Monday Genea-pourri, Weeks of Sep 30-Oct 6, 2019

Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great documenting our own. I’ll write about what I’ve been doing the past week. This idea came from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musing, who started this meme.

Genealogy

Blog Writing:

• 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Map it Out: My Love Affair With Maps. I got a late start but wrote about my 5th grade experience with a road map.
• 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks: Harvest: Amos Gorrell on the 1870 Ag Schedule. I wrote about Amos Gorrell’s farm production in 1869.
• Amos Gorrell Purchased Land in Cooper, Co, Missouri, 1869. This answered the question of where Amos got the land that was listed in the 1870 Ag schedule.
• Saturday Night Genealogy Fun: One of Your Immigrant Ancestors.  I wrote Martin Gleeson, who came to Canada from Ireland.

Webinars/Study Groups Attended: 

I attended no webinars or study groups this week.

Client Work:

I had a vital record pull in Contra Costa County this week.

Volunteer Work:

I entered accessioned items into Past Perfect at the History Center on Tuesday, and worked a few hours at the Oakland FamilySearch Library on Wednesday.

On Saturday, I was part of a team from the California Genealogical Society who offered genealogy consultations for the Nichi Bei Pilgrimage to Wakamatsu, which is outside of Placerville. I had four consultations from a variety of people—most looking for information about their parents or grandparents. Using Ancestry.com, I would find records such as census, draft cards, funeral information, and death certificates. Everyone was excited to see the information and some was new to them.  One woman was looking for information on the three unnamed women buried in the Japanese cemetery in Colma, California. They were suspected of being prostitutes who died perhaps of the plague in 1901. She found a book that gave a clue to their identity and location of their residence. So I searched the 1900 census in San Francisco using the address and birthplace of Japan in the index. We found a possible brothel near that address with seven women working as prostitutes. At first I didn’t think we had a chance to find them. All in all, I think everyone was happy with what we found for them and we hope they can continue the search in the future.

Own Work:

I did some research on Amos Gorrell to help write the two blog posts about him this week. I met with Jacqueline and we worked at the Walnut Creek Library on our own projects for a few hours before breaking for an early dinner. I really like the idea of planning our meet-ups to work on our genealogy. It also gives each of us a sounding board for questions and problem-solving.

I taught the first Acalanes Adult School class on genealogy this week, too. I have eighteen students, with about a third who professed to be beginners. I hope they can get enough out of the class to feel it is worthwhile. I made me realize that I might have to teach a beginning class, which I can do next fall. I’m hoping the students will give me ideas for future classes.

Other:

On Sunday, the committee for the upcoming National Model Railroad Association convention in 2021 met. Although we still need a few key players to handle some of the committees, we are moving along well. I’m secretary and this meeting was the first using Zoom software for those who couldn’t travel to the meeting site. I hope to someday take advantage of using the software, too.

We visited Sebastopol and our daughter, Elizabeth, to help celebrate Norman’s birthday on Sunday. The weather was pleasant, if not a little warm. We purchased apples. tried some cider at Golden State Cider, and then ate dinner in Gratin. 

Copyright © 2019 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.