In December 1912, the Santa Ana Register ran an article describing a Christmas celebration at the home of my grandparents, Gilbert and Beatrice [Lockwood] Bates. Of the twenty-two attendees, at least twenty-one were close family members who had moved from Michigan to California. Read more »about The Bates Family Celebrates Christmas 1912
Articles Referencing: Bates, William Henry (b. 1845)
Family history information about Michael's great-grandfather.
Highlighting My Bates Lineage
This article provides an overview of my Bates lineage. It covers the four generations of the Bates family that I have been able to trace so far, starting in 1795. I have included a brief biographical sketch about each generation and listed other family names connected to the Bates family tree. Read more »about Highlighting My Bates Lineage
Finding My Father’s First Home – Santa Ana
When my father Edgar Lewis Bates passed away, I inherited the baby book that my grandmother Beatrice Bates had created for him. Inside the front cover, she had glued several postcard-sized photographs of family homes in Santa Ana, California. The first one she captioned “The place where Edgar Lewis Bates was born Sep 17 1913.” On my annual trip to southern California, I located the house in the photograph and learned a bit about my family’s history in Santa Ana.
Read more »about Finding My Father’s First Home – Santa Ana
Migration – From Michigan to California
Around 1906, my grandparents and great grandparents moved from Michigan to California. This included all my grandfather’s siblings except one, as well as most of my grandmother’s family. All told, there were at least 21 family members, possibly more, so I’ll call it a migration. I think that the Bates moved out together, but I think the that the Lockwoods may have moved a bit later. I have not determined what may have prompted them to leave Michigan. In this post, I will present what I do know about where they settled in California. Read more »about Migration – From Michigan to California
My Aunt Was Twice Connected to My Second Great Grandmother
When I first started asking questions about family history (late 1990s), my aunt, Luella (Munroe) Bates, mentioned that she was related to the Bates family somehow, aside from her marriage to my uncle, Clifford Bates. Luella passed away in 2009, and we were never able to work out the connections. This was one of the early puzzles that got me interested in looking into the family history. Read more »about My Aunt Was Twice Connected to My Second Great Grandmother