Monday Genea-pourri, Week of July 1–7, 2024

I have completed two hundred and twenty-six (226) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. I went out to a doctor’s appointment, to the History Center, to Oakland FamilySearch Center, phenology (outdoors), and to watch fireworks (outdoors).

Genealogy

Genealogy Meetings:  
I met with Jacqueline on Monday on Zoom and Friday by phone. We talked about OneNote and attending the CGS research trip to FamilySearch Library in SLC in October. On Friday, I met with our certification peer group and discussed the chapter “Unknown and Misattributed Parentage Research” in Advanced Genetic Genealogy. Finally a chapter that wasn’t over my head! I also had two meetings with NGS staff about the upcoming conference and its call for proposals. I am the co-chair of the conference program.

Genealogy Writing/Research:
Someone in a Walnut Creek history Facebook group posted a photo of my grandfather’s billiard parlor and that got me searching in the newspapers for more articles. This time I search under the business name “Johnston Bros” and found more information and more of their ads.

I spent time transcribing deeds from Erath County found on their website. I decided to transcribe/abstract them first and then see which ones to actually purchase at $1 per page. There are over 70 deeds, so I want to buy only the ones that provide genealogy evidence.

I had time to grab links to deeds from locked films at the OFSC so my NHO Polly timeline is up-to-date.

Blog Post Published:

Using a Small Plane to Document a Railroad Museum. For 52 Ancestors’ theme of “Planes” I wrote about my flight in a small plane and taking a photo of the trolley museum where I volunteered. I compared it to what the aerial image looks like today on Google Maps.

SNGF: What is Your Significant Other’s Matrilineal Line? I listed the six generations of Swedish ancestry of my mother-in-law.

Genealogy Volunteer/Work:
At the History Center, I worked on the accessions and entering them into PastPerfect. I filed the ephemera in various clipping files. At the Oakland FamilySearch Center, I tried to help a young man locate a family member, but because she was still living, we couldn’t help him.

I created the press release for the upcoming BCG-sponsored webinar and will send it out this week.

I also met with the archivist at the Mill Valley Library where I will give two in-person presentations this coming Saturday. I updated the two PowerPoint presentations and their handouts during the week. It had been awhile since I had presented them and they needed new screenshots and links in the handout.

Webinars/Courses Viewed:

• 10 Unexpected Places to Find Ancestor Photos Online by Elizabeth O'Neal (Legacy Family Tree Webinars)

Other:
This week, I got up early daily to watch Wimbledon tennis. This and the U.S. Open are my favorites to watch, however, there will be tennis at the Olympics in Paris this year, too! I also watched a couple of Giants baseball games.

On the 4^th of July, I watched 1776 and we went down to the marina to watch fireworks. We hadn’t done that in a really long time.

I am reading:

• The Mystery of the Lost Cézanne by M.L. Longworth—FINSIHED!
• Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

Photos for this week. No walk this week. Too hot. We have had temperatures over 100 most days. Here are some shots of the fireworks.

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.