More Cousins Meet at the Library!

Tim Cox sent word of another cousin meeting at the CGS library.

Second cousins Christy Gale and Sally Bentley met online via ancestry.com a few months ago and made plans to meet in person at the California Genealogical Society Library. They attended the First Free Saturday Intro to Genealogy class taught by Lisa Gorrell on June 5, 2010.

(L to R) Sally Bentley, Christy Gale, and Catherine Lewis. 

Sally sent this note:

Since Christy had recently become a member of the CGS she asked if I'd like to meet her (and her niece Catherine) at the library for a beginner's meeting. Oakland was a good half-way point between Concord and Fremont. It was great to meet Christy and Catherine in person. It's always fun to meet family even if we are 2nds! A couple of years ago I had another online meeting with another 2nd – Russell Gale – who is Christy's first cousin. We keep in touch share information with each other.

During their visit, CGS President Steve Harris gave the cousins some assistance and was able to locate the obituary of their common ancestor, great-grandfather William Henry Gale.

By all accounts it was a successful encounter in every way.



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

Kind Words From a New (To Me) Member

While scrolling through Google Reader I was pleasantly surprised to come upon a glowing review of our Lookups service by Leah Allen in Follow Friday: CGSL Look-Ups.

Her kind words are especially meaningful because the California Genealogical Society Lookups and Research team has been stretched to the breaking point with their work on the Judge project. Now that the book has been published I hope they are all catching up on their sleep. On behalf of our Lookups Committee – Judy Bodycote, Lavinia Schwarz, Pat Smith and Jim Sorenson – thanks, Leah, for the commendation!

The other part of the surprise was learning that we have another member blogger. Leah is a student and the author of two genealogy blogs: The Internet Genealogist and The Sacramento Valley Graveyard Rabbit. I've added the links to the sidebar collection of blogs written by CGS members. It's getting to be a large collection so I invite you to do some browsing!


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

Free Broadway Shuttle Launched

Carly Perez-Banuet, Operations Manager of the Breuner Building sent notice of this wonderful new addition to our neighborhood (Uptown Oakland):

     

Catch the FREE BROADWAY SHUTTLE to Meet Downtown Oakland!

The City of Oakland now offers a  FREE Broadway Shuttle! The sparkling green buses begin operating at 7:00 a.m. between Jack London Square and Uptown.

Look for the bright and colorful “B” signs along Broadway and climb onboard. The Broadway Shuttle will travel between Embarcadero and Grand Avenue, with stops in Jack London Square, Chinatown, Old Oakland, City Center, Uptown and the Lake Merritt Financial District.  Shuttle hours are Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. -7:00 p.m. (with service potentially expanding into the evenings over time).

 

The "B" runs:

• between Jack London Square and Grand Avenue
• Monday – Friday (except on major holidays)
• 7:00 a.m. -7:00 p.m.
• every 10 minutes during commute hours and lunchtime
• every 15 minutes all other times

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

Wordless Wednesday

Spotted at the CGS Library: Jeremy Frankel

President, San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Photograph courtesy of Tim Cox, Oakland, California.

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

September Membership Meeting: All About the Census

Joel Weintraub

Saturday, September 11, 2010
1:00 p.m.

California Genealogical Society Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
Oakland, California

We're talking census on the second Saturday in September. Joel Weintraub will present The U.S. Census: Questions, Confidentiality, and the 72 Year Rule.

Many genealogists think the 72 year confidentiality rule for the United States Census is based on life expectancy, or that the number of years is specified directly in some law. That is not the case, but the history of the 72 year rule, and the debate about opening any census record to the public should be part of every genealogists information base.

Joel will discuss: the growth of questions on the U.S. Census, many of them quite sensitive; when any promise of confidentiality was given to the public for the federal census; and an in-depth look at the debate between the Census Bureau and the National Archives as to the public's right to know about census population schedule forms, with the resolution of the question in 1978.

Joel Weintraub was born and raised in Manhattan. He is an emeritus Biology Professor at California State University, Fullerton and has won awards for his science teaching. He became interested in genealogy about thirteen years ago, and was a regular volunteer at the National Archives and Records Administration in Laguna Niguel, California (before the move to Riverside). Joel started transcribing streets within census districts in 2001 to help researchers search the 1930 U.S. Census (released in 2002). He was joined in the venture by David Kehs and Stephen Morse in 2002, and together, they have produced a number of online census searching utilities for both the federal and the New York State censuses on the Morse One Step Website.


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

eNews August 2010, volume 4, number 8

The August 2010 issue of the eNews, volume 4, number 8,  has been published and emailed to members and friends. As always, the eNews features timely information about the California Genealogical Society and our upcoming events. Each edition also includes Suggested Links From the Blogosphere and a photo feature, California Ancestors.

This month our member in Australia, Georgia Cummings, submitted a photograph of her father, Ronald Walter Cummings. Maybe you can help her identify his parents.

Ronald Walter Cummings and his parents

All past issues of the eNews are available for viewing at the eNewsARCHIVE.

The September 2010 issue will be emailed on August 25, 2010. To receive a copy, please join our mailing list.

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

Announcing: The Ancestry of Theodore Timothy Judge and Ellen Sheehy Judge

The California Genealogical Society is pleased to announce publication of The Ancestry of Theodore Timothy Judge and Ellen Sheehy Judge: Including the Families of Boland, Roussel, Harman, McMurphy, Kelley, Bohane, Chapin, Freiermuth, Taylor, Moore and Farneman.

Theodore Timothy “Ted” Judge died in Cupertino, California, June 11, 2008. Although neither he nor his late wife Ellen Sheehy Judge left descendants, they shared a mutual interest in family history that they enthusiastically pursued over the years. In his will Ted left legacies to numerous charities and
institutions, including the Bancroft Library at the University of California at Berkeley, where he had spent many hours as a student. His bequest required that the administrators of the Judge estate, in conjunction with the Bancroft, arrange for the publication of a Judge and Sheehy genealogy to be distributed to Ted and Ellen’s cousins. CGS contracted to fulfill Ted's request and this book is the result.

The project consumed the society's Research and Look-ups committee for months. Judy Bodycote chaired the committee while Jane Lindsey negotiated the agreement and shepherded the project through to completion. The Research team of Judy Bodycote, Lavinia Schwarz and Pat Smith started work in 2009 with the assistance of Dick Rees and Laura Spurrier. Later Judy Zelver, Lorna Wallace and Barbara Dyer joined the research team. Nancy Peterson assumed the final writing responsibilities and Matt Berry took on the Herculean task of formatting (and re-formatting) the book.

The list of major contributors:

• Matthew B. Berry - layout, proofing and indexing
• Judy Bodycote-Thomas - research, charts and photo editing
• Verne Deubler - proofing
  
• Barbara Dyer - research, indexing
• Jane Hufft - editing, standardization, meetings
• Jane Lindsey - coordinator
  
• Bill O'Neal - maps
• Nancy Peterson - writing, proofing
• Richard Rees - research
  
• Lavinia Grace Schwarz  - research
• Pat Smith - research
• Laura Spurrier - editing, proofing
• Shirley Thomson - proofing
• Lorna Wallace - research
  
• Judy Zelver - research

Acknowledgment must also be made to those who stepped up to maintain the research and look-ups services ordinarily done by the committee. Verne Deubler took over much of the weekly look-ups work load and Dick Rees, Pam Miller and others helped with research projects.

Copies may be purchased from Lulu.com.

Additional information on many families mentioned in this book has been archived at the California Genealogical Society, 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California, 94612-3031.

The Ancestry of Theodore Timothy Judge and Ellen Sheehy Judge: Including the Families of Boland, Roussel, Harman, McMurphy, Kelley, Bohane, Chapin, Freiermuth, Taylor, Moore and Farneman. 
Pub. 2010 by California Genealogical Society
Softbound, 8 1/2 x 11" format, 224 pp. ISBN 978-0-9785694-9-5; LOC 2010929198
Price: $25.00.

 

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

Book Launch: Come Celebrate Our New Books!

Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Coffee and cider 10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Program 11:00 a.m.
Refreshments and book browsing 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

California Genealogical Society and Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
Oakland, California 94612

Fall Book Party! You Are Invited! Come Leaf Through the New Publications!

Join us at the society for “An Autumn Celebration of Books” as we launch three significant new titles and celebrate the resurrection of our journal, The California Nugget.

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow and the sturdiest family trees are rooted in sound research. Our publications will help you find your way through the forest! We are very excited about presenting these new “leaves," and we're proud of these meticulously researched publications that will contribute valuable information and new resources to the genealogical community.

This event heralds the publication of three new titles:

• San Francisco Probate 1906 - 1942: Register of Actions
• San Francisco Deaths 1865-1904: Abstracts from Surviving Civil Records
• The Ancestry of Theodore Timothy Judge and Ellen Sheehy Judge: Including the Families of Boland, Roussel, Harman, McMurphy, Kelley, Bohane, Chapin, Freiermuth, Taylor, Moore and Farneman

We're also asking our member authors with new titles to join the celebration and to be available for questions and books signings. Please email me if you can join the fun!

Update (8/9/2010): Three member authors will be celebrating their books with us.

• Linda Foster Arden - Letters From the Storm: The Intimate Civil War Letters of Lt. J. A. H. Foster    
• Ron Arons - WANTED! U.S. Criminal Records 
• James Smith - The California Snatch Racket: Kidnappings During the Prohibition and Depression Eras

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

Wordless Wednesday

Tech Workshop with Tim Cox

Using Microsoft Word 2007 for Genealogy

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Photographs courtesy of Tim Cox, Oakland, California.


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

Will You Join Us on Thursday Night?

Last Thursday, July 22, 2010, five participants attended the discussion group on French Canadian genealogy. Attendees had varying levels of expertise using French-Canadian records and by the evening's end, everyone had learned something new.

Some members came in to take advantage of the extended open hours at the library – until 8:30 p.m. on Thursdays in July and August. Between her weekday work schedule and weekend family commitments, member Lynn Theuriet rarely gets to visit the library. She was thrilled to be able to grab a few hours of research time and she is looking forward to the remaining five Thursday evenings to catch up on her genealogical pursuits.

Gary Darnstedt planned to attend the French Canadian discussion group but arrived at 9:00 a.m. to get in a full day of research. He spent his day with Dutch ancestral pursuits and worked on French-Canadian in the evening.

This coming Thursday, July 29, 2010, Tom Gesner will be leading a discussion on using NewEnglandAncestors.org – one of the subscription databases available at the library. Won't you join us?

RSVP online and let us know you are coming.

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