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26 October 2015

The California Nugget preview: Fall is filled with mystery & intrigue



Are you ready for the fall issue of The California Nugget ?

Editor Jane Hufft says, “In each issue of the Nugget we want to offer something for every reader, especially for those newly embarked on genealogical research. Fortunately for us, our submitters always seem to light the way.”

Here are Jane's thoughts on this upcoming edition:
Two of the articles in “California Ancestors” demonstrate the importance of an ancestor’s F.A.N. club, or Friends, Associates and Neighbors, the approach to research stressed by renowned genealogy researcher, Elizabeth Shown Mills.

Powerful research approach
While family connections are important, the addition of the names of friends, neighbors, and associates enlarges the historical context, suggests possible links to new information, and adds layers of richness and detail to the story.

Hollywood Intrigue
In the first article, Darcie Hind Posz takes on an unsolved Hollywood mystery that both celebrity writers and other researchers had not been able to solve, and found the true identity of Dorothy Millette. By tracing associates and siblings Darcie uncovered Dorothy’s real name and family, showing how she had lived two lives, first as a poor foster child and then as a player in a Hollywood tragedy.

A Woman of Color
Next is Robert Bubb’s account of Louisa Yoos’ life, first in Texas and then in California, which also followed associates to gleen wonderful nuggets about her past. Not only is Louisa located in very precise times and places because of careful attention to those around her, but her neighbors and associates were also brought to life, painting a clear picture of the challenges she faced as a former slave and woman of color.

Newspaper Research Pays Off
There’s yet another elusive ancestor story, this time from Henry Snyder.  In this case, newspaper research revealed decades of information about Rhenodyne August Bird’s drama-filled life, the good and the bad. The resources he found in various online archives, especially the California Digital Newspaper Collection, shows how they should not be overlooked.

The War to End All Wars
We finish with three WWI ancestor sketches that take us back to the trenches:

A positive experience was had by Clement Robert Gibson (written by Mary Keller) who wrote lively, reassuring letters from France to his family and then returned home to civilian life.

The flipside was true for two other soldiers who perished.  The tales of George Fail of England written by Hugh F. Daniels & Sharon Corey Harris and Henry Oscar Sommer of California as told by Scott Taylor, lost their lives in the huge Allied offensive during the last days of the war. They are not forgotten by their descendants. David Goerss’ introduction to their stories explains the history of the Hindenburg Line.

We hope you enjoy this edition (publication expected by end of November).  Thank you to all our submitters for their thoughtful stories about their ancestors.  Also, kudos to Lois Elling for design and layout!
Have a story about one of your ancestors that you’d like to share?
To submit an article for one of The California Nugget’s upcoming editions, please email Jane Hufft.  She can be reached at jhufft@californiaancestors.org

The California Nugget, the magazine of the California Genealogical Society, is published twice a year. Its purpose is to share the unique genealogical material in the CGS library, add to the body of family history information about Californians, offer guidance and timely information to family researchers, and to provide a forum for members to share their expertise and findings. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the society. The magazine is distributed free to members and is available to non-members for $5.00 an issue, plus postage.


Copyright © 2015 by California Genealogical Society

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