an engineer for the railway!

what's the name of your grandfather again? was hard to make out in first post. Happy to go down rabbit holes (a fun break from my own?!)

He died in 1981 at the age of 80, according to Social Security Records, in Pleasant Hill, California---not that far from where I live now. Would love to know how and when he got to the Bay Area, where he lived.

Anyhow, the 1926 census is amazing. Have a look: nationalarchives.ie

I have no idea how Malachy spent the second half of his life. It doesn't appear that he ever married or had children. The first three digits of his social security number were 536, so issued in Washington State.

photo of Malachy Reid

I filed a request to get Malachy's "A-File," or Alien Registration Form from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. When I got the records, from 1929, they contain this photo which is the only one I have of him

las vegas

In 1950, he's in Las Vegas

world war 2 registration

I don't know what Malachy did in the 1930s. In 1941, he lived in Seattle. By 1942, when he registered for World War 2, he's living in Phoenix, Arizona

immigration Sweet Grass, Montana

Then it gets super interesting. In 1929, it looks like Malachy takes the RMS Franconia from Ireland to Halifax, Nova Scotia, then a train, and arrives in Sweet Grass, Montana in August 1929. Just in time for the Great Depression. He lists his occupation as "carpenter."

screenshot of 1926 census

Where are you, Malachy? In 1926, you are 24 working on your uncle Peter McGetrick's farm.

screen shot of 1926 census

By 1926, the 3 oldest kids--Malachy, Francis and Mary--are out of the house. But Annie, James, Catherine, Lizzie and new/youngest daughter Teresa are all there. I cannot tell you how rad it is to finally have access to the 1926 census!

1922 Irish military census

By 1922, Malachy is 20 years old and shows up in the Irish Army census. He lists Jane Reid, his mom, in Gurteen as his next of kin. (You can search here: www.militaryarchives.ie/search)

screenshot of the 1911 Census

🇮🇪 ☘️🧵:Gather round: I'm down the Great Uncle Malachy Reid rabbit hole. Malachy was born in Gurteen, County Sligo, in late 1901 to James & Jane Reid. Here he is, a young lad in the 1911 census. The eldest son of 7. Malachy is 9, then Francis, Mary, Anne, James, Catherine & Elizabeth (my grandmother).

yeah, in Moygara/Gurteen. Did any of your people become nuns? My great aunt joined the Sisters of the Holy Spirit and Mary Immaculate and ended up moving to San Antonio, Texas!

Former US Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra at a gubernatorial forum hosted by the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Sacramento on April 14, 2026. Photo by Miguel Gutierrez Jr., CalMatters . HED: Commentary - With Eric Swalwell’s scandalous implosion, Xavier Becerra surges in race for California governor

Opinion | The Democratic Party released its latest poll on Monday, revealing that while Republicans Steve Hilton and Sheriff Chad Bianco still lead, Xavier Becerra shot up from 4% to 13%, topping all the Democrats. cal.news/3OgrDHv

📝 Dan Walters
📷️ Miguel Gutierrez Jr.

Thank you to everyone who has shared this or chipped in — I haven't been in a position to update in awhile because, well, because of this: www.patreon.com/posts/156109...

But I'll try to put together an update tomorrow. Thank you for your patience, so very much

Oh look, another complaint to NHTSA about being trapped in a Tesla Model Y after a crash. Good thing he had his knife!

"The batteries immediately caught fire, my seatbelt release button did not work, and the electric door button did not work. "

www.nhtsa.gov?nhtsaId=1171...

NEW: Rep.-elect Analilia Mejia (D-NJ) will be sworn in as U.S. House member within the hour.

Further narrowing GOP majority

Not only is this an excellent event but another reason why I justify my collection of (hoarding of) physical books

Bob Lee Part 1: San Francisco Has Blood On Its Hands Podcast Episode · Foundering · S6 E1 · 37m

Brilliant podcast by my colleague Shawn Wen about the murder of tech exec Bob Lee in San Francisco in 2023 and the narrative that quickly formed around it: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

Gil Duran tweet: TLDR: Fascism in response to Palantir's long fascists screed on X.

"Your Account is Suspended" Message on X

The CEO of Palantir posted a fascist manifesto on X.

I pointed out that it was fascist—which resulted in a permanent suspension from X (my second time!).

So, when you hear the tweeters complaining that BlueSky is intolerant, remember why many of us came here in the first place.

thanks! That makes sense. Now to figure out which school she attended!

1926 census records

Curious what you make of this--I'm confused about the ability to read English and Irish. Could they all, or just the youngest Theresa? (15 year old "Lizzie" is my maternal grandmother who died of tuberculosis in NYC long before I was born)

yes it's wild, at one point I was like "what happened to Malachy, the oldest son? Why isn't he in this household?" and then found him working on an Uncle's farm. I have to remind myself that the census is a snapshot on the day it was taken!

I spent the weekend in the 1926 census records!

Funeral Book Giveaway!

i share this dilemma but physical books bring me joy and there can be a masive book giveaway at my memorial service/funeral/wake 🤪

It’s National Library Week, so support your fucking libraries people. Use them, fight for their funding, fight for your librarians. Don’t let your most reliable third space go to waste.

Year-end surge: electric trucks outsell diesel for the first time in China - electrive.com In December 2025, 45,300 fully and partially electrified heavy-duty trucks were newly registered in China—accounting for 54 percent of total heavy-duty truck

Large BEV commercial trucks are now outselling diesel commercial trucks in China for the first time. While the world electrifies, the US is squandering resources to fight over expensive, dwindling, polluting, fossil fuels. 🧪💡🔌 ☀️💨💧🔋 www.electrive.com/2026/01/23/y...

As an amateur genealogist and family historian, the release of the 1926 Census is a huge deal. Everything in the 19th century was lost in the Four Courts fire of 1922. We have only the 1901 & 1911 censuses. The 1926 census released today is only the third recorded that still exists in Ireland.

Be sure to follow @gilduran.com!! And pre order his book 📕