Linda Huesca Tully

Clues on the Ancestry Trail – Part 2 of 10

The Carpenter of Mission San Jose Joseph Edouard Baron (1825 – 1921) * If you’ve ever explored your family tree, you’ve probably stumbled across someone who left few to no breadcrumbs on the ancestry trail. Maybe you gave up your search, or you were content to have just found their name as a link to … Continue reading

More than Meets the Eye – Part 1 of 10

The Carpenter of Mission San Jose Joseph Edouard Baron (1825 – 1921)* Everyone has a story. Whether you discover that story depends on how much effort you’re willing to put into getting to know that person. And if you take the time and dig deep enough, you might find that the seemingly most ordinary person … Continue reading

The Catholic Educators in our Lives

When I was very young, I was certain that one of the highlights of my mother’s high school career was that she got to paint the big toe of her high school’s patron, Saint Thomas Aquinas, on a life-size mural inside the school entrance sometime in the mid-1940s. She was proud of her small contribution … Continue reading

History is Our Story, too

History classes bored me when I was young. They seemed too focused on battles, dates, and dry facts and names that meant nothing to me. Aside from those who interested me, such as Galileo Galilei, Henry XIII, Marie Curie, Abraham Lincoln, and Charles Lindbergh, most of the people in my history books had no seeming … Continue reading

Echoes of our Ancestors

Gilbert Cayetano Huesca (1915 – 2009) Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca (1928 – 1987) If you’ve ever thought about writing down your family stories, don’t overthink it or wait until the “time is right.” Just do yourself and your descendants a favor. Get busy and start writing. Though I have been writing this blog for a dozen years, … Continue reading

Amanuensis Monday: “Nuptial Blessings of Our Very Illustrious Lord”

Marriage Record of José Cayetano de la Trinidad Huesca (1815 – after 1860) María Josefa Rodríguez (1821 – 1897) [Note: Amanuensis is an ancient word meaning one who performs the function of writing down or transcribing the words of another. Derived from the Latin root manu- , meaning manual or hand, the word also has been used as a … Continue reading

Happy Birthday, Mamma!

Joan Joyce (Schiavon) Huesca 1928 – 1987 Today, on this Fourth of July, as the United States turns 242 years old, my mother, Joan (Schiavon) Huesca, would have turned 90. We lost her 31 years ago this Fall. Sometimes it seems as though I saw her only yesterday. Other times it feels like it … Continue reading

It’s an Honor to Meet You…

(Originally published April 23, 2013, and updated June 1, 2018) I am a proud member of Geneabloggers Tribe, and before that a member of its predecessor, Geneabloggers, Thomas MacEntee’s web-based group of family history writers and genealogists. It includes over 3,000 members – that’s 3,000 blogs – from all over the world. I joined in 2012 … Continue reading

He Gave Not Some, but All

John Francis Mattarocchia (1948 – 1969) I spent Memorial Day this year with my cousin, John. I came across him about eight months ago for the first time in the way distant cousins sometimes meet these days, on the Internet. His name had just popped up, as names do, in the course of researching my … Continue reading

Letter to My Great-Great Grandparents

My Dear Great-great Grandparents, François and Catherine, A reminder popped up on my calendar today that you, Francois, died of meningitis 127 years ago, on May 26, 1891. It prompted me to reflect on your lives and the values you imparted to your descendants, now seven generations strong. As one of those descendants, I write … Continue reading