Family Stories to Help You Break Down Your Brick Walls – September 12, 2009

September Membership Meeting
Saturday, September 12, 2009
1:00 p.m.
CGS Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California

It's story time at the California Genealogical Society Library but these won't be the bedtime variety. Four active CGS members have interesting tales to tell and each is a lesson of discovery that helped them loosen some of those proverbial bricks.

Lorna Wallace will present Buckingham's Letter – how a twenty year search ended because of what someone said in the CGS Library. She'll tell what happened that day and how it changed her research.

Tom Gesner will offer Name That Man: Who Was Mr. Ross? – how a fiftieth wedding anniversary announcement from 1912 led to an action plan guaranteed to find a missing identity. He'll explain what happened and why he did a lot of unnecessary work.

Mary Beth Frederick will share the search for a surname for her great -great-grandmother – The Long and Winding Road to Anne E. She'll tell the story of what she found in a cemetery that made her more determined than ever.

Steve Harris will relate brief vignettes with brick wall solutions using familiar sources in unfamiliar ways. He’ll share his own personal tips and tricks on researching and what can be done when we think we may have come upon a brick wall.

Please note that the short membership meeting starts promptly at 1:00 p.m. The presentations follow at 1:30 p.m. There will time for questions and answers. Seating is limited so please arrive early. Meetings are open to everyone but non-members pay a $5.00 users fee to enter the library. (Or come and become a member of CGS!)