Announcing the CGS Manuscript Collection

Please come to the California Genealogical Society Library this Saturday, September 12, 2009, at 12:30 p.m. and join us at an open house to celebrate the completion of the Manuscript Collection Project. Light refreshments will be served. There will be a five to ten minute presentation about the project at 1:00 p.m. at the start of the membership meeting.

The CGS Manuscript Collection consists of loose papers, research and family history material totaling ninety linear feet which have been donated to the society over its 111 year history. A comprehensive review and organization of the collection has recently been completed by member volunteers Pat Bonderud and Linda Darby. All materials have been cataloged and a comprehensive document has been created to describe the society's holdings. Thanks to a generous grant by the BayTree Fund, all items are now arranged on open shelving in a separate room at the library and the documents are stored using acid-free and museum quality archival enclosures.

Pat Bonderud, Judy Avery and Linda Darby.

Besides the preservation of materials, it is the intent of the society to open the collection to interested researchers. A twenty-three page inventory is available in pdf format at the society website on the Searchable Databases page. It includes a synopsis of each collection and provides enough information to help you determine if further examination of a manuscript is beneficial to your research. Individual collections may be viewed at the library by appointment once a team of volunteers is identified who will oversee the collection.

If you are interested in helping the society offer this new service, please email CGS.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

A Few Good Men
Bill O'Neil, David Lowndes, Tom Gesner

Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey, May 10, 2008, Oakland, California.

How Many Ships Are Buried Beneath San Francisco?

Tim Cox let me know about this piece by Ken Bastida on KPIX CBS Channel 5 which features CGS member Ron Filion, co-founder of sfgenealogy.com discussing the more than fifty ships buried beneath the streets of San Francisco.

http://cbs5.com/video/?id=54942@kpix.dayport.com

Thanks, Tim!

Bowen Cousins at the Intermediate Classes

I love sharing stories of cousins found at the CGS library! Mary Mettler informed me earlier this year that she had met some CGS cousins at the Intermediate Genealogy classes. You will recall that Mary shared information about some of her New England lines last summer in her Tuesday Tales series. Mary and Kristen Netterblad found they shared Richard Bowen (born about 1589 in Wales, died 4 Feb 1674/5 in Rehoboth or Swansea). Mary told me she was "sure we probably share some other lines, as the land-owning Baptists stuck together." They met for lunch and an examination of Mary charts when Kristen's mother was in town in March. I was able to snap this photo when they came by the library.

Kirsten Netterblad, Mom and Mary Mettler.

Here's Kirsten's summary of how the cousins met:

You never know who you're going to meet at a CGS class. As a 2008 Christmas present, I promised my mother I would break our Emily (Bowen) Smith (1806-1870) and/or Philip F. Cyphers (1826-1890) lines. Since I'm under some time pressure, I took the Spring Intermediate series of genealogy classes to help me along. I'm a bit of a talker and started chatting with the people around me about my project.

It turned out that Mary Mettler, the person who was sitting next to me, is a distant cousin off my Massachusetts Bowen line! She provided help connecting our trees and after comparing our additional lines in more depth, we're related in about a dozen different ways (Terry, Smith, Trumble, Loomis, Wright, Sheldon, Belden, etc).

Now that I've learned Emily's parents were Peter and Martha (Norton) Bowen, I'm just sourcing my information as I take all of my new lines back to the immigrant (my people are old New England, so I need a consistent stopping point).

I guess the moral of this story is that everybody is related to somebody else. If you don't take the time to chat with the people around you, you might miss out on an important family connection and new genealogy friend.

Emily Bowen Smith brought the cousins together.

Image of Emily Bowen Smith courtesy of Kirsten Netterblad.

Photograph of Emily's descendants by Kathryn M. Doyle, 3/14/2009, Oakland, California.

MS Word Skills for Genealogists – An Encore Presentation

Microsoft Word Skills for Genealogists – Formatting Styles, Footnotes and Indexing
A Publishing Workshop with Matthew Berry

Saturday, October 17, 2009
10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
California Genealogical Society Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California

Join CGS member Matt Berry for this encore presentation of his very popular skills building workshop designed to help give genealogists the practical tools they need to go beyond the basics of Microsoft Office Word. Follow Matt's step-by-step tutorial and learn to create an organized family history with information that is easy to find using:

· Consistent formatting of information
· Footnotes or endnotes to document ancillary information, especially sources
· A comprehensive index and table of contents.

Please note that MS Word 2007 will be used for illustrations and instructions but support will also be provided for MS Word 2003.

The workshop day will consist of lecture material with handout, a lunch break and a "hands-on" session so attendees can practice their new skills. Members are encouraged to bring laptop computers; the six CGS computers may not all be available for the program.

Bring a brown bag for lunch or, if you prefer, there is a nearby deli where you can buy a sandwich and bring it back to the library.

The workshop is a FREE benefit of membership but is limited to fifteen people. Pre-registration is required. There is a non-refundable sign-up fee of $10 for non-members. (This fee can be applied toward membership on the day of the workshop.) There is a sign-up sheet at the CGS Library desk. Please call CGS at 510-663-1358 or E-mail CGSLevents@gmail.com to reserve a space.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday
Website Committee Meeting
Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Photographs courtesy of Kathryn M. Doyle, Oakland, California.

October Workshop: Genealogy Blogs - Why, How, Do's and Don'ts

Are you curious about genealogy blogs? Or have you dismissed them as fluff and not worth your valuable time? Two experts will show why blogs are more than just "the latest fad" and how they are a valuable way to enhance your genealogy research.

As part of a special Family History Month line-up, the California Genealogical Society announces a special Genealogy Blog Workshop on Saturday, October 10, 2009.

Renowned genealogy bloggers Thomas MacEntee and Craig Manson will be on hand to share their blog expertise and have some fun.

Program:

1:00 - 2:00 p.m. How to Use a Blog - MacEntee

2:15 - 3:15 p.m. Building a Genealogy Blog - MacEntee

3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Blogging and the Law - Manson

Thomas MacEntee will start with the ABCs of blog use in a basic introductory demo. You'll leave this session with a list of great genealogy blogs to read, tips on how to best use the information found in blogs and wonder why you didn't start following blogs sooner!

Thomas' second session will show how having your own genealogy blog can take your genealogy research to another dimension. Learn how to get started in this easy-to-understand session geared towards beginners. With the help of an audience member, Thomas will create an individual family history blog right before your eyes.

Thomas MacEntee is a genealogist specializing in the use of technology and social media to improve genealogical research and as a means of interacting with others in the family history community. With over twenty-five years of experience in the information technology field, Thomas writes and lectures on the many ways blogs, Facebook and Twitter can be leveraged to add new dimensions to the genealogy experience. As the creator of GeneaBloggers.com he has helped organize and engage a community of over 600 bloggers who on a daily basis document their own journeys in the search for ancestors.

Craig Manson will end the day with a topic of interest to beginners as well as experienced bloggers: Blogging and the Law - Privacy Issues & Copyrights.

Craig is Distinguished Professor and Lecturer in Law at the Capital Center for Public Law and Policy at the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, California. He teaches administrative law and has been a lawyer for twenty-eight years. Craig began the study and practice of genealogy in 2004. He writes the popular blog, GeneaBlogie and a weekend column called Appealing Subjects on the highly-regarded magazine Shades of the Departed. Although GeneaBlogie focuses on genealogy, he often writes about legal topics of interest to genealogists.

Found in Fort Wayne

Ten members of the California Genealogical Society met at America's crossroads for the biennial CGS Research week at the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center in Fort Wayne, Indiana. This year's group included members Carole Brisson, Kathryn Doyle, Sandy Fryer, Jane Hufft, Mary Mettler, Frankie Rhodes, Jim Robinson, Pat Smith and Kate VanDemark, led by Jane Knowles Lindsey.

Sandy Fryer and Jane Hufft.

On Wednesday I wordlessly posted several photograph of our week in the library, including some of Curt Witcher, Genealogy Center Manager, who generously gave us a personal tour of the facility and an excellent private lecture on military resources.

Pat Smith, Jane Lindsey and Carol Brisson

All in all we were a pretty driven group - entering the library at 9:00 a.m. when it opened and staying until the last closing announcement at 9:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.) The exception was mealtimes.

Jim Robinson and Mary Mettler.

Unfortunately, the concession that ran the in-house cafe on the main floor of the library (which served great soup and sandwiches two years ago) has been replaced by Dunkin' Donuts. That meant more time out at restaurants and less library time and consequently, a bit more fun (as you can see by this collection of photographs.)

Pat, Kathryn, Jim and Frankie Rhodes.

This year's group was a little smaller so we ate together as a group several times during the week. New friendships were formed and former connections were rekindled.

Frankie, Kate, Jim, Kathryn and Jane Hufft.

As always, a special dinner celebration was held on the last night and everyone shared some of their special finds. Here's a quick list of some of the week's highlights:

Pat Smith proved Thomsen Clark who was named in her sister-in-law's will. Pat found her in Indiana in the 1880 census.

Jane Knowles Lindsey and Pat Smith did some work on the Judge Project - the latest of the society's group research undertakings. Jane was tracking Alonzo Kelly of Iowa. She found his widow and four children in Arkansas in 1900.

Sandy Fryer made a wonderful discovery using PERSI – the PERiodical Source Index. She learned that her ggg-grandfather, Martin Burris, died instantly after being shot by "Mr. Frost" during a dispute over a cow in Wayne County, Kentucky.

Mary Mettler found the maiden name – Whitney – of Mary, seventeenth century wife of Ephraim Pierce of Groton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts.

Jane Hufft was thrilled to find Volumes 1 and 2 of Etched in Stone: Newburyport, Massachusetts Cemeteries by Noreen Cook Pramberg. For some reason the Family History Library in Salt Lake City has one volume and NEHGS in Boston has the other. Jane insists that "Both volumes are essential!" She also told me several times that she should could easily spend another week – she was finding so much.

Carole Brisson found "some good stuff" using two volumes on the New England RAWSON family.

Frankie Rhodes made progress tracking her great-grandfather, Ezra Nichols and his wife Margaret Downs. She found them on a passenger list and located information from 1886 in a Sacramento newspaper.

Jim Robinson got organized and worked with Jane on his JUDY (Tschudi) application to the National Society Sons of the American Revolution (SAR).

All of us on the last night.

If you have never been on a group research tour, it's something you should seriously consider. Lots of genealogy was discussed during these meals. When a group gets together like this ideas keep flowing even after the library has closed.


Photographs courtesy of Carol Webb Brisson, Jane Knowles Lindsey and Kathryn Doyle, August 2009, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Allen County Public Library Tour
August 16 - 23, 2009

Photographs courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey and Kathryn Doyle, Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Fall 2009 Beginning Genealogy Series

In celebration of October Family History Month, the Oakland Regional Family History Center (ORFHC) and the California Genealogical Society (CGS) are offering an encore Beginning Genealogy Research Series. Four classes will be taught on Thursdays at the ORFHC and repeated on Saturdays, at the CGS Library.

The same teachers and handouts will be used in both sessions each week and enrolled students can attend classes at either or both facilities. Classes start on September 24, 2009. All classes will be held from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. In addition, an optional Internet Workshop will be held on Thursday, October 1 and Saturday, October 3, 2009 from 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

There is a $15 fee for the full series of classes which includes a printed syllabus. Single classes can be attended for a fee of $4 per class if space is available. The optional workshop will not be open to walk-ins.

Free parking is available at both locations. The Oakland Regional Family History Center is located at 4766 Lincoln Avenue, Oakland, California 94602. The California Genealogical Society Library is located at 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California 94612.

Preregistration is necessary to ensure adequate handouts. Drop-ins will be welcome on a space available basis. Please register by telephone 510-531-3905 or by e-mail.

Those students wishing to join the California Genealogical Society will also receive $10 off their memberships after attending all four classes. The offer expires on October 17, 2009.

To register for the Beginning Genealogy Seminar, download the registration form from the CGS website and mail with a check for $15 to the ORFHC, attn: Marge Bell, 4766 Lincoln Avenue, Oakland, California 94602.

Class outline and schedule:

Session I – Introduction to the Science of Genealogy (2 hrs.) – Margery Bell
Thursday, September 24 & Saturday, September 26, 2009, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Session II – Secondary Resources (2 hrs.) – Jane Knowles Lindsey
Thursday, October 1, 2009 & Saturday October 3, 2009, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Optional Internet Workshop (1.5 hrs.) – Jane Knowles Lindsey
Thursday, October 1, 2009 & Saturday October 3, 2009, 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Session III – Census Records (1.5 hours) – Margery Bell
Thursday, October 8, 2009 & Saturday October 10, 2009, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Session IV – Vital Records and the Calendar Change (2 hrs.) – Margery Bell
Thursday, October 15, 2009 & Saturday October 17, 2009, 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.