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Monday Genea-pourri, Week of Dec 18-24, 2023

I have completed one hundred ninety-eight (198) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. This week is a break from most of my volunteer jobs. I operated at the San Ramon Valley RR again at the museum in Danville. We had a larger crowd that day—lots of little boys to see the trains.  

Genealogy

Genealogy Meetings
I met with Jacqueline, who is now in Oregon and because the new house is being painted, she was in her motor home.

Genealogy Writing/Research
I have switched to working on Rod’s genealogy and have his dad’s story nearly completed. Next up will his dad’s parents and his mother’s parents.

However, I got distracted by some Ancestry hints (28 pages worth) that revealed some documents that I did not have and then it got me researching other stuff. I wrote up the research report for Thomas J. Haley’s life. Although I tried, I couldn’t find the date of death. I could narrow it down between 1889 and 1891. Likely he was buried in an unmarked grave in Dallas, Texas. I also found a possible record of him in Guadalupe County, where he owned a large piece of property and many enslaved people. The deed records are locked so it will have to wait until I’m back to the Oakland FamilySearch Center on January 3.

Blog Posts Published:

Davey Cousins: SomeImmigrated to America, Others to Australia. This week’s theme was cousins, so I remember discovering an Australian cousin on Ancestry, who is a descendant of Davey ancestors.

SNGF: Your Genealogy andFamily History Christmas Gifts. I wrote about needing to get back to writing my parents’ story, as my nephew had asked for.   

Genealogy Volunteer/Work
No working these next two weeks, though I met with Andrea from our Strategic Planning Committee at the historical society and we brainstormed how to better interact with the public, other historical societies, the board of supervisors, and the media. We also included our membership as we need to engage them, too.

Webinars/Courses Viewed:

  • Got Old Negatives? Scan Them with Your Phone and These 5 Mostly Free Apps by Elizabeth Swanay O'Neal (Legacy Family Tree Webinars)
  • Researching in Federal Land Records by Annette Burke Lyttle (FSGS Poolside Chat)
  • Using Evidence Creatively: Spotting Clues in run-of-the-Mill Records by Elizabeth Shown Mills (Legacy Family Tree Webinars)

Other:
The only thing I’ve done this week is have blood work done, do phenology alone, and listen to lots of Christmas music both on LPs and CDs. I have a small speaker that is blue-toothed to our old stereo and I can take it around the house. I used it in the office, living room, and kitchen while cooking dinner. My favorite is listening to Burl Ives.

I am reading: Although I read several times, this book is taking longer than I expected. I have two more books (counting this one) to read to meet my challenge of 50 books for the year. I should be able to accomplish that!

  • The President’s Wife by Tracey Enerson Wood

Photos for this week
Here are three shots taken while doing phenology at the meadow. The light on the webs was so pretty and these webs were all over the meadow. I wonder which kind of spider made them?



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

Copyright © 2023 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.

Comments

  1. So many hints on Ancestry, but you did get some good info so worth plowing through. Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete

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