Jack was recorded on the 1880 census twice, once at her mother’s house and once at her grandfather’s—an unusual but not impossible occurrence if someone changed jobs or went to stay/live with relatives in a census year; I’ve seen it happen more than once.

And we’ve cracked it! On the 1875 census, there is David L. Jack, wife Mary, and three-year-old daughter Kate Frances. It’s all smooth sailing from here. I find a newspaper item announcing the marriage of David L. Jack and “Miss Mary Guysler [sic] of Albany.” I trace David back to childhood via census returns (yes, he had a sister Elizabeth Frances). I find David’s Find a Grave page, which has a curious mix of correct and incorrect information—it lists his death date as 1868, based on newspaper items clearly referring to the death of his father, also named David Jack. I find a military headstone record which firmly establishes the death date for David Jr. (a Civil War veteran) as 1878. The description on the Find a Grave page says that his widow Mary remarried to “William Gregory of Watervliet”!

Now, what about the William C. Gregory whose 1912 obituary we discovered in Part I? Was he really Mary Geisler Jack’s second husband? [Read more…]

Genealogy Detective, Part I: Catherine Who?

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For somebody with a passion for history and a taste for detective stories, genealogy is a very logical hobby. Piecing together a family tree is a puzzle that often takes real detective skills, and reading between the lines of the births, marriages, and deaths, with the occasional nugget of a newspaper item or a picture to shed a flash of light on the story, is one form of time travel for the imagination. Although I only just got my first Ancestry subscription, I’ve been pursuing this hobby for years now, using the limited free resources from Ancestry itself and places like Family Search, Find a Grave, online newspaper archives, et cetera. And you know, I’m actually glad it turned out that way. Working under limitations really sharpens your wits—you learn to dig and sift and work around obstacles instead of having information easily handed to you, and perhaps learn not to take things for granted and repeat other people’s assumptions or research mistakes.

This month, I spent a weekend working out perhaps the most challenging puzzle I’ve solved yet. It was on the German side of my family; not even in the direct line, but I like to flesh out the side branches as much as I can in the hopes that eventually I might come upon something in one of them that points backwards towards our overseas roots. Besides…once I’m launched on a really good puzzle, blood relative or no, I keep going for the sheer thrill of the chase. This time, it was so complicated that I started keeping notes along the way—it actually began as a query I was going to post to a genealogy message board, but I decided to hold back on it and see if I could find out more by myself before asking for help. I ended up solving the whole thing on my own and finished with three pages of slightly tongue-in-cheek notes. So I thought it might be rather fun to turn them into a blog post giving a behind-the-scenes look at the adventures of an amateur genealogist.

* * *

The initial beginning of the quest is several years ago; I can’t remember exactly how many. (I am not the best person with dates in everyday life.) I wish to confirm the maiden name of a woman named Catherine, born about 1872, the wife of a German-born tailor named John Hoffmeister who lived first in Troy and later Albany, New York.

At first glance, it looks obvious: on the 1900 census, their household includes a girl named Clara Gregory who is listed as “sister-in-law.” By 1905 they’re joined by another sister-in-law, Jennie Gregory. (In-laws sharing a household are a boon to the amateur genealogist—they’re usually the best and easiest way to learn a woman’s maiden name.) But there is a tiny seed of doubt in my mind. Usually when you know a woman’s maiden name and date of birth it’s easy to locate her on an earlier census in her parents’ household. But I can’t find a Catherine Gregory anywhere. And my inquisitive, perfectionist mind wants to be sure I have the right name listed in the family tree. So I begin to dig.

On a lovely spring day last year, I make my first visit to the local-history research room at the library—a small room filled with bound copies of church and cemetery records, city directories, maps, books on local history, filing cabinets loaded with miscellaneous records…I could spend hours in a place like this, for research or just for fun. (I can’t remember how much time I spent on this occasion, but I know it was longer than I was supposed to.) I glean a number of useful family-tree leads from church records, including the baptism record for John and Catherine Hoffmeister’s first child. Oddly enough, it seems to confirm the obvious: Catherine’s maiden name is listed as Gregory, and one of the sponsors is Clara Gregory. But for some reason, the tiny doubt remains. (I can’t recall why, as I made no note at the time.)

The next clue: I find Jennie Gregory on the 1900 census. She was living with a married aunt, but the household also includes her grandfather, Caspar Geisler. A little further digging turns up a marriage record between Clara Gregory and Hugo Wagner, which lists Clara’s parents as Mary Geisler and William Gregory.

A quick check of an earlier census confirms that Caspar Geisler did indeed have a daughter named Mary, born about 1849. And searching an online newspaper archive that I’m just learning how to use, I find an item on Caspar Geisler’s will which lists among the legatees his granddaughter Catherine Hoffmaster [sic].

But here there comes a catch. On the 1880 census, Caspar Geisler’s household includes a granddaughter born in 1872, whose name is…Catherine Jack. Right age, right first name…wrong surname. Could it just be an odd mistake by the census-taker? Such things are not unheard-of. [Read more…]