For Tom Gesner, the decision was helped along by some of his colleagues at the California Genealogical Society. Tom attended Hints On Publishing Your Family History, presented almost two years ago by Shirley Thomson, Jane Lindsey and Matt Berry. Tom concluded then that writing a book was something he could "really do."
The tangible result is Jacob Workman Gesner of New Brunswick and Massachusetts: His Ancestry and Descendants Through Three Generations. Jacob (1835-1920) was Tom's great-great grandfather. Tom estimates Jacob has hundreds of descendants.
A donated copy of the book sits on the shelves of the library and in it Tom has written, "In appreciation of the many helpful suggestions by CGS members, Tom Gesner, 15 Oct 2009." Tom told me that he also found Matt Berry's Microsoft Word Skills for Genealogists workshops extremely useful and he acknowledges Verne Deubler's support and helpful information.
The CGS Library holds one other GESNER title: The Gesner Family of New York and Nova Scotia: Together with Some Notes Concerning the Families of Bogardus, Brower, Ferdon, and Pineo by Anthon Temple Gesner. Written in 1912, Tom notes that the book details the story of the "progenitor of the North American Gesners" Johann Heinrich Gesner, who arrived at New Amsterdam in 1710. Tom's book is a continuation of one branch of the family.
Jacob Workman Gesner of New Brunswick and Massachusetts: His Ancestry and Descendants Through Three Generations, Thomas G. Gesner, Emeryville, California : Brookside Publishing, 2009.
ix, 112 p. : ill., ports., maps ; 23 cm. An account of the migration of Jacob Gesner and his children from New Brunswick to Fall River, Mass. $25. Available from Tom Gesner, P.O. Box 99281, Emeryville, CA 94662.
Copyright © 2010 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library
