California Genealogical Society
and Library eNews
June 2008, Vol. 2, No. 6
Scandinavian Research Workshop

Saturday, June 14, 2008, 10:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
CGS Library: 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California
Map ScandinaviaThe second in a series of CGS Research Workshops takes place this Saturday, June 14, 2008, and will focus on Scandinavian ancestors from Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Please join our specialists Laura Spurrier (Danish), Patricia Smith (Swedish) and Gloria Hanson (Norwegian) as they examine Scandinavian research techniques and share sources and tips. Topics will include border changes, census records, church books and immigration information - where immigrants settled in the U.S. - and more. Handouts will be provided.

The workshop day will include a panel discussion, a lunch break and an informal work session so attendees can share ideas, do some computer research and consult one-on-one with Gloria, Pat and Laura. Members are encouraged to bring laptop computers; the six CGS computers may not all be available for the program.

Reservations are required; no walk-ins will be permitted. 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.

Don't miss this opportunity to learn new strategies and meet other members with similar research interests.

CGS Coffee and Exhibit Hall Table at Jamboree!

Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree - June 27-28, 2008
Burbank Airport Marriott and Convention Center, Burbank, California

"Solve Your Family History Puzzle" is the theme of the 39th Annual SCGS Jamboree. More than 1200 registrants have signed up to hear thirty-seven speakers present more than eighty sessions.

A CGS Membership Coffee will be held on Friday morning, June 27, from 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. in Sunset A and B in the Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel and Convention Center. Jamboree attendees and members who live in the Los Angeles area are invited to join CGS President Jane Lindsey for an update on society events. Please be sure to let us know if you can come.

The California Genealogical Society is also sponsoring Membership Table # 710 in the Exhibit Hall next to the California State Genealogical Alliance.

For detailed information about schedule, speakers, exhibitors and more, visit the Jamboree blog, written by CGS member, past-president of the Southern California Genealogical Society and Co-Chair of this year's Jamboree, Paula Hinkel.
Alameda County Fair Genealogy Booth

June 20, 2008 - July 6, 2008
Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton, California
Volunteers Needed!
The Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society (L-AGS) is seeking workers for the annual Genealogy Booth at the 2008 Alameda County Fair. This is the ninth year that the society is staffing the booth in the fair's Technology Adventures Building at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, located at Valley Avenue and Bernal Avenue in Pleasanton, California. CGS member and L-AGS Fair Booth Coordinator, Kay Speaks, sent the following message:

"We are inviting other genealogy societies, DAR Chapters, FHC docents, historical societies and library genealogy docents to join us in this fun and very rewarding endeavor. Want to reserve an entire day for your organization? Please contact the fair booth coordinator to reserve a convenient date."

The genealogy booth is one of the most popular attractions at the seventeen-day fair, where hundreds of people get their first exposure to the genealogy bug. The booths are equipped with computers, laser printers and Internet access. Each session has three research docents and two greeters scheduled. Many volunteers, like CGS member Lorna Wallace, have wonderful stories to share from past years, so organizers are promoting the event as "An Experience You Will Want to Repeat Year After Year."

The Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society serves the cities of Livermore, Pleasanton and Dublin and surrounding areas in the Livermore and Amador Valleys of southeastern Alameda County, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The society was formed in June 1977 by student participants of a Livermore Adult Education Class. General meetings are held at 7:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month at Congregation Beth Emek, 3400 Nevada Court, Pleasanton. The Society, in cooperation with the City of Pleasanton Library, maintains the largest collection of genealogical materials in the Valley, numbering over 1000 books.
A Day of Irish Information with Nora Keohane Hickey

Wednesday, July 9, 2008, 9:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Berkeley Yacht Club, 1 Seawall Drive, Berkeley, California

Nora Hickey The California Genealogical Society is pleased to present  A Day of Irish Information with internationally known author and speaker, Nora Keohane Hickey, at the Berkeley Yacht Club.

Ms. Hickey, a native of Cork, Ireland, is the founder and director of the Irish Genealogical Project.  She visits the U.S. several times each year to lecture.  She has prepared four talks to help beginners and experts alike with their Irish research.

Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. Lectures start promptly at 10:00 a.m.
The program:
10:00   Debunking some myths of Irish genealogy
11:15   Extracting all the important information you can from Griffith's Valuation
12:15   Break for lunch and book sales
 1:15    Little-known and under-used Irish genealogical sources
 2:15    Common problems in Irish genealogy

Nora will also provide Personal Consultations on Thursday, July 10, 2008, at the CGS Library.  The fee is $15.00 for fifteen minutes.

Registrants can opt to bring their own lunch or pre-pay for a boxed lunch which includes a sandwich, salad, drink and cookie for $10. For further information about the event and to schedule a Personal Consultation with Nora Hickey, download the event flier and reservation form.

The deadline is approaching so please send your registration form today!

Nora M. Hickey was educated at Loreto College, Manchester, England. After returning to Ireland in 1974, she studied history and philosophy at St. Patrick's College, Maynooth, a constituent college of the National University of Ireland. Her B.A. thesis was genealogical: a study of the Norman family, the de Berminghams of Leinster. As a founder member of the Federation of Local History Societies, she was Honorary Editor of Local History Review for many years. An early member of the Irish Family History Society, Nora also acted for some years as the Honorary Editor of Irish Family History.

Her publications include: Going to Ireland: A Genealogical Researcher's Guide; Kinsale Historical Journals; Kinsale: Glimpses of a Town through the Years and The Battle of Kinsale.  She has also writen many articles, historical and genealogical, published in many journals in two continents.

July Membership Meeting: Breaking Down Brick Walls

Saturday, July 12, 2008, 1:30 p.m.
CGS Library, 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California

Brick WallMembership Meeting: Breaking Down Brick Walls:
A Panel Discussion with Jane Hufft, Nancy Peterson and Lavinia Schwarz

Three CGS members will present their tools for breaking down brick walls at the July membership meeting. Using real-life examples, our panel will offer their tried-and-true methods for solving your research challenges. There will be handouts for the audience and time for questions and answers.

Nancy Peterson is the CGS Research Director and author of Raking the Ashes, Genealogical Strategies for pre-1906 San Francisco Research.  Nancy is a Stanford graduate and certified genealogist.

Lavinia Schwarz's unique journey into the archives of New Orleans in search of her great-great grandmother, a free woman of color, yielded many important strategies for breaking down not only brick walls, but the invisible walls that so often block our reasoning. Lavinia graduated from Cal with an English major and holds a master's in education.

Jane Hufft, editor of the CGS Newsletter, has had several articles appear in genealogical publications and has been at work on her own research for many years, developing strategies that go from the paper card catalog days of the Salt Lake City Family Library to the Internet. A Cal graduate in sociology and former school administrator, Jane has a master's in education.

Join us for this informative and lively panel discussion designed to help you solve those puzzles that are hindering your research.
New England Historic Genealogical Society Research Trip

Boston, Massachusetts, September 21-28, 2008
NEHGS library It's time to sign up for the autumn California Genealogical Society Research Trip to the New England Historic Genealogical Society library, the week of September 21-28, 2008.

CGS President and past NEHGS Trustee, Jane Lindsey and Jerome Anderson, long-time researcher at NEHGS will co-lead this biennial society trip to Boston, Massachusetts.

Accommodations are at the John Hancock Hotel and Conference Center in the Copley Square area of downtown Boston, located about three blocks from NEHGS.


The tour begins on Sunday evening with a brief orientation. Since the NEHGS library is closed Mondays, participants will have the option that day of visiting the Massachusettes State Archives, Suffolk or Middlesex County courthouses, or other repositories, including, the Massachusettes Historical Society or Boston Public Library.

The Tour Package includes:
* Hotel room (7 nights, double occupancy)
* Daily light continental breakfast
* Sunday evening orientation
* Free day Monday to visit your choice of several repositories
* Shuttle service to and from the airport
* Two group dinners (Monday and Saturday) at local restaurants
* Optional pre-trip consultations with Jane Lindsey
* On-site lectures - to be announced

The cost is $1075.00 (airfare not included.) A deposit of $200 is required by June 28, 2008, to hold one space. The trip registration brochure (also sent with the May CGS News) gives the full details and a description of the cancellation and refund policy.

The first group dinner will be on Monday evening. NEHGS is open 9:00 a.m to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Thursday. The Boston Public Library, near the hotel, is open until 9:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The BPL has an excellent microtext department with a wonderful newspaper collection.
Suggested Links

2010 census - Will Genealogists Care in 2082?

Dick Eastman: The Care and Feeding of Flash Drives

Diablo Descendants - Contra Costa County Genealogical Society June Newsletter

Bluebonnet Country Genealogy
Ruth Stevens at Bluebonnet Country Genealogy had a roller coaster week as she first reported the disappearance of the Texas Death Index 1890-1976 database, then its return, then the stunning news that the database now includes images of the actual death certificates. Texas Deaths, 1890-1976 is one of the newest * offerings at FamilySearch Labs. Ruth also features three certificates she found from one day in Dallas: President John F. Kennedy, Officer J.D. Tippett and Lee Harvey Oswald.

Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi
Terry Thornton, historian, genealogist and retired university professor, is the author of the Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi blog. This week's "best of" post: Harvest from Blog Garden, June 7, is a nice introduction for those of you who are still wet behind the blog-ears.

GeneaBlogie
Craig Manson, of Carmichael, California, is a law and public policy professor and the author of GeneaBlogie: "an occasional journal chronicling the author's adventures in genealogy and the exploration of his American family of families." In his post The Joys of Indexing, Craig gives easy instructions on how to get involved in the FamilySearch Indexing project - a timely read since CGS will soon be sponsoring a project of its own.
CGS Ancestors

Photo Tributes to the CGS Family
Tilton Clan

This month's CGS Ancestor Photo was submitted by Charnee Smit:

"This is a photo of nine of the 13 children of Elijah Tilton and Eliza Claw (or Clow). The eldest, seated second from left, is my great-great grandmother, Deborah Tilton Frost. Poor Grandma Debbie is misidentified in many, many genealogies because of a typographical error in a book which names her Deborah Tifton. Of course, that sets up a brick wall for anyone who tries to find her parents!

Grandma was born in Knox County, Ohio in 1821. After she and Joseph Perry Frost married in 1837, they moved with her family to Ogle County, Illinois for a year.  Then in 1858, they relocated to Iowa, then later to Breckenridge Co., Kansas, where she died in 1910.

I like this photo because the Tilton siblings all look so much alike.  It was only by looking at other photos carefully that I could identify Elizabeth Tilton Dailey (far left, seated) and Louisa Tilton Stratford (to the right of the cameo insert).  I don't know
which of the four male siblings are in the photo. I suspect the one on the far right is Nathaniel, the second child and oldest of the boys."

If you would like to see your CGS Ancestor featured in a future edition of the CGS eNews, please email your image to CGSpublicity@gmail.com and include a brief description.
Did you miss these posts in the CGS blog?
California Genealogical Society and Library
A Northern California Genealogy Resource
Oakland, CA 94612-3031

Founded February 12, 1898 in San Francisco, CGS, a non-profit, all-volunteer organization that seeks to aid, educate and encourage research in family history, is presently located in Oakland, California. The society maintains a library, gathers and preserves vital records and disseminates information through publications, meetings, seminars, workshops, its Web site, blog and online catalog.