Profiles of the Signers of the 1849 California Constitution

Chris Pattillo writes: 

Cover design: Lois Elling

We are excited to announce the publication of a new resource for California history research: Profiles of the Signers of the 1849 California Constitution. This new work, available on our website, includes biographical sketches of the forty-eight men who signed the California Constitution, plus five other convention participants. While we know that some of the information contained in the 500-page document is outdated, we also know that these profiles include much useful information never before published. Each profile includes a family history, a photograph of the individual, and in most cases his signature. 

The newly completed book is based on research done by George R. Dorman (1901-1983), who was a member of CGS for 47 years. Sometime probably in the late 1990s, CGS member Wayne Shepard used Dorman’s research to compile and edit the book, which includes a 16-page bibliography and a 63-page index. CGS originally had planned to publish the book in hard copy for sale but for various reasons the project was abandoned in 2002. The individual profiles were originally published in our newsletter and later in The California Nugget.
 

Henry Halleck, delegate from the Monterey District

This spring, the manuscript was revived by the Website Content Committee. After some consideration, the Publication Committee decided to move forward with the project. CGS Member Barbara Kridl, who has a professional background in publishing, took the lead and has done an outstanding job of preparing the book for publication on our website. Barbara cleaned up the formatting of the entire book and reworked the format of the bibliography.  She added a preface that explains the origins of the project and worked with member Evan R. Wilson to write a history of the 1849 California Constitution Convention. Other Publication Committee members who assisted with the review and editing are Lois Elling, Stacy Hoover Haines, Arlene Miles, Chris Pattillo, Marie Treleaven and Jennifer Dix. Lois Elling also designed the book cover.

This is a wonderful resource that we are excited to make available to researchers. Over the years CGS members have undertaken several monumental projects – the Judge and Sherman books come to mind. This is the first time I have been personally involved with an effort of this type. It was a wonder and pleasure to see everyone offer to take on pieces of the project and complete them at a high standard. Our members are superheroes and a pleasure to work with. Please say thanks next time you see one of them in a Zoom meeting, and enjoy the book! 

To start exploring, click HERE.

 

Copyright © 2020 by California Genealogical Society

Announcing the Second Printing of San Francisco, California, I.O.O.F. Crematory Records

The California Genealogical Society proudly announces the second printing of San Francisco, California I.O.O.F. Crematory Records by Barbara Ross Close. 

First printed in 2001, San Francisco, California I.O.O.F. Crematory Records is an index of eight registers (volumes A–H) for the now defunct Independent Order of Odd Fellows Crematory of San Francisco. Approximately 10,000 cremation records are indexed, dating primarily from 1895 to 1911. Some cremations were of disinterred remains from prior burials; the earliest date for a disinterment seems to be 1857.

Nancy Simons Peterson gave a short history of the crematory in Raking the Ashes: Genealogical Strategies for Pre-1906 San Francisco Research (2011):

A crematory was once located on the grounds of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (IOOF) Cemetery. Originally exempt from the ordinance that disallowed burials within the San Francisco city boundary, it was demolished following the passage in 1910 of a similar ordinance applying also to crematories.

Abstracts include the deceased's name, birthplace, sex, date of death and age, place and cause of death, and whether an obituary is available in the original record. San Francisco, California I.O.O.F. Crematory Records is now available for purchase at our Lulu bookstore.

Volunteer Anna Junglas took on the project as part of a push by the Publications and Marketing Committee to re-issue our older books using print-on-demand by Lulu.com. With the re-printing, the committee decided a cover redesign was needed and turned to volunteer Cathy Paris who designed the covers of the Deaths and Probate series. She photographed one of the original I.O.O.F. register books which are in the care of the society, and integrated it into the new cover design.

San Francisco, California, I.O.O.F. Crematory Records is one of a set of California Genealogical Society publications related to the Odd Fellows facility in San Francisco. As part of the re-printing process the publications team made an effort to correlate the content with the original books located in our manuscript vault. This revealed some inconsistent terminology within the original manuscripts. The terms "register" and "ledger" caused confusion about how many sets of originals existed so for the re-print we settled on the term "register" because it was most commonly used in the original manuscripts and because it is a general term that was most applicable.

The California Genealogical Society acknowledges the many volunteers who were part of Barbara Closes' team and who contributed to this publication when it was first published in 2001. They include Jane Cassedy, Julie Collins, Vernon Deubler, Lew Ellingham, Cynthia Elliot, Wil Frye, Gloria Hanson, Marilyn Jaeger, Paul Jones, Melissa Kelley, Esther Mott, Harry Neumann, Lee Penland, Anne Robinson, Marilyn Rowan, Christine Scott, Laura Spurrier, James Thansute, Bill West, and Marjorie Wyatt.

Anna Junglas noted, "It was a pleasure to work with the publications team on the re-printing of San Francisco, California, I.O.O.F. Crematory Records. The collaboration, support, and conscientious feedback from everyone on the team made this project very enjoyable."

Congratulations, volunteers, on another job well done!

San Francisco, California, I.O.O.F. Crematory Records

First Edition, Second Printing

411 Pages

Softbound, 8 1/2 x 11" format 

ISBN 978-0-9672409-2-3 

Published by the California Genealogical Society

Copyright © 2013 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Wordless Wednesday

Publications Committee Meeting

Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Kathryn Doyle, Nancy Peterson, Marianne Frey, Verne
Deubler, Jane Hufft, Barbara Close and Arlene Miles.

Photograph by Richard Rees, Oakland, California.

CGS Member Spotlight: Barbara Close

Scores of volunteers at the California Genealogical Society work in the background to keep the library humming along. Whether they are shelving books, cataloging periodicals, opening mail, paying bills, maintaining computers or performing umpteen other tasks, members selflessly contribute their time to the overall running of the society.

Usually CGS volunteers do their work behind the scenes, without fanfare or public acknowledgment. But occasionally members step forward to significantly contribute to a published work that warrants placing their name on the cover of a book. If you scroll down the right sidebar of this blog you will see some of the publications edited by Barbara Close.



Barbara Ross Close directed the indexing of several society projects, including the San Francisco I.O.O.F. Crematory records, the S.F. Death series and the California Surname Index. Each work represents time spent by a team of members, gathering up raw data held by CGS, then writing and sorting it – imposing order by printing, proofing, formatting, finishing, publishing, marketing and distributing it along the way. Thousands of volunteer hours are the underlying reality of the CGS publication list. In addition to her contribution supervising specific indexing projects, Barbara also served as chair of the Publications Committee for the last three years.

Barbara is well-trained for her tasks at CGS. She holds a B.A. in English from University of California, Berkeley and has a Masters in Library Science from San Jose State. The twin skills of patience and perseverance required for indexing were honed during a career in education in Oakland, where Barbara taught grades four through nine, and was a school librarian.

Close has been a member of the California Genealogical Society since 1991. She was first introduced to the society by past-president, Rick Sherman, who shares another passion with her – folk dancing. (I'll have to blog sometime about the large number of CGS members who are involved in all manner of dance pursuits!) Barbara's interest in genealogy dates back to a conversation with her uncle just after her father's funeral in Redding, California. She realized that she knew almost about her father's family and the search began.

Barbara recently stepped down as chair of the Publications Committee. Thanks, Barbara, for all of your exceptional work.

CGS titles edited by Barbara Close:
California Surname Index: Biographies from Selected Histories, California Genealogical Society, 2000
San Francisco, California: I.O.O.F. Crematory Records, California Genealogical Society, 2001
San Francisco Deaths 1902-1904, California Genealogical Society, 2003
San Francisco Deaths 1865-1869, California Genealogical Society, 2004

Photograph by Kathryn Doyle.

The CGS Style Sheet

One of the most important works to come through the CGS Publications Committee will never be assigned an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) or be found on the shelves of a library. The CGS Style Sheet, contrived and collated by Jane Hufft and Shirley Thomson, was created to help lay the foundation toward a consistent style among the various publications of the California Genealogical Society and Library.

The CGS Style Sheet covers various aspects of usage, grammar, spelling, punctuation and presentation. It is an evolving work based on some of the common problems spotted by Shirley and Jane. The style sheet is to be used for the broad swath of CGS written works, including committee reports, newsletter articles, public relations copy, Web site pages, fliers, and even this blog.

Specifically, the style sheet addresses abbreviations, acronyms, formatting requirements, bibliographies, book lists and titles, capitalization, compound words, dates, electronic sources, numbers, plurals, spacing, voice and several other specific issues. The document also refers users to three additional publications: The Chicago Manual of Style, The Elements of Style and Webster's Third Dictionary.

Shirley shared these thoughts: "Anyone called upon now and again to write in the name of CGS is urged to make use of it. At first glance the sheet may seem a collection of odd bits and pieces. It is also a useful tool, answering questions, providing examples and creating awareness of the style choices made (often unconsciously) in any written work."

The creators of the style sheet both serve on the CGS Board of Directors in addition to their work on the Publication Committee.

Shirley Pugh Thomson is the Recording Secretary for the society and has served as chairperson of the Publication Committee. She has many years’ experience in editing, writing, project management and publishing.

Jane Hufft is the editor of the CGS Newsletter. She came to CGS after thirty-six years in education as a teacher, project manager and administrator.

Source: Hufft, Jane and Thomson, Shirley, "The CGS Style Sheet," California Genealogical Society and Library, Publications Committee, 2007.