Monday Genea-pourri, Week of May 20–26, 2024

I have completed two hundred and twenty (220) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. I went out three times: History Center, hearing aid appointment, and to a memorial service.  

 Genealogy

Genealogy Meetings:  
Jacqueline and I met on Monday. She was so busy she had no time to work on her genealogy while I spent most of my free time processing the documents I had collected in Texas.

Two SIG groups met this week. First Jacqueline, Stewart, and I met with Amigos and discussed possible places to have our retreat this year. I also attended the RootsMagic SIG on Wednesday evening.

Genealogy Writing/Research:
My writing project this week was working on the timeline for NHO Polly. It is part writing and part research, especially locating every tax record of his time in Rockwall County, Texas. I sent for the documentation from the Legislature Library of Texas for a bill that was introduced by a senator for the relief of NHO Polly for damage caused by Indians in 1858-1860. The bill didn’t pass but I learned more about his situation in the 1890s. I wrote it up for 52 Ancestors for week 24. Working on the timeline has been time-consuming but I will have full citations with the linking URL. When I finally write his story, that citation part will be ready for copy and paste.

I finished the article for Der Blumenbaum, by editing some paragraphs as requested and sending photos of archival products in use.

Blog Post Published:

Cyril Was Their Call Name. For 52 Ancestors’ theme of “Nickname,” I wrote about my grandfather and my grandmother’s brothers who both had Cyril as their middle name, and it was also what they were known as growing up.

SNGF: How Long Ago Was Your Las Happy Dance? I couldn’t remember a last happy dance, so I spent time in FamilySearch Labs' new every-word search for something for my two brick wall guys. I found two new FAN club members for Benjamin W. Jones and found a deed that explained how Sam Johnston sold him land when there was no deed. Perhaps small happy dances.

Genealogy Volunteer/Work:
At the History Center on Tuesday, I entered all the donations into the accessions book and in PastPerfect. I needed to clear the desk so there will be room for more accessions while I am gone on vacation for three weeks. I also entered the books John and I decided could go into the library from the Fahden collection. I then shelved them. A few need some binding done first. On Thursday, I attended the Rancho Project meeting. I will be helping with any genealogy research that may be needed.

Webinars/Courses Viewed:

From the NGS Conference:  

• Courting America: Using Court Records for Genealogy by Judy G. Russell
• Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools for Land Records Analysis by David McCorkle

From Legacy Family Tree Webinars:

• Editing Your Own Writing - Part 1 by Tom Jones, CG (BCG)
• Identity Crises: Right Name, Wrong Man? Wrong Name, Right Man? by Elizabeth Shown Mills   
• Forgotten Records: The Record and Pension Office, A Largely Misunderstood Resource by Craig R Scott

Some miscellaneous webinars:

• Preparing for In-person Research: How to Win Over the Record Keepers by panelists, APG
• A Panel of Experts Discuss AI & Genealogy by Bettinger, Thompson, Leeds, & Little -- Genealogy with Dana Leeds (YouTube)

Other:
There have been more weeds to pull in our backyard, which I did while my husband dug in the spot where he’ll plant tomatoes and peppers this year. This all has to be done before we leave on Thursday. On Friday, I attended the memorial service for David Benjamson, a train club member who passed away. There were seven of the club members in attendance.

I am reading:

• 101 Things You Didn’t Know About World War I: The People, Battles, and Aftermath of the Great War by Erik Sass – FINISHED!
• America on Guard: Army Navy Marine Corps: Facts, Insignia, Uniforms by Thomas Penfield – FINISHED!
• The Year of Miss Agnes by Kirkpatrick Hill – FINISHED!
• Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie

Photos for this week. We hiked at Pt. Pinole Regional Shoreline this week.

And the view:

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.