Wordless Wednesday

Lunch hour at CGS

Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey, February 10, 2009, Oakland, California.

Joseph Durocher and 83,232 Other Reasons to Search Pre-1905 San Francisco Deaths

Words like "coincidence" and "synchronicity" crop up rather frequently in genealogy blogs. Usually they are used to describe ancestral finds of the Psychic Roots variety like the ones I've labeled serendipity on the CGSL blog. But today I had one of those weird, unexplainable connections with someone I've only met once and who lives about 400 miles away.

Pam Wiedenbeck and I met briefly last summer at the California State Genealogical Alliance breakfast on the second morning of the SCGS Jamboree. She started our little journey to the Twilight Zone from her home in the southern end of the state. Pam has been trying to break down one of her French-Canadian brick walls by systematically reviewing all of the pertinent documents and data. She stumbled upon my CGS business card just after reviewing an early San Francisco death and sent me this email:

Hi Kathryn,

We had a fairly lively discussion of death records in San Francisco for times prior to 1905. I had actually had fairly good luck in Salt Lake City finding one of my Michigan ancestors who died in San Francisco in 1902. Since I am working on a family mystery right now, I came across the record. It was in the "Mortuary Book of the City and County of San Francisco". This must have been indexed. Anyhow, the film number where I found my ancestor in SLC was 0975834. I found this record in 1998 -- and it unlocked alot for me. With this record, I was able to get a death certificate from SF County.

Anyhow -- thought you would like to know where I found this. If your society is indexing and publishing, this might be a road to travel.

Thanks again for last year's great discussion,
Pam Wiedenbeck, President, SCGS

What Pam didn't know is that CGS has traveled this exact road. After months of work, a new database – Pre-1905 San Francisco Deaths – is finally up and running. It's part of The California Names Index and I've been working on a series of blog posts about the CGS Research Committee and this collection of indexed records which can be searched on the society website.

Needless to say, I was surprised at the timing and I wrote back to Pam to ask her to put our new database to the test. I sent her the link to our website's California Names Index search page.

This is her result:


Joseph Durocher was a wooden ship builder who came to San Francisco to work and was killed in an industrial accident in 1902. Entry 7209 is the record number of the coroner's entry.

What I learned from Pam is that Joseph left his family behind in Michigan to look for work. He spent his whole life there but he died here. His death record is one of the 83,233 Pre-1905 Deaths that somehow managed to survive the devastating 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire which destroyed most of the vital records of the city.

Joseph's death record was found by a descendant 96 years later who told me today so I can tell you to go and search The California Names Index. And let me know if you find something unexpected.

How An Item in the Personals Led to a Photo I.D.

My favorite type of genealogical pastime is newspaper research. I've wiled away more hours than I care to admit scrolling through microfilmed papers borrowed through inter-library loan from the Pennsylvania State Library. Obituaries, legal notices, passenger arrivals and news articles provide important information and often point to documents needed for the search. But the really fun stuff resides in the personal columns – the collections of gossip often grouped by neighborhood or town – that offer glimpses into the lives of our ancestors.

Lookups volunteer Patricia Smith stumbled on to a personal item in an Indiana newspaper that led to an unexpected find when the California Genealogical Society acquired NewspaperARCHIVE.com last summer.

According to Pat, CGS President Jane Lindsey was helping her to navigate the site and found an item in the personals about the 50th anniversary of Pat's great-grandparents, Alanson and Laura Ross, in The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. It was published " Tuesday morning" January 2, 1917, under the headline "Pleasant Lake News."

Mr. and Mrs. Alson Ross celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary last Sunday and a public reception was given them at the home of their daughter, Mrs. Frank Chadwick, from 2 to 4 p.m. The Pleasant Lake concert orchestra furnished music during the afternoon. Mr. and Mrs. Ross were seated in the large window beautifully decorated for the occasion. Those present from a distance were: Mrs. Lucey Widney, of Auburn; Otto Ross and wife, of Louisville, Ky.; Bessie Cross of Fort Wayne; Mrs. Bert McNett and children of Nevada Mills; Donn Ross and wife of Monpelier, O. Miss Laura McEthenie sang "Put on Your Old Grey Bonnett." L.L. Matson gave a short eulogy on the couple and closed by reading Riley's "That Old Sweetheart of Mine." Mrs. Frank Chadwick gave a short poem on "Mother." Miss Helen Huffman read "When This Old Ring Was New" with Miss Maurine Huffman presiding at the piano. A vocal solo, "Silver Threads Among the Gold," was sung by Maurine Huffman. Light refreshments were served, after which the Ross family sang "Bless Be the Tie That Bonds," with the guests joining in the chorus. It is not often that a couple celebrates their fiftieth anniversary who are as supple and robust as Mr. and Mrs. Ross. Fred Fay was present and took the family picture.

Image from newspaperarchive.com.

The unexpected find happened when Pat went home and tried to decipher the family relationship of those named in the article. Pat explains:

I recognized the name "Mrs. Bert McNett" as that of my mother's cousin – Parepa Walker McNett – and I remembered that I had a family photograph that included her. When I retrieved it, I noticed that almost everyone mentioned in the article was in the photograph. On the back was written "Taken at Pleasant Lake, Indiana."

The family of Alanson and Laura Ross (left to right): Nellie Ross Chadwick, Alanson Ross, Don Ross, Parepa Walker McNett, Laura Ross, George McNett, Walker McNett, Bessie Ross Cross, Esther Westergren Ross, Ella Ritter Ross, Otto Ross, Gertie Ross and Harry Ross.

On closer inspection, I could see that it was taken in the winter – you can see some snow on the ground. Parepa's little boys were born about 1913 and 1915 and would have been approximately four and two years old, if this photo was taken in 1917, which looks about right. I also know that Perapa had a daughter born late in 1917 and although her waistline isn't totally visible, she doesn't appear to be pregnant, or if she was, she was not far enough along to show.

The news item states that Fred Fay took the family picture and I think, given the above information, that this photo was taken on that January day in 1917.

Do you have a great story about a find made at the CGS Library? If so, leave a comment. Inquiring minds want to know!

Wordless Wednesday

CGS Research "Look-ups" Volunteers

Patricia Smith, Lavinia Schwarz, Judy Bodycote-Thomas

Photographs by Kathryn M. Doyle, Oakland, California.

See You at the SoCal Genealogy Jamboree?

Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree
Burbank Airport Marriott and Convention Center
June 27-28, 2009

The Southern California Genealogy Jamboree blog is active again as Co-Chairs Paula Hinkle and Leo Myers and members of SCGS gear up for their annual meeting in June.

The 40th Annual Jamboree will be held Friday through Sunday, June 26-28, 2009, at the Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. The focus of this year's Jamboree is British Isles research – English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh.

Paula has posted an impressive list of speakers, including CGS members Ron Arons, Stephen Danko, Craig Manson, Cath Trindle and Marston Watson. I'm especially looking forward to seeing old genea-blogger friends and meeting new ones at Saturday's Summit 2: Son of Blogger.

This year the California Genealogical Society and Library will be sharing a table in the Exhibit Hall with either the California State Genealogical Alliance or the Federation of Genealogical Societies. I'll be sure to keep you informed as the details are worked out. We're looking for members to help staff the table so please send me an e-mail if you can help.

For detailed information about schedule, speakers, genealogy exhibitors and more, visit the Jamboree blog.