Independent Historian

Jeannette L. Molson, a third-generation Californian, was born in Oakland, California. In 1941, she moved with her parents and brother from Berkeley to Woodland, Yolo County, California, where she attended a one-room school down the road from where she lived. Jeannette attended Sacramento State University for one year and then attended Sacramento Junior College where she earned an Associate of Arts Degree in 1958. In 1981, she started a 16-year career working for the University of California, Davis.

A cousin introduced her to family research in 1979. This introduction led to a 40+ year journey tracing her family roots. Because of her extensive research on her family members, Jeannette is considered the “family historian.” Her research helped her to locate living descendants of her great great-grandaunt who emigrated to Liberia in 1853. Currently, Jeannette manages her own family tree at Ancestry.com with over 20,200 entries, 98,000 historical records, numerous stories, and over 5,000 photos.

Jeannette served as Vice President, and newsletter editor, of the Yolo County Historical Society for several years before retiring.

Jeannette’s research on her father’s Molson paternal line led to the late 1780’s in York, Pennsylvania.  Confirmation, through DNA, led to the discovery of her 4X great-grandmother’s birth in Ireland.

In 2009, Jeannette co-authored with Eual D. Blansett, Jr., The Torturous Road to Freedom: The Life of Alvin Aaron Coffey.