Monday Genea-pourri, Week of December 8–14, 2025

Outside activities included a trip to the History Center, phenology at the Meadow, a hike in Briones, a train club meeting, lunch with a friend, and a Christmas concert.

Genealogy

Genealogy Volunteer/Work:
At the History Center this week, I entered more books into the library database and updated some entries. The writing group met. We discussed Jacqueline’s piece, and I showed them my post about making an ancestor’s resume. I posted about the free BCG-sponsored webinar at a variety of online sites.

Genealogy Meetings: I attended the CDG Renewal Accountability meeting, Kinseekers Military SIG, Der Blumenbaum committee meeting, and Gena’s book club, where we shared the books we have been reading.

Genealogy Writing/Research: I worked on transferring the writing I did about my grandmother from the InDesign file to a Word file. I could not open the InDesign file on my XP computer anymore for some reason, which frustrates me. So I’m trying to recreate it in Word, not so successfully. I may have to do something different. I also realized the images I want to use in the book had not been scanned at a high enough resolution, so I need to rescan them.

I entered the files I downloaded last week from the Oakland FamilySearch Center into RootsMagic, and have found a few more using Full-text search. I am frustrated that I cannot find a family in the 1860 census. I have no idea what happened to Lydia Davey’s first husband, James F. Colby, after they sold some land in Douglas County, Illinois, in 1863. I found a chattel mortgage record in an index and emailed the county clerk, hoping they still have the books. FamilySearch doesn’t seem to have them.

Blog Posts Published:

Autograph Book Reveals Friends, Family, and Travel Spots of Joseph Norman Gorrell
For the theme of “family heirloom,” I shared the autograph book my husband’s grandfather owned. This was highlighted on Friday Family History Finds.

Let’s Make a Resume for My Ancestor
For Webinar Wednesday, I wrote about creating a resume of my grandfather’s work history. I watched Karen Molohon’s webinar at Kinseekers called “Creating Your Ancestor’s Resume.” This was also highlighted on Friday Family History Finds.

SNGF– Holiday Celebrations and Memories – Part 2
I wrote about my thoughts on how my great-grandparents may have celebrated Christmas.

Webinars/Courses Viewed: 

• Creating Your Ancestor's Resume by Karen Molohon (Kinseekers)
• AI: Friend or Foe by Andrew Redfern (TxSGS Conference 2025)
• Cotton Farming Through Generations by Nicole Dyer (TxSGS Conference 2025)
• Locating Civil Records in Modern-Day Germany by Ursula Krause (German Genealogy Headquarters)
• Navigating Civil Records in German Cities: A Hands-On Guide by Ursula Krause (German Genealogy Headquarters)

Other:
Our hike this week was in Briones Regional Park, where it was foggy, windy, and cold. We turned back before completing the planned hike. I got some nice shots of trees in the fog.

I met a long-time friend for lunch in Walnut Creek. Picking a time after lunch rush, let us stay and chat long after we were finished. It was great seeing her.

I attended a Christmas concert performed by the Contra Costa Wind Ensemble. My German teacher’s husband plays bass trombone. It was performed at our local high school, and it was very nice.

I am reading: 

• The Fourth Division: Its Services and Achievements in the World War by Christian Albert Back & Henry Noble Hall
• The Shadow of the Solstice by Anne Hillerman—FINISHED!
• Ghosts of Greenglass House by Kate Milford

Photos for this week. Some shots from the hike. You can see why it was so cold.

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 © 2011-2025 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.