Genea-Musings

Monday, November 9, 2026

Randy's Genealogy Pot-Pourri - Week Ending 8 November 2026

Here are the highlights of my family history and genealogy related activities over the past week (ending Sunday, 8 November 2026).

1) Attended the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) Board Meeting on Zoom on Wednesday and reported on the Newsletter, Research Group and Family History Roundtable. Wrote, edited and distributed via email the CVGS Newsletter for November 2026.

2) Attended the San Diego Genealogical Society (SDGS) DNA Interest Group meeting on Saturday, with Kathy Fernandes presenting "What's In a Picture."

3) Curated genealogy-related articles to keep myself and my readers updated on the genealogy world in:

Genealogy News Bytes - Week of 28 October to 3 November 2026
Genealogy Education Bytes - Week of 29 October to 4 November 2026
Best of the Genea-Blogs - Week of 1 to 7 November 2026
Listed new and updated record collections for MyHeritage, Findmypast, Ancestry.com, and FamilySearch.

4) Transcribed the 1767 Deed of Benjamin Wing buying land in Dartmouth, Massachusetts from Increase Allen for Amanuensis Monday with help from FamilySearch Full-Text Search.

5) Requested free AI tools to tell me about these genealogy and family history subjects, and posted them on Genea-Musings and Substack:

6) Wrote an AI-assisted short story about my parents lives and romance on Genea-Musings and Substack:

Betty and Fred’s Story: Building A Life Together – Parallel Lives -- Early Spring 1945

7) Wrote an AI-assisted short story about my maternal grandparents lives and romance on Genea-Musings and Substack:

Emily and Lyle’s Story: The December Quarantine and Christmas 1918

8) MyHeritage introduced GAIA (Genealogy AI Agent) and I wrote about one of my experiences exploring the feature in The MyHeritage GAIA (Genealogy AI Agent) Experience -- Willet LaTourette Parentage and Spouse.

9) Housekeeping -- updated my Randy's AI and Genealogy page and added to the AI-assisted story compendiums. Added a number of the recent Google Notebook Videos to my YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/@RandySeaver (now 534 videos).

10) Searched for more records of ancestral families on Ancestry, FamilySearch and MyHeritage, downloaded record images to my digital file folders, and added research notes, events and sources to RootsMagic profiles. My RootsMagic family tree now has 75,164 profiles (up 0 from last week) and 148,200 source citations (up 2).

11) My AncestryDNA test now has 52,768 DNA matches (up 0 from last week) with 2,235 "close" matches (20 cM or more) today (up 0), with no new ThruLines. Added Notes to no Matches, and added no new DNA match lines to RootsMagic. MyHeritageDNA test now has 15,119 DNA matches (up 34 from last week) for me, with 26 Theories of Family Relativity;

12) Wrote 22 Genea-Musings blog posts last week (Sunday through Saturday), of which three were a press release. The most viewed post last week was The MyHeritage GAIA (Genealogy AI Agent) Experience -- Willet LaTourette Parentage and Spouse. with over 349 views. Genea-Musings had about 984,000 page views last week and over 2,875,000 views over the past month (lots of bots I think).

13) Real life events: Visited Linda several days this past week at her memory care facility. Went to the grocery store on Monday and Friday. Attended the church Men's Bible Study breakfast on Saturday. Started reading Still Life by Louise Penny. I watched the SDSU basketball game on Saturday (they won, now 2-0) and the Chargers game on Sunday (they lost to Houston, now 0-8 -- woeful).

NOTE: I spent about 30 hours on these genealogy activities this week, learned quite a bit, and had some genealogy fun!

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The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/11/randys-genealogy-pot-pourri-week-ending_01788643455.html

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

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Ask AI: Describe the Games That Frank Walton Seaver Might Play At Age 10 in 1863 in Westminster, Massachusetts

I asked OpenAI ChatGPT5 to describe the games that my great-grandfather Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922), son of Isaac and Lucretia (Smith) Seaver, might have played as a ten year old boy in 1863 in Westminster, Massachusetts. Frank Seaver's biography is in ABC Biography of #8 Frank Walton Seaver (1852-1922) of Leominster, Massachusetts.

(AI NotebookLM infographic -- Games That Frank Seaver Might Have Played in 1863)

Here is the OpenAI ChatGPT5 response to my query:

Childhood Play In 1863 of 10-Year-Old Frank Walton Seaver

I can picture 10-year-old Frank Walton Seaver having a pretty active childhood in Westminster, Massachusetts, in 1863. He was growing up in a small New England town where children had no television, radio, automobiles, or organized youth sports. Their entertainment came from one another, their imaginations, the seasons, and whatever toys they could make or acquire.

At age 10, Frank would likely have played many of the same games enjoyed by boys for generations in rural New England. Some were centuries old; others were becoming popular during the middle of the nineteenth century.

Here is what I think his playtime might have looked like.

1. Outdoor games Frank probably enjoyed
Marbles (Lost Your Marbles?) -- Probably one of his favorites. Boys drew a ring or made a small hole in the dirt, then took turns shooting marbles with their thumbs. They played for keeps, competed for prized glass or clay marbles, and developed considerable skill at aiming.
Hoop rolling (Toys Hoops 1880 Our beautiful Wall Art and Photo Gifts include Framed Prints, Photo Prints, Poster Prints, Canvas Prints, Jigsaw Puzzles, Metal Prints and so much more) -- A boy used a stick to propel a wooden hoop along a road or path, trying to keep it upright and moving. Sometimes boys raced each other. It was inexpensive entertainment and particularly suited to country roads.
Leapfrog (Group of children play games jumping on the yard - 1896) -- One boy bent over while the others jumped over his back, placing their hands on his shoulders. They could play in a line, with each boy jumping over the others. A good way to burn off energy!
Tag and hide-and-seek (Old-Fashion Games: Tag) -- Simple games requiring nothing but other children and some open space. They could be played in a yard, a barnyard, a meadow, or among trees.
Town ball and early baseball (1860s Base Ball) -- Baseball was becoming increasingly popular in the 1850s and 1860s. Boys played informal versions of ball games, sometimes with homemade bats and balls. The rules varied considerably from place to place.
Kite flying (Victorian boy flying a kite) -- Boys could make simple kites from paper, thin wooden strips, and string. Spring winds in Massachusetts made kite flying a particularly enjoyable pastime.
2. Other games and toys
Spinning tops (KS655 - Peitschenkreisel - aus Kreiselsammlung) -- He could spin a wooden top with a string or whip, trying to keep it spinning as long as possible. Boys sometimes competed to see whose top lasted longest.
Jacks (Colonial Games Jacks) -- Toss a small ball, pick up one or more metal or bone jacks, and catch the ball before it bounced again. This game required considerable hand-eye coordination.
Ninepins (1962 United's 'Holiday' Indoor Bowling Alley For Sale at 1stDibs | home bowling alley for sale, united bowling machine, vintage arcade bowling game) -- A miniature bowling game using wooden pins and a ball. It could be played outdoors or in a barn.
Jacob's ladder (Jacob's Ladder | Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites) -- A fascinating wooden novelty toy made of hinged wooden blocks connected by ribbons. When tilted, the blocks appeared to tumble down the ladder in a continuous motion.
Checkers and other parlor games (Civil War Handmade Checkerboard and Checkers (SOLD,DENNIS) - Yankee Rebel Antiques) -- On rainy days or winter evenings, Frank might have played checkers, dominoes, or cards with siblings, parents, or friends.
The Checkered Game of Life (Checkered Game of Life | Smithsonian Institution) -- Here's a particularly interesting possibility! Milton Bradley introduced this board game in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1860. It was a local New England product and became extremely popular. Frank might have encountered it in his home or at a neighbor's house.
3. Games according to the Massachusetts seasons

Frank's playtime would have changed considerably with the seasons. (File:Snap the Whip 1872 Winslow Homer.jpg - Wikimedia Commons)

Spring
Marbles in the dirt.
Hoop rolling along country roads.
Kite flying.
Ball games in open fields.
Fishing in local streams and ponds.
Summer (Swimming at the pond)
Swimming and wading.
Fishing with homemade poles.
Hide-and-seek in the woods.
Races and wrestling.
Baseball or town ball.
Building forts and imaginary hideouts.

Autumn (Snap the Whip I by Winslow Homer Reproduction For Sale | 1st Art Gallery)
Football-like kicking and chasing games.
Marbles and tops.
Collecting nuts and exploring the woods.
Playing at hunting and soldiering.
Climbing trees and building outdoor shelters.
Winter Nineteenth century children playing in the snow
Sledding down hills.
Ice skating on ponds.
Snowball fights.
Building snow forts.
Playing checkers and cards indoors.
Reading, storytelling, and making toys.
Westminster's Massachusetts winters would have provided plenty of opportunities for sledding and skating. A boy might use a simple wooden sled rather than a modern manufactured one.

4. What about playing soldiers?

This is especially interesting because Frank was 10 in 1863, during the Civil War.

ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER, By Twain, Part 1.

Fondazione Conti- Palazzo Cucchiari di Carrara: apre la mostra 'In gioco. Illusione e divertimento nell’arte italiana 1850-1950' - Diari Toscani

Civil War Lead Soldiers In Vintage & Antique Lead Toys & Figures for sale - eBay

He might have:

Played soldier with wooden guns made by himself or an adult.
Organized imaginary armies with neighborhood boys.
Used sticks as muskets and reenacted battles.
Played with small lead soldiers, if his family could afford them.
Pretended to be a Union soldier marching off to war.

The war would have been a frequent topic of conversation. Massachusetts was sending men into the Union Army, and boys would have heard news of battles, casualties, and returning soldiers. Playing soldier would have been a natural expression of their interest.
5. What did boys actually have available?

One important consideration is that rural New England children generally had fewer purchased toys than modern children. Many toys were homemade, carved from wood, fashioned from scraps, or improvised from everyday household materials.

Some particularly useful historical references include:

Old Sturbridge Village — Its historical research describes early nineteenth-century New England games, including marbles, hoops, stilts, leapfrog, tag, and battledore and shuttlecock. Games and instructions.

Minute Man National Historical Park — Its documented list of eighteenth-century toys and games includes marbles, kites, tops, hoops, leapfrog, skating, and baseball.

Smithsonian Institution — Its collections include an 1868 toy catalog documenting rolling hoops, sleds, toy carriages, and other children's playthings.

Old Sturbridge Village — Its research on nineteenth-century childhood discusses the popularity of the Checkered Game of Life, introduced in 1860.

My favorite thought about Frank

I particularly like imagining Frank playing marbles with other Westminster boys in 1863.

Think about it: A century and a half later, his great-grandson is researching his life, documenting his family, and writing stories about his ancestors. Frank probably never imagined that anybody would be interested in what he did for fun at age 10!

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The AI Google NotebookLM Video Overview of this story is below and on my YouTube channel:

This is historical fiction based on a real person and social history for the time and place. I find these types of questions and respnoses very interesting.

Note that the links in this story show descriptions and images of the games played.

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The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/11/describe-games-that-frank-walton-seaver.html

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on X, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com. Note that all comments are moderated, and may not appear immediately.

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Amanuensis Monday -- 1767 Deed of Benjamin Wing Buying Land in Dartmouth, Massachusetts Bay Colony From Increase Allen

This week's document for transcription is the 1767 Deed of Benjamin Wing of Dartmouth, Massachusetts buying five and a half acres of meadow and beach land in Dartmouth, Bristol County, Massachusetts Bay Colony from Increase and Lydia Allen of Dartmouth for 16 pounds and 10 shillings in lawful money of Massachusetts Bay Colony.

a) Bristol County, Massachusetts, Deeds 1783-1785, Pages 416-417, Image 249 of 627

The transcription of this deed (with help from FamilySearch Full-Text Search, with a few errors corrected) is:

[Page 416, starting near the middle of the left-hand page of the image]

To all People to whom these presents Shall come Greeting & & Know ye that

I Increase Allen of Dartmouth in ye County of Bristol in ye Province of the

Massachusetts Bay in New England yeoman, for & in consideration of ye Sum

of sixteen pounds ten Shillings Lawfull money of ye Province aforesaid to

me in hand before ye Ensealing hereof well & truly paid by Benjamin Wing

of ye Town and County aforesd Yeoman, The recept whereof I do hereby

acknowledge, and my self there with fully satisfied Contented and paid and

thereof & of every part & parcel thereof do exonerate acquit & discharge

him ye said Benjamin Wing his heirs Executors , and administrators forever

by these presents Have given, granted, Bargained, sold aliened, Conveyed &

confirmed, and by these presents, do freely fully & absolutly give, grant

Bargain, Sell, aliene convey & confirm unto him To Benjamin Wing his

heirs & assigns forever, One Certain part or parcel of Salt March or meadow

Situate lying & being in ye Township of Dartmouth near my entrance into

the Horse Neck, and it contains five Acres and a half of meadow & Beach

Besides ye allowance for a Way, and is Bounded & described as followeth

to begin at a stone set in ye Marsh and from thence to range West

Thirteen degrees South Twenty one rods to a Stake of ye Edge of ye upland

for a corner, from thence South sixteen degrees East forty four to

a heap of stones on ye Beach, from thence East thirty one degrees & a half

North Twenty three rods & five feet to a Stake & heap of stones on ye Beach

and from thence North twenty two degrees West thirty six rods & a half to a

Stone where it first Began. This meadow Bounds Northerly on Robert

Giffords meadow, Westerly on ye said Increase Allens upland, or Pines,

Southerly on ye sea and Easterly on Jeremiah Giffords Meadow &c.

To have and to hold all ye said granted & Bargained Premises with all the

appurtenances priviledges & Comodities to ye Same belonging or in any wise

appertaining to him ye said Benjamin Wng his heirs and assigns forever

to his and their only proper use Benefit & behoof forever, and I the said

Increase Allen for my self my heirs Exers. and admrs, do Covenant promise

and Grant to and with him ye said Benjamin Wing his heirs and assigns

that at & before of Ensealing hereof I am ye True Sole, & Lawfull owner of

the above Bargained premises and am Lawfully Seized and possessd of ye

Same in my own proper right as a good perfect and absolute Estate

[Continued at the top of Page 417 on right hand page of the image]

of Inheritance in fee simple, & have in my Self good right full power & Lawfull

authority to give, grant, Bargain, sell, convey & confirm to Bargained premises in

manner as abovesd and that ye said Benjamin Wing his heirs and assigns Shall &

may from Time to Time, & at all Times forever hereafter, by force & Virtue of

these presents Lawfully peacebly & Quietly, take, hold use occupy, possess & Enjoy

ye said demised & Bargained premises with ye appurtenances free & clear, and

freely and Clearly acquitted Exonerated & discharged of and from all, & all manner

of former & other gifts, grants, Bargains, Sales Leases & all other Incumbrances of

what name or nature Soever that might in any measure or degree obstruct or

make void this present Deed. Furthermore I ye said Increase Allen for my self my

heirs Exers and Admrs do Covenant & engage ye above demised premises to him

ye said Benjamin Wing his heirs and assigns against of Lawfull Clames or

demands of any person or persons, whatsoever forever hereafter, to Warrant

Secure & defend by these presents, and Lydia Allen, the wife of the sd Increase

Allen doth by these presents freely & Willingly Give, yeld up & surrender all her

right of Dowry or power of thirds of and unto all ye above demised premises unto

ye said Benjamin Wing & unto his heirs & assigns forever. In Witness whereof we ye said

Increase Allen and Lydia Allen have herewith set our hands & Seals this Twenty

Fifth day of March in ye seventh year of his Majesties George ye Third King

over Great Brittain, AD one thousand Seven hundred & Sixty Seven, 1767.

Signed Sealed & Delivered in presence of Increase Allen {seal}

Seth Allen Lydia Allen {seal}

Margret Allen

Bristol ss Dartmouth January 12'th day 1771. then Incrreas Allen & Lydia Allen

the Subscribers of this within Instrument did acknowledged it to be their act &

Deed Hand & Seal Before me Benjamin Akin Just of ye Peace

Received June 8'th 1784. & Recorded by me James Williams Regr.

The source citation for this deed is:

"Bristol County, Massachusetts, United States land records," Deed of Increase and Lydia Allen to Benjamin Wing,executed 5 March 1767, recorded 8 June 1784; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9ZS-Y58C?view=fullText : accessed 29 August 2026), Image Group Number: 007442230, "Bristol Deeds, 1783–1784, 1784–1785," pages 416-417, image 249 of 627; Original papers at Bristol County (Massachusetts) Register of Deeds.

By this record, it appears that Benjamin Wing bought 5 and a half acres of land in Dartmouth, Bristol county, Massachusetts Bay Colony from Increase and Lydia Allen for 16 pounds and 10 shillings. The deed was recorded after Benjamin Wing's 1782 death, perhaps as the heirs were distributing or selling his estate holdings.

Benjamin Wing (1698-1782) married (1) Content Tucker (1695-1739) in 1722 and they had five children; he married (2) Rhoda Rogers (1713-1758) in 1739 and they had five children; (3) he married Mary Devol (1705-1798) in 1764 and they had no children. Benjamin and Content (Tucker) Wing are my 6th great-grandparents through their daughter Abigail Wing (1734-1806) who married Jonathan White (1732-1804) in 1756.

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Read other transcriptions of records of my relatives and ancestors at Amanuensis Monday Posts .

NOTE: Genea-blogger John Newmark (who writes the excellent TransylvanianDutch blog) started a Monday blog theme years ago called "Amanuensis Monday." John offers this definition for "amanuensis:"

"A person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another."

The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/11/amanuensis-monday-1767-deed-of-benjamin.html

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share your comments on X, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com. Note that all comments are moderated, and may not appear online immediately.

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Sunday, November 8, 2026

Best of the Genea-Blogs -- Week of 1 to 7 November 2026

Scores of genealogy and family history bloggers write hundreds of posts every week about their research, their families, and their interests. I appreciate each one of them and their efforts.

My criteria for "Best of ..." are pretty simple - I pick posts that advance knowledge about genealogy and family history, address current genealogy issues, provide personal family history, are funny or are poignant. I don't list posts destined for most daily blog prompts or meme submissions (but I do include summaries of them), or my own posts.

Here are my picks for great reads from the genealogy blogs for this past week:

* Work Backward Before You Work Forward: The Foundation of Successful Descendancy Research by Diane Henriks on Know Who Wears the Genes In Your Family.

* Conflated Identities: When One Ancestor in an Online Tree Is Several People by the author of Genera Genealogical Services.

* Step-By-Step Guide to Analyzing Your Ancestral Regions: Part 2 by Diana Elder on Family Locket.

* Why you should use WikiTree by Saphyre on Family Roots.

* The AI Brief for Family Historians: November 2026 by Denyse Allen on Chronicle Makers.

* Tip Roundup for November 2026 by Deborah Carl on Mission: Genealogy.

* 7 Things I’d Do Differently If I Started Genealogy Today by Lisa Lisson on Are You My Cousin?

* Find the surnames and ancestors your DNA matches share by Dan Maloney on Genealogy Assistant.

* FOCUS: Step 3 – Breaking Through Brick Walls Using Y-DNA and Mitochondrial DNA by Roberta Estes on DNAeXplained -- Genetic Genealogy.

* Identifying an Unknown Biological Father: A 1920 Case Study by a writer on Legacy Tree Genealogists.

* Free Website Makes You a Genealogy Genius by DiAnn Iamarino Ohama on Fortify Your Family Tree.

* Can AI Fix the FamilySearch Family Tree -- Part Two Concerns and Challenges by James Tanner and Using the New AI Assistant GAIA on MyHeritage on Genealogy's Star.

* Introducing GAIA, MyHeritage’s Groundbreaking Genealogy AI Agent by Daniella Levy on MyHeritage Blog.

* One Place Study Getting Started - What I’ve Been Up To Lately! by Kyla Bayang on Genealogy Roundup.

* Is Traditional Genealogy Dead? by Lex Knowlton on Knext Gen Genealogy.

* What to Do When a Record Disappears by N.P. Maling on Sea Genes Family History & Genealogy Research.

* Trying Out Research Like a Pro with AI Genealogy Workbook, Parts 6 & 7 by Linda Stufflebean on Empty Branches On the Family Tree.

* AI ALERT: Genealogists need to be aware of AI shrinkflation and subsidies by Kathereine on GPT For the Family Tree.

* From Historical Newspapers to Infographics: Using Gemini Notebook and ChatGPT Together by Heidi Buck on The Technical Genealogist.

Here are pick posts by other geneabloggers this week:

* The Chiddicks Observer Edition 76 [2 November 2026] by Paul Chiddicks on Stories Behind the Records.

* Friday’s Family History Finds [6 November 2026] by Linda Stufflebean on Empty Branches on the Family Tree.

* This week’s crème de la crème -- November 7, 2026 by Gail Dever on Genealogy a la Carte.

* GenStack (7 November 2026] by Robin Stewart on Genealogy Matters.

Readers are encouraged to go to the blogs listed above and read their articles, and add the blogs to your Favorites, Feedly, another RSS feed, or email if you like what you read. Please make a comment to them also - all bloggers appreciate feedback on what they write.

Did I miss a great genealogy blog post? Tell me! I currently am reading posts from over 900 genealogy bloggers using Feedly, but I still miss quite a few it seems.

Read past Best of the Genea-Blogs posts here.

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Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/11/best-of-genea-blogs-week-of-1-to-7.html

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on X, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com. Please note that all comments are moderated and may not appear immediately.

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MyHeritage: Free Access To U.S. Military Records For Veterans Day (November 8-12)

I received this information from MyHeritage today:

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In honor of Veterans Day, MyHeritage is offering free access to all 39 U.S. military record collections, featuring 225.7 million historical records, from November 8–12, 2026!

Spanning generations of American military history, these collections include draft registrations, enlistment records, Navy muster rolls, and other military documents. They can help family historians discover fascinating details about their ancestors' military service, including enlistment dates, occupations, and the ships on which they served.

Search at https://www.myheritage.com/research/category-3000/military .

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See previous Genea-Musings posts about MyHeritage record collections and features in https://www.geneamusings.com/search/label/MyHeritage.com.

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Disclosure: I receive a complimentary PremiumPlus subscription to MyHeritage, and have received other material consideration in past years. I uploaded my autosomal DNA raw data to their DNA product. This does not affect my objective analysis of MyHeritage products. I am a paid subscriber to Family Tree Webinars and love it.

The URL for this post is: https://www.geneamusings.com/2026/11/myheritage-free-access-to-us-military.html

Please comment on this post on the website by clicking the URL above and then the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. Share it on X, Facebook, or Pinterest using the icons below. Or contact me by email at randy.seaver@gmail.com. Note that all comments are moderated, so they may not appear immediately.

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Betty and Fred’s Story: Building A Life Together – Parallel Lives -- Early Spring 1945

Here is the latest chapter in the story of the married life and times of my parents, Fred and Betty (Carringer) Seaver, who married in July 1942. The background information and the list of chapters of their life together are listed at the end of this post. This is historical fiction with real people and real events, and is how it might have been.

And now we are up to April 1945, now three years into World War II. Betty and Randy are living with Betty's parents, and Fred is in the U.S. Navy assigned to the Fleet Post Office in San Francisco. Fred has settled into the rhythm of work, and Betty is now working full-time again. It's March and April, St. Patrick's Day and Easter Sunday.

(AI Google Gemini Notebook Infographic - Betty and Fred's Story, Early Spring 1945)

Based on the biographies and the earlier stories, I asked Anthropic Claude Sonnet 5 to tell another story - what happened next (I offered some suggestions!)?

Parallel Lives -- Spring, 1945

The Fleet Post Office, March 1945

March came in with rain and fog, and the mail did not slow down.

Fred had been at the tables for five months now, and the work had worn itself into him the way a path wears into grass. Reveille, shower, dress, make the bunk, breakfast, the bus over the bridge, the sorting tables, lunch, more sorting, dinner, the bus back, a little free time, lights out. He could have done it blindfolded. The men around him could too. They had come to know each other's habits the way men do who stand shoulder to shoulder all day: who whistled while he worked, who needed his coffee before he would speak, who could be counted on to have a cigarette and a joke at precisely ten past three.

The war crept through the talk as it always did. The fighting on Iwo Jima ground on through the first weeks of the month, and when the newspapers announced at the end of March that the island was secured, the tables went quiet for a moment, because every man there knew what the price had been. Manila was taken. The great bombing raids on the Japanese home islands were in the headlines now. The petty officer from Boston read each report in silence, folded the paper, and went back to the bags.

On the seventeenth, a Saturday, Fred and a handful of the men from the tables decided to mark St. Patrick's Day. The petty officer from Boston, who claimed with no evidence at all to be one-quarter Irish, was the ringleader. After the last bag was sorted, they crossed the bridge and walked down Market Street in the early dark, past the crowds and the blacked-out signs, with their collars up against the wind. Somebody had heard about an Irish pub off a side street, and they found it by the sound before they saw it: fiddles and a tenor voice and a wall of laughter coming through the door.

It was packed, low-ceilinged, warm, and smelling of beer and wet wool. They squeezed into a booth at the back and ordered stew and soda bread and, since it was a holiday, a round of beer. A sailor at the bar started "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" and the whole room took it up. Then came "Danny Boy," and for that one the pub went almost silent, with a hundred men and women singing softly together, and Fred noticed the petty officer wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and pretending he had not. After that it was rounds of songs and rounds of toasts, and Fred, who was not much of a singer, sang anyway. It was the loudest, happiest evening he had had since Christmas. They rode the last bus back to Treasure Island in a cheerful, tuneless chorus, and he fell into his bunk still humming.

One liberty day that month he took the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf and spent the afternoon wandering. The docks were crowded with fishing boats, and the sidewalks smelled of crab and sourdough and salt. He watched the cooks working at big steaming kettles on the street, bought a crab cocktail in a paper cup, and ate it standing at the rail with the gulls complaining overhead. A little further along a street musician was playing the accordion, and he stopped and listened to two songs. Out on the bay, beyond the piers, he could see the gray shapes of ships riding at anchor. He thought of Randy, who would have liked the gulls.

Fern Street, March–April 1945

Betty's classroom at Memorial Junior High had grown into a gallery.

Her art classes had been at work on a line drawing of their mothers, and as the weeks went by the drawings came in, one after another, and she pinned them along the wall beneath the row of fathers from February. Some of the likenesses were startling. A boy who could hardly be got to speak had drawn his mother's face with such patient care that Betty stood in front of it a long time. The next project was a watercolor of each child's own house, and the room filled with the smell of wet paper and the sound of brushes tapping on jar rims. Some houses leaned. Some had far too many windows. One had a cat on the roof. Betty loved every one.

For Easter, she asked each student to bring in a medium-sized rock from home, and the next week the room was full of them, rubbed clean and set out on newspaper. By the end of the afternoon the rocks had become eggs, painted in stripes and swirls and flowers and polka dots, shining in the spring light along the windowsill. She took one home for Randy, a small gray stone painted blue with a yellow chick on it, and he held it in both hands and carried it solemnly from room to room for a week.

At home the house had arranged itself around a very busy boy.

Randy was running now, in the plunging, delighted way of a child who has just discovered that legs can be fast. Nothing was safe. He went through the living room like a small weather system. But his favorite hours were the ones with the grown-ups: the walks to the Piggly Wiggly on Juniper Street with Emily and Georgia, riding in the cart or marching beside it with a hand on the basket, and the visits to the drugstore next door, where the clerk had begun saving him a peppermint. Everyone on the block knew him by now.

He spent more and more time in the greenhouse, too. He would stand at the edge of the fish pond for long stretches with his chin on his arms, watching the orange shapes drift under the water and saying "fish" in a low voice to anybody who would listen. In the garden he followed Georgia and Lyle down the rows, crouching over the seedlings to see if they had grown since yesterday, and they always had, a little.

Every day at lunchtime, Emily took him over to 30th Street to see Austin. They had a ritual by now. The old man sat in his chair by the window and Randy climbed up beside him, and the two of them held long conversations in which only one of them used real words. Randy told Pa-pa about the fish, and the peppermint, and the rock with the chick on it, in a stream of earnest sounds that Austin appeared to follow perfectly. He nodded and said "Is that so?" and "Well, I'll be." Emily sat by with her knitting and tried not to laugh.

And every night, once the dishes were done and the day had finally run down, Betty carried Randy upstairs and read to him. She loved that hour best of all. He sat in her lap in his pajamas, leaning against her, turning the thick cardboard pages with great care, and she read the same few books again and again in a low, steady voice, until his eyelids drooped and his head grew heavy against her arm. She stayed a while after he fell asleep, just listening to him breathe.

Easter came on the first of April, a bright, cool Sunday. They had boiled Easter eggs the day before and painted them, and Lyle hid them around the garden. Randy loved the hunt and found most of them, although he needed hints for several of them. Afterward there was a ham dinner at the Carringer table, with Austin at Lyle's right hand and the colorful eggs and the rock with the yellow chick lined up in the center in a row. Randy had a good deal to say about it. The newspaper that morning carried word of the landings on Okinawa, and over dinner the talk turned, as it had so often, to the Pacific, quietly, and then was gently turned away again by Georgia, who asked who wanted more potatoes.

Golden Gate Park, April 1945

The week after Easter, Fred took his liberty day in Golden Gate Park.

He rode the streetcar out through the fog and walked in under the trees as the sun burned through, and the whole park seemed to be coming into bloom at once. There were rhododendrons and azaleas in the sheltered corners, tulips in beds by the conservatory, and cherry blossoms drifting down onto the paths. He walked along the lake and watched children sailing toy boats. He wandered through the Japanese Tea Garden with its curved bridge and its still pools, and sat for a long time on a bench with a paper bag lunch and the Sunday funnies. He knew exactly what Betty would have said, and he knew which flowers Randy would have tried to pick.

He wrote to her that night.

Letters, Early April 1945

Fred’s letter:
Dear Betty,

Happy Easter, a week late. I hope it was a good one. I thought of you all morning and pictured the family around the table. Please tell me everything. How did Randy spend Easter? Did Austin say anything about the ham? I can hear it from here.

I've had a quiet two months, as quiet as the work can be. The mail is heavier all the time, and so is the talk about the war. We were all glad to see Iwo Jima secured at the end of March, and all of us were sobered by what it cost, and now there is Okinawa. I have a great respect for the men who wait on the mail we send out. We do our small part, but it matters, and I try to remember that.

On St. Patrick's Day a few of the fellows and I went to an Irish pub off Market Street. There was a fiddler and a tenor and a great deal of singing. I sang too, if you can believe that. I think you would have laughed. It was the best evening I've had since Christmas. I spent another liberty day at Fisherman's Wharf, with crab and sourdough and gulls, and today I went out to Golden Gate Park. The flowers are in bloom, and I thought of you the whole time. I wished you were beside me.

Tell me about the art work of your students. I love hearing about your classroom. And kiss Randy for me. Tell him that his father is proud of him, and that I'm waiting to hear him say it again.

All my love, Fred
Betty’s letter:

Dear Fred,
Easter was lovely, and it was hard. We boiled eggs, painted them, and had the egg hunt in the garden with Dad hiding them -- Randy was so excited by this game, and wanted to do it over and over. We did it twice. It was great fun and Austin enjoyed watching it too. Afterward we had ham at the big table with Austin at Dad's right hand and Randy sat in his chair next to Austin and held the little blue rock with the yellow chick I'd painted for him, and would not let anyone take it. He carried it all week. I'd say you would have laughed, but I know you would have wished you were there instead.

The art classes have been a joy. The line drawings of mothers came in beautifully. One boy, who barely speaks, drew his mother with such patience it nearly made me cry. Now they're painting watercolors of their own houses, and some of them lean a little, and one has a cat on the roof. They also painted rocks for Easter, and the windowsill looks like a flower bed.

Randy is running everywhere now, and nothing in the house is safe. Mother and Nana take him to the Piggly Wiggly and the drugstore, and the clerk has started saving him peppermints. He loves the greenhouse, and he stands at the fish pond for a long time saying "fish" in a very serious voice. Every noon Mother takes him down to see Austin, and the two of them "talk." Randy chatters, and Austin says "Is that so?" and "Well, I'll be." I wish you could hear it.

And Fred, every night I read him stories, and it's the best part of my day. He leans against me in his pajamas and turns the pages, and I read the same books over and over until his head gets heavy. I stay a little while after he's asleep. I think of you then.

I'm so glad you had your St. Patrick's night. Tell me more about the singing. I can hardly picture you in a pub, but I'd have given anything to hear it. Come home when you can.

All my love, Betty
The letters passed in the mail, as they always did. Betty's reached Treasure Island at the end of a long shift, and Fred read it standing by his locker, smiling at "Is that so?" and "Well, I'll be." He read the bedtime story paragraph twice. Fred's reached Fern Street on a bright morning, and Betty read it aloud at the kitchen table while Randy sat on the floor with his blue rock, and when she came to the part about the pub she laughed out loud.

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Here is the Google Notebook Video Overview about this time in Betty, Fred and Randy's lives in early 1945 (also on my YouTube channel):

This story is historical fiction based on real people -- my parents, grandparents, and me -- and a real event in a real place. I don't know the full story of these events -- but this is how it might have been. I hope that it was at least this good! Claude is such a good storywriter! I added some details and corrected some errors in Claude's initial version.

Stay tuned for the next chapter in this family story.

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The AI-assisted ABC Biography of my mother, Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver, is in ABC Biography of #3 Betty Virginia (Carringer) Seaver (1919-2002) of San Diego, California. I also wrote Betty's Story: The First-Year Art Teacher about the start of her teaching career.

The AI-assisted ABC Biography of my father, Frederick Walton Seaver, is in ABC Biography of #2 Frederick Walton Seaver Jr. (1911-1983) of Massachusetts and San Diego, California. I also wrote Fred's Story: The Three-Day Cross-Country Escape and Fred's Story: "I Need A Girl" about him coming to San Diego, and wanting a girlfriend.

Here are the previous chapters in this story:

Betty and Fred’s Story: Building A Life Together -- Fourth of July 1944

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Links to my blog posts about using Artificial Intelligence are on my Randy's AI and Genealogy page. Links to AI information and articles about Artificial Intelligence in Genealogy by other genealogists are on my AI and Genealogy Compendium page.

Copyright (c) 2026, Randall J. Seaver

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