Episodes 27
Avg. Duration 15m
Activity Highly Active
Since Jul 2019
Latest Episode Feb 2026

Publishing Details

Schedule
Every 2 Months
Format
Episodic
Hosting
anchor.fm

Contact & Outreach

About This Podcast

Hand Me Down is my podcast of history and family stories. The goal of this series is to tell some of the stories of my family in the context of the history in which those stories occurred. It’s part genealogy and part history that I hope you’ll enjoy. Visit the website at http://oconnor.home.blog

Explore Statistics

Recent Episodes

S5E27 S5E27 - Stockton State

Feb 21, 2026 24m

A finish to the story of my great‑grandfather, Thomas O’Connor — a man whose life began hopefully in Ireland, endured immigration, hard work, three marriages, and ended during the Great Depression in…

S5E26 S5E26 - A Baseball Life

Dec 07, 2025 14m

This episode centers on the baseball life of my grandfather Gerald Desmond and the baseball scrapbook he kept as a child from 1906 to about 1914. http://oconnor.home.blog

S4E25 S4E25 - Marble and Stained Glass

Feb 20, 2024 7m

A statue and windows in our parish church in Sacramento make a connection to ancestors on both sides of my family.Episode link

S4E24 S4E24 - Ghosted

Dec 15, 2023 25m

My great-grandfather migrates from Nebraska to Colorado and on to California during the 1920s, leaving a great deal behind in his wake.Episode Link

S3E23 S3E23 - On This Christmas Day

Dec 25, 2021 15m

I thought it would be worth remembering my great-grandfather on this 100th anniversary of his passing. Episode Link

S3E22 S3E22 - The Victim

Jul 17, 2021 21m

In 1898, my 2X great-grandfather Baldwin Gardiner was shot and killed after a botched robbery and a daring chase over San Francisco rooftops. Episode Link

S2E21 S2E21 - Working on the Railroad

Jul 07, 2020 20m

In this episode, I take a look at my family’s relationship to one of the major industries that employed several of my ancestors – the railroads. Episode link

S1E20 S1E20 - The Cure

Apr 29, 2020 15m

With COVID raging and the current occupant of the White House suggesting wild cures, I look back into my family tree where a not-so-reliable treatment scam figured into the life of one of my third…

S1E19 S1E19 - Pandemic

Mar 26, 2020 21m

In this episode, as I shelter-in-place under the coronavirus epidemic, I look into how some of my ancestors endured the Influenza Epidemic of 1918. Episode link

S1E18 S1E18 - The Worst Season

Feb 29, 2020 17m

In this episode, a great-uncle endures drought and hardship on a Dakota farm once part of the territory of the Lakota Sioux that was broken up and sold under the Dawes Act of 1887. Episode link

S1E17 S1E17 - The Absconder

Jan 31, 2020 24m

In this post, I continue the story of Baldwin Gardiner, who over the course of his life appears to have been a name borrower, a home-wrecker, and a financial absconder in 19th-century San Francisco.…

S1E16 S1E16 - Thomas and Rose

Dec 24, 2019 16m

In this episode, I pick up the saga of the O’Connor family after settling in Nebraska, particularly the story of my great-grandparents Thomas O’Connor and Rose Burry. Episode link

S1E15 S1E15 - Prisoner of Rock Island

Nov 27, 2019 21m

In this episode, I introduce a 2x great-grandfather on my mother’s side who, among other things, was a Confederate POW during the Civil War and an early settler of the town of Fresno. Episode link

S1E14 S1E14 - Homestead

Oct 25, 2019 20m

In this episode, we continue Michael O'Connor's journey from Ireland in 1884 to a homestead outside of Grand Island, Nebraska. Episode link

S1E13 S1E13 - Clerk Stories

Sep 29, 2019 28m

In this episode, I take a look at the long public service career of my great-grandfather, Michael Desmond, who held municipal offices during the Progressive Era of the early 20th century. Episode link

S1E12 S1E12 - Their Guilty Union

Aug 13, 2019 17m

In this episode, my second great-grandmother, Mary Elizabeth Ward, gets divorced, then marries, and dies – all on the same day. Episode link

S1E11 S1E11 - Push and Pull

Aug 08, 2019 12m

In this episode, we visit a non-Irish branch of my family tree and explore what brought them from a little village in Switzerland into the heartland of America. Episode link

S1E10 S1E10 - Pretty Houses

Aug 06, 2019 11m

This episode started out as an attempt to find out more about a duplex that I own in East Sacramento, but I ended up learning more about the people who built it. Episode link

S1E9 S1E9 - Off to California 1851

Aug 05, 2019 14m

In this episode, we take a closer look at the first Baldwin Gardiner from New York and his journey to California during the Gold Rush. Episode link

S1E8 S1E8 - The First Boycott

Aug 04, 2019 10m

In this episode, my great-great grandfather Michael O'Connor participates in the very first boycott, and in a way, initiates his own. Episode link

Frequently Asked Questions

How many episodes does Hand Me Down have?

Hand Me Down has published 27 episodes since July 2019, covering topics in History.

Is Hand Me Down still active?

Hand Me Down is currently highly active with new episodes every 2 months. Average episode length is 15m.

How do I contact Hand Me Down for sponsorship or guest appearances?

Sign up on Grep.FM to access contact details for Hand Me Down, including email and social media links.

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