Monday Genea-pourri, Week of June 1–7, 2026

Outside activities included a hike at Tilden Park Botanical Garden, volunteering at the History Center, phenology, voting in person, and attending a patriotic concert.  

Genealogy

Genealogy Volunteer/Work:
At the History Center, John and I boxed up some of the studies to put into long-term storage. On Saturday, I worked on the Pleasant Hill Historical Society Collection refiling their clipping files into new archival folders. I also caught Maxine up with what’s happening in the archives.

I prepared the monthly press release for the BCG-sponsored webinar. I also prepared a draft of the Sonoma County Genealogical Society board meeting next week.

I worked on the PowerPoint and handouts for the upcoming presentation of Focused Research: Using Research Plans that I’m giving twice this coming week.

Genealogy Meetings: 
I attended the Labor SIG on Monday, and the AirTable session on Friday.

Genealogy Writing/Research: I worked on researching and writing about John Gleeson, my 2x-great-grandfather. I finished the timeline of his life in Ontario, Canada, and posted that on the blog. I next worked on his life in the United States. I have a lot of documents that I never processed and entered into RootsMagic, so I’m working on that, too, which takes longer. Sometimes I need to find the document again on FamilySearch so I can have an updated citation.

I finished the last two articles for Der Blumenbaum. I also attended two sessions of writing sessions with Level Up. The time always flies by when I’m writing.

Blog Posts Published:

Hazeldell Cemetery: The Resting Place of Many Johnston Family Members
For the theme of “at the cemetery,” I wrote about my trip to photograph the tombstones of my Johnston family in Texas. Highlighted on 52 Ancestors.

12 for '26: Gleeson Family – John Gleeson Timeline in Canada
This was the first of my posts about the Gleeson and Tierney families, beginning with John Gleeson, my 2x-great-grandfather.

SNGF: An Ancestor Who Took a Risk
I wrote about my grandfather moving his family to California from Montana.

Courses Attended:
I attended the sixth session of the course Merging and Separating Identity with Jan Joyce. This week, we learned about using spreadsheets, particularly AirTable, and how DNA can be helpful.

I signed up for a GenProof Study Group that starts in August, led by Jill Morelli. This will cover Tom Jones's new edition of Mastering Genealogical Proof. I needed something to encourage me to read the new book with new examples.

Webinars Viewed: I watch more NGS recordings.

• Uncovering Family Stories Through American Court Records: Research Strategies by Diana Elder
• The Latest in Ethical Issues Associated with Generative Artificial Intelligence by Blaine Bettinger

Other:
Our hike this week was at Tilden Park Botanical Garden where we wandered around the gardens for about a half mile total.

On Saturday, I attended a concert performed at the John Muir National Historic Park in the orchard. It was a group of three bands: Diablo Regional Concert Band, Vallejo Concert Band, and Pittsburg Community Band. My friend, Cheryl, was playing the clarinet. The concert was of patriotic music celebrating the 250th anniversary of the USA and the 150th anniversary of our town, Martinez.

I continued watching the French Open tennis this week whenever I was home. The men’s final on Sunday was a great match.

I am reading: 

• A Grave in the Woods by Martin Walker—FINISHED!
• Detective Stanley and the Green Thumbed Thief by Hannah Tunnicliffe and Erica Harrison—FINISHED!
• Ancestoring: Understanding Records, Family, and Ourselves by Darci Hind Posz
• An Enemy in the Village by Martin Walker

Photos for this week. Our hike was an abbreviated one, only a half mile, as we checked out blooms at the Botanical Garden at Tilden Park.

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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