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Monday Genea-pourri, Week of February 21-27, 2022

Happy Presidents Day! I have completed one hundred two (102) weeks of semi-lock down due to Covid-19. I went out to the History Center twice this week, the meadow for phenology, library to pick up a book, and train club for a show.

Genealogy

Blog Writing:

Courting – The Courtship and Marriage of Amos Gorrell Jr & Catherine E Sayre in Ross County, Ohio I wrote about my husband’s great-grandparents’ courtship, based on Amos’s diary.

1950 Census Prep: Norman’s Maternal Relatives I located the Enumeration District numbers for my husband’s mother’s family.

1950 Census Prep for Maternal Relatives. I found the Enumeration District numbers for my mother’s side of the family, both in California and in Texas.

Online Study Groups & Meetings Attended:
I met online with Jacqueline, my AppGen partners, Amigos, RootsMagic SIG, Peer group, and a group trying to start up the APG NorCal chapter again. Jacqueline and I were the only Amigos to meet. I am becoming frustrated with Blogger and the way the text shows up on the edit page is different than it shows up on the blog. I really want to use the indent or quote function without the text being extra large.

Client Work/Presentations: I met with the Writer’s Group and we discussed two member’s writings. It’s amazing that we can talk about writing for two hours!

Volunteer Work: I went to the History Center on Tuesday and because the email system is still down, I worked on filing clipping files and continued the reprocessing of the Fahden Collection.

Own Work: I didn’t write a Saturday Night Genealogy Fun post this week because I hate reading poetry and certainly did not want to write one. Instead, I worked on locating where my family and my husband’s family were in 1950 so I could find the Enumeration number. When the 1950 census opens on April 1, I can start browsing for their entries. I have one more set to do: my husband’s father’s side of the family.

I attended the third session of the SLIG Academy course “Writing for Peer Review” from Karen Mauer Jones. We watched Tom Jones live edit about six of the writings we turned in. Our homework was to re-edit those papers he had not done yet, correcting the mistakes he was finding in most of the papers. I do not think I found too many of those mistakes. I already use only one space after periods, try not to use contractions, and use the proper tense. My paper will be edited probably on the last day, as my random number was 22 out of 26.

I started going through the files of Johnston family and I think I found a case study to write up for the SLIG class. That will be due in a couple of weeks. Most of the items in these files are copies of census records which found their way into the recycle bin.

Webinars Viewed: I watched quite a few webinars this week, two live and two after the recording was posted.

  • Introduction to Southern Research, Part II by Evan Wilson
  • 11 Tips to Help You Transcribe German Church Records by Theresa Berns
  • From Piles to Files: Organize Your Genealogy by Teresa Steinkamp McMillin
  • Carved in Stone: Cemetery Research by Pamela Bell Dallas

Other: I went on several walks this week, some taking my binoculars to look for birds in the neighborhood. I keep checking the toyon trees for cedar waxwings, but so far, no luck. We had a few people come to the Train Club show on Friday night. I attended the virtual Coast Division meeting. I’m disappointed that the next field trip will be on a day I’m giving an online presentation. I really wanted to go to Niles Canyon Railway, as I have never been there. I have also read a lot this week.

I am reading:

  • A Rule Against Murder by Louise Penny—Finished!
  • The Last Chance Library by Frega Sampson—Finished!
  • Tractor Wars by Neil Dahlstrom
  • The Doctors Blackwell by Janice P Nimura
  • Genealogical Evidence by Noel C. Stevenson
  • Research Like a Pro by Diana Elder

Photos for this week: Isn't it great that the daffodils and narcissus plants are flowering in the neighborhood! It's the best part of my walks discovering what is blooming.



 

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.

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