Quarantine Quests: Finding Enoch

This Quarantine Quests story is from CGS member Shirley Thomson and written by Chris Pattillo.

More than fifty years ago Shirley Thomson began her quest for the birth family of her husband, Tommy’s, earliest known ancestor, Enoch Thomson, born in 1784 in New York. Shirley started searching for Enoch’s parentage when she discovered the wealth of genealogical records in the local library where she was working in 1962. Since that time, she has persisted in her efforts to discover Enoch’s connection to one of many Thomson family trees.

Enoch Thomson (1784-1872),
farmer and part-time Baptist preacher,
 Sullivan County, Indiana

The best part of being quarantined is that “it eliminates my need to make excuses for working on my family history” says Shirley. After many years of searching and not finding the desired connection, Shirley decided to hire the CGS Research team to help with her quest. That decision was made in February of 2020, shortly before the quarantine began. Initially, hiring the research team – that includes Lavinia Schwarz and Pat Smith – increased Shirley’s workload. As the team of researchers dug in, they presented Shirley with lots of questions. Shirley was very busy answering their questions starting in February and into the early weeks of the quarantine. Since then she has taken a bit of a break from genealogy.

When asked what tips Shirley had to offer, she said “Perseverance.” That is what is needed when tackling a tough problem. After fifty-plus years of pursuit I’d say Shirley is a model of perseverance.

Shirley has been using DNA to look for Enoch’s parents since 2006. She has found several autosomal and yDNA matches – some with lines going back to the mid-1600s. Each new DNA clue confirms the same family line, but she has yet to find Enoch from any of these leads. One of her challenges is the tradition in this family to use middle or nicknames, so while she is focused on looking for Enoch it may be that he was known as “Ed” and that is why she has yet to pin this man down.

Deed to land purchased by brothers-in-law Justis Clark and Enoch Thomson
of Lysander, New York, on 30 July 1811. By 1820, both Clark and Thomson
families were resettled on farms near the Wabash River in Indiana

I asked how she managed to come up with new questions to ask after fifty years of searching – how does she formulate new questions that enable her to approach the problem from a different perspective? Her answer was prompt and emphatic: “Oh, that’s easy, because technology gives us new opportunities all the time'” When asked for an example, Shirley said she has three pages of names of other Thomson descendants who are doing research on this same family. She was able to print this out from the GEDmatch.com site. The report lists people who match Enoch’s autosomal DNA. She can refine the list and see their ancestral lines and what they are focused on. Using their GEDCOM identification number she can compare them to other matches to her husband. Studying this information continues to provide new clues.

So far neither Shirley nor the research team have found the link they are seeking, but all are persevering.

Enoch's son Reuben Thomson (1827-1907) with his wife Margaret McKinney
 and nine grown children, mid-1800s

If you have a Quarantine Quests story to share, please contact Chris at cpattillo@californiaancestors.org.

Copyright © 2020 by California Genealogical Society

New Genealogy Book Chronicles Nine Generations of an American Family’s History

by Georgia Lupinsky

We’re excited to announce that in June we are publishing the highly anticipated book, The Ancestors of Samuel Sterling Sherman and Mary Ware Allen.  It tells the stories of nine generations of former California Genealogical Society’s president, Frederick "Rick" S. Sherman’s family as they move from New England and Kentucky westward to California. Whether you love history, individual family stories or learning new research tips, or all three, we think this book has something to offer you. Whether a genealogist or not, readers will be moved by getting to know these diverse human beings. 

The California Genealogical Society published Mr. Sherman's incredible research effort as a fitting tribute to a man who gave to the society in so many ways as President, Chief Researcher, and Benefactor.  His efforts were suddenly cut short by his death in 2008.

“I can attest to the richness of Rick’s research and to the personal stories of his ancestors that he has uncovered. Among them is the story of an ancestor sea captain in the early 1800s attacked by pirates; of a minister who sailed from a religious convocation in Europe to America on the same boat as refugees from the Irish Potato Famine, praying with them as they lost their loved ones during the voyage. Many written accounts have survived and are included in his book, showing his ancestors joys and hardships and acts of bravery and charity. Through these stories we become witnesses to historical moments”, said co-chair of the Manuscript Collection, Georgia Lupinsky. 

Ministers, lawyers and politicians appear side-by-side with farmers, merchants and craftsmen, each with their own meticulously told stories, as Sherman unfolds his family saga.

What to expect

The text is richly supplemented with numerous original photos and portraits as well as excerpts from dozens of personal letters and journals, and contains a complete index and a list of all the materials in the Sherman Manuscript Collection. In addition, Sherman’s book is an excellent example for all those who want to know how to tell the story of their own families.

This wonderful paper trail includes numerous letters, diaries, speeches, articles and books. Rick’s great-grandfather, Samuel Sterling Sherman (1815-1914) was a noted educator and later successful businessman. He dictated his autobiography when he was 95, and then made an addendum four years later!

Ann Tufts, the “Mystery Woman”

Students of genealogy will be interested in Rick’s research tips that are interspersed throughout the book.  For example, he shares his methods of dealing with a “mystery woman” in his ancestry. Whether a genealogist or not, readers will be emotionally moved by getting to know these diverse human beings. 

California Stories

There are three compelling stories focused on California ancestors.  The first is Frederick S. Sherman’s maternal grandfather, Russell Carpenter Allen, who made his way to California by way of Panama in 1882.  With a partner, he traveled California extensively before settling in Dehesa, near the Sweetwater River in San Diego County. 

His first ranching venture was devoted to olives and raisins. In 1890 he took charge of a new citrus ranch in Bonita and this became the family home. His central contribution to economic life was the development of citriculture, both in agricultural and marketing methods. He was an active and well-known pioneer in San Diego County and a director of the Panama-California Exhibition of 1915 in San Diego and a Commissioner for the construction of the California Building which graces Balboa Park to this day.

Russell Carpenter Allen

The second ancestor profiled is Frederick S. Sherman’s maternal grandmother, Ella Bradford (Copeland) Allen. She came to Bonita after her marriage to Russell Carpenter Allen in 1888.  She was an active participant in the family fruit business, where they raised lemons, figs, guavas and olives. 

Her grandson fondly recalls “the gorgeous and delicious guava jelly she made, and the little kegs of hand-cured olives that she would pack and send to her children and grandchildren when they were away at college.” She was well known for her educational and philanthropic work with the Sweetwater Women’s Club, “Casa de Salud,” a well-baby clinic, and the National City Library Board.

Ella Bradford (Copeland) Allen

The third story focuses on Frederick S. Sherman’s father, Samuel Sterling Sherman.  He came with his family to the San Diego area in 1905. After World War I he decided to try citrus farming and was told to contact Mr. R.C. Allen of Bonita, manager of the Sweetwater Fruit Company. 

The most important effect of the meeting with Mr. Allen was becoming reacquainted with Allen’s daughter, Mary Ware Allen, whom Samuel married in 1924. “Their honeymoon was a rugged camping trip on San Pedro Martir, about two hundred miles down into Baja California. An album of photos of this trip, with a charming narrative written mostly by Sam, survives today.”  Sadly, Sam died in 1933 at age 35 from bronco-pneumonia, complicated by strep throat.

Samuel Sterling Sherman with his wife, Mary Ware Allen,
daughter Eleanor, and son, Frederick "Rick" S. Sherman

How we brought the book to life

Georgia is part of the team of dedicated volunteers that have worked tirelessly to bring this book to fruition.  Others include Jane Knowles Lindsey, Cathy Paris, Kathy Beals, Matt Berry, Shirley Thomson, and Marie Treleaven.

The book will be sold through our online publisher, Lulu, beginning in June.  We also plan to have a very limited amount of inventory available at the library.  If you have questions, please contact Georgia Lupinsky.

We hope you enjoy the book!

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

Wordless Wednesday: Genealogy Research Trip to Boston

Ok, so it's not exactly Wordless Wednesday when I'm writing this much, but take a look at the great photo of our members having fun last night while out on the town in Boston.  

Why are they there?  Our biennial New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) research trip to Boston of course. After jumping for genealogy all day, it was Leap Day after all, a night of good food and good company was welcome.  

Thank for the photos, Jane!

Left to right:  Vicky Kolakowski, Diana Wild, Linda Okazaki,
Susanne Mori, Carolyn Nash, Kath Merilo, Shirley Thomson,
Jane Lindsey (trip leader), and Pam Brett

Star of the night:  Two lobsters for $29!

Photos courtesy of Jane Lindsey

Copyright © 2016 by California Genealogical Society

Spotlight Series: Membership Committee

Sandy Fryer, Kathie Jones, Diana Edwards, Shirley Thomson, Nancy Servin, Cheryl Schmidt, and Kathie Heller

2013 Membership Committee members:

Diana Edwards, chair and board liaison

Sandy Fryer, consultant
Kathie Heller
Kathie Jones

Cheryl Schmidt

Nancy Servin

Diana Edwards vividly remembers her very first quarterly membership meeting. “It was fifteen minutes long,” she recalls. Diana, now Chairman of the Membership Committee, has been charged by the Board of Directors with the responsibility for creating a format for the quarterly meetings that will be meaningful and which will foster a sense of fellowship among members. With the assistance of Kathie Heller, Diana has been hard at work fulfilling this charge.

An hour-long brown bag lunch now routinely preceeds the quarterly meetings, providing a time for members to talk to each other, to exchange information about what they’re doing with their family history research as well as to get to know the officers in attendance. The object is to encourage an exchange of ideas and to give members a sense of community relative to the larger organization.

All quarterly meetings will have a theme. Recently the topic was World War I and members were asked to bring in photos and memorabilia of their relatives who had been involved in the Great War. There were many great items on display and lots of stories shared at this meeting. Reaction was very positive with members saying that they had learned a lot. Several people mentioned gaining a new perspective of the role of women in that war from material about the Ambulance Corps brought in by a member whose ancestor had been part of that group. Diana is busy planning future meetings and encourages members to contact her with suggestions of themes and any other ideas for improving the quarterly meetings. You can email Diana at dedwards@californiaancestors.org. Right now she is planning a potluck for the first meeting of the year.

Although our organization is located in California, members do not have to have ancestors from this state in order to belong and members come from all over the U.S. as well as many other parts of the world, including Australia. Obviously, members from out of the Bay Area probably aren’t going to attend the quarterly meetings, classes and events. Another one of the duties of the Membership Committee is to create opportunities to make these far-flung members feel that they are as much a part of the society as those who live in the immediate area. This can be difficult although the eNews, the blog, The California Nugget, and other forms of communication do help to bridge the distance gap. Diana hopes that using items with the California Genealogical Society seal (flash drives, coffee mugs) will remind members wherever they may live that they are part of a group that shares their interests and concerns.

Seal of the California Genealogical Society (CGS).

Another responsibility of the Membership Committee is representing CGS at events, meetings and conferences. The committee always has a presence at our events including the recent Ancestry Day in San Francisco. Many new members first find out about CGS at such an event. Member volunteers staff a table every year at the San Francisco History Expo and even at some national genealogy conferences. This year CGS was represented at the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree in Burbank and at the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) Conference in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

The work of the committee is so far-reaching that it could be said to consist of two sub-committees in order to perform all its functions. The second group is made up of Nancy Servin (coordinator), Nancy Fike and Cheryl Schmidt. They send out the annual renewal notices about membership dues and keep the membership rolls current by tracking changing email and snail mail addresses. Nancy Servin answers numerous questions from members ranging from problems with logging into the website to using member benefits. To help new members take advantage of all the society has to offer, the sub-committee created a new member packet that includes a summary sheet that tells members how to keep current on upcoming classes and events and information about the library, research tours and publications.

This sub-committee has a pretty big job since there are currently more than 1100 members to keep track of. According to Sandy Fryer, 2012 chairman and 2013 consultant, that amounts to 2500 emails and over 1500 letters per year. With assistance from QuickBooks, the committee manages this complex database of names and information and gets the notices out on time. One of the features of joining the committee is that, if necessary, members receive QuickBooks training so prospective members don’t need to be database gurus.

If you ever thought that all the Membership Committee did was mail out the annual dues notices, you weren’t doing justice to the complexity of all it does!

Photograph courtesy of Linda Harms Okazaki, 02/10/2013, Oakland, California.

Copyright © 2013 by Marie Treleaven, California Genealogical Society and Library.

Shirley Thomson's Report From Washington, D.C.

Shirley Thomson consented to share this from her recent trip:

I’m just back from a week of research fun in Washington, DC. The relevance of that for CGS friends is that I traveled with Bette Kot. Bette was CGS’s librarian for several years during which time she served the society in many capacities, including board of directors and publication committee. She moved from Walnut Creek to Parker, Colorado, five years ago where she now teaches genealogy and continues to stay busy researching Gorrell family history.

Bette and I traveled with Sandy Aberer, a fellow The Master Genealogist (TMG) software user who lives locally in Diablo, to visit the National Archives, the Library of Congress and the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Library. We enjoyed it all, even with six days of rain and cold weather. The libraries serve a wonderfully rich banquet of information to researchers who all too often get by on crumbs of data and slender tidbits of history.

Shirley Thomson, Bette Kot and Sandy Aberer

The difficult part was deciding how best to use our hours there. In the end, time was about equally divided between the three libraries. Happily, both NARA and the LC offer evening hours.

NARA:  I wanted to find Civil War pension files for two ancestors. Indexes to pension files are available on Footnote.com and at the Archives, of course, for those arriving unprepared.

One of my men was listed with both an invalid pension and a pension for minor children at his death. The other’s record also contained two—an invalid application and certificate and a widow’s pension application and certificate. Armed with the numbers, I submitted “pull requests” to the Archives staff. They pulled the files from the vast collection of archived records and made them available in about an hour.

Taking my newly issued researchers’ ID card (acquired on the first visit there) and some money for copies, I went to the secure reading room to pick up the envelopes and settled at a comfortable desk to read and copy records. Papers in the files included information about the soldiers and their families from neighbors, friends, doctors, fellow soldiers from those long-gone days, and the applicant too of course. Reading them was a spiritual event.

Civil War pension records are a fraction of what’s there, of course, but they’re not available anywhere else. While pension papers for soldiers of the Revolution are now available on Footnote.com, such records for those who served in the Civil War and War of 1812 are not.

Library of Congress:  After registering for our “reader cards,” we attended an LC orientation session and spent the majority of our time there in the Local History and Genealogy Reading Room. While satisfying for sure, we were just nibbling at the edges of offerings on that menu.

The LC catalog is on the Internet, of course, and it goes on forever, since it has just about everything ever published in the USA—or close to it. Time spent on the on-line LC catalog before arrival there is a good investment.

NSDAR Library: Here I thought I’d prepared reasonably well at home using the library’s catalog on line. But I found it hard to work methodically once I could meander through the open stacks midst vast numbers of family histories, local histories and periodicals. There, also, was that immense collection of DAR-generated records—copies of everything the society has collected and published over the years—and much of it searchable on the library’s computers.

What a week! It was pleasurable travel with friends to libraries offering glorious possibilities. Perhaps Washington—along with Salt Lake City, Fort Wayne and Boston—would be a good destination for a future CGS group research trip.

Photograph courtesy of Shirley Thomson, 3/16/2010, Washington, D.C.

What You Missed: The January Annual Business Meeting

With a nod to Miriam Robbins Midkiff and her "What You Missed" posts at the Eastern Washington Genealogical Society Blog (Miriam always says that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery), I'm reprinting the minutes of Annual Business Meeting. Very special thanks to Shirley Pugh Thomson, CGS Recording Secretary who submitted these minutes as her last act as she departs the board of directors.

The annual business meeting was called to order by President Jane Lindsey at 1:00 p.m. She distributed copies of minutes of the January 12, 2008, annual business meeting to the approximately fifty-five members attending and introduced the Board of Directors of 2008.

Vice President Verne Deubler provided copies of the proposed $118,750 budget for 2009, discussed various elements of it and pointed to the need to constrain expenses in the coming year. ACTION: Resolved, seconded, passed: That the 2009 budget is adopted as presented.

Nominating Committee chair Chris Pattillo presented the list of nominees for seats on the Board of Directors: Kathryn Doyle and Chris Pattillo, for second terms, and Stephen Harris, Cathy Paris, Carolyn Steinberg and Diana Wild for first terms. ACTION: Resolved, seconded, passed: That those people nominated for directorships are hereby elected. Directors
leaving the Board in January 2009 are Jane Hufft, Laura Spurrier and Shirley Thomson. Following the election, Jane briefly described plans being considered for revisions in directors’ areas of responsibility in 2009.

Activities of the various committees were reported by chairs Bill O’Neil, Lorna Wallace, Carolyn Steinberg, Chris Pattillo, Laura Spurrier, Sandy Fryer, Linda Darby, Kathryn Doyle, Nancy Peterson, Marianne Frey, Nancy Servin and Jane Lindsey.

Jane described a wide variety of events and activities being planned for the coming year and urged that members keep up to date on such matters by frequent visits to the CGS Web site and the CGS blogspot.

The meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.
Shirley Pugh Thomson, Recording Secretary

Questions? Leave a comment and I'll be glad to elaborate on any aspect of the annual meeting.

Fifth Cousins, Once Removed

As a follow up to Citing "Occult Powers" in a New Netherland Genealogy, Shirley Pugh Thomson wrote to let me know that she and John Moore have pinpointed their relationship. They are fifth cousins, once removed. That particular cousin relationship reminded Shirley of an even better story which she consented to share with you all:

Discovering that fellow CGS board member John Moore and I are distant cousins was a pleasant surprise. Such discoveries do turn up now and again in a roomful of genealogists, but a similar surprise came like a bolt from the blue for me in the late 1980s. My husband of more than 30 years (then) and I also learned that we are 5th cousins once removed!

Thomas and Shirley: their engagement and wedding in 1957 and at their anniversary celebration dinner fifty years later.

Neither Tom nor I had been aware of any connection between our families. Since we both grew up in a small farming community where many lines of both our families had settled early, a number of them arriving before Indiana statehood in December 1816, it may have seemed likely. But those people were neighbors, friends and sometimes fellow church members, not family. My surprise came about because I had not guessed that these—to me—separate and distinct families had been intimately intertwined years before they reached the end of their journey in the rolling hills at the edge of the Wabash.

I discovered that my husband's ancestor, James DRAKE and my ancestor, Benjamin HARRIS had married sisters!

Sarah and Mary PADDOCK were two of the eleven known children of Ebenezer Paddock and Keziah Case. I found the Paddocks, the Harrises and the Drakes all living and paying taxes in southwestern Ohio before their move to Indiana.

The girls evidently started life in Virginia and spent their youth moving from one rough and untamed claim in the woods to another, migrating westward with their family to Nelson County, Kentucky, then Butler County, Ohio, and finally westward across southern Indiana to Sullivan County on the Wabash River, the new state’s western edge.

So I found a connection, a shared line, but—of course—the Paddock girls’ venerable father left us with shared mysteries. While Ebenezer is a DAR patriot, finding records about him has not been easy. Numerous other descendants have been searching for them and for records of his father and mother for a long time.

I would also like to know about that shared migration pattern. How was it that those three families—and a handful of others—seem to have migrated in coordinated moves? Does it only appear that way at this distance? Were the families connected as father/sons or father/sons-in-law or something else? Was it just word of mouth about the great new place?

For now, my cousin-husband and I continue looking for answers.

Shirley Pugh Thomson

Citing "Occult Powers" in a New Netherland Genealogy

It happened again - a cousin found in the library - only this time I was an eyewitness. While waiting for last week's board meeting to begin, director John Moore was relating a fascinating story about the Wilsey family. One mention of the name and suddenly he and Shirley Thomson were New Netherland cousins! John sent the full story:

Shirley Pugh Thomson and John Moore.

Last Wednesday, prior to the Board meeting, we had a discussion about the "unusual research" methods used in determining the origins of the family. The story goes something like this.

The Wilsey family is an early New Netherland family with many descendants, including at least two members of the present CGS Board. In 1908 Jerome Wiltsee published a genealogy for the Wiltsee (Wilsey) family. Jerome Wiltsee, Sr., A Genealogical and Psychological Memoir of Philippe Maton Wiltsie and his Descendants, With a Historical Introduction of the Wiltsie Nation and Its Colonies, (Atchinson, Kansas, 1908). The book was given a broad distribution (we have a copy in the CGS Library.) It identifies Philippe Maton Wiltsie as the original immigrant and ancestor of the Wiltsie family. Phillip is described as a Walloon refuge from Wiltz Luxembourg who came to Fort Orange in 1623 and was killed by the Indians in 1631 with two of his sons captured by the Indians before they escaped in 1639. One of these sons Hendrick Martenson is the ancestor of the Wilsey family in America.

Over the years there were several membership applications submitted and approved by the Holland Society based on Phillipe Maton as the immigrant ancestor. In 1975 the Genealogical Committee of the Holland Society asked George Zabriske to research Jerome's account. After a through study Zabriskie determined that many of Jerome's conclusions were pure fiction and had no basis in fact. Philippe Maton Wiltsee just did not exist! Jerome had however warned his readers that his conclusions were based not only on normal genealogical research but also on his "supernatural" or "occult" powers.

Does this mean that the way to resolve "brick walls" in genealogical research is through communication with the spirit world? It certainly would revolutionize our society! Something to think about!

On a more serious note, the Jerome Wiltsee book is now out of copyright and copies are available not only in many libraries but also on the Internet. From time to time we hear from genealogists who have traced their ancestry back to Phillipe Maton based on Jerome's book. Fortunately the Zabriskie analysis is set forth in a series of articles appearing in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record (Volumes 106-108). Wilsey researchers who have relied on Jerome can be referred to these articles. Incidentally, the real Wilsey immigrant ancestor is Hendrick Martenson van Copenhagen and his male descendants do qualify for membership in the Holland Society!

I have agreed to bring some of my material to the next board meeting to compare notes with Shirley. We are both descendants of Hendrick Martenson van Copenhagen but we are not yet sure where our lines differ.

Best,

John

John Moore has been interested in genealogy since his law school days when he devoted some library time to research his mother's family. He has more time since retirement from Kaiser Aluminum where he was Vice President Deputy General Counsel and Secretary. John served six years as a Trustee of the NEHGS and is currently a member of the NEHGS Council and a Director of the California Genealogical Society. John has a number of New Netherland ancestors and holds membership in the Friends of the Holland Society.

Shirley Pugh Thomson has held a seat on the society’s Board of Directors 1998-2008 and is a former chair of the CGS Publication Committee. She has been interested in family history all of her life, although these days she admits to spending more time on CGS business than on her own research. Shirley made some progress during the past year using DNA. She recently presented Hints on Publishing Your Family History with Matthew Berry.

Feedback From "Hints on Publishing Your Family History"

Altogether, twenty-one potential authors attended last Saturday's "Hints on Publishing Your Family History" workshop presented by Shirley Pugh Thomson and Matthew Berry. Past-president, Rick Sherman, shared these comments, "I thought the publishing workshop was outstanding. I bought myself a Chicago Manual of Style that very afternoon! I was especially impressed by the good "cast chemistry" among the speakers, and by the good behavior of the audience. There were lots of valuable contributions from the audience, but no one tried to take over the session."

Shirley sent this: ""For my part, Saturday was quite a surprising day. First, I found it very hard to believe that such a large number of interested people wanted to come out for our workshop on a fine weekend day. Then, there was the high level of interest! Those writers and researchers were interested in all aspects of the process to convert good research and writing to printed and bound pages of a book. The participants, it seems, were all historians and genealogists determined to see their research, their families’ histories, their loved ones’ memoirs and papers or other writings preserved in publications to be made available to a wider family circle or to the public. The many wide-ranging questions indicated serious plans were already being considered."

Matt said "For me, Saturday’s event was my first time participating in a CGS event and I had a wonderful time meeting and talking to people. I was happy to see so many people attending and asking great questions. I am now looking forward to participating in other CGS events."

Workshop: Hints on Publishing Your Family History

Saturday, August 9, 2008
10:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.
CGS Library, 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California

There are still a few spaces left in this Saturday's workshop - "Hints on Publishing Your Family History" at the CGS Library.

At some point, it is time to put a stop to the research (at least temporarily) and create something tangible that can be passed down to the next generation.

Shirley Pugh Thomson, Matt Berry and Jane Knowles Lindsey are ready to share their experience and help you explore the options available, including newer non-traditional, online methods, such as blogs. The CGS Library collection has scores of examples of traditionally published histories for you to peruse. Our panelists will choose a few so workshop attendees can see some prime examples.

Shirley Thompson, retired owner of Indices Publishing, will present two talks, "Skills Needed to Publish Your History" and "Mistakes to Avoid." Matt Berry will discuss his experience self-publishing using Lulu.com.

The workshop day will include a lunch break so bring a brown bag. There is a nearby deli if you prefer buy a sandwich and bring it back to the library.

The workshop is free for CGS members but is limited to fifteen people. There will be a sign-up fee of $10 for non-members. (This fee can be applied toward membership on the day of the workshop.) There is a sign-up sheet at the CGS Library desk. Please call CGS at 510-663-1358 to reserve a space.

Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey.

Wordless Wednesday

California Genealogical Society Library
Saturday, July 12, 2008 Membership Meeting
Breaking Down Brick Walls, a Panel Discussion

Photographs courtesy of Shirley Pugh Thomson.

The CGS Style Sheet

One of the most important works to come through the CGS Publications Committee will never be assigned an ISBN (International Standard Book Number) or be found on the shelves of a library. The CGS Style Sheet, contrived and collated by Jane Hufft and Shirley Thomson, was created to help lay the foundation toward a consistent style among the various publications of the California Genealogical Society and Library.

The CGS Style Sheet covers various aspects of usage, grammar, spelling, punctuation and presentation. It is an evolving work based on some of the common problems spotted by Shirley and Jane. The style sheet is to be used for the broad swath of CGS written works, including committee reports, newsletter articles, public relations copy, Web site pages, fliers, and even this blog.

Specifically, the style sheet addresses abbreviations, acronyms, formatting requirements, bibliographies, book lists and titles, capitalization, compound words, dates, electronic sources, numbers, plurals, spacing, voice and several other specific issues. The document also refers users to three additional publications: The Chicago Manual of Style, The Elements of Style and Webster's Third Dictionary.

Shirley shared these thoughts: "Anyone called upon now and again to write in the name of CGS is urged to make use of it. At first glance the sheet may seem a collection of odd bits and pieces. It is also a useful tool, answering questions, providing examples and creating awareness of the style choices made (often unconsciously) in any written work."

The creators of the style sheet both serve on the CGS Board of Directors in addition to their work on the Publication Committee.

Shirley Pugh Thomson is the Recording Secretary for the society and has served as chairperson of the Publication Committee. She has many years’ experience in editing, writing, project management and publishing.

Jane Hufft is the editor of the CGS Newsletter. She came to CGS after thirty-six years in education as a teacher, project manager and administrator.

Source: Hufft, Jane and Thomson, Shirley, "The CGS Style Sheet," California Genealogical Society and Library, Publications Committee, 2007.

Chronicling Events in a Horseless Carriage

One of the photographs from the CGS 110th anniversary bookmark, was this one taken on the wedding day of Clare and Alta McAllister THOMSON, parents of Thomas Thomson, who is the husband of Shirley Pugh Thomson, CGS board member and recording secretary.


The young bride and groom (she only 18, he age 19) were photographed 4 June 1916, in Sullivan County, Indiana. In the back seat are their best friends and witnesses, Paul and Lena Sharpe. The Buick was owned by the groom’s father, as was the camera, and it was dad who took the picture.

The blog description prompted this response from CGS News Editor, Jane Hufft: "The copy you have with the photographs is so informative and interesting. The picture sparked a connection for me: I have a photo of my grandparents c. 1916 that could be a twin to Shirley's; everyone is dressed up, looking out of an open car, event unknown, and it NEVER occurred to me that it possibly is a wedding photo -- and we don't have any others for them. Perhaps that was a photographic style then. Thank you so much for the clue."

I checked with Maureen A. Taylor, the Photo Detective, who has written about old automotive photographs, most recently in an article entitled "Motor Trends" in the July 2007 issue of Family Tree Magazine.

She agrees that there may be other photographs that appear at first glance to be just folks in old cars, but which in fact are chronicling weddings or other significant events.

Maureen notes: "You see a lot more people in front of cars once they are more enclosed. Men drove, women generally didn't. How interesting that the woman is behind the wheel!"

The cover of Katherine Scott Sturdevant's book, Bringing Your Family History to Life Through Social History, depicts a family dressed in their Sunday best in a circa 1910 automobile.

The photograph, identified as "William H. McKernan, Brooklyn" was supplied to the publisher as a research experiment. Ms. Sturdevant analyzes the photograph on page 89 and presents a case study which includes dating the vehicle and city directory and census research on the family. She makes a strong case that it is the family of William H. McKiernan and notes that the children in the photograph match the "genders and ages of the census children... if the oldest child, Mary, was elsewhere when the photograph was taken. She would have been about twenty."

Knowing what we know now from Shirley's and Jane's photographs, I wonder if the family was off to attend Mary's wedding?

Written for the 45th Carnival of Genealogy, Cars as stars!

110th anniversary bookmark

The 110th Anniversary Celebration on Saturday was a resounding success. Steve Danko has posted a detailed report on the day at his blog: Maureen Taylor, Photo Detective. I was struck by Maureen's incredible talent and passion for her subject, which we learned is a fusion of her expertise in history, photography and genealogy. I came away with a new appreciation for the value of photographs -- not just as a supplement to our family history but also as a research tool. We all have to become "photo detectives" to make sure we have gleaned all of the clues lying in wait in our own family photographs.

All 140 attendees went home with a special souvenir of the day. CGS President, Jane Lindsey, planned early on to create a bookmark to commemorate the anniversary but it was CGS News Production Editor, Lois Elling, who thought to merge the idea with the theme. She combined her design skills and love of ancestral photographs to create a keepsake that perfectly complemented Maureen's presentations.

Several CGS members submitted photographs for the bookmark. I promised that I would include a personal "thank you" to each and give a bit of background and biographical information about the CGS ancestors featured. I'll start with the two photos that I submitted.

The first is a photograph of my uncle and mother taken in 1938 in Sendai, Japan. My uncle, Iwao OKAMOTO, was graduating from high school and had been instructed by his mother to stop by the local studio to sit for a graduation photograph. He took along one of his younger sisters, Miyako, age 8. My grandmother was surprised to find that all of his portraits included his sibling! Iwao was unconcerned. He told his mother that if she didn't want to include his little sister she could be cut off. I'm so grateful that she wasn't.


The second is from my husband's extended NICKLES family. It is of two siblings, Pauline and George Nikolaides, taken about 1928 in the village of Tsintzina, near Sparta, Greece. The brother and sister spent their childhood years in two villages - summers spent in the mountains in Tsintzina, where it is cooler, and the winters in Zoupena; migrating back and forth, up and down the mountain each spring and fall, as has been the custom for hundreds of years. They came to the U.S. with their father and siblings in 1937; their mother remained in Greece throughout her life. Pauline Nickles Poulos died in 1986. George P. Nickles died November 22, 2007. May their memories be eternal.

This is one of only three photographs taken on the wedding day of Clare and Alta McAllister THOMSON, parents of Thomas Thomson who is the husband of Shirley Pugh Thomson, CGS board member and recording secretary. The young bride and groom (she only 18, he age 19) were photographed 4 June 1916, in Sullivan County, Indiana. In the back seat are their best friends and witnesses, Paul and Lena Sharpe. The car was the groom’s father’s Buick.

Two photographs were contributed by CGS member Lisa B. Lee. David Moses LEE was born in 1847 in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, the son of William Barnard Lee and Eleanor Jane Smith, and descendant of William Lee, a black Loyalist who fought in the Revolutionary War on behalf of the British Crown. In his early 20s, he moved to Buffalo, New York with his mother and worked first as a blacksmith and then as a male nurse, a position he held for over 50 years. For much of his adult life, he worked in Dr. Pierce's Hospital, an institution on Buffalo's Main Street. Lee died in 1936 in Buffalo at the age of 89.



Lisa's second contribution was the photograph of the MILLER Family. William Miller was born in Pennsylvania about 1811 and escaped slavery to Ontario and settled in the Wellington County area around 1835. He and his wife, Mary Ann Clement (a Canadian native) had at least 11 children. Those pictured in the photo are William Miller's grandson John Sylvester Miller, John's wife, Amanda Cromwell (whose grandfather was a black Loyalist in Nova Scotia) and their children, Joseph, Jane, William and Cecil.

I have a few more details to gather for the remaining photographs so stay tuned.