Library Closed for President's Weekend

Please note that the California Genealogical Society Library will be closed on Saturday, February 14th (Valentine's Day) for the three-day President's Weekend. Monday, February 16, 2009 is the Washington's Birthday holiday.

The library re-opens on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 9:00 a.m.

The CGS Library is open on Thursdays and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m, on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. and by appointment. Non-members are welcome for a $5.oo fee. The first Saturday of every month is free to all.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday
CGS Manuscript Committee
Pat Bonderud and Linda Darby

Photograph by Kathryn M. Doyle, 7/31/2008, Oakland, California

French Canadian Interest Group

CGS members with an interest in French Canadian ancestry meet occasionally during the year to discuss research problems. Lorna Jones sent this announcement with the dates of the upcoming French-Canadian Interest Group meetings for 2009:

French-Canadian Interest Group members: (left to right) Mary Beth
Frederick, Al Riel, Lorna Jones, Bill O'Neil and Barry Goyette.
(Not shown: Jane Lindsey, Tom Gesner, Lynn Theuriet, & Ann Cyr.)

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

This year the French-Canadian Interest Group will meet at the CGS Library at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 9, 2009 and again on Saturday, September 12, 2009. The meetings are casual and unstructured – someone usually comes with a “brick wall” question and we all dive in and work on it. We frequently have “show and tell” where we share new websites, or a good book someone has found, or some new French translation list. We're a very low-key but entertaining group and the folks who attend are great.

If you would like to join us, please e-mail Lorna Jones to receive a reminder prior to the meetings.

Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey.

Test E-mail to CGS Members

A test e-mail is being sent to all CGS members with e-mail addresses on file. The communication has “CGS test e-mail" in the subject line. Members are requested to check their spam folders if they do not receive the test e-mail in their in-box. Successful receipt of the test e-mail means we have the correct address for you. If you do NOT receive this e-mail, please contact the society right away at calgen1898@calgensoc.org using the subject line “Response to CGS test” and, in the body of your e-mail, retype your correct and current e-mail address. We will respond to you.

When the last issue of the CGS Newsletter was snail-mailed last month, the society entered a new era of electronic communication. Obviously, we must have every member’s current e-mail address in order to effectively keep members up-to-date with society events and programs. We also are reminding you that if you manage personal e-mail on a work computer, CGS messages may be getting blocked.

Your membership e-mail and e-News e-mail have to be the same e-mail address for us. Please call us if you having difficulty with this requirement and we will help you find a resolution.

Members who do not have an e-mail address can arrange to receive a printed version of the e-News. Our records indicate that at this time, about seventy members fall into this category. Please note, members without an e-mail address will not be able to access the CGS members-only portion of the society’s website.

All CGS members without e-mail addresses on file will be contacted by telephone by a representative of the society to discuss this transition. We will be phoning members who fall into the following categories: those without e-mails; those whose e-mails have bounced back to us; those who have not opened the e-News, as far as this can be determined.

Wordless Wednesday

Intermediate Genealogy Series

Class 1 - Military Records
Susan Goss Johnston

Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey, Oakland, California, 1/20/2009