Monday Genea-pourri, Week of January 19–25, 2026

Outside activities included two trips to the History Center, phenology, Oakland FamilySearch Center, phenology, and attending a model railroad meet.  

Genealogy

Genealogy Volunteer/Work:
I made two trips to the History Center on Tuesday and Thursday. I entered more descriptions into the library database answered some email research requests. On one of them, I visited the county recorder’s office to retrieve some deeds and a map.

Genealogy Meetings: The BCG renewal group met and we discussed the projects we’re working on. Jacqueline and I met and we discussed the work I’m doing with the Hutson/Selman family. The CCCGS Roundtable met and we discussed Ancestry DNA during most of the time, as well as the changes at the FS Library.

Genealogy Writing/Research: I have been working on my Hutson/Selman project and spent most of the day at the Oakland FamilySearch Center looking at locked films for Leon and Cherokee Counties in Texas. I still haven’t finished but the month is over and I’ll work on a new family this month.

Josh, Pam, and I wrote for an hour during our writing accountability session on Friday. I worked on a blog post for 12 for ’26 focusing on Greenlee B. Selman, but have not yet published it.

Blog Posts Published:

Findingthe Hometown in Germany of my Hork Ancestors
For the theme of “a breakthrough moment,” I wrote about how I found the German hometown of my great-grandfather.

SNGF—WhatAre Your Genealogy Highlights For the Last Month?
I wrote about how I’m researching the Selman and Hutson families in Comanche, Cherokee, and Leon Counties and trying out Airtable.

Webinars/Courses Viewed: None this week.

Other:
I didn’t hike this week but attended a model railroad event with a friend. We drove down to the San Jose area on Friday, visiting the Computer History Museum in Mountain View. On Saturday, we operated on the layout of the West Bay Model Railroad Club. Afterwards, we ate dinner with others who had operated on other layouts. Sunday was a full day of clinics about operating and designing layouts. It was a fun weekend.

I am reading: 

• Telling Her Story: A Guide to Researching and Writing about Women of the Past by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack

Photos for this week. Some scenes from the layout we operated on.

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 © 2011-2026 by Lisa S. Gorrell, My Trails into the Past. All Rights Reserved.