The California Nugget, Spring 2012, Volume IV, Issue 1

The Spring 2012 edition of The California Nugget has been sent to the printer and will soon begin arriving in members' mailboxes. Editor Jane Hufft and Production Editor Lois Elling have outdone themselves with another fantastic issue filled with interesting articles.

This is the spring letter from Jane:

Dear Readers:

We have a variety of articles for you, each one an exciting account of significant discoveries. Wayne W. Padgett found a forgotten Civil War soldier in a very unlikely place and uncovered the details of his battle experiences. What started out as a quest to answer a few questions concluded with a moving ceremony involving two countries.

Last spring Chris Pattillo shared with Nugget readers, in her enthusiastic account “Thirty Days of Total Immersion in Genealogy,” what it was like to dive into the sometimes cold waters of family history research. In November 2011 Chris took the next step when she joined other CGS members and friends for her first trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah. Her newest discoveries are recounted in “One Week in Salt Lake.”

Linda Okazaki was on the same trip and she will agree the stars were aligned! The startling discovery of an ancestor’s true name in a San Francisco newspaper account sent Linda’s research in completely new directions, solved a long-standing mystery and provided an astonishing story for descendants.

Without Amy Coffin, many of us would not be aware of what is happening on the frontiers of genealogy. Her insider view of the 2012 RootsTech conference gives an update on the future of family research, and it most certainly involves technology.

CGS President Jeffrey Vaillant tells all in his account of the society’s August 2011 research trip to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Participants met Library Manager Curt Witcher, found genealogical treasures in the stacks and microfilm collection, and sampled Fort Wayne restaurants and Indiana weather.

Write your stories and send them to us. We’d love to hear about your research, your discoveries, and your aha! moments with technology. There is space reserved in The California Nugget for your family, and, please note, you do not have to be a CGS member to submit a manuscript. Having your family history in print in a journal that is archived in libraries across the United States guarantees permanency for your research. Email me at jhufft@comcast.net for the Submission Guidelines and then take the leap. Make 2012 the year you visit a new library, learn the latest technology skills, and write it all down! 

—Jane Hufft, Editor

TABLE of CONTENTS

Twenty-First Century Genealogy
A Tombstone for Ulrik by Wayne W. Padgett
One Week in Salt Lake by Chris Pattillo
RootsTech 2.0: A Report from the 2012 RootsTech Conference by Amy Coffin

California Ancestors
Who Was Emerson Corville? by Linda Okazaki
1883 Pensioners List: Dorsey, Eliz. Eleanor to Hayes, James Compiled by Jane Hufft

For Our Readers
CGS Visits the Allen County Public Library by Jeffrey Vaillant and Nancy Peterson
Boston, Massachusetts Research Trip Information

At the Society
Book Review by Laura Spurrier
Recent Acquisitions in the Library
New Members
Index

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 © 2012 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

The California Nugget, Fall 2011, Volume III, Issue 2

The Fall 2011 edition of The California Nugget has been sent to the printer and should begin arriving in members' mailboxes next week. It's another information-filled issue by Editor Jane Hufft and Production Editor Lois Elling.

Here is Jane's letter from the editor:

Dear Readers:

This issue of the California Nugget is arriving in your mailbox earlier than usual so we can share exciting news about two events. First, the California Genealogical Society proudly announces the publication of the newly revised Raking The Ashes, Genealogical Strategies for pre-1906 San Francisco Research. This new second edition is the finest tool available for conducting genealogical and historical research in San Francisco in the years before the great earthquake. No one knows more about work-around strategies to find cemeteries, records, repositories, unique sources, church information, land records and other genealogical and historical records related to San Francisco than author Nancy Peterson. Completely updated, painstakingly researched, carefully organized and thoroughly user-friendly, Raking the Ashes, second edition, belongs on the shelf of every California researcher. For more information and ordering information, please see page 17.

There’s more! CGS and Ancestry.com are bringing a special all-day genealogy con- ference to San Francisco on Saturday, November 5. This informative day will offer many workshops and lectures. If you can be in the area, plan on joining us. Registration information is on page 16.

In other articles, Amy Coffin’s description of the first RootsTech Conference will take readers one step further into an exciting future where technology and genealogy meet. Rachel M. Popma, editor of Indiana Genealogist, has graciously allowed us to reprint her recent article that describes how to add eBay to your toolbox of genealogy search strategies. In “California Ancestors,” Jim Sorenson recounts the unexpected results of a persistent search to find just one more cousin. Virginia Turner looks back on early days of researching at CGS, and Sheri Fenley recounts the story of a successful pioneering family in San Francisco.

One way to have your family’s history saved for posterity is to have it in print. Have you thought about submitting your family’s story to the Nugget? We are always looking for well-researched family histories as well as articles that will help our readers become better genealogists and more successful writers and researchers.

Jane Hufft, Editor

TABLE of CONTENTS
Twenty-First Century Genealogy
RootsTech: A Report from the Trenches by Amy Coffin
Using Automated eBay Searches for Genealogy by Rachel M. Popma

California Ancestors
Chasing After Cousins by Jim Sorenson
Pursuing My Spooner and Ruffcorn Legacies at CGS by Virginia Turner
David Nathan Walter: Jewish Pioneer of San Francisco by Sheri Fenley 
1883 Pensioners List: Cashman, James to Dorland, John M.

For Our Readers
November 5 Ancestry Day in San Francisco Registration Form
Raking the Ashes order form

At the Society
Recent Acquisitions in the Library
New Members
Index

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 © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Quick Report from Jamboree 2011

The California Genealogical Society and Library is well-represented this year at the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree.

Our far-flung member Thomas MacEntee is presenting several talks and moderating two blogger panels. Amy Coffin, Elyse Doerflinger and I are participating in the Blogger Summits I and II.  Other member speakers include Cath Trindle and Ron Arons.

Ron Arons at his table in the exhibit hall

CGSL has a table in "Society Row" on Saturday. The table is just outside the exhibit hall and was offered free of charge by organizers. Thank you, SCGS!

Two blogger buddies and CGSL members at our table: Sheri Fenley and Elizabeth O'Neal.

Thanks to Kim Cotton, Sheri Fenley, Lisa Gorell, Laura Lee Karp, Virginia Kysh, Mary Mettler, Elizabeth O'Neal, Carolyn Sakkis, Jim Sorenson and Geri Willinger for staffing the table!

Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Honored to be Honored Again!

The July 2011 issue of Family Tree Magazine is out with its list of the 40 Best Genealogy Blogs of 2011. I'm thrilled to report that the Local and Regional Research category includes the California Genealogical Society and Library blog. Sunny Jane Morton wrote this very kind description:

In November 2007, Kathryn Doyle launched this blog after determining that her society needed to "go virtual or perish." Certainly the society is experiencing a long and healthy life, if its active blog and extensive website are its vital signs. Local events and member stories are top topics.

Sunny is quoting my very first blog post – An Experiment – from November 2007 when I was quoting David Rencher and his talk on Societies Going Virtual. I think it is fair to say that genealogy bloggers have had a lot to do with how far into the future we have come!

There are five winning blogs in each of eight categories as follows*:

Everything

• Clue Wagon by Kerry Scott
• Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter by Dick Eastman
• footnoteMaven by footnoteMaven
• Olive Tree Genealogy by Lorine McGinnis Schultze
• We Tree by Amy Coffin

Cemeteries

• The Association of Graveyard Rabbits by several authors
• Digital Cemetery Walk by Gale Wall
• Escape to Silent Cities by Tami Thiele
• Granite in My Blood by Midge Frazel
• Gravestoned by Anonymous

Technology

• Ancestry Insider by Ancestry Insider
• Dienekes’ Anthropology Blog by Dienekes Pontikos
• Genealogy’s Star by James Tanner
• Moultrie Creek Gazette by Denise Barrett Olson
• Renee’s Genealogy Blog by Renee Zamora

Heritage Groups

• Acadian and French-Canadian Ancestral Home by Lucie Le Blanc Consentino
• Georgia Black Crackers by Mavis Jones
• Help! The Faerie Folk Hid My Ancestors! by Deborah Large Fox
• Luxegen by Joan Miller
• Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog bu  Schelly Talalay Dardashti

Research Advice

• The Armchair Genealogist by Lynn Palermo
• Family Curator by Denise Levenick
• Genealogy Tip of the Day by Michael John Neill
• NARAtions by National Archives
• Shades of the Departed by footnoteMaven

Local and Regional Research

• Brooklyn Historical Society Blog by the Brooklyn Historical Society
• California Genealogical Society and Library Blog by Kathryn Doyle
• Eastern Washington Genealogical Society by Miriam Robbins Midkiff
• New York History by John Warren
• Sandusky History: by the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center

New Blogs

• Climbing My Family Tree by Jennifer
• Have You Seen My Roots? by Cheryl Cayemberg
• Heritage Zen by Cynthia Shenette
• Journey to the Past by Brenda Leyndyke
• Old Stones Undeciphered by Lisa Wallen Logsdon

My Family History

• Greta’s Genealogy Blog by Greta Koehl
• Little Bytes of Life by Elizabeth O’Neal
• Mississippi Memories by Janice Tracy
• Nutfield Genealogy by Heather Rojo
• West in New England by Bill West

Many thanks to readers who voted, to the magazine staff and to the Family Tree 40 Panel who lent their expertise in formulating the blog categories and qualifications (and whose blogs were excluded from consideration).

One of the blogger panelists is "far-flung" (as he calls himself) member Thomas MacEntee, author of Destination: Austin Family and GeneaBloggers. The other Family Tree 40 panelists are Lisa Louise Cooke, DearMYRTLE and Randy Seaver.

Two other CGS members are among the Top 40 – Amy Coffin and Elizabeth O'Neal.

Congratulations to all!

*Links reprinted here with permission of Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers.


Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

CGS Member Speakers at the California Family History Expo

The California Family History Expo is just a week away and the event is shaping up to be the largest gathering of genealogists in Northern California in the last several years.

The California Genealogical Society is a local sponsor of the event and we will be present in the Exhibit Hall at Booth #57. In addition, several members of the society will be speaking at the two day conference at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Avenue, Pleasanton, California.

CGS members Ron Arons, Amy Coffin, Tim Cox, Ellen Fernandez‐Sacco, Thomas MacEntee, and Craig Manson are presenting a variety of lectures and mini-sessions on Friday and Saturday, October 8-9, 2010.

Ron Arons
Researching Your Criminal Ancestors 10/8, 11:30 a.m. Ag Building 101 (Bldg. P)
Putting the Flesh on the Bones - 10/9, 11:00 a.m. Special Exhibits 106 (Bldg. D)

Amy Coffin - Four social media mini sessions, Beacon of Bloggers Exhibit Hall (Bldg. C)
Social Networking Open House - 10/8, 9:30 a.m.
Facebook: What is it and how do I use it? - 10/8, 4:00 p.m.
Blogging Open House - 10/9, 10:30 a.m.
Twitter Open House - 10/9, 3:30 p.m.

Tim Cox
Hard Drive Organization – How to Easily File Your Genealogy Documents and Images - 10/8, 3:00 p.m., Special Exhibits 106 (Bldg. D)

Ellen Fernandez‐Sacco
Latino Roots: Beginning Research in Spanish Language Records - 10/9, 1:00 p.m. Exhibit Hall Classroom (Bldg. C)

Thomas MacEntee
Build a Genealogy Blog Workshop - 10/8, 10:00 a.m., Exhibit Hall Classroom (Bldg. C)
Twitter: It’s Not Just “What I Had For Breakfast” Anymore - 10/8, 4:30 p.m., Exhibit Hall Classroom (Bldg. C)
Facebook for Genealogists  - 10/9, 11:00 a.m., Exhibit Hall Classroom (Bldg. C) 
Social Networking: New Horizons for Genealogists - 10/9, 2:30 p.m., Exhibit Hall Classroom (Bldg. C)

Craig Manson
Breaking Through Brick Walls in African American Research - 10/8, 4:30 p.m., Special Exhibits 105 (Bldg. D).

In addition, several members of CGS are Bloggers of Honor for the event: Leah Allen, Amy Coffin, Sheri Fenley, Craig Manson, Elizabeth O'Neal and Kathryn Doyle.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone!


Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Well-Represented in Knoxville at the FGS 2010 Annual Conference

The Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) annual conference is underway at the Knoxville Convention Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The meeting runs August 18-21, 2010 and this year's theme is “Rediscovering America’s First Frontier.” Co-Sponsors for the event are the East Tennessee Historical Society and Kentucky Historical Society.

The California Genealogical Society and Library is well-represented in far-off Tennessee. Kentucky native and CGS Events Coordinator Tim Cox is there, after a couple of days visiting family.

Member Cath Madden Trindle, CG, is presenting three lectures: Financial Considerations for Your Non-Profit Society, Grandma, Who Are You? and Wills, Estates, and Guardianships. Cath is treasurer of FGS, Projects chair for the California State Genealogical Alliance and Publications Chair for the San Mateo County Genealogical Society.

Two of our "long-distance" members have been busy blogging and tweeting from Knoxville. Amy Coffin writes the We Tree Genealogy Blog and helps out on the Pub/Mark Committee. Thomas MacEntee is the genius behind Geneabloggers and writes a personal research blog Destination: Austin Family.

All four of our members attended yesterday's Association of Professional Genealogists Professional Management Conference where Thomas sat on the Roundtable panel exploring Your Internet Presence- How to Get IT and What To Do with IT: A Discussion of What IT Is.

If you want to keep up with what is happening at the conference, Thomas set up a news feed of all the blog posts and #FGS10 tweets at Geneabloggers: Latest News From FGS Knoxville. I have a bit more news that I'll share tomorrow.



Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Five Ways To Kill Your Genealogy Society

In all of the excitement of Jamboree I neglected to acknowledge the publication of an article that should be a must-read for every genealogical society. Amy Coffin's piece, Five Ways To Kill Your Genealogy Society, is the lead article in the May-June 2010 California State Genealogical Alliance Newsletter.

Amy is the "rock star" author of the highly acclaimed We Tree blog and has a master's degree in library and information science from San Jose State University. She's a new member of the California Genealogical Society and Library and serves on our Publications and Marketing Committee.

I hope Amy doesn't mind me telling that the concept (and title) came from Jane Hufft, Editor of The California Nugget. Amy ran with the idea and wrote it in record time. CSGA Newsletter Editor Peggy Rossi thought it was great and worth sharing with genealogical societies across the state of California. I think it's worth sharing with societies across the planet and if you hurry you can download and read the article and the entire issue. (The Alliance puts the current issue up on their website as a sample so you may get another issue if you read this too far in the future.)

If your society would like permission to reprint Amy's article, email her at amy@amycoffin.com.


Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library

Happy (Belated) Second Blogiversary!

I'm a bit behind since the holiday and I haven't yet acknowledged last week's milestone. On November 28, 2007, the California Genealogical Society Board of Directors voted to approve the CGSL blog. It was a venture started rather hastily, with great enthusiasm but little planning. I admit to losing a few nights' sleep the first week wondering how I would ever sustain it. Now I can't believe it's been two years.

Since that time CGS and I have discovered a whole new Web 2.0 world of wikis and social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter where I've made many new friends in the GeneaBlogger community. My colleagues are a prolific bunch who fill my blog reader with an endless stream of all things genealogical and who offer a font of inspirational ideas which I gladly co-opt for the benefit of CGS.

During this last year the CGSL blog has become a kind of internet centerpiece for the society. Blog articles link back and forth to the CGS website, to the eNews and to social networking sites and calendars where our events are posted.

Recently Amy Coffin of We Tree featured the CGSL blog in her article Should Your Genealogical Society Have a Blog? She summed up the blog-website relationship perfectly:

Blogs are websites. Websites aren't always blogs. A genealogy society's web page is like a store window. It highlights the group's value, hopefully enticing visitors to walk through the virtual door and explore the site. A blog is like a genealogy society's in-store sale circular. It is a good communication tool for the latest information and quickly changing details. A genealogy society's web page serves one purpose and a blog another.

Now that the whole blog-website-internet dynamic is working well for us, CGS is ready to pretty things up a little. Several members of the Pub/Mark and Website Committees have been working on the CGS "brand" and we will be rolling things out over the next couple of months.

Today Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings very graciously recommended the CGSL blog in his Follow Friday post. Nothing gets past Randy and he made note of the fact that this blog has a new URL: http://blog.californiaancestors.org/. This is the first peek into the branding project which will involve a major redecorating overhaul of the CGSL blog.

Stay tuned.