Monday Genea-pourri, Week of January 17–23, 2022

I have completed ninety-seven (97) weeks of semi-lock down due to Covid-19. I went out to the History Center, to the eye doctor for a treatment, to the meadow for phenology, and dinner with Norman’s brother. I had a slight tickle in my throat on Friday and elected to stay indoors over the weekend.

Genealogy

Blog Writing:

Favorite Photo – George Warren Lancaster 
For this week’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks post, I wrote on my other blog, Mam-mas’ Southern Family, about a nice photo I have of my great-grandfather, George Warren Lancaster. I spent time interpreting what was written on the front and back of the photo, which was a part of a postcard. The handwriting was written by at least two different people. One is my grandmother, who wrote that he was her father. 

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun – 1940 U.S. Census Last Name Numbers
Our assignment was to tell about some genealogy finds we made this past week. I had spent time looking at newspaper articles from the website, NewspaperArchive. I found some good articles about the Davey, Wollenweber, and Flynn families and spent time this weekend entering the information into my RootsMagic program.

Online Study Groups & Meetings Attended:

• My AppGen partners and I met to discuss business for our upcoming term.
• I attended the NGS Quarterly discussion group. The discussion was on the article Mary Roddy wrote about one guy with two identities.
• I enjoyed hearing about Barbara Northrop’s certification journey in the CDG meeting.
• My Peer group meeting had just Josh and me again but we did discuss Chapter 2 in Genealogy Evidence by Noel C. Stevenson. I should record this book on GoodReads.
• Lots of great books were highlighted in book club on Sunday, which resulted in two book purchases on Amazon.

Client Work/Presentations: I had no presentations this week, but did some genealogy research for a friend. I also worked some on the AppGen lesson plans for the Foundations I course.

Volunteer Work: I finished the query work at the History Center this week by getting a marriage record from the county recorder’s office. I did some accessioning of donated materials, too. This week was volunteer time at the Oakland FamilySearch Library and helped Jacqueline find the premium websites on the center’s computers. On Thursday, the Historical Society held a board meeting and I took minutes.

Own Work: I continued reviewing old file folders for outdated material, as well as scanning items that I can then recycle. I have several thick folders for LOVELESS and still need to work on three more. I cleaned up the download folder and began writing a story of the emigration of my great-grandparents, Vincent and Susanna Sievert, which might make an article for Der Blumenbaum. I am also doing the Mini 14-Day Research Like a Pro study group, and the project I chose may have been a poor choice, as most of the records that would help answer the question are not available online. Anyway, it’s still a good practice to see how the program works. We’re reading the book for the Peer group, taking a chapter a month.

Webinars Viewed:

• Government Docs at the California State Library by Emily Blodget
• Mexican Catholic Parish Records Part I by Colleen Robledo Greene
• The 1890 U.S. Census by Margaret Melaney

Other: I had another laser treatment on my right eye for the narrow angle issue, where the previous hole had grown smaller. Putting drops in my eyes 4 times a day is a real pain. Dinner on Monday with Norman’s brother and sister-in-law was unplanned but enjoyable. We ate at Troy’s and I have what I always order: Avgolemono soup, dolmas, and falafel. I had planned to take half home, but it was all so tasty, before I knew it, it was all gone!

I am reading:

• The Joy and Light Bus Company by Alexander McCall Smith—FINISHED!
• The Crowded Grave by Martin Walker
• Gospel According to the Klan by Kelly J. Baker
• Genealogical Evidence by Noel C. Stevenson
• The Chosen Exile by Allyson Hobbs

Photos for this week: Shots taken on a walk in our neighborhood

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.

Copyright © 2022 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.