Monday Genea-pourri, Week of May 25–31, 2026

Outside activities included a hike at Castle Rock, volunteering at the History Center, phenology, dentist for a cleaning, meeting at the Board of Supervisors, and train club show.  

Genealogy

Genealogy Volunteer/Work:
At the History Center, I worked on the Pleasant Hill Historical Society Collection refiling their clipping files into new archival folders. I also pulled deed records at the County Recorder’s Office for a research request. Friday, Tara, John, and I met with a clerk for the Board of Supervisors about a donation of old records they have.

Genealogy Meetings: 
None of my accountability members came to the Zoom meeting, probably because it was a holiday. We had a good group in the Roundtable, though. Rootsmagic SIG was interesting with Keith demonstrating using it to create a book. I will be hosting the SIG next month.

Genealogy Writing/Research:
I didn’t write as much this week, though I continued researching the Loveless family, finishing up with James Loveless. None of the Level Up writing sessions were scheduled this week when I could attend. I chose Gleeson family for June and began reserching and writing this weekend.

Blog Posts Published:

William Carlton Lancaster’s Nickname for Wife, Martha J. Coor
For the theme of “a name with meaning,” I wrote about my 2x-great-grandmother and her unusual nickname.

12 for '26: James Loveless – Timeline & Full Text Search in Greenville District, South Carolina
This was the last Loveless family member I researched and wrote up. James Loveless is my maternal 4x-great-grandfather.

SNGF: Memories of the Bicentennial -- 4 July 1976
I wrote that I don’t remember what I did, but speculated on what I might have done.

Courses Attended: 
I attended the fifth session of the course Merging and Separating Identity with Jan Joyce. This week, we learned about using onomastics, maps, and macroenvironmental factors when considering merging or separating people.

Webinars Viewed: I watch no sessions live, however, all the presentations are now available digitally.

• Positively Negative: Using A Super-Trio to Meet the Genealogical Proof Standard by Kelley Conner Lear (NGS 2026)
• Impact of the 2024 Model Vital Statistics Act on Genealogists’ Access to Vital Records by Alpert, Hoffman, & Zinck (NGS 2026)
• How Learning about the Past Can Change the Future by Sunny Morton (NGS 2026)

Other:
Our hike was at the EBRPD Diablo Hills Park, the Pine Trail in Castle Rock. I heard a lot of birds but found no peregrine falcons in the rock cliffs. Probably too late and the fledglings have already flown.

I spent time this week gardening, raking up leaves from winter and pulling weeds that have grown again since the last rains.

I got up early each day to watch the French Open. On the west coast, the day started at 2 am, but mostly I was up by 5. This has been an interesting tournament as many of the top seeds have lost early.

I am reading: A trip to the library yielded many books to read, some read here:

• Ancestoring: Understanding Records, Family, and Ourselves by Darci Hind Posz
• A Grave in the Woods by Martin Walker
• Made for More: A Picture Book Celebrating Identity and Heritage for Kids by Chloe Ito Ward—FINISHED!
• Riding Through Rice Fields: A Trip to the Philippines by Michelle Sterling—FINISHED!
• Little Bird Laila by Kelly Yang—FINISHED!
• The Secret Order of Librarians by Blake Harris & Emily Oh—FINISHED!

Photos for this week. Shots from our hike. The last photo shows the castle rocks where the peregrine falcons nest.

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.