I came out to California for a few extra days before attending the Southern California Genealogical Society’s annual Genealogy Jamboree, because I was doing some genealogy look-ups for someone back home. That included visiting a few cemeteries. I love cemeteries, if you didn’t know. Fun fact about me. My task took me to Holy Cross…
As I was sitting up late one night tucked into our family room couch with my computer, I was multi-tasking as I usually do by doing some “light” genealogy while I watched TV. A movie came on called “Bad Day at Black Rock” from 1955 starring Spencer Tracy. I’m a pretty big fan of Spencer Tracy…
David Shrum left Virginia in 1855 to mine gold in Grass Valley, California. In September 1858 he wrote back home to his brother, Orlando, who is my second great-grandfather. Sadly, David was crushed in a mining accident in 1861 and died several days later. I’ve been sharing David’s letter to Orlando here in several posts. Start…
While my second great-grandfather, Orlando Shrum, was a young man living in Shenandoah County, Virginia with his parents and siblings in September of 1858, he received a letter from his older brother David, who lived in Grass Valley, California. David had set out a few years earlier to find his fortune in gold mining. I’ve…
I’m sharing more of the letter my 16-year-old second great-grandfather, Orlando Shrum, received from his 27-year-old brother David in 1858. David left Indiana in 1855 and traveled to California to mine for gold. You can read the first part of the letter HERE. I don’t know what “great difficulties” David is referring to that Orlando has…
When I read we had a gold miner in the family, I thought it couldn’t possibly true. We aren’t exactly the adventurous type in this family. I don’t even like amusement park rides anymore because they make me woozy. But there he was, David Shrum, staring back at me from a book my grandmother had…