Monday Genea-pourri, Week of Mar 04–10, 2024

I have completed two hundred and nine (209) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. This week besides the History Center, I attended the Train Club meeting on Friday, and the Coast Division Meet on Sunday, though the latter was held outdoors.

Genealogy

Genealogy Meetings:  
We got a late start with the weekly meeting with Jacqueline. We discussed GRIP and IGHR, and passed on the Southern Records class at IGHR due to its pre-recorded sessions. We talked a little about the Texas trip. We need to get some scheduling down and make appointments, especially if the facility is not open on the day we may be in town.

Our AppGen meeting focused on choosing the possible courses for Fall 2024. We selected four to develop a fuller outline.

Genealogy Writing/Research:
For research, I searched and downloaded two dozen articles from newspapers from Hazlehurst in Copiah County, Mississippi, focusing on the Coor family. I was hoping to find an article about the mill that John Coor and Joel Hoggatt had an agreement to build. I’m not sure it ever happened.

I used the NewspaperArchive database, a new free access from the National Genealogical Society, to locate newspapers from Joliet, Illinois, for the Sievert family. I discovered evidence of land sales, probate for Susanna Sievert, and a possible circuit court case involving Vincent Sievert. None of these is available at FamilySearch, so the next time we pass through Chicago, I hope to take a side trip to Joliet to do some deed and probate search. I also took folders of Sievert research to be scanned on the copy machine at the OFSC. Once I got home, I processed the images, renaming and filing in the proper digital folder. This is part of my “downsizing” task for the year.

My blogs this week got a lot of interest. First, I wrote a sequel to the John Coor post about the new every-word search available in FamilySearch’s probate and land records. This time I walked through how to find the information needed to craft source citations. Once Pat Richley-Erickson (aka DearMyrtle) and Elizabeth Shown Mills shared the post on Facebook, the post view went up to nearly 600 views. The two posts were also shared by Linda Stufflebean on her Friday Finds and by Randy Seaver on his Best of the Genea-Blogs. Gail Dever highlighted the second post on Genealogy à la carte post. On top of that, the California Genealogical Society’s blog highlighted the new search feature at FamilySearch and included my two blog posts.

For the 52 Ancestor post about Susanna Sievert, Amy Johnson Crow highlighted it in the weekly 52 Ancestor email and Linda on her Friday Finds. The views of this post are over 100.

Blog Post Published:

Data for Source Citations for Records Found in the New Every-Word Search at FamilySearch. I wrote steps in locating what is needed to write a source citation. The results of the search are found in the new “images” area. I had to poke around to find info needed to write the citation.

Did Susanna Sievert of Joliet, Illinois, Speak English? For 52 Ancestors, I investigate whether Susanna, who immigrated from Posen, learned to speak English.

SNGF: How Are You Telling Your Own Life Story? We had done something similar this past November, so I created a list of posts about my own life.

Genealogy Volunteer/Work:
Tuesday at the History Center, I answered queries, added more subjects for books in the library, and gave a tour to a group who came in. On Wednesday, I went to the Oakland FamilySearch Center and had a nice talk with Pam Brett about her foundations class.

I sent out the press release for the upcoming BCG-Legacy Family Tree Webinar on March 19.

Webinars/Courses Viewed:

• Researching in Ontario: Your Trillium Connection by Judy Nimer Muhn (RootsTech 2024)

Other:
There was no hike this week due to possible rain. I walked around my own neighborhood a few times this week, mostly with my binoculars to view birds. I listened to the Genealogy Guys during one of the walks.

Sunday, I attended the Coast Division (NMRA) field trip to the Redwood Valley Railroad, a live steam railroad located in the East Bay Regional Park District’s Tilden Park. I had never been there before and enjoyed the tour of the roundhouse, carbarn, and shops, as well as the extra long ride aboard the train. It was very cold, though, and took nearly all the trip home with the heater and seat heater on before I felt warm.

The ground is still soft, so got in a bit of weeding. My California Poppies and daffodils are blooming.

I am reading: I spent more time researching and less time reading this week.

• Sweetness all Around by Suzanne Supplee
• Germans in America by Walter D. Kamphoefner

Photos for this week.

Genealogists are great at documenting our ancestors’ lives but not so great at 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 © 2024 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.