Wordless Wednesday

Field Trip to the San Francisco Public Library and

Tour by City Archivist Susan Goldstein and Staff

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Photographs by Kathryn M. Doyle.

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

On the Road Again: Practical Tips for Successful On-Site Research

Thursday, August 15, 2013

6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

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

A research trip to one's ancestral home can be extremely rewarding, but also may present many challenges. Join Pam Brett for an evening class on successful on-site research. Pam will share practical tips on how to plan an on-site research trip, to achieve your research goals and to bring home new understanding of the lives of your ancestors.

Register online.

This class is limited to thirty participants and is a free benefit of membership. Non-members fee is $20.00 (non-refundable) and can be applied towards membership on the day of the class.

Preregistration is required. Walk-ins will not be admitted. Registration confirmations will be sent to the first thirty registrants. Additional names will be collected and placed on a waiting list in case of cancellations.

Pam Brett has been interested in genealogy for nearly forty years since she began filling in the family tree of her first-born child’s baby book. Raising two daughters and working as a public health social worker left little free time until 1999 when she began her family research in earnest.

Brett's ancestors were mobile which led to research in thirty-one states and the District of Columbia. She loves doing on-site research in the States "where there are many challenges but the rewards are priceless."


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

eNews July 2013, volume 7, number 7

The July 2013 eNews, volume 7, number 6, 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 we honor the Stover and Mishler families of member volunteer Anna Junglas.

Cecelia Stover and Benjamin James [seated], Alice Stover and William Mishler [standing] 

Past issues of the eNews are available at the eNews archive.

The August 2013 issue will be emailed on July 31, 2013. To receive a copy, please join our mailing list.

California ancestor photograph courtesy of Anna Junglas.

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

The California Nugget, Spring 2013, Volume V, Issue 1

The Spring 2013 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 created another great issue. Here is Jane Hufft's letter from the editor:

Dear Readers,

Yes, it has been a race against time to have this issue of The California Nugget arrive in your mailboxes while it is still officially spring! We do hope you will enjoy the articles and information we have gathered for our CGS readers and friends.

The reissue of Kathleen C. Beals’ Index to San Francisco Marriage Returns 1850 – 1858 is one of many projects underway at the society. This new edition will once again make this important data available to researchers. We asked Kathleen about the history of the Index, which she recounts in her article that begins on the front cover. Data from the nineteenth century, compiled in the twentieth, is newly available in the twenty-first.

This issue is especially rich in family history. Linda Harms Okazaki tells the story of her research into the Okazaki family’s internment during WWII and what she discovered as she traced the ordeal: forced removal from home and possessions, separation from family members and community, loss of identity and dignity.

An ancestor’s diary is a treasure for a family historian. Lisa Gorrell places a series of diary entries into the context of her ancestor’s life, illuminating courtship in the 19th century, and letting us know how Amos Gorrell chose his future wife and made important personal decisions.

Lavinia Grace Schwarz has meticulously traced the history of her most elusive ancestor, Laura Evelyn Duggan Gilbert Christie, in the hopes that someone, somewhere, has a photograph of her. In the meantime, Lavinia’s sketch of Laura’s complicated life is not to be missed.

While CGS currently has over a thousand members, the special page honoring Member Anniversaries celebrates the long-term commitment to the society demonstrated by those who have been members from twenty- five to fifty years. In the fall issue, we will celebrate another group, those who have been members for twenty to twenty-four years.
Jane Hufft
Editor

TABLE of CONTENTS

Twenty-First Century Genealogy

Compiling the San Francisco Marriage Returns Index by Kathleen C. Beals

California Ancestors
Ancestral Footsteps: The Okazaki Family by Linda Harms Okazaki
The Courtship and Marriage of Amos Gorrell, Jr. and Catherine E. Sayre in Ross County, Ohio by Lisa Gorrell
Laura Evelyn Duggan Gilbert Christie by Lavinia Grace Schwarz
1883 Pensioners List: Millidge, Charles to Philps, Oren 

For Our Readers
The Borkenhagen Files: Born in San Francisco compiled by Carol Horn

At the Society
Research Trip to the Allen County Public Library: Registration Flier 
Save the Dates!
Member Anniversaries Twenty-five to Fifty Years
Index 
Do You Have a WWI Ancestor?

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

Chinese-American Family History Workshop Saturday, July 27, 2013

Paper son Leong Wing Ding,  age 6, Case 3116/7-3, arrived 20 Dec 1930 at Port of San Francisco. Interrogation by immigration inspectors of Wing and his mother and sister lasted three days. His personal case file had forty-four pages of documents, including these photographs.

Saturday, July 27, 2013
10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.

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

Getting Started: Basic Research Techniques and Setting Research Goals

Join researchers Christine DeVillier, Kay Speaks and Doug Joe for a Chinese-American family history research workshop. The class is geared towards those newly beginning their Chinese-American research. No Chinese language skills required.

Schedule:
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Beginning Chinese Genealogy: Basic Training, Doug Joe
Learn the steps you need to start your Chinese family heritage research. Discussion will include: surnames, phonetic spellings, Chinese characters, multiple ancestors' names, the family interview, heirloom archeology, and gravestone inscriptions.

11:10 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Beginning Chinese Genealogy: Internet Resources, Christine DeVilliers
This talk will cover both popular and lesser known English and Chinese online resources. A full list of internet resources and tools will be provided.

12:10 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. - Lunch - Bring your own lunch and join us for informal discussions.

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Passenger Lists: Annotations and Markings, Kay Speaks
Immigration records, known as “passenger arrival” records, provide valuable genealogical information. After April 1, 1924, immigrants in the U.S. who wanted to travel abroad could apply for a reentry permit. These permits required their original port of entry, ship and date of arrival. The immigrant’s provided information was verified against the original passenger list. Verification clerks would annotate the permit request on the original passenger list. Bring copies of your passenger lists if you have any.

2:10 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. - Open discussion, technique review, hands on research, review. Bring copies of your personal research records for sharing and review as possible research tools. You are welcome to stay later until the library is closed.

Register online.

Please note:

• Class is limited to twenty participants. Fee for both days, $20.
• No walk-ins.
• Priority will be given to first time attendees. (Attendees who attended our previous Chinese-American workshop may be wait-listed.
• Bring your wireless laptop and copies of your family records. if you would like the instructors to provide feedback.

Christine DeVillier has been practicing genealogical research as an avocation for more than ten years. She is of multiple ethnicities: Chinese, German, Danish, English, Tahitian, and possibly other European ancestry. This background, and her on-going active research into all facets of her ancestry, has presented her with numerous rich opportunities for her to explore the international dimensions of her ancestors. These opportunities have broadened her research skills with a wide range of techniques. Culturally, Christine identifies Chinese-American, having grown up in a bilingual Taishan (Hoisanwah)/English speaking household. Christine’s research into her Chinese ancestry culminated in a visit to both of her Chinese grandparents' villages in China in 2010, during which she learned more family history, and has uncovered even more since.

Kay Speaks, a California native, is first generation Chinese American on her paternal side, Irish on her maternal side. She began her genealogy journey over thirteen years ago while trying to solve a family murder mystery never talked about by her Chinese elders. Through her research, she finally “meets” her Chinese grandfather, a paper son, and discovers he was so much more than the photo that hung on her parent’s wall--his silent stories waiting discovery. Along the way, Speaks’ Leong family great-grandparents, grandparents, parents and other extended family have become part of her genealogical written stories and award winning poetry. Her Chinese adventures includes the serendipity of ancestors found, solving the 1928 murder mystery cited in case law today. Speaks teaches and lectures on genealogy research techniques, methodology and other research topics, writes articles for various society newsletters, co-teaches a software genealogy class, as well as organizes genealogy workshops and seminars for the Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society located in the East Bay of San Francisco and for other organizations in the area.

Doug Joe is a second-generation Chinese American “baby boomer” whose elders initially landed in the U.S. at the end of the 19th century. He has been able to trace and document several hundred years of his heritage without Chinese language skills. Doug Joe lives and works in Modesto, California but enjoys helping others worldwide in their search for their Chinese roots. His mantra is, "You can study your Chinese family history without knowing the Chinese language."

Photograph courtesy of Kay Speaks.

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