California Genealogical Society blog: CGS library collections

Showing posts with label CGS library collections. Show all posts

12 January 2020

Our Library Collections: Maps

Posted by Chris Pattillo

This Berkeley map can be viewed online

One in a series by CGS member Chris Pattillo, highlighting some of our holdings at the CGS Library in Oakland. For a fuller listing of books, journals, and more, consult the CGS Library catalog in WorldCat.

I began my research for this post by entering “maps” in the Library Catalog that is accessible from our website, which sure is convenient. If you have not tried it you might want to. Doing so could save you time while in the library and it may give you ideas of things to look for that you had not previously considered.

I learned that there are 710 entries for maps available at our library plus 728 articles that contain something about maps. That’s not counting the many atlases in our collection. We have all sorts of maps including:

· City, county, state and country maps

· Traveler and tourist maps

· Highway and street maps

· Historical maps

· Ethnology maps

· Business and shopper maps

· Bicentennial maps

· Genealogical maps, and more

Each entry in the catalog includes a description that includes the name of the publication, a physical description, author, title, language, and something about the contents and subjects shown on the map. It also notes the staff view, OCLC number and identifies the genre of the item–in this case, maps. Scrolling down you find the cartographic mathematical data, i.e., the scale of the map and a few notes. The particular description I happened to open was for a map prepared for the Lowndes Bank, so in this case the notes tell us that the street names are indexed and there is an illustration of the bank.

Marin County, another map viewable online from our catalog

The first listing is Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920. A description appears with the listing and explains that this map “shows U.S. county boundary maps for the census decades superimposed on modern county boundaries. Gives background information on each census, including census availability for each county…”

Some of the catalog listings include a button labeled "Access online." Selecting this will take you to an image of the map. As an example, the link to the City of Berkeley map takes you to an 1880 Sanborn map of Berkeley which is part of the David Ramsey Map Collection. You can enlarge the map to study the detail and see for example that the campus was labeled “College Homestead” in 1880. Cataloging of the Ramsey collection was done by our very own volunteer Phil Hoehn.

The entry for Metsker’s map of Alameda County, California explains that this map shows “land grant lines, judicial townships, mines, roads, railroads, trails, creeks, rivers, schools, camps, airports, parks, lookouts, and power lines.

Birds-eye view map of Reno, Nevada

The Official Map of Alameda County, California, 1900 links to the Earth Sciences & Map Library at UC Berkeley and divides the county into three sections. Each can be enlarged to study the detail.

I also found a Business Map of San Francisco, 1886 that covers the blocks between Dupont and East Street from Market to Jackson Street. It identifies the business that occupied each parcel of every block in 1886. My great grandfather owned a surgical supplies business that was located on Kearney Street in 1889 so I looked for his business but did not find it. Another time I will look for a later map.

Key system map for Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda and beyond

You will find our physical maps in the flat file cabinet that sits to the right of the door to the classroom. The top few drawers contain large-format family trees. The maps are in the drawers labeled with numbers preceded by “G.” As I looked through the layers of maps a few caught my eye, including a colorful state map of Kentucky and Tennessee where my Stover ancestors are from; another Tennessee map dated 1795 that shows rivers and mountain ranges; a map of Texas Missions and Presidios dated 1760; a birds-eye-view map of Reno, Nevada; a map of San Francisco and the peninsula dated 1869 that depicts shockingly little development; a street map of Oakland from 1930; and a really interesting Key System map of Oakland, Berkeley and Alameda, showing the network of train routes including connections to small grids of streets that represented San Leandro, San Lorenzo and Hayward in 1911. Each of these maps provide a wealth of historic information and many are graphically interesting to study. I’m a bit of a map “junkie,” but I suspect just about anyone could find something of interest in the CGS map case.

State map for Kentucky and Tennessee

Phil Hoehn organized and cataloged our map collection as a member of the Library Committee. We are very lucky to have Phil as one of our many stellar volunteers. Phil is the co-author of Dictionary of Abbreviations and Acronyms in Geographic Information Systems, Cartography, and Remote Sensing, published while Phil worked at the UC Santa Barbara Map and Imagery Laboratory. Phil was also a regular contributor to the Western Association of Map Libraries News and Notes publication. Next time you see Phil be sure to say thank you for his ongoing service to our society!

Genie awards recipients. Phil Hoehn is on far right.

09 January 2020

New in the Library: The Bedecarré Family History

Posted by Chris Pattillo

One of the newest additions to our library should be an inspiration to everyone. The Bedecarré Family History begins some 400 years ago in France, with a family named Bedecarrat (later changed to Bedecarré). The book is a hefty one, weighing in at six and a half pounds, and is divided into eight sections that include Ambrose, McKisson, Broomhall, Griffith, Sloyan and Reid relations, plus a section on the patents invented by a G. Griffith.

Bedecarrat family members sail for France, May 1923

The Bedecarré line begins circa 1600 with Bernard Bedecarrats-Buru in Esquiule, France, and includes ten generations ending with John Bedecarré, who was born in San Francisco in 1922. John and his wife, Cathy (Reid) Bedecarré worked with John Maestri from Bodega Bay to research and produce the book, published in 2016.

Photos of John and Cathy (Reid) Bedecarré from the book

Each section of the book provides background information about the places John's and Cathy’s ancestors lived, with lots of color photos. Biographical information and more photos of individuals from each generation follow. Original documents are included with relevant facts highlighted in red. Each document is clearly dated and labeled and personal signatures are emphasized. The book includes all kinds of documents and historic family photos–people, residences, businesses owned and more.

In reviewing the book, CGS Corresponding Secretary Nancy Cork called it “a uniquely beautiful and informative volume that will not only aid in research, but will also inspire other family historians trying to preserve their own stories. This is a truly lovely creation.”

Family photo from the book

Our library team is currently cataloging the new book and it will be on our shelves soon. The Bedecarré book will be available at the annual meeting on January 11. We invite members to bring a family book you’ve created and share a little about it in a three-minute presentation. It should be fun and informative. After the presentations authors will be available to answer questions.

One of many images from the section on G. Griffith's patents

20 December 2019

Our Library Collections: Oversized Books

Posted by Chris Pattillo

Ormerod's History of Cheshire

One of the sections of our library you may not think to look at is located at the back wall of the library. It is there that we shelve all of our oversized books–books that don't fit on the standard sized shelves. These would be filed in sections associated with the topic they cover except for the fact that they are just too big.

Many of the oversize books are quite old. Our section begins with three volumes of Ormerod’s History of Cheshire, a massive history of the county of Cheshire in north England compiled by George Ormerod and first published in 1819. These books are leather bound with decorative gold detailing on the binding. They stand 19” tall and weigh about ten pounds each–so take care when lifting one down from the top shelf.

We have a very large collection of genealogical columns from the Boston Evening Transcript spanning the period 1894 to 1941. Remarkably, these are the original columns on newsprint, each cut out from the newspaper and carefully pasted onto the book pages. Each day’s column fits on one page. The patient person(s) who created these record books helpfully underlined each family name in red, making it easy to find the genealogical information being sought. (The names are all indexed in our card files.) The columns cover a broad range of information, from wills and marriage announcements to individual queries or comments.

A portion of our collection of genealogical
columns from the Boston Evening Transcript

We have two volumes of pedigree charts collected by the California Genealogical Society from the early to mid-20th century. These family pedigrees were filled in on pre-printed forms, with space for eight generations on both the maternal and paternal sides. The first chart, for John Hart Allen (1843-1918) and his wife, Mary Helen Kerr Strohan, both of New York, is pretty sparse but others are much more complete. Some include snapshots, news clips or other memorabilia. Each chart is fascinating to look at.

The Tartans of the Clans of Scotland, published in 1886, caught my eye because of its elaborate binding. The cover page says that the book is “also an introductory account of Celtic Scotland; Clanship, Chiefs, Their Dress, Arts, etc., and with Historical Notes of Each Clan.” The bulk of this book consists of large (10” x 7”) high-quality color reproductions of each of the tartans followed by a one-page description of the clan.

From The Tartans of the Clans of Scotland

An example of one of the tartans

Ireland in Pictures (copyright 1898) is another of the many gifts from George R. Dorman. This book consists of 400 black and white photographs of places in Ireland. Each image has a lengthy and informative caption describing what is depicted. A detailed table of contents makes it easy to find a specific place, useful if you were looking for a photo to augment your family’s genealogy.

Ireland in Pictures is just what it says, plus short narratives

The oversize section includes a lot of geographic history books, a few genealogical dictionaries, and a number of atlases. Two more volumes of interest are Edwin A. Sherman's Fifty Years of Masonry in California (volumes II and III, published in 1893). It begins with a chapter on the origin of Royal Arch Masonry, followed by chapters on Freemasonry in America and in California. This book is well illustrated with photos and engravings of historic sites and portraits of notable Freemasons. My great-grandfather and grandfather were both active in Oakland Masons, so this is a book I’ll be coming back to.

A source that could augment my own family's story

Next time you find yourself in the library, look at the back wall and see what might waiting there for you.

Copyright © 2019 by California Genealogical Society

13 December 2019

Our Library Collections: History of North America

Posted by Chris Pattillo

The Journal of American History

Our books on the history of North America begin with several early volumes of The Journal of American History, some bound in hardcover and some with tattered paper covers. The Journal has been continuously published since 1907. We have a smattering of issues in volumes ranging from the first (1907) to the eleventh (published in 1924). I selected Volume Ten, which covers the fourth quarter of 1916, and found that it lists several authors from each state and contains forty-eight articles, many illustrations–photographs, drawings and paintings, and even poetry. These appear to contain excellent reference material.

Our books on the History of North America are grouped in in section E and broken down into several sub categories. E 184 is for racial and ethnic groups. Our collection of books focusing on Native Americans is fairly large. It is here that you will find The Dawes Commission and the Allotment of the Five Civilized Tribes, 1893-1914 by Kent Carter–published in 199 by Ancestry.com. The back cover tells us that the “Dawes Commission is one of the most highly controversial subjects involving U.S. government treatment of Native Americans between 1893 and 1914.” Curt Witcher from the Allen County Public Library says, “This book is well-researched, all-encompassing compilation on the work of the Dawes Commission … the genealogist will find it a vital work.”

The Dawes Commission by Kent Carter examines the history of
the U.S. government stripping Native Americans of their lands.

Two other books of interest are Names of the Land by George R. Stewart and Quaint and Historic Forts of North America by John Martin Hammond. These are the sort of books I always wish I’d have with me when traveling. When I’m in a new place I frequently wonder about the source of place names. The names book covers the entire United States. Hammond’s book might inspire a unique road trip. It includes chapters for fifty forts located throughout the county. Not sure how this source may augment your family genealogy but one never knows.

Two somewhat unusual books in our North America collection.

In this section of our library are also several large, multi-volume sets of books, among them Alan Jonson's Dictionary of American Biography. This twenty-one-volume set was a gift of George Dorman. While these books lack illustrations they do provide numerous biographies ranging from half a page to a full page, in a readable point size. Other large sets include Who’s Who in America, starting with 1899 and continuing through 2001. We also have Who’s Who In The West and Who’s Who of American Women.

Some of our many Who's Who books in the History of
North America section

Biographies are followed by books on American immigrants from different countries – Ireland, Italy, Asian countries, Poland, Russia, Norway, etc. We have a very large collection on German immigrants to America.

Sections E201 and E301 focus on the Civil War and the American Revolution. Here you will find several books published by the DAR and SAR. California Society Sons of the American Revolution Membership Index and Roster 1879-1986 was published in 1986 and is exactly what it sounds like from the title – a list of persons who have proven their connection to a revolutionary war soldier. We also have the National Society Sons and Daughters of Antebellum Planters 1607-1861 Lineage Book by Karen Avery Miller. For those lacking southern roots, I can tell you that the designation of “Planter” indicates someone who owned 500 acres or more, and who used the land to generate a profit.

We have four thick volumes of Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files by Virgil D. White and one small volume of Rejected or Suspended Applications for Revolutionary War Pensions, originally published in 1852. I expected to find one of my ancestors in the former but found him in neither text.

Those who received and did not receive pensions from
service during the Revolutionary War

There is much more to find among these source books. Next the time you visit our library you might want to check out our North American section.

04 December 2019

Our Library Collections: World History

Posted by Chris Pattillo

Pat Summit - one of 51 Outstanding Young
Women in America in 1983

Today I came to the library to tackle our books on world history but before I could start I could not help but notice a "Who’s Who" book about women in history. Turns out we have seven books in this category–each covering a different time period. The earliest covers 1914-1915 and the most recent is Outstanding Young Women of America 1983. The preface explains that each year, fifty-one women are selected who represent outstanding achievement in their fields. From those, ten are identified as National Award Winners. In 1983 Pat Summit, then assistant coach of the Tennessee women’s basketball team was recognized. Prior to her coaching career, she was co-captain of the USA Woman’s Olympic basketball team in 1976. All previous winners are listed in alphabetical order in the 1485-page book. Each listing includes a short bio summarizing the accomplishments of these women. So, if you are hoping to add a famous ancestor to your tree you might want to check section CT 3235.69 to 70. I found one Pattillo–Marilyn Machon Pattillo from Texas was a nurse researcher.

Now, back to World History in section D. It's further subdivided into DA (History of Great Britain and Ireland), DC (History of France), DL (History of Scandinavia) and DU 620 (Hawaii).

A page from Honor Roll

We have a five-volume set (numbers seven to eleven)of Honor Roll World Wars I-II and Korean War Service Records of the Husbands, Sons, Daughters, etc. of the California Members of the DAR. These books were donated by Mrs. O. “Verna” George Cook, State Regent, 1956-1958 and they appear to be part of an original set of war record books that were typed by Mrs. Jules Mertens in 1946. Each entry is typed onto a pre-printed form that provides a wealth of genealogical information. In addition to name, address, date and place of birth, maiden name, rank and regiment, the book notes the service member's condition (wounded or disabled), citation or award, and a few additional facts.

Heroes All lists names of those recognized
by the U.S. government for service in WWI

The section includes several books with military information. Heroes All by Harry R. Stringer was published in 1919. This book is signed and has two news clippings from the 1930s on the dedication page. It is “a compendium of the names and official citations of the soldiers and citizens of the United States and of her Allies who were decorated by the American Government for exceptional heroism and conspicuous service above and beyond the call of duty in the war with Germany, 1917-1919."

World War II Military Records: A Family Historian’s Guide by Debra Johnson Knox gives information on how and where to find records of military personnel.

The history of Great Britain and Ireland make up the greatest part of our World History book collection, occupying eleven and a half shelves. We have one book on Hungary, eight books on French history and several for Germany. Check the Library of Congress listing online and you might find that CGS has a book covering the country you are interested in.

A good reference for how to find military
records

18 November 2019

Our Library Collections: Germany

Posted by Chris Pattillo

This post about German research is thanks to Phil Hoehn – one of our great Library Committee volunteers. Phil prepared a list of the German books in our library for me and explained that in the case of Germany our books are not all in one place. Instead, they are shelved by subject/content or geography. Books on Germany can also be found among our state books, so you need to use our online catalog to find all that our library has to offer. Phil had another great tip - he told me that Wikipedia has links to the Library of Congress articles. I went home and tried this. On the Wikipedia site I entered: Library of Congress German Genealogy. Then I entered the words “German”, “Germany”, and “genealogy” in their search box. More than a thousand articles popped up on a broad range of topics.

Books on German research in our reference section

Nancy Cork also offered a helpful tip for German researchers. She wanted me to tell you about our collection of The Work Paper, journals from the American Historical Society of Germans From Russia. These are contained in three boxes on the back wall, with the oversize books. Our set covers 1969-1977.

Phil’s first listing was for books in our reference section CS 49, where I found four books that look very helpful, including Discovering Your Immigrant & Ethnic Ancestors–How To find and Record Your Unique Heritage by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack; American Migration Guide by John Heisey; German Family Research Made Simple and They Came in Ships: A Guide to Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor’s Arrival Records. These would all be good places to start or expand your German research.

Germanic Genealogy is in the
CS610 section of books

You will find one full shelf of German genealogy books starting in section CS 610. A couple of our newer books are Germanic Genealogy: A Guide to Worldwide Sources and Migration Patterns and The German Research Companion by Shirley J. Riemer, Roger P. Minert and Jennifer A. Anderson. These were published in 1995 and 2010. Germanic Genealogy includes a chapter on Jewish genealogy. The German Research Companion was donated to our library by the author. Both of these books are packed with useful information.

For those who read German, we have a twelve-volume set of Genealogisches Handbuch Des Adels that were given to the library by George R. Dorman. The title translates to Genealogical Handbook of the Nobility. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you anything more about this set because I do not read German.

For books on German history, Phil sends us to section DD where you will find eleven books on German history, including the two-volume set of Meyers Orts- und Verkehrs-Lexikon des Deutschen Reichs, an indispensable gazetteer of the German Empire (1871-1918). Tip: the online version of this source is much easier to understand.

The 12-volume Genealogisches Handbuch Des Adels

Next, head for section E184.G3, where you will find a large collection of books on Germans in the United States. This section includes German-American Genealogy by the Immigrant Genealogical Society. This is a set of journals covering 1987-2016. Our set of Der Blumenbaum is in section F869.S12 B58, which is in the California Room in the back corner of the library.

You will also find 25 volumes of German Immigrants in American Church Records by Roger P. Minert in section E184.G3 published in 2005. These books focus on the states where Germans first immigrated–Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan and Missouri.

German atlases will be found in G1905-1939; and don’t forget to check our map collection. Finally, Z115 is where you will find books on German handwriting.

These 25 volumes contain church records for early German immigrants.

Thank you, Phil and Nancy, for helping with this post.

06 November 2019

Our Library Collections: Ireland and Scotland

Posted by Chris Pattillo

One of the newer reference books in our
collection for Irish research

One in a series by CGS member Chris Pattillo, highlighting some of our holdings at the CGS Library in Oakland. For a fuller listing of books, journals, and more, consult the CGS Library catalog in WorldCat.

Our books for Irish and Scottish research are combined with Great Britain in section CS400. We have a ten-volume set of Scottish Record Society books that were given to the society by George R. Dorman. Each volume covers a different record set. For example, volume 35 is The Register of Marriages For the Parish of Edinburgh, 1701-1750, published in 1908. Volumes 40-50, bound together, are Parish Registers of Canisbay, Durness, Kilbarchan, Wigtownshire and Minnigaff. These volumes are packed with lists of names and dates.

A more recent publication is A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your Scottish Ancestors, written by Linda Jonas and Paul Milner and published in 2002. This reference is a good starting point for anyone who has not yet tackled their Scottish ancestors. The book offers a step-by-step process for doing research. Chapter One is "Getting Started," followed by "Research Process Guidelines," "Uniqueness of Scottish Research," "Accessing Internet Resources," and more. Unique to this book are graphic icons to guide the user through the material. For example, there is an icon of a warning hand indicating: “Stop before you make a mistake.”

An excellent source for beginning
Scottish family research

We have a similar book for Irish research – Tracing Your Irish Family History by Anthony Adolph. It includes a section on first steps for tracing your ancestry back to Ireland, including a survey of Irish genealogy resources available in numerous countries, from the U.S. to Canada to Argentina. This book is very well illustrated.

One of our older Irish references is a hefty tome; A Genealogical and Heraldic History of Landed Gentry of Ireland by Sir Bernard Burke, published in 1912. This is a dense compilation of land and family records – birth, marriage and death records and pedigrees.

Another of our newer books is John Grenham's Tracing Your Irish Ancestors (2006). Each chapter focuses on a different record set, including general register office records, census records, church records, property and valuation records, genealogical office records, emigration records, and more. This book includes a lengthy section on Roman Catholic Parish Registers listing “all copies of Roman Catholic parish registers, microfilm and database transcript" to be found as of 2005.

A good book to start on your Irish research

As I worked on writing this article I realized I no longer have an excuse for avoiding researching my Irish great-grandmother Mary McGowan. The tools I need to get started are right here in our library.

24 October 2019

Our Library Collections: Great Britain

Posted by Chris Pattillo

A sampling of introductory books for Great
Britain

The books for Great Britain begin with an assortment of introductory how-to books. They include titles such as: Tracing Your Family Tree, Tracing Your Ancestors, In Search of Ancestry, Genealogical Research in England and Wales, Genealogical Gleanings in England, British Research, The Genealogist’s Internet, English Genealogy, Family Tree Detective, the Oxford Guide to Family History, and it goes on.

Within this section we have a four-volume set published by Cambridge University Press in 1994. Volume One is From Family Tree to Family History, followed by From Family History to Community History. Volume Three covers Communities and Families and Volume Four is Sources and Methods: A Handbook. Apparently this set of books was written as part of a university course series. They appear to be excellent, well researched references.

This four-volume set was written as part of a class curriculum

Next on our shelves are an odd couple – Records and Record Searching: A Guide to the Genealogist and Topographer by Walter Rye (published 1888), and Instant Information on the Internet: A Genealogist’s No-Frills Guide to the British Isles (1999). Written 111 years apart, these two offer a classic perspective on how genealogical researched has evolved.

An odd couple, written 111 years apart

We have five shelves of books on royalty and peerage, many of which are massive tomes with ornate, gilded covers. There are five volumes of The Blood Royal of Britain. These are devoted to the descendants of Kings Henry and Edward of England and James III, King of Scotland.

We have four volumes of Burke’s Peerage and Baronetage – a genealogical and heraldic history. Our copies include volumes published in 1906, 1923, 1935 and 1957. These are some of the largest books in our library – the 1923 volume has 2790 pages of very fine print and nice illustrations of family heraldry symbols. Sadly, my English family name does not appear anywhere in the set.

Our shelves offer a number of books
on blue blood and peerage

I was surprised to find the books on peerage followed by a large collection of Avotayne: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy. I checked with library volunteer Phil Hoehn, and after some discussion, he found the journals had been misfiled. The library committee soon rectified the situation. Just a reminder that even the most careful volunteers can go astray–and that there's a reason we request you leave the reshelving to our experts!

An assortment of vital statistics books comes next, with books on marriages, wills, censuses and such things. Among these is The Yorkshire West Riding Poll Book 1835 – a gift of Dorothy Fowler, which provides the names of individuals eligible to vote and in some cases a few more facts on these early voters.

If you claim royalty or have British ancestors you won’t be disappointed with our offerings.

17 October 2019

Our Library Collections: International Books Introduction

Posted by Chris Pattillo

Two beginner guides published in 2007

Today I decided to start a series on our international books. I’ll begin with a confession – until I started writing this series, I hadn’t known we had such a large collection of books on places outside the United States. I’m guessing that I am not alone in this gross misconception. For others like me I want to tell you about our wonderful collection of books from places beyond our national boundaries. We have a very large collection for Great Britain, a good number from Germany, and collections for Canada, Sweden and more.

Our international books begin where the Family Histories end. There you will first find an assortment of books for Canada and a few from Baja California, Barbados, Bermuda, Canada, Cuba . . . You get the idea. I found a pair of books published by Ancestry Publishing in 2007. One is Finding Your Canadian Ancestors: A Beginner’s Guide and a similar book for Mexican Ancestors. Each of these books is a how-to-find-records source. The one for Canada has twenty-six chapters and four appendices that cover such topics as libraries and archives of Canada, Canadian geography, immigration, Aboriginals, Acadians, and each state within Canada.

Two volumes on Scots research for Canada

We also have two volumes of Some Early Scots in Maritime Canada by Terrence M. Punch published in 2011. For anyone with Scottish ancestry these may be books you’ve missed and may want to check out.

CS-400 is where you will find books on Great Britain and Ireland. Like other sections this one begins with several sets of journals. One is The English Genealogist. We have ten years of these covering 1976-1985. Next is The Genealogist New Series, for which we have issues spanning the years 1906-1921. A bookplate inside the oldest copy indicates it is a loan to CGS made in 1916 . . . I wonder if the donor may want them back soon. The covers on these journals are quite tattered but the content is intact. (Yes, I added a blue ribbon to alert our book repair team that help is needed). In total we have about five shelves just for various journals for Great Britain. Next week I’ll tell you more about our books for Great Britain.

One of several journals in our collection for British researchers

10 October 2019

Our Library Collections: Reference Books, Part 2

Posted by Chris Pattillo

We have over 100 years of NGS journals

The rest of our reference books are in the back corner of the library beyond the bank of computers. Similar to the state books, the reference books begin with journals. I counted eleven different sets of hard copy journals. The first is The Augustan Society Omnibus. Book 14 of this set has 160 pages and dozens of articles covering a wide breadth of topics including Falconry, Chivalry, Heraldry, and Colonial Genealogy. Page 73 offers “Wicca Study Circle and Colonial Witches and Witchcraft Study Group – A Pennsylvania Witch.” There are sections by French, Germanic, Irish, Scandinavian, Scottish and Hispanic Study groups.

One of our largest journal collections is the National Genealogical Society Quarterly. We have journals covering the period 1912 - 2019 – over 100 years! The March issue begins with a lengthy article titled “A Family for Mary (Jones) Hobbs Clark of Carroll County, Arkansas.” It is an extremely well-documented piece where the footnotes occupy more space than the article itself. Of particular interest to some will be the lengthy section on DNA.

A 3-page tree for my 8th great grandparents
begins on page 1122 of this book.

There are several volumes on royalty in this section including a three-volume set titled The Royal Ancestry Bible by Michael L. Call. It contains 3400 pedigree charts and royal ancestors of 300 colonial American families. Just for fun I checked for the one family name of mine that I thought might possibly be included and sure enough found my eighth great grandparents, Dr. John Waller and Mary Pomfrett, on page 1122. Their pedigree chart extends over three pages and includes several names I am not familiar with – so I guess you know how I’ll be spending my afternoon.

One of the many things we inherited from the California Historical Society is a twelve-volume set of American Ancestry: Giving The Name and Descent, in the Male Line, of Americans Whose Ancestors Settled in the United States Previous to the Declaration of Independence, by Thomas P. Hughes. Volume One was published in 1887. While the first two volumes focus on two counties in New York State, the remainder cover the whole of the United States. Each listing provides a brief biography for each individual.

An example of one of the family trees in
Bible and Family Records by the DAR

This section of the library holds two shelves of blue-clad books containing Bible and Family Records that were collected and transcribed in 1953 by the California State Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Margaret Griffith was the Editor. Our collection begins with Volume Ten so if you happen to have volumes 1-9 in your personal collection, please consider a donation to the library. Each volume has a listing of the contents followed by a carbon copy of typed pedigree charts. It is mind-boggling to me that someone typed these highly formatted pages without a word processor.

These are followed by two similar volumes that were prepared by CGS members in 1921 and 1944. Most of the material in these books is typed but the 1944 edition has numerous hand annotations. Next are several volumes of California Genealogical Society Collections: Family Histories. Volume One includes the trees of the Perkins, Weeks, Snow, Knight, Wines, Armstrong, Thompson and Davis families. Each is quite substantial.

This group of reference books ends with books about immigration, military records, four volumes about Southern families and a few other topics.

04 October 2019

Our Library Collections: Family Histories

Posted by Chris Pattillo

One of hundreds of family history books at the
CGS library

Dear blog readers: due to an editorial error, the next post in this series by Chris Pattillo was posted out of order.

Here is the first in a continuing series highlighting some of our holdings at the Library in Oakland. For a fuller listing of books, journals, and more, consult the CGS Library catalog in WorldCat.

For those who have enjoyed reading the series about our state collections and were disappointed that it would end with my post about Wyoming, I am happy to tell you that I am not finished yet. There is much more in our library to tell everyone about. This post features our large Family Histories section.

Our Family History books occupy the shelves behind the bank of patron computers plus the shelves beyond the computers against the wall. In total there are over 120 shelves of family history books. The section begins with an eighteen-volume set of Historical Southern Families and also has several books about presidential families – their ancestors and descendants. I found a two-volume set among these that piqued my interest – Southside Virginia Families by John Bennett Boddie. My Pattillo ancestors lived in southside Virginia so I hoped to find a tidbit or two for my own family but was disappointed. I did find references to a second great uncle and three first cousins 3x removed in The Descendants of the Presidents by R. Whitney Tucker. They were descendants of President Andrew Johnson.

I found a few of my distant relations in this book

Our shelves also offer The “Connection” In East Tennessee by Olga Jones Edwards and Izora Waters Frizzell. My James Pattillo married Carrie Stover from East Tennessee so this too was worth looking at. I found no Stovers in this book but I did find information on familiar allied families. My point in telling you these details is not to flaunt my personal family history, but rather to demonstrate that you might be surprised to find relevant information about your own family in unexpected places, so you need to think creatively about where to look.

Then we have numerous family histories arranged alphabetically by surname. The Families of Abbe and Abbey – another donation from George Dorman – is an impressive 500-page reference published in 1916. It starts with a chapter on John Abbe of Salem and Wenham, followed by eight chapters taking us through nine generations of his family. There are also chapters on Unconnected Lines, the 1790 Census and Revolutionary Soldiers. The index for this book is sixty-six pages long, so very complete.

Abbe is followed by fifteen books on the Adams family name. The range of what is available in our Family History section varies. Some Early American Ancestors of The Adams Family is a twenty-nine-page spiral-bound book that covers eleven generations. Obviously, there is much less detail than the Abbe book but it does include three fold-out fan charts that present a lot of information in a concise and very legible format.

This little gem was published in 2011 by Peter Adamson Meredith

Our collection also includes some charming self-published jewels like Jemina: An Incomplete Story. Author Peter Adamson Meredith used MyPublisher in 2011 to produce a little 5x7 hardcover book with text, color and black-and-white photos and a tiny but readable four-generation descendants chart.

Our Family Histories collection concludes with three books on the Zumwalt family name. We have Paul L. Reed's The Andrew Zumwalt Family, Volume One: The First Four Generations of Zumwalts in America and two copies of George R. Zumwalt's Zumwalt Family History. Both of these books provide more than just names and milestone dates. Each includes short narratives about each entry.

Our 18-volume set on Historical Southern Families

Obviously, there is a lot to be found between Abbe and Zumwalt, so next time you find yourself in downtown Oakland you might plan to stop by the library and see what gems we may have to help with your family research. We look forward to seeing you there soon.

Copyright © 2019 by California Genealogical Society

03 October 2019

Our Library Collections: Reference Books, Part 1

Posted by Chris Pattillo

Two of the classic reference books available at our library

Currently our General Reference books are located in two places in the library. They outgrew the back corner so now there are four shelves of reference books at the end of the tables opposite the front desk. These shelves offer a rich collection of how-to books including most of the new and old classics. One such book is Evidence Explained Citing History Sources from Artifacts to Cyberspace by Elizabeth Shown Mills. For anyone who is a series researcher this is a must-have or use source. It is an intimidating book – nearly 900 pages that explains “how to cite every conceivable kind of source.” We have the second edition. The third edition from Amazon is $59.99 so the cost of a CGS membership is much cheaper.

We have the two-volume set of Genealogical Research: Methods and Sources by the late Milton Rubincam, published by the American Society of Genealogists in 1980. In the forward Rubincam is described as “everyone’s favorite genealogist, knowledgeable, indefatigable, conscientious, thorough, and amazingly unrufflable.” Chapter 1 of this book is titled "Adventures in Genealogy." This is a very readable book.

Google Your Family Tree by Daniel M. Lynch

Google Your Family Tree: Unlock the Hidden Power of Google by Daniel M. Lynch was a donation from CGS volunteer Barbara Hill. It has fourteen chapters starting with "Search Engine Basics" and including "Advanced Search Techniques," "Google Books" – which I have used a lot – "Google New Archives," "Google maps," and much more. There are five appendices including Appendix B – "Top Sites for Genealogists." The book is well illustrated and indexed.

One of a few reference books in our library that focus on specific ethnic or cultural group research

We have a couple of resource books for researching Jewish heritage. I found one book on the shelf for African American Genealogy by James M. Rose and Alic Eichholz titled Black Genesis. This book has chapters on general topics like "Oral History," "National Archives and Federal Records," "Military Records," "Migratory Patterns." These are followed by sections for each state that summarize what is available for each state.

Christine Schaefer's book about colonial American research

Another “Where To Look” book is the Genealogical Encyclopedia of the Colonial Americas by Christina K. Schaefer. In the preface she explains that the book “has been written out of my frustration at the lack of an existing single-source reference for Colonial America.” Schaefer addressed this problem by producing over 800 pages that help researchers find the records they seek from this period.

Practically every book in this section has something to offer. Next time you are in the library you might want to see what may be of help in your personal research.

Copyright © 2019 by California Genealogical Society