Monday Genea-pourri, Week of February 10–16, 2025

I have completed two hundred and fifty-six (256) weeks of semi-lockdown due to Covid-19. My outside activities were a trip to the History Center, train club, and Santa Rosa to speak at the Sonoma County Genealogical Society. 

Genealogy

Genealogy Meetings:   

On Monday I attended several Zoom meetings: the CDG renewal accountability group and Robbie came to talk about renewing. Our NGS Conference committee meeting was short, which allowed me to attend the Kinseekers Military SIG. After lunch, I attended the NGSQ study group hosted by Cyndi Ingle. Later in the afternoon, I met up with Jacqueline.

Thursday, I met with the conference publicity committee and we coordinated our efforts to publicize the upcoming conference in Louisville in May. Amigos met on Wednesday and we got caught up on our news and discussed having a retreat in August or September in Oregon.

Genealogy Volunteer/Work:

I worked on the NGS blog, putting out publicity posts and scheduling more. At the History Center, I worked on PastPerfect checking that collections are recorded correctly. 

On Monday afternoon, I presented Using the BLM Website to the Wenatchee Area Genealogical Society. On Saturday, I presented Brick Wall Tips to the Sonoma County Genealogical Society at their first hybrid meeting. We got 30 people to attend and they are willing to come again. We’ll have hybrid meetings quarterly.

Thursday, our writing group met and we discussed Nancy’s work, and I showed her the book I put together about my parents since she missed last month’s meeting.

Genealogy Writing/Research:

I finished the article about Frankenmuth, Michigan, for Der Blumenbaum, the journal of the Sacramento German Genealogy Society. 

My research this week was spent using the full-text search feature at FamilySearch to locate records concerning Robert Lancaster in Shelby County, Kentucky. I’m taking a SLIG class this winter/spring session called Reconstructing Ancestral Neighborhoods and Networks. Our first session was about deed research and all the issues we should consider in deed research. I found deed and court records where Robert was named. Many were estate sales where he purchased an item or two. Deed records included his name being mentioned in the land description. Using the two deeds where he purchased land, and three other deeds where he was mentioned, I platted these using Deedmapper. I can connect a couple of the deeds but not all of them. I think one of the deeds have faulty calls. I still need to research the other neighbors.  

Blog Posts Published:

An 1868 Diary of Amos Gorrell of Saline County, Missouri

For the theme of “diary and letters,” I transcribed a few entries from Amos Gorrell’s 1868 diary.

SNGF: Did Your Grandparents Know Their Grandparents?

Some of my grandparents did know their grandparents or two, but most did not.

Webinars/Courses Viewed: 

I am attending a ten-week course offered by the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, coordinated by Kimberly Powell and Jerry Smith. I hope by the end of the session, I’ll have developed the community of Robert Lancaster, and locate where his land was located. I hope to visit it during a visit to Kentucky this spring.

Other:

We walked on the newly opened Alhambra Hills Open Space in Martinez, but since I forgot my phone, I have no photos.

I am reading: 

Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life by Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles

Stealing Magic by Marianne Malone

Miss Merkel: Mord in der Uckermark by David Safier (for German class—will take a while to read)

Photos for this week. Some shots from my walk in the neighborhood.

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.

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