Finding the Living - How to Hone Your Genealogy Researching Skills with Thomas MacEntee

Saturday, April 10, 2010
11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

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

You may have heard about how Thomas MacEntee used technology and helped save the day last month with an unplanned virtual presentation. I'm thrilled to announce that Thomas will work his magic again – only this time he will be the speaker – and the audience will know in advance that the voice they will hear will be coming from 2,000 miles away.

Noted blogger Thomas MacEntee will present Finding the Living - How to Hone Your Genealogy Researching Skills from his office in Chicago while twenty members watch his presentation in the library in Oakland.

Genealogists have many reasons to locate living relatives – from connecting with long lost cousins, to performing collateral searches, to breaking down brick walls. In this session you’ll learn not only why it is important to locate the living, but also how to leverage the power of Internet to make certain you have the correct contact information. You’ll also learn how making contact with the living can hone your genealogy research skills and actually help you break down those brick walls.

Schedule:
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Presentation

12:30 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. Break

12:45 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.  Hands-on practice

Participants may bring a laptop computer to class to practice the search techniques learned and receive support from Thomas after a short break.

With over twenty-five years of experience in the information technology field, Thomas MacEntee writes and lectures on the many ways blogs, Facebook and Twitter can be leveraged to add new dimensions to the genealogy experience. He provides market research, education and technology consulting services in the genealogy industry through his business High-Definition Genealogy. As the creator of GeneaBloggers.com, he has organized and engaged a community of over 1,000 bloggers to document their journeys in the search for their ancestors.

This workshop is offered free to members only and is limited to 20 participants. Preregistration is required. Register online.

Annual Report 2010: French Canadian Special Interest Group

Lorna Jones provided a copy of Annual Report 2010 for the French Canadian Special Interest Group that includes a comprehensive history of their meetings and members. The SIG formed five years ago and held its first meeting on Wednesday, May 25, 2005. Subsequent meetings were held on Wednesdays 5-6 times per year until 2008 when meeting days were changed to Saturday to accommodate members who worked during the week.

Bill O'Neil, Mary Beth Frederick, Lorna Jones and Jane Lindsey

By January 2006, the group consisted of ten members: Carol Backhus, Anne Cyr, the Freemans, Lorna Jones, Wayne Knauf, Jane Lindsey, David Lowndes, Bill O'Neil, Al Riel and Lynn Theuriet. Since that time some of the original ten have moved away but new members include: Mary Beth Frederick, Tom Gesner, Gary Reopelle, Barry Goyette, Craig Siulinski, Christine Morton, Gary Darnsteadt, John Lee and Gibran Rath.

The group now has a total of sixteen members who come when they can to the three scheduled meetings each year. They try to meet in the morning on second Saturdays so they can stay for the membership meeting in the afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

French-Canadian SIG Coordinator Lorna E. Jones

Lorna reports:

The meetings usually are unstructured – someone comes with a 'brick wall' question and we all dive in and work on it. We frequently have 'show and tell' where we share new websites, or a book someone has found, or some new French translation list.  It's all very low-key, but entertaining, and the folks who attend are great.

Do you have ancestors who may have moved to the mid-west in the early 1800s? Or perhaps some who were born in Canada, but the exact location is unknown? The American-Canadian border was easily crossed; many others came up the Mississippi via New Orleans to settle before the railways were built.

The French-Canadian Special Interest Group meets to discuss research problems. It is a small group so there is plenty of opportunity for each issue to be debated thoroughly. Help for French translation is available, as well as lots of ideas about where to search, both on the web and in books.

Email Lorna Jones if you would like to receive notice of upcoming meetings.

The next meeting of the French-Canadian Special Interest Group is at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 10, 2010.


Photographs courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey.

It's All Malarkey

Member Camille Giglio agreed to share her family story in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

Over the last fifteen years, three lines of my ancestry have been validated, but the origin of one of my maternal great-great-grandfathers is as hard to pin down as the origin of his name. Michael Malarkey, where do you come from?

I started researching my father’s family upon discovery of a packet of letters that he had stored away in an old teakwood box. My maternal second cousin, Brian White, began his odyssey thirty years ago looking for his paternal and maternal sides. Our paths hit the same brick wall when it came to finding the Malarkey family. The search has been made more difficult due to the wide variety of spellings of the name.

My primary source of information about my maternal ancestry has come from one aunt, soon to be 100 years old. She provided me with a list of last names and the possibility that they came to America and settled in New York and Boston. The San Francisco Mission District Irish always had a distinctive Bostonian flavor to their speech.

My cousin and I started at different times and places with the one certain fact that Josephine Lucille Gallagher Byrne (my grandmother and his great-grandmother) was born in San Francisco on July 15, 1873, to James and Susan Malarkey Gallagher.

Susan Malarkey (McLarkey?) is first located in the 1860 Federal Census for Massachusetts, in Boston, with her age as 18 and her occupation listed as shoe binder and indicating that she was born in Boston. She was living with her parents, Michael and Maragus (Margaret), as well as her younger siblings: Annie and Michael, Jr. Her older brother, Frank, was living out of the home by that point in time.

No civil or church record can be found in the greater Boston area for her birth or marriage. Boston City directories show listings for Michael Malarkey in the South Boston neighborhood as well as listings for James Gallagher. Susan and James seem to be gone from the Boston area sometime between 1859 and 1864.

It has been suggested by a researcher at the New England Historical Genealogical Society that, since Moville was a port of departure for freighters, Michael and Margaret nee McGuinness sailed to the new world landing first in Nova Scotia coming later to Boston by overland route. This would explain the lack of records for Susan in Boston.

I am traveling to Nova Scotia later this year.

Continuing backward in time I began looking in Ireland for Michael Malarkey. The name Malarkey is not common and, especially the name Michael Malarkey is rare. Therefore I felt certain that I had found my Michael in the Griffith’s valuation records for the period 1846-64.

Michael is living on a tiny plot of land, more like a mud floor, thatched roof hut, outside of Moville, Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal in the townland of Drumaweer, for an unknown duration. But that’s all we know about him until he and a wife show up in the 1860 Boston census. Boston death records for Margaret list her maiden name as McGuinness and her father as John McGuinness.

In September, 2009, my brother, my husband and I took a trip to the Inishown Peninsula which is across the Lough Foyle from County Derry, Northern Ireland. We visited the plot of land on which the hut still stands albeit somewhat enlarged. We spoke with the owners of the land, the Carey Brothers, two elderly, single, smiling and rosy cheeked barley farmers. They still live on the land in a two room hut with worn out linoleum covering mud floors, possibly very like the one Michael lived in lo those many years ago.

The Irish, being always anxious to be helpful, directed us to a local author in a neighboring hamlet. There we where entertained for over an hour with stories of “the troubles,” of the famine and the 19th century English landlords of Northern Ireland. Apparently many descendants of those families driven from their homes on a snowy Christmas eve still live in the area. Those hardships are as alive today in northern County Donegal as though they had happened only last year.

From there we were directed to a member of the McGuinness family itself back in Moville. John McGuinness invited us in, talked about his ancestry, but could not give us any insight into our Michael and Margaret.

We may never be able to pin down the Malarkey ancestry but my cousin may be close to uncovering some of the mystery. He has made contact with a member of the Charles Gallagher family. James and Charles were brothers.

James Gallagher appears in the 1867 Great Register in San Francisco. According to the register, he was 27 years old, worked as a Laborer, lived in Ward 7, and was naturalized on September 5, 1859 in San Francisco U.S. District Court.

According to separate obituary notices both Charles and James died on the same day presumably in San Francisco, on April 12, 1878. A San Francisco newspaper obituary notice for 1878, provided by Brian White, reads as follows: "GALLAGHER - In this city, April 12, James GALLAGHER, a native of Ireland, aged 40 years. Boston papers please copy).

James was originally buried in Calvary Cemetery in San Francisco, but when the City closed all cemeteries in 1904, his remains were moved to Holy Cross Cemetery in Colma. Susan is also buried in Holy Cross cemetery but with her second husband, Thomas Barden.

To date even though we have obituary notices of James and his older brother Charles’ funeral services, no information has surfaced as to why or where they died.

Apparently Gallagher family second or third cousins have resided in the general San Francisco Bay Area all these years for several generations.

Bill von Esmarch, great-great-grandson of Charles Gallagher, has supplied a photo of the three daughters of Charles Gallagher who would have been nieces of James Gallagher and cousins of my grandmother, Josephine Gallagher Byrne.

Mary, Margaret, and Hannah Gallagher of Palmyra, New York

Bill, Brian and I agree that if we could find the parents of James and Charles, we might be able to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of the Malarkey/Gallagher ancestry.

Information for this article was supplied by Camille Giglio, Brian White and Bill von Esmarch.

For more great Irish stories be sure to stop by the Third Annual St. Patrick's Day Blog Parade. It's also known as the 18th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture, hosted by Lisa at Small Leaved Shamrock. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Who Do You Think We Are?

Enjoy this short video about the California Genealogical Society: our library, our classes, our members and more!

First Edition: Carnival of Genealogical Societies - Doin' Things Right

Welcome to the First Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies.

First, a special "thank you" to the lovely footnoteMaven for creating a fabulous badge for the carnival. She is always a font of knowledge and tells us:

The key to all good genealogical research starts with the society of other genealogists and in turn genealogy societies.

I invite all of the submitters to grab the badge from the sidebar (fM created a special version "optimized with a two second load") and wear it proudly on your blog.

The topic for the inaugural edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies is:

Doin' Things Right!  

Shine a spotlight on a specific program, project, or publication at a genealogical society and tell us why it worked. Tell an anecdote about how you benefited from a particular genealogical society service. 

Share a success story and be specific!

Fifteen bloggers submitted articles that describe society successes worth emulating.

Susan C. Pentico presents Genealogy Societies and Why to Join Them posted at Ancestor Seekers by the Root Bound. Susi is one of the founders of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society in California but here she describes a memorable visit to the Cornerstone Genealogical Society in Waynesburg, Greene County, Pennsylvania and how membership in a distant society can help you further your research.

Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith presents Carnival of Genealogical Societies, 1st Edition posted at Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories. Dr. Bill shares some special questions from a series of articles published by the Washington County Iowa Genealogical Society.

Ruth Haley presents Carnival of Genealogical Societies is: Doin' Things Right! posted at Genealogy is Ruthless without Me, saying, "The Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD)SM always has something I want to learn or want to try out. I am enjoying my association with this group a great deal."

Michelle Goodrum presents Boulder Genealogical Society - Doin' Things Right posted at The Turning of Generations, saying, "The Boulder Genealogical Society has excellent resources on their website. The site and its information is helpful, informative and done professionally. Truly done right!" 

A. Morddel presents The French Genealogy Blog: The Genealogy Groups - Les Cercles Généalogiques posted at The French Genealogy Blog. Anne comes to us from Paris and explains the French system of genealogical societies, called cercles, and their Geneabank project.

Amy Coffin presents The "No Program" Program posted at We Tree, saying, "What happens when the speaker is a no-show? A very informative meeting...as it turns out. Sometimes no program at all is a great program for societies."

Randy Seaver presents CVGS - Doin' Things Right! - Ahnentafel Lists posted at Chula Vista Genealogy Cafe, saying, "CVGS has a fairly unique way to present members ancestry - we use Ahnentafels online and searchable by Google and other search engines. This has worked really well - we get queries asking for a contact with the Ahnentafel submitter. We did this right!"

Karen Packard Rhodes presents Carnival of Genealogical Societies: The Southern Genealogist's Exchange Society posted at Karen About Genealogy. Karen highlights the excellent spring seminars at the Southern Genealogist's Exchange Society of Jacksonville, Florida, how how they led to a speaking career.

Paula Hinkel presents Doin' Things Right at the Southern California Genealogical Society posted at SCGSGenealogical Society Blog. Paula shares some history of the SCGS and how they went from teetering on the brink to becoming the "innovative and progressive organization" that hosts the fabulous Jamboree.

Jo Arnspiger presents 1st Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies - Jessamine County Historical & Genealogical Society, Kentucky posted at Those Who Went Before. Jo shares the story of how a Rootweb mailing list led to the creation of the Annual History Fest. She also describes the society's Cemetery Project.

Thomas MacEntee presents Indiana Genealogical Society - Doin' Things Right! posted at Destination: Austin Family. Thomas is impressed with the online presence of the Indiana Genealogical Society and their members-only section.

Charles Hansen presents History of the Patchen File posted at Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog. Charles presents Part 1 of two posts about the Obituary Index Project of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society and introduces us to the amazing legacy of Lee Patchen.

Miriam Robbins Midkiff presents The Obituary Index posted at Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog. Miriam continues with Part 2 of the Obituary Indexing Project of the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society and tells how the society is using technology to share their resources.

M. Diane Rogers presents Doin' Things Right - Carnival of Genealogical Societies - First Edition posted at The Graveyard Rabbit of British Columbia, Canada, saying, "I feel genealogical societies are good at organizing and enhancing the activities and energy of their members and volunteers to benefit the wider genealogical and historical communities." Her report on the Cemetery Committee shows how a society can coordinate a large project.

Kathryn Doyle presents Doin' Things Right: The Society Welcome Mat posted here at the California Genealogical Society and Library blog. Perhaps just a small difference in expectations can make the difference in how a society welcomes strangers.

This concludes our first edition.

***

Call for Submissions!

The topic for the next edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies is: Collaboration.

Does your society collaborate with other societies? 

(genealogical, historical, lineage, etc.) 

Or groups? (local library, family history center)

Why or why not? 

What works or needs improvement?

Thanks to Miriam Robbins Midkiff for suggesting this topic!

The deadline for submissions is May 7, 2010.

Please do indicate in your article that you are writing for the Second Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies. Submit your blog article using the the submission form provided by Blog Carnival. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any article you plan to submit and write a brief introduction to your articles in the "remarks" section of the form.

See you at the Carnival!

Wordless Wednesday

Jeffrey Vaillant at the Check-in Desk 

Black History Month Event

February 20, 2010

Photograph by Kathryn Doyle, Oakland, California.

Doin' Things Right: The Society Welcome Mat

Last month blogger Herstoryan wrote a creative and funny piece for Randy Seaver's Saturday Night Fun entitled Super Bowl of Genealogy. I misunderstood, she clarified, and a lot of back-and-forth ensued in the comments. All ended well with the genea-blogging community proving once again that discussion and disagreement don't have to be ugly.

But since then I've been thinking a lot about how well genealogical societies and members welcome visitors and non-members. I've been remembering how I've been treated on first visits to libraries, archives and societies. What I recall is that the times I felt most welcomed were the times I was expected. If I had made an appointment or announced my arrival in advance, I was usually greeted warmly. Of course, some people are friendlier than others and an occasional "bad day" or "bad mood" can lead to bad interactions. But I've been hearing some very disturbing examples of bad manners and bad public relations on the part of some genealogy societies. I've begun to think that some societies just forgot to put out the "welcome mat."

The California Genealogical Society and Library welcomes the general public on the first Saturday of every month. The library is open to members three days a week – Thursday, Friday and Saturday and non-member visitors may use the library on those days for a nominal $5.00 charge. But on first Saturdays the library is free and open to everyone and an Intro to Genealogy class is offered from 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

First Free Saturdays and the introductory classes grew out of our October Family History Month program a few years ago. Every year in October the society has an open door policy and we offer a large menu of free classes and consultations to members and non-members alike. I'm not sure whose brilliant idea it was (if anyone knows, please leave a comment!) but that person threw down a warm welcome mat that has served the society well ever since.

There is an expectation that we will see new faces on first Saturdays. In fact, the volunteers who teach the intro class look forward to seeing how many new visitors they will meet. Since we advertise First Saturdays Free on internet events sites like Yelp, Yahoo Upcoming and our Facebook page, our volunteers have begun to ask attendees where they learned about the class. That information is helping us to do a better job of putting out the welcome mat. And we are noticing a younger audience. In the February class, three of the seven who attended learned about us on Facebook! Who knew that Facebook could be a welcome mat?

–Written for the First Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies: Doin' Things Right.

The Morning After Who Do You Think You Are? - First Saturday Free!

First Saturdays FREE
Introduction to Genealogy
Saturday, March 6, 2010
11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Sometimes things are carefully scripted and planned. Sometimes it's just plain dumb luck. This month the California Genealogical Society and Library's First Saturday Free and Introduction to Genealogy class (taught by Lisa Gorrell) just happens to come the morning after the premier of Who Do You Think You Are?.  I'm hoping for an onslaught, so, attention volunteers: 

ALL HANDS ON DECK!

In anticipation of an increase in patronage of the library, local members are asked to volunteer their time to answer phones, re-shelve books and be on-hand to assist visitors. If WDYTYA? creates the same response in the U.S. as it did in 2004 in the U.K., we are going to need more volunteers to staff the desk and help in the library.

It remains to be seen if the program will translate to a resurgence in interest in genealogy but NBC is pulling out the stops to promote both the show and the pursuit of our favorite hobby. Executive Producer Lisa Kudrow has been busy. She's made appearances on the Today Show on NBC, The View on ABC and on Tuesday, March 9, 2010, she'll hang with Oprah on Celebs Dig Up Their Family Secrets.

In any case, it's cause for celebration anytime mainstream media is paying attention. Yesterday's New York Times sited the "genealogy craze" and today's Los Angeles Times review includes one encouraging statement:

The power of "Who Do You Think You Are?" does not lie in the celebrity but in the much more dramatic nature of "ordinary" life. Residents of 21st century America cannot be reminded often enough of how easy so many of us have it compared with previous generations. As anyone perusing their own genealogy knows, the infant mortality rate of even a few generations ago is shocking to the modern sensibility.

So don’t forget to tune in tonight to watch Sarah Jessica Parker and stop by the library to greet all the newcomers!

Wordless Wednesday

Board of Directors Meeting

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Photograph by Kathryn M. Doyle, Oakland, California, 2/17/10.

Ethnic Genealogy Series: Chinese Ancestry - A Workshop in Two Sessions

The California Genealogical Society and Library, in partnership with the National Archives and Records Administration - San Francisco, presents a FREE two-part workshop on researching Chinese ancestry. Members Christine DeVillier, Jeanie Low and Kay Speaks will share their experience and the knowledge gained researching their own Chinese ancestors.  The classes are open to all levels of experience – Chinese language skills are not necessary. Attendance at both sessions is required. 

Session I - Saturday April 17, 2010
10:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
California Genealogical Society Library, 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, CA.

Program:
10:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.  Chinese Research Timeline in the U.S. from 1849 to the present – Jeanie Low presents an examination of immigration laws and migration patterns and their effect on Chinese families.

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.  Resources in the The National Archives and Records Collection Pertaining to Chinese Research – Marisa Louie, NARA Archivist.

12:00 p.m. -   1:00 p.m.  Brown bag lunch and informal discussion.

1:00 p.m. -   2:00 p.m.  Obtaining Records: Your Toolbox – Christine DeVillier reviews: interview and research techniques, using photos and artifacts, online resources, how to use headstones, passengers lists, birth and death records, census records, family associations and more.

2:00 p.m. -   3:30 p.m.  Case Studies and Research – Kay Speaks.


Session II - Saturday, May 8, 2010
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
National Archives, San Francisco Pacific Region, 1000 Commodore Drive, San Bruno, CA.

Research day at NARA with access to the Angel Island Immigration Station case files. Only those who attend the April 17, 2010, workshop will be admitted to the archives.

Please note:

• Workshop is limited to twenty.
• FREE with advanced registration.
• No walk-ins allowed.
• Handouts will be emailed in advance. Please bring your own printed copy and help us cut costs.

Update 3/12/10:

The Chinese Ancestry Workshop is now full. A waiting list has been started for a future class. Add your name at the online registration form. 

eNews March 2010, Vol. 4, No. 3

The March 2010 issue of the eNews, volume 4, number 3, 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 Editor's Picks: Suggested Links From the Blogosphere and a photo feature: California Ancestors.

This month, in honor of St. Patrick's Day, Cathy Paris pays tribute to her Irish Roots – the photographs and story are of her grandmothers, Helen Elizabeth Nimmo (1898 - 1976), left, and Mary Elizabeth Fitzgerald (1886 - 1918), right.

Past issues of the eNews are available for viewing at the eNews ARCHIVE. The April 2010 issue will be emailed on March 31, 2010. To receive a copy, please join our mailing list.


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

Judy Avery's Report From London: Who Do You Think You Are?

I'm so excited that Judy Avery agreed to send a report from this year's WDYTYA - Live. Okay, I'm a little jealous, too. Thank you, Judy, for taking time out to be our eyes and ears in London!

It's been a busy and jam-packed couple of days so at night I've been too tired to report anything! Today it's pouring rain and a good morning to stay in the hotel and actually try to write about what I've seen and heard at the conference.

It's called Who Do You Think You Are - Live: a National History Show at the Olympia Conference Center in London. Even though WDYTYA is a hit BBC show, it's not a BBC event but sponsored by Ancestry.co.uk., in association with the Society of Genealogists and The Genealogist.co.uk. It's a huge success - they estimated 10,000 to 15,000 participants over the three days and judging by the number of day passes and workshop tickets that have sold out, they've reached their goal.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society has a table in one of the corners for the first time and this is an experiment to see what response an American organization gets. The president, Brenton Simons, and three staff members are manning the table and giving lectures (they're called workshops in the brochure). Trustees and councilors were invited to join up and at least four of us are here - visiting booths (at least 200), enjoying bangers and mash for lunch and chatting with other participants.

Sandi Hewlett, Judy Avery and Meriwether Schmidt at the NEHGS table.

You should see the crowds! Very orderly, queuing up cheerfully as the British do, so happy to be here. There is a fairly-quickly moving line in front of the Military Memorabilia booth, where people are bringing in photos, medals, letters, etc. and waiting to talk to a military expert who can tell them about their treasures. Another very popular booth is Ask the Experts – a free 20-minute session with a genealogist and his laptop. Michael LeClerc and Josh Taylor have volunteered stints there, and find themselves answering family history questions about the U.K. and other European countries. They report great interest in people who went to America and have been lost by family members. "My grandmother's favorite brother went to California in 1910 and no one knows what happened to him."  Or "Mary sailed for America in 1890 - we think she went to New York and married a man named Smith." Remarkably in most cases, the staff members have been able to find some information or give helpful advice, and  people are so grateful. It seems at conferences in the U.S. we're interested in where our ancestors came from. Here we've had many questions on what became of family members in America.

Highlights for me: Maureen Taylor's talk on Scrapbooks. Remember when she gave that wonderful talk to the California Genealogical Society about dating old family photographs? She said scrapbooking in Britain isn't the big industry it is in the U.S. but it's coming. There are no big stores dedicated to readymade scrapbooks yet but supplies are in arts and craft shops. Audience members said they are making their own albums - very creative. Original photographs or documents should be copied and then pasted into the scrapbook. In the 20th century scrapbook makers began telling a story in their scrapbooks and it's a good idea to have a theme in the book.

Photo Detective Maureen Taylor

FamilyTree DNA has a big presence here and interesting workshops. If you're like me, you've done some testing but find it really frustrating and confusing to interpret. I think I understand it a bit better going to "DNA for Genealogy - Basic Concepts" and "I've Been DNA Tested - Now What?" FamilyTree is in the beta phase for a new program called Family Finder, which can find relatives within 4-5 generations across all lines. Traditional testing has done the yDNA and MtDNA chromosomes which can show direct male and female lines - good for surname projects and showing if men are related. The new Family Finder tests the other 22 chromosomes and can find male and female cousins, half-siblings, and will become the "perfect test for adoptees." Their new motto on a t-shirt is, "Sex doesn't matter anymore."

The best find in all this new information was Terry Barton explaining the FamilyTree website and giving information on his organization WorldFamilies.net. He and his wife have explained for us laymen about terms (markers, alleles!), and navigation of the FamilyTree website to get the results we want. "You are responsible for your own learning," he says, but this makes it seem possible.

So many booths with enthusiastic volunteers - small local history societies, Irish, Scottish and Welsh history groups, preservation supplies, map sellers, military history tables, a booth scanning documents, etc. I'm going back this afternoon and will try to take in some more!

- Judy Avery

Photographs courtesy of Judy Avery.

What We Missed and How Technology Saved the Day

The California Genealogical Society presented a full-day program last Saturday, February 20, 2010, in honor of Black History Month and at the last minute the whole thing was threatened with cancellation, or at least a significant postponement. In his article CGS February Meeting a History Maker, our featured speaker, blogger and new board member, Craig Manson, explained what happened and how my two favorite geek-members, Thomas MacEntee and Kathy Watson, came to the rescue. Using WebEx and with only a couple of minor glitches, Craig was able to present his two talks from his home office in Carmichael, California with Past-President Jane Knowles Lindsey at her laptop control center at the library in Oakland.

Since I wasn't able to attend I've gathered some feedback from some of those present to give you an accurate accounting of the day.

The morning started with expertise from three long-time friends and colleagues from the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California (AAGSNC). Past-President Juliet Culliver Crutchfield, Ed.D., Electra Kimble Price and Jackie Stewart fielded questions from the audience.

Lorna Wallace reports: 

The panel of members of AAGSNC did something unexpected in that they started right out asking the audience what questions they had – there never was a "lecture" as such. That way none of the attendees were left at the end without hearing what puzzled them. The open format also allowed people in the audience, who had a lot of pertinent experience, to easily contribute their personal stories as examples.

One of our new board members, Jeffrey Vaillant, had these comments:

The use of the Webex tool was an exciting new adventure that brought the presenter's voice and on-screen power point presentation in the room for all to experience. The technology has been around for some years so its use at CGS was a potential step into the 21st century. 

The morning three person panel was terrific as each shared insights into their genealogy quest. A lesson learned was solid genealogy practices apply to any ethnic research along with an understanding of that culture.

Vernester Sheeler sent accolades:

One word Fabulous!!  The CGS’s Black History program was wonderful. There were a couple of minor technical glitches but once resolved the session was great. Craig is a gifted and engaging presenter. He shared valuable tips, and tools to broaden my research. My employer uses WebEx for most of our project meetings however this was my first time to use it for something I value and enjoy!

Panelists Juliet Crutchfield, Electra Price and Jackie Stewart

Special thanks to everyone who helped make this a successful program.

Photographs courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey, Nicka Smith and Vernester Sheeler.

Wordless Wednesday

Working on the Judge Project

Lavinia Schwarz and Judy Bodycote

Photograph courtesy of Arlene Miles, November 16, 2009, Oakland, California.

Honored by Family Tree Magazine!

Diane Haddad, Managing Editor of Family Tree Magazine informed me that the California Genealogical Society and Library blog was named to the "Family Tree 40" after being voted one of the Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy blogs!

The awards were given in several categories, as follows*:

All-Around

• Creative Gene by Jasia Smasha
• footnoteMaven by footnoteMaven
• GeneaBloggers by Thomas MacEntee
• Genea-Musings by Randy Seaver

Cemetery

• The Association of Graveyard Rabbits by several authors
• Granite in My Blood by Midge Frazel

Corporate

• Ancestry.com Blog by various authors

Genetic Genealogy

• The Genetic Genealogist by Blaine Bettinger

Heritage

• George Geder by George Geder
• Scottish Genealogy News and Events by Chris Paton
• Small Leaved Shamrock by Lisa
• Steve’s Genealogy Blog by Stephen Danko
• Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog by Schelly Talalay Dardashti

How-To

• Family Matters by Denise Barrett Olson
• Genealogy Guys by George G. Morgan and Drew Smith
• Genealogy Tip of the Day by Michael John Neill
• The ProGenealogists Blog by various authors

Local & Regional

• California Genealogical Society and Library Blog by Kathryn Doyle
• Sandusky History by the staff of the Sandusky (Ohio) Library Archives Research Center
• Midwestern Microhistory by Harold Henderson

News & Resources

• The Ancestry Insider by theAncestry Insider
• DearMyrtle by Pat Richley-Erickson
• Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter by Dick Eastman
• GenealogyBlog by Leland Meitzler

Photos & Heirlooms

• The Family Curator by Denise Levenick
• Shades of the Departed by footnoteMaven

Personal & Family

• Ancestories: The Stories of My Ancestors by Miriam Midkiff
• Apple’s Tree by anonymous
• BeNotForgot by Vickie Everhart
• Educated Genealogist by Sheri Fenley
• Greta’s Genealogy Blog by Greta Koehl
• Heritage Happens by Cheryl Fleming Palmer
• Herstoryan by Herstoryan
• Janet the Researcher by Janet Iles
• Kinexxions by Becky Wiseman
• Little Bytes of Life by Elizabeth
• Our Georgia Roots by Luckie Daniels
• WeTree by Amy Coffin
• West in New England by Bill West
• What’s Past is Prologue by Donna Pointkouski

In the online version of the magazine article, which appears in the May 2010 issue, Maureen Taylor, the Photo Detective, had this to say about the CGSL blog:

Even though I don’t have California roots, this is one of my personal favorites—you get a feel for this community that hangs together to solve genealogical problems. Society member Kathryn Doyle delivers news about the group, as well as local genealogy events and resources. On Wordless Wednesday, you get a peek behind the scenes of the organization.

Thank you, Maureen; thank you Family Tree Magazine and thank you to everyone who voted! I'm honored to be listed with such august company!

*Links reprinted here with permission of Diane Haddad, Managing Editor, Family Tree Magazine.

Kate's Story in the Missouri State Genealogical Association Journal

In the Missouri State Genealogical Society Journal, Volume XXIX, No. 4, 2009, member Patricia Burrow chronicled the story of her ancestor, Kate Stuedle McCormack, who she discovered in 2007 when she obtained her grandmother's adoption papers.


Kate's Story is Patricia's "tribute to a hard-working family that serviced the westward migration of this great country." In it we meet Kate's father, Balthasar Stuedle, who built wagons for the families that made their way across the Santa Fe Trail and learn how Kate helped settle Oklahoma Territory and rear a family during the Great Depression.

Patricia consented to share some of the backstory of the document that was the key to unlocking her family mystery.

My grandmother was adopted. According to her children, she did not know about this until she was into her senior years. My aunt gave me a small scrap of paper that was supposed to be the link to the adoption but no one knew any details. The paper was from the Recorder's Office, Jackson County, Missouri, September 1902. It was pure gold. I wrote to the Recorder's office, sending a copy of the paper but got a reply that nothing was there. For four years I wrote to other offices and even the surrounding counties but never got a positive response. In June of 2007 we were visiting relatives in Arkansas, and made a detour to Independence, Missouri. I was determined to find SOMETHING. I marched into the Court house, showed the clerk a copy of my paper and within ten minutes had a copy of the adoption record from 105 years before. I believe that, because Missouri has closed adoptions, when I requested the information by mail, they saw that it was an adoption and dismissed the record's existence. Harder to do when I was standing there reading the microfilm with the clerk. Happiness was mine. He got so excited about it that he looked up the marriage info on my adopted great-grandparents and produced a beautiful copy of their license right there on the spot. It was a good day, about to get even better. I went to a local library and worked with the librarian to find the birth mother, Kate STUEDLE, and her family, in city directories and censuses. We were never able to find an actual birth record.

I have researched this family back to their emigration from Wittenberg, Germany, 1854. Balthasar STUEDLE married Christina Ann SCHWAB, also from Wittenberg, in 1870, Lafayette County, Missouri. These were my gg-grandparents. Using the internet, I met some wonderful people, some new cousins, and some of the most generous genealogists in the world – all willing to help. While writing the article for the Journal, I realized that I did not have Kate's final resting place. Somewhere there was a reference that she died in Cortez, Colorado. I knew that her son was buried there because I found his headstone on the internet. At 1:00 p.m. one sunny afternoon, I shot off an email to the address of the person who had photographed that headstone and asked if they knew if Kate was in the same cemetery. At 4 o'clock I got an email back that he, the photographer, had gone out to the cemetery, found her grave and took pictures of the headstone for me. Is that not a wonderful community?

I found the adoption record in June and was sitting in a genealogy class in September when someone new to the class began to introduce herself and tell who and where she was researching. My ears perked up when she said "SCHWAB" and gave their migration from Germany to Missouri and Kansas and then to Oklahoma. THOSE ARE MY SCHWABs!!! I would never have paid attention if I had not found that adoption record just 90 days before. Timing is everything. It turns out Betty Martinez is a third cousin! The lesson here is, never stop panning for gold. Betty followed up on many of her own leads and eventually handed me a photograph of my own g-grandmother, Kate, looking very much like her first child, the loving grandmother who held me on her lap, sang to me and fed me buttermilk biscuits that she baked in her old wood stove.

Kate Stuedel McCormack (1881-1963)

Photograph courtesy of Patricia Burrow.

Mountain View Cemetery Walking Tour - March 24, 2010

Mountain View Cemetery

5000 Piedmont Avenue
Oakland, CA 94611

Wednesday, March  24, 2010

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Private Tour of Mountain View Cemetery
Member Gaye Lenehan will lead an exploration of an Oakland gem. The walking tour of Mountain View Cemetery will start promptly at 10:00 a.m. – everyone should gather in front of the main office. If Mother Nature cooperates, attendees should witness a spectacular show since the tour has been timed to occur when the tulips are in full bloom.

Founded in 1863, Mountain View was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, renowned landscape architect of New York City's Central Park. The historic, not-for-profit cemetery is nestled in the foothills of Oakland and Piedmont. Gaye will tell a bit of history of the cemetery and lead us past the final resting places of some interesting people. She's including a climb up the hill to Millionaires' Row.

Please note: Walking shoes are recommended; the tour covers almost two miles on hilly terrain. It is not suitable for those with walkers, canes or the need to sit down frequently. There is plenty of parking along the roads in the cemetery. If it is a nice day bring a brown bag and plan for a picnic. In case of rain, the tour will be rescheduled for the following Wednesday, March 30, 2010. Please E-mail events@californiaancestors.org or call the libary at 510-663-1358 to register for this event.

Gaye is one of two society members who serve as docents at the cemetery. The upcoming schedule includes:

February 27 — Free Docent Tour led by Gaye Lenahan, 10 a.m., Black History Month Tour.

April 24 — Free Docent Tour led by Chris Pattillo, 10 a.m., The Trees of Mountain View. (If you can't make this, Chris has a self-guided tour on her blog, Historic American Landscapes Survey.

Learn more about the cemetery at Michael Colbruno's Lives of the Dead: Mountain View Cemetery in Oakland - a Graveyard Rabbit Association blog.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Tim Cox and Ron Arons

Photograph by Kathryn M. Doyle, Oakland, California, 1/15/2010.

Tech Saturday Workshop with Mary Beth Frederick - An Encore Presentation

Saturday, March 20, 2010
10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
California Genealogical Society Library
2201 Broadway LL2 Oakland, CA 94612

Digital Photography: A Tool for Your Genealogical Research

Back By Popular Demand!

Let Mary Beth Frederick teach you how to use your digital camera to take photographs of books, original documents, microfilms, and computer screens. Using her method will save you time, money, energy, and frustration. You'll also be kind to your back by never again toting a mountain of paper in your carry-on baggage!

10:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. Lecture
12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.  Lunch – bring a brown bag and participate in an informal question and answer session.
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.  Hands On: take advantage of the equipment and materials in the library and use your own camera to try the techniques presented during the lecture. Mary Beth will be on hand to assist and make suggestions.

The workshop is a FREE benefit of membership but is limited to twenty participants. Preregistration
is required. No walk-ins will be admitted.

Mary Beth Frederick has enjoyed careers in marketing research, systems analysis and design, project
management and editing both print catalogs and an online website. She has been engaged in the full-time research of her family for several years and when the volume of paper threatened to outgrow her office, she started taking digital photos of source documents.

PLEASE NOTE:
• Workshop is limited to 20
• FREE for members; $10* for non-members
• Reservation form required

* The $10.00 contribution is non-refundable and may be applied toward membership on the day of the workshop.

Download the registration flier.

A Valentine From the Manuscript Collection

This month's word prompt for the 20th Edition of the Smile For The Camera Carnival is "Valentine."

Love is in the air, so celebrate with Smile by sharing a photograph of a Valentine; be that person or paper. The interpretation of Valentine is yours. Admission is free with every photograph!

This special valentine is part of the California Genealogical Society's manuscript collection. Linda Darby shared it with me and it was so adorable I snapped a couple of photographs. Now I have the perfect opportunity to share them.

This valentine is neither paper nor person - it is actually a piece of fabric - muslin, I believe - and seems to have been created to commemorate a GRIFFIN family event.

It is a list of family names and the upper right corner includes the following:

August 11, 1908

Souvenir

Picnic Dinner

Griffin Family

Detail - Upper Right Corner

The California Genealogical Society manuscript collection, stretching ninety linear feet on the shelves, consists of loose papers, research and family histories donated to the library over its 100‐plus year history. A searchable document provides a synopsis of each collection and can be downloaded from the society's website.

Photographs by Kathryn M. Doyle, November 16, 2009, Oakland, California.

The Successful Research Trip: Lessons Learned on the Road - March 13, 2010

March Membership Meeting with Mary Mettler
Saturday, March 13, 2010
1:00 p.m.
California Genealogical Society Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California

The Successful Research Trip: Lessons Learned on the Road

Many of you will recognize Mary's name from her Tuesday Tales - the series of blog articles she wrote in 2008 during her three-month genealogical trek across country. Mary has also made several shorter research trips so her expertise is measured in time and miles.


Mary will tell us about taking research trips to our ancestors' locales, especially small and mid-sized places. She has made seven such trips from as short as one week to that once-in-a-lifetime journey. She will discuss preparation, tools to take, unique sources, tips/tricks and possible pitfalls.

Please note that a short membership meeting starts promptly at 1:00 p.m. Mary's talk follows immediately after. Seating is limited so please arrive early. Meetings are open to everyone but non-members pay a $5.00 users fee to enter the library. (Or come and become a member!)

Call For Submissions: First Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies

Announcing the first edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies!

Jasia of Creative Gene generously allowed me to introduce this idea back in October with the 82nd edition of the COG, Breaking Into Society. In case you are new to the concept, the Carnival of Genealogy (COG) is a bimonthly blog event invented by Jasia in 2006. Individual genealogy bloggers write about an assigned topic and post the articles on their blogs. Each carnival edition has a host who gathers the submissions and publishes a round-up of links to the articles.

Regular readers know I am a firm believer in genealogical society membership and that this blog has been a wonderful way to showcase the good work of the dedicated volunteers at the California Genealogical Society. It is my hope that a carnival devoted exclusively to writing about societies will broaden awareness of what a great resource a society can be and provide a venue for gen-blogging groups to share ideas and perhaps solve problems.

Society blogs are becoming more commonplace – Thomas MacEntee has 37 Genealogy Society blogs listed on Geneabloggers and Chris Dunham's Genealogy Blog Finder now lists 85 Association and Society blogs. But this is a drop in the bucket when compared to the 500 societies represented by the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). From their website:

FGS links the genealogical community by helping genealogical societies strengthen and grow. To do this, FGS publishes FORUM magazine, filled with articles pertaining to society management and genealogical news. FGS also publishes an extensive series of Society Strategy Papers, covering topics about effectively operating a genealogical society.

FGS also links the genealogical community through its annual conference — four days of excellent lectures, including one full day devoted to society management topics.

I think that a blog carnival can create a gen-society subset within the larger, existing geneablogger community. Although they don't always write about it, many gen-bloggers are active members and officers of their local societies and hold membership in distant societies where their forebears lived. Here are some great articles I've noticed in the past few months that are worthwhile reading for anyone involved in the running of a society:

Genealogy Societies by Karen

Promoting Genealogical Societies by Tina Sansone

Blog Presentation at my Society Meeting by Granny Pam

Should Your Genealogy Society Have a Blog? by Amy Coffin

Amy Coffin's 25 Great Topics for Genealogical Society Blogs

And now for a few specifics. For the first few months I will plan to host the Carnival of Genealogical Societies here at the CGSL blog but my intention is that hosting will rotate to other gen-society blogs. However, any individual blogger is welcome to write an article for the carnival and submit it – as long as it is on topic. The GenSo Carnival will run every other month with entries due on the 7th. I look forward to receiving your entries by March 7, 2010 and I will publish the first edition on March 10, 2010. Even if you've never participated in a blog carnival before, please consider joining us. I welcome your feedback about this new venture.

Call for Submissions! The topic for this inaugural edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies is: Doin' Things Right! Shine a spotlight on a specific program, project, or publication at a genealogical society and tell us why it worked. Tell an anecdote about how you benefited from a particular genealogical society service. Share a success story and be specific! The deadline for submissions is March 7, 2010.

Please do indicate in your article that you are writing for the First Edition of the Carnival of Genealogical Societies. Submit your blog article using the the submission form provided by Blog Carnival. Please use a descriptive phrase in the title of any article you plan to submit and/or write a brief introduction to your articles in the "remarks" section of the form.

See you at the Carnival!

Wanted! U.S. Criminal Records by Ron Arons

CGS member Ron Arons has announced the release of his second book, Wanted! U.S. Criminal Records: Sources and Research Methodology.

Following up on the success of The Jews of Sing-Sing, Ron shares the knowledge he gleaned while investigating his great-grandfather's time in the slammer. He's bundled his experience collecting source documents for his first book into a unique resource for genealogists and historians. As he tells it, the first book was about putting the pieces of his family puzzle together. This new work tells us "how to find the pieces."

WANTED! is a 388-page reference that lists archives, libraries, courts and online sites with the information you need to track down the black sheep in your family: prison, court, parole and pardon records, execution information, and investigative and police reports.

George Morgan gave Ron's book a great recommendedation during the Janurary 27, 2010 Genealogy Guys Podcast #195 and summed it up by saying, "Every public library ought to have a copy of this book." I hope Ron will be donating one to the California Genealogical Society Library. What do you say, Ron?

Ron's book can be purchased through his website.

Wordless Wednesday

Honoring Past-President Jane Knowles Lindsey

Photograph by Kathryn M. Doyle, 1/20/2010, Oakland, California.