Want to Build Your Skills for Successful Family History Research?

Whether you are a beginners or an intermediate genealogist, then you should plan to join genealogy instructor, Pam Brett, for this 4-part series sponsored by the California Genealogical Society! What the course about?  It's designed for family history researchers who want to build a strong foundation of genealogy research skills to avoid wasted time and unreliable family trees.  Who wouldn't want to accomplish that?

Pamela Brett will cover six key family history research skills, including how to:

• Know which records to look for
• Find relevant records
• Document the results of the search
• Evaluate the sources you use and the records you find
• Analyze the results of your research
• Write a well-reasoned statement of your conclusions 

This course will be held at the Oakland FamilySearch Library over four separate, Wednesday evening sessions. These session dates and times are:

March 07, 2018    6:00pm to 8:30pm
March 14, 2018    6:00pm to 8:30pm
March 21, 2018    6:00pm to 8:30pm 
March 28, 2018    6:00pm to 8:30pm

Class details

• In-class group exercises and optional homework assignments will provide participants to practice skills with a wide variety of genealogical records found in a many different places including online websites.
• Class handouts will include basic strategies and cautions, as well as useful websites to use in your research.
• It is strongly recommended that participants plan on attending all four classes as the skills are presented in a sequential pattern.

Registration information

• This course will be held at the Oakland Family Search Library.
• Pre-registration is required. Class size is limited so register early. 
• Register early to confirm your seat. Walk-ins will not be admitted.

About the Instructor

Pam Brett's interest in genealogy started over 40 years ago at the birth of her first child, but it wasn't until 1999 when she began serious pursuit of her family history. Most of her ancestors came to America early and moved often leading to research in 31 states and the District of Columbia.

In this series, she hopes to share skills acquired from many years of beginner's mistakes to help participants to focus their personal goals and to acquire new understanding of the lives of their ancestors. 

Join Pam this March and work on strengthening your genealogy foundation. She hopes to have you in her class!

Copyright © 2018 by California Genealogical Society

Capital Campaign: Help Us Finish Strong

by Chris Pattillo, Capital Campaign Chair

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Today our Sherman-Haughton fund has $384,390 more than it did before the campaign began. Wouldn't it be great if we could reach $400,000 by the time our Capital Campaign ends on February 1st?

The official kickoff of the first ever California Genealogical Society (CGS) Capital Campaign was February 2017, nearly a year ago. The Campaign Committee (myself, Jane Lindsey & Sandy Fryer) reached out to our membership as well as to individuals and philanthropists who have an interest in preserving family history. Our goal was to raise $1.2 million in honor of the 120th anniversary of the society. We did not succeed in reaching this lofty goal but have succeeded in raising an incredible $384,390. This is an amazing number for an all-volunteer organization to raise!

Where does the money go?
Our investment committee has managed our funds prudently, so for the past ten years our portfolio has grown by an average of 9.4% a year. These funds provide financial security for our society, and provide us with the ability to offer more services to our membership.

Why am I sending you another Capital Campaign Appeal?
As you may know, revenue generated from membership fees, seminars, classes, and research trips does not cover our annual expenses. Every year we rely on our members’ generous donations in response to the Annual Appeal and prudent withdrawals from the Sherman-Haughton Fund to supplement the budget shortfall. Our expenses, particularly the rent, continue to increase every year. Have you contributed yet?

Long-term goals and financial stability go hand-in-hand
The Board and Campaign Committee want CGS to continue to be a leader in family history. We want to offer value to our members by providing nationally known speakers and state-of-the-art educational programs for beginning to advanced researchers. We want to do more to enable our long-distance members to have better access to the society by offering participatory webinars and by digitizing our records and making them available online to members.

Here are 2 easy ways to make a donation:

Mail or drop off a check at the library:

2201 Broadway LL2, Oakland, CA 94612-3031

Write checks to: CGS – Capital Campaign

or

DONATE on our website, CaliforniaAncestors.org

Why I believe in this campaign
Family has always been important to me—it’s my anchor and enabler. CGS feels like an extension of my family. I value how being part of the society has helped me with my research—every visit to the society I learn something new from another member. I hope you share this feeling and will support CGS financially today with a donation to the Capital Campaign and always through donations in response to the Annual Appeal. The money donated to the Capital Campaign goes directly to the Sherman-Haughton fund.

Thank you.

Copyright © 2018 by California Genealogical Society

You're Invited! Judy G. Russell's Sept 23rd genealogy seminar in Berkeley

Maybe you won't feel like jumping for joy, but some of us do!  Only 21 tickets are left for the event on Saturday, September 23rd (Doors open at 9 am - lectures begin at 9:45 am and last through 4 pm).  It's sure to be a wonderful day of genealogy with the incomparable Judy G. Russell! 

Judy's an engrossing and down-to-earth lecturer that really knows how to educate and entertain a crowd.  The California Genealogical Society is really excited that the event is only a week away!

What do you get for your money? 
4 great classes, including the ABC's of DNA, buffet-style lunch and assorted beverages throughout the day. Ticket prices are $115 for members and $140 for non-members. 

The seminar is being held in the ADA accessible, Goldman Theater at the David Brower Center in downtown Berkeley.  This beautifully finished theater features natural bamboo walls and plush raised theatrical seating.  Key features include a hi-definition digital video and custom designed sound reinforcement by Meyer Sound.

Added bonus: it's 1 block from the Downtown Berkeley BART station or use The David Brower Center's on-site parking garage (only $17/per day)

Schedule
9:45 Facts, Photos and Fair Use: Copyright Law for Genealogists
Understanding what is and isn't copyrighted and what genealogists can and can't use is the key to staying out of trouble and to protecting our own work. Learn about what copyright is, and what it isn’t.

11:00 Martha Benschura – Enemy Alien
Not all our ancestors were naturalized. The ones who didn’t suddenly became suspect when war divided their native countries from their new residences, creating the kinds of records genealogists love.

12:00 LUNCH

1:00 Rogues, Rascals and Rapscallions: The Family Black Sheep
Playing detective in court records can unmask those black sheep every family has – and it’s fun! Learn to understand the criminal process in both federal and state courts and how to find the records to put meat on the bones of the skeletons in your family’s closet.

2:15 ABCs of DNA

New to the idea that DNA can help with genealogy? Learn about the three major test types - YDNA, mitochondrial (mtDNA) and the new autosomal DNA testing - and see what each offers to the genealogist.

What else? 

• There is a door prize, donated by the Southern California Genealogical Society and Family Research Library for a free Southern California Genealogy Jamboree 2018 registration.
• We'll also have one auction item, a library card catalog---pretty cool, huh?

Sign-up today.  We can't wait to see you there!

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

You're Invited! Family History Month Open House

Come help us celebrate genealogy!  To coincide with Family History Month, The California Mayflower Society & Library and The California Genealogical Society are having a collaborative open house on October 21st from 2pm - 4pm, so save the date!  We're both located at 2201 Broadway in Oakland, on the lower level and across the hall from each other. Both libraries will provide drinks and snacks. 

During the dual open house, there will also be a meeting of the Family Tree Maker Special Interest Group (FTM-SIG) at our library. Members of both our societies are involved and we plan to make it a bit more casual so people can easily come and go to both societies during the meeting. Interested to know what the group is all about?  It's a great time to visit and see if becoming a part of this group would help you.

As new neighbors to each other, the California Genealogical Society and the California Mayflower Society have forged a new strategic friendship aimed at increasing traffic to both our libraries and genealogical research resources.  We know that our common goal of preserving genealogy and helping others learn more about their diverse family heritage is what makes this endeavor so special.

Please come tour the California Mayflower Society's new offices and library to see how their archival materials can help your family history research.  We also want you stop in and see what's new with us.  Do both and see how our genealogy resources are second to none.

Please put October 21st from 2-4pm on your calendar.  We hope to see you there!

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

Genealogy, It's for the Living

 Addie Virginia Hayes Reese
 Sep 10, 1923 - Jul 16, 2017

Genealogy research usually focuses on events that happened long before, but how do we grieve and realize that it’s just genealogy in the making?

When my almost 94-year-old Grandmother, Addie Virginia Hayes Reese aka “Granny Reese”, passed away this past Sunday morning I was gripped by grief before wanting to write her story (obituary) and release it.  Since my grandmother was from a small town south of Nashville, I started listening to Patsy Cline music to get in the right frame of mind. Once ready, I got my laptop and logged onto my Ancestry tree to begin creating what I hoped would accurately portray and respect her memory.

Virginia with my grandfather,
Wilburn Petty Reese in 1942

As the words began to flow and her tale began to take shape, I felt much calmer and happier.  It was cathartic to get her record down and feel like I was somehow contributing to her memory, rather than just being tortured with emotion. By taking action, it relieved the pain of losing her.

Virginia with my daughter Katie in 2016

Of course it also made me do a bit more research and complete her narrative just a bit more.  That’s the thing, our genealogy is never done, it’s just waiting for another life event to happen.

Photos courtesy of Shannon Reese

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

Genealogy Secrets of a Photo

by Cassie Arnold

My mother and maternal grandmother had chaotic childhoods. So not many artifacts from those years survive – either lost in frequent moves or discarded because of bad memories.

But my mother always held on to a portrait taken of her mother and herself as an infant. My mother takes pride in the fact that the photo ran in the Oakland Tribune announcing her birth. According to my mother her birth was newsworthy because her father was a football star at St. Mary’s College.

That story seemed suspect to me, but my mother had few good childhood memories, so I never challenged her on it.

Detective work begins
When my parents moved into a senior living community a year ago, I came into possession of the portrait – a color version and a black and white version that was used by the Tribune. It was in a file with some other glamour shots of my grandmother that were taken about the same time.

I thought it would be fun to find the complete news item in the Tribune. My mother said it was a photo and a caption. I went over to the Tribune archives at the Oakland Public Library one afternoon to find the original in context. My grandfather’s name was Aloysius, so he is easy to search.

Turns out the occasion for the story was the fact that my grandfather had successfully completed his parole and was now happily moving on with his young family. The arrest stemmed from a fight with one of his mother’s tenants who was trying to skip out on his rent. The article also noted that he was a former St. Mary’s football star. This was in June 1932.

My grandparents married because my grandmother was pregnant. She was attending Berkeley High School at the time and dropped out in the Spring of her senior year. She always said she dropped out when she was 16, but that was to accommodate the fact she always lied about her age. It seems my grandfather had already graduated.

I found reference in the Berkeley High yearbooks to my grandfather playing on the football team and leaving before the 1930 season, but he is not included in the Spring 1930 graduates.

This seemed like a strange timeline, so I thought it would be helpful to find out when they got married.

Since their marriage lasted just over five years, it wasn’t something anyone in the family celebrated or cared to remember. So I went to the Alameda County Clerk’s office to see what I could find. Since I didn’t have a date or even a year, I had to rely on my grandfather’s unusual name. Alameda County had no records, but the clerk recommended I try San Francisco (SF) because “a lot of people were going over there to get marriage licenses at that time.”

Clearing up the mystery
I few weeks later I went to the SF County Clerk’s office. No luck there either. My next thought was to try Contra Costa County since that’s where St. Mary’s College is, but a trek to Martinez was a major undertaking, and I put it aside.

One morning when I was cleaning up the office, I happened to turn over the color version of the portrait. It was inscribed! I’ve been looking at this picture for all of my life and never thought to turn it over.

It says, “To Daddy from your loving wife and daughter on our first anniversary May 4, 1932. Mother 19 yrs. Alice Jeanne 6 mos.”

So they were married on May 4, 1931. I don’t know where, but at least I know when.

About the Author

Cassie Arnold is an Alameda-based business and financial writer as well as a second-generation Oakland native. She is working on a history of Oakland/Berkeley from 1919 to 1941 from the perspective of her maternal ancestors.

Photos courtesy of Cassie Arnold

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

Chris' Genealogy Journey: Handley Cemetery & Tarrant County, TX

by Chris Pattillo

Cemeteries and Courthouses...a genealogy goldmine. My next highlighted stops as I continued along my genealogy adventure had me in Texas with visits to the Handley Cemetery, near Fort Worth, and the Tarrant County Courthouse.  So take a quick break now and enjoy a bit of genealogy travel and research along with me, a fellow California Genealogical Society member.

Handley Cemetery

After the Stock Yards on the 24th I drove to Azal, a little northwest of Fort Worth, where I found an RV Park for the night. My spot had a very nice view of a field with a small herd of Angus cows grazing in it. I planned to find the Handley Cemetery, the following day, and look for the grave of Wirt W. Pattillo. Wirt was listed on the 1880 census with his parents and his birth information showed he was born in May of that year. I Googled “Handley Cemetery” to I could find the location and the Find A Grave site came up – a tremendous resource for genealogists.

I entered “Pattillo” and three burials were listed. I was taken aback to find three infant sons buried in the Handley Cemetery. Previously, I’d known about two infant boys that had died but now I found that there were three. Wirt W. Pattillo was born May 25, 1880, James H. Pattillo, named after his grandfather, was born September 18, 1882 and died November 11, 1883 – just 13 months old, and Infant Pattillo, a son died January 31, 1884. In just three years James and Carrie Pattillo had lost three children. How very tragic. I’d like to know the causes of death but those records were lost in a fire, as I learned later in the day at the Tarrant county Courthouse.  For more photos and the end of Chris' tale, click here.

Tarrant County Courthouse

When I left the Handley Cemetery I drove south to Camper World to have my solar power converter fixed. I arrived a little early for my 1:00 appointment but spent the time shopping for a few things I needed. After the lunch break I went out to the shop to show them where the converter was hidden. The technician asked me a couple of questions about what the problem was, he tested for electricity flow, then moved a little black switch into the “on” position and voila my problem was fixed – No charge! So, now all my technical problems were fixed and I had time to visit the Tarrant County Courthouse that afternoon.

It is a beautiful building designed by Gunn & Curtis Architects in the Renaissance Revival style. The original cost of construction was $408,840 and the citizenry thought the politicians were so extravagant at the time they voted them out of office.  The interior of the building is also spectacular. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.

After finding a parking space directly across the street from the courthouse, I made my way to the City Clerk’s office. The man at the front desk informed me that the marriage record I sought for my great grandparents did not exist because there had been a fire and ….. just then one of his co-workers, Mary Boyd, returned from her break and chimed in, “oh, yes we do have those records”. The front desk person looked dubious but Ms. Boyd escorted me into the adjacent room filled with computer workstations and within five minutes had located my prize. She explained, “we only get requests for these old records about once every five years, so they forget that we have them, but I love looking for them.”  The story continues here.

Stay tuned for my next adventure at the Tennessee State Archives.  If you've got ancestors from this neck of the woods, you'll enjoy this one!

Photos courtesy of Chris Pattillo

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

Want to see Judy G. Russell? Time is Running Out.

July 5th is the last day to get the early bird price to see Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist, for an all-day genealogy seminar so don’t delay and book your seat now.

We’re hosting the internationally recognized expert in law and genealogy on September 23rd for an all-day seminar in Berkeley.  She has an amazing ability to help you understand how the law both impacted your ancestors’ lives then and how now those laws can help you with your family history research. 

Included with the ticket price are four lectures, including the sought after "ABCs of DNA" that is suitable for all researcher levels. You'll also enjoy a catered buffet-style lunch.   

Who is The Legal Genealogist?

With her law degree as her calling card, Judy has become one of the most respected genealogists speaking around the country.  It’s this keen insight into how the law affected our ancestors that sheds light onto our collective past.

She has her own acclaimed blog, The Legal Genealogist, to which she continually adds amazing content that helps both the new and experienced genealogist. 

Judy is both a certified genealogist (CG℠) and a certified genealogical lecturer (CGL℠). You can learn about her numerous credentials at her Association of Professional Genealogists page.

Want to know more about her?  Check out my interview with her from a previous blog post and see why you should join us in Berkeley on September 23rd for her seminar.  Remember to book by July 5th to receive early bird pricing!

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

Need more ways to research genealogy online?

Join California Genealogical Society member and The California Nugget editor Janice Sellers as she presents “Read All about It! Using Online Newspapers for Genealogical Research” on Saturday, July 8th, from 1:00 to 3:00 PM.

How can it help me?
Newspapers are valuable in genealogical research because you can find information about births, marriages, deaths, moves, business, naturalizations, court cases, and more. Millions of pages of the world's newspapers are now accessible online, but there is no one place to find them all.

Janice says, “One of the first times I taught this, a friend of mine was in the classroom, but she ran out of the room in the middle of the class. When the class was over I found her in the library at a computer. She told me she was so excited by the the techniques I had described to look for her relatives in the newspaper that she couldn’t wait for the end of class to start!”

This class gives an overview of what is available online and techniques to help improve your chances of finding information about your relatives. Sign up today and see what you’ve been missing online!

About the Speaker

Janice M. Sellers is a professional genealogist and the founder of Ancestral Discoveries. She specializes in Jewish, black, dual citizenship, and newspaper research and offers translation (French, Spanish, Russian), editing, and indexing services.

Janice holds a B.A. in foreign languages (French, Spanish, Russian) from the University of Southern California, edits three genealogy publications, and serves on the boards of the African American Genealogical Society of Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish Genealogical Society. She is also a member of Association of Professional Genealogists, Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy, Genealogical Speakers Guild, and California Genealogical Society.

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society

An Interview with Judy G. Russell, The Legal Genealogist

The Legal Genealogist is coming to town!  The California Genealogical Society is hosting the nationally known expert in law and genealogy, Judy G. Russell, on September 23rd for an all-day seminar in Berkeley. 

Register now to hear how her genealogy gold can help you with your own family history research.

Who’s The Legal Genealogist?

With her law degree as her calling card, Judy has become one of the most respected genealogists speaking around the country.  It’s this keen insight into how the law affected our ancestors that sheds light onto our collective past.

She has her own acclaimed blog, The Legal Genealogist, to which she continually adds amazing content that helps both the new and experienced genealogist.

Judy holds credentials as a Certified Genealogist® (CG℠) and a Certified Genealogical Lecturer (CGL℠). You can learn about her numerous credentials at her Association of Professional Genealogists page.

We hope you’ll join us for Judy’s seminar, but in the meantime I hope you enjoy learning a bit more about her. I recently talked with her on a variety of topics, mostly genealogy of course.  Here’s what I learned:

What are your latest personal genealogy projects? At the moment, I'm still trying to identify some dropped-off-by-space-aliens ancestors using DNA to augment the few surviving records. I'm hot on the trail of a third great grandmother and her parents at the moment.

How did the genealogy bug bite you? My mother's family is Scots-Irish. That means I grew up listening to the stories -- and at some point you really want to know if there's even a chance that some of the stories might possibly be true. Once I got started looking into the reality, rather than the stories, I found that the truth was at least as much fun as the stories -- and sometimes the stories were even true.

As an attorney, what unique skills do you bring to the field of genealogy? First and foremost, a legal education gives me a comfort level with a whole series of resources that are critical but arcane to the average genealogist: the laws themselves.

Let's face it: most of the records we have wouldn't exist if the law didn't require them. Even the information recorded is dictated by legal mandates. So we can't really understand the records unless we understand the laws -- and the laws, to me, are old friends rather than scary enemies. Beyond that, my experience as a prosecutor, defense attorney and legal educator makes me want to hunt for the facts and then present them clearly so I can convince others.

What do you feel are the most important ingredients in being a successful genealogy researcher? Tenacity and curiosity. You have to want to look under every rock -- and you have to go ahead and actually turn over every single rock.

How would you describe your teaching style? I'd hope most people would find it down to earth -- with a leavening of humor.

What do you hope seminar attendees learn from your seminar? I have a mantra: to understand the records, we have to understand the laws as they were at the time and in the place where the records were created. If folks come away with a clear understanding of why that's so important, it'll be a good day all the way around.

What would you say to those contemplating registering for your seminar? Besides "come to the dark side, we have cookies"? Seriously, genealogy -- and the law as it impacts genealogy -- can be fun. And when you add in a dollop of science through DNA the whole thing takes on shapes of CSI. 

What do you do like to do when you aren't working on genealogy? There's life beyond genealogy? Really? Okay, okay, in my abundant spare time (koff koff), I play with the cats and am an amateur photographer.

Law, genealogy and tenacity...Judy’s got what it takes.  We hope to see you on September 23^rd in Berkeley for her seminar!

Copyright © 2017 by California Genealogical Society