Monday Genea-pourri, Week of November 11-17, 2024

I have completed two hundred and forty-three (243) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. My only outside activities were trips to the History Center, the meadow for phenology, and the Western Railway Museum. 

Genealogy

Genealogy Meetings:   

I met with my recertification accountability group on Monday and Amigos on Wednesday. We had good discussions. At Kinseekers we learned about WWI Index and Return cards from Ohio, Korean-era draft cards coming online at Ancestry, the Air Force records at the AFHRA, and WWII US Medical Research Center created by European reenactors. Jacqueline and I hosted the last Roundtable meeting on Wednesday. The Oakland FamilySearch Center staff meeting was on Friday. Many had good ideas for future classes to have. 

Genealogy Writing/Research:

Most of my time was spent preparing for the two SLIG classes and my AppGen class, so I did no writing or research except for working on the two blog posts this week.

Blog Post Published:

Traditions of the Gorrell and Hork Families

For 52 Ancestors’ theme of “Cultural Traditions,” I wrote about our Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions. 

SNGF: Share Something You Learned from a Will That You Wouldn’t Have Otherwise Known

I wrote about Bryan Kethley’s will and how I learned the names of the husbands of his daughters and with some additional research, I discovered the names of one daughter’s sons.

Genealogy Volunteer/Work:

Volunteer work:

• I volunteered at the History Center twice this week, working on cleaning the back room where we store the collections needing processing and working on the Pleasant Hill Historical Society Collection. 
• The Sonoma County Genealogical Society’s board meeting was Tuesday and I ran the meeting and took minutes.

Work:

• I taught my second session of the Probate class for AppGen. I forgot to turn the record back on after pausing it for an in-class exercise. I even had a sticky reminding me but I somehow forgot. So I had to re-record that part because there was one person not in attendance. I spent all day Sunday commenting on everyone’s homework.

• I facilitated the writing group and we discussed both Sheila’s three chapters of her Reid family saga and Margaret’s attempt to create a blueprint for her next project with post-it notes.

Webinars/Courses Viewed: 

I have been attending two SLIG courses: 

• The last session of the SLIG course, Advanced Study of Death, coordinated by Gena Philibert-Ortega was Saturday. We learned about funerary clothing and discussed articles from the journal, Markers. My Zoom kept kicking me out and I had to re-sign in every time. It was annoying as I was the Hiveminder.

• The sixth session of the SLIG course, Assemblage: Preparing, Writing, and Revising Case Studies, coordinated by Jan Joyce was Wednesday. This week we discussed using AI for feedback and transcribing our own work to help us see details we don’t see when we’re too close to our work.

On Tuesday morning, I attended the BCG Ed Fund class with Karen Stanbary on how to write proof arguments using DNA. It was a good class working step-by-step up her ancestry. I still don’t quite understand it completely, but we got a fantastic handout that I can study.

Webinars viewed this week:

• Her Sixth Matrimonial Venture: “A Case Study on Tracing A Woman’s Multiple Marriages” by Sharon Hoyt (LFT Webinars)
• Duels, Prairie Dogs and Married Women: Early Texas Laws by Judy G. Russell (TSGS)

Other:

On Saturday, I drove up to the Western Railway Museum to drop off some BART stuff I have for their archives. Mike took me on an interurban ride and tour of the carbarns. I hadn’t been there in twenty-five years.

The books I am reading: 

Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography by Douglas Keister

Yours Truly: An Obituary Writer’s Guide to Telling Your Story by James R Hagerty

The British Booksellers by Kristy Cambron

Photos for this week. 

Here are some shots from my visit to the trolley museum.

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.