California Genealogical Society
and Library eNews
December 2008, Vol. 2, No. 12
Holiday Hours

Library CLOSED, December 24, 2008 - January 1, 2009

CGS reopens on Friday, January 2, 2009 at 10:00 a.m.


Desk Duty Meeting

Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at CGS

notebookA meeting of the Desk Duty Committee will be held on Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. The later time was chosen to accommodate BART travelers. Please bring a brown-bag lunch.

Agenda items include membership update, CGS computer changes, new library patron services, program information and new telephone service options.

A repeat meeting is scheduled for Saturday, December 13, 2008, at 9:30 a.m. for members who can not attend during the week.
 
Annual Membership Meeting

Saturday, January
10, 2009, 1:00 p.m. - CGS Library
Please join us for this important annual session. We will provide a review of 2008, plans for 2009, details about proposed research trips, seminars, membership meetings and workshops and much more. President Jane Lindsey, chair of the meeting, will make time for questions and answers. The agenda also includes brief committee reports, approval of the society budget and the annual election of new board members.

Light refreshments will be served at 12:30 p.m. before the meeting begins.
 
Intermediate Level Genealogy - Eight Sessions in 2009

Another Joint Venture with the Oakland Regional Family History Center
Oakland Regional FHC artThe class schedule has been finalized for the Intermediate Course in Genealogy following the success of the recent beginners' classes held during Family History Month. A total of fifty students took advantage of the classes offered jointly by the California Genealogical Society and the Oakland Regional Family History Center.

The Intermediate Course will consist of eight sessions and will be offered twice - on Saturday, at the CGS Library and on the following Tuesday, at the Family History Center. All classes are from 10:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. The same instructors and handouts will be at both sessions and students can attend classes at either (or both) facilities.

Classes begin on Saturday, January 17, 2009 at the CGS Library with Military Records taught by genealogy instructor and military records specialist Susan Goss Johnston.

The full schedule includes the following topics:
January 17 & 20:  Military Records
January 24 & 27:  Probate and Guardianship Records
January 31 & February 3: Land and Property Maps, and Gazetteer
February 7 & 10:  Church and Cemetery Records
February 14 & 17:  No classes
February 21 & 24:  Newspaper Research
February 28 & March 3:  Reading and Transcribing the Handwriting of Colonial America
March 7 & 10 - No classes
March 14 & 17:  Immigration, Passenger Lists, Naturalizations and Passports
March 21 & 24:  Other People Finders, Continuing Education and Giving Back

Preregistration is necessary to insure adequate handouts. The course fee is $15 to cover the cost of materials. Individual sessions cost $2 each. Register by telephone 510-531-3905 or E-mail.

Please prepay the materials fee by check, payable to ORFHC. Send to the Oakland Regional Family History Center, 4766 Lincoln Avenue, Oakland CA 94602, attention: Marge Bell. Indicate "Intermediate Class" in the memo field.


Illustration: "The Family Tree" by local artist Lyn White, from the cover of the Oakland Regional Family History Center brochure.
Scots-Irish Research Seminar - Save the Date!

Saturday, March 7, 2009, 9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Please help spread the word!

Celtic CrossThe California Genealogical Society and Library and the Ulster Historical Foundation will present a full day Scots-Irish Family History Research Seminar on Saturday, March 7, 2009, at the new Oakland Airport Holiday Inn, 77 Hegenberger Road, Oakland, California.

Fintan Mullan, Executive Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation and Dr. Brian Trainor, former Director of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) and former Research Director of the Ulster Historical Foundation will present several lectures, including: Emigration from the North of Ireland to North America in the 18th Century, Records Relating to the Different Churches in Ireland, Irish and Scots-Irish Research: 'Not Always at the Bottom of the Pile' and The Ulster Plantation: Sources for 17th Century Families.

Full details and registration information will be available in the program flier which will be included in the January CGS Newsletter and will be available at the CGS website on December 15, 2008.

Watch for a special "early bird" registration price - $10 off if you register before January 15, 2009.
 
Ninth Annual Tour to Salt Lake City Announced

March 29, 2009 - April 5, 2009

SLCThe dates have been set for the ninth annual California Genealogical Society Salt Lake City Research Tour. As in previous years, the tour will run from Sunday to Sunday, March 29, 2009 to April 5, 2009. CGS President Jane Lindsey and CGS Research Director Nancy Peterson return as volunteer leaders of this very popular trip to the Family History Library.

The tour package includes:
* Hotel room (7 nights, double occupancy)
* Shuttle service to and from the airport
* Three group dinners (Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday)
* Orientation meeting and several lectures
* Optional assistance at CGS prior to the trip
* Computer assistance
* Hotel shuttle to library, if needed
* Continental breakfast included

Accommodations will be at the Shilo Inn, located three blocks from the Family History Library. The Shilo provides free high-speed internet access in every room.

The cost is $680 (airfare not included.) A deposit of $200 holds one space. Download the tour flier and registration form for full details.

Beyond the Bay in 2009

Expanding "Member Coffees" to Include a Speaker   
CGS hopes to expand membership outreach to include a program with speaker in addition to coffee and fellowship. Up to three "CGS On the Road" events may be planned for 2009 in locations where CGS has a cluster of members, pending local volunteer assistance.

Places under consideration include Santa Rosa, San Jose and the San Joaquin area. E-mail Jane Lindsey or call the society at 510-663-1358 if you would like to help plan an event in your area.
 
Fort Wayne, Indiana Tour August 16, 2009. Sign Up Now!

Allen County Public Library - August 16-23, 2009

The fourth CGS Research Tour to the Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, Indiana, is being planned for August 16-23, 2009. Join CGS President Jane Lindsey for a week at the best public genealogy library in the United States.

Space is limited to fifteen participants. To ensure the minimum tour requirement of ten participants is met, a $200 deposit is required by June 15, 2009. The trip will be canceled if we do not have the minimum, so please E-mail Jane Lindsey if you are interested in attending. The tour brochure will be available on the CGS website before mid-December and will be included in the December CGS Newsletter.

In Memory

Frederick Sterling "Rick" Sherman (1928-2008)

Rick ShermanFriend, colleague and CGS Past-President Rick Sherman died on Monday, October 27, 2008. A memorial service will be held at the Berkeley City Club Ballroom, 2315 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, California, on Saturday, December 20, 2008 at 2:00 p.m., . The U.C. Berkeley News published Frederick Sherman, leading expert on high altitude gas dynamics, dies at 80. The U.C. Mechanical Engineering Department put up a memorial Web page
Frederick S. Sherman has died.

Suggested Links

One Good Deed Returns Another

Finding Ancestors Using DAR Chapter Webpages

Patent Search at Google Provides New Ancestral Locality

Tracing Hard-to-Find Ancestors in the British Isles by Religion by Arlene Eakle

Cybrarian: 10 Ways a Search Can Go Wrong by Drew Smith [This free download from the Nov./Dec. 2008 issue of Digital Genealogistmay be a limited-time offer.]

New Year's Genealogy Resolution: Organization

Sorting Things Out by Pat Richley

Organizing Digital Files by Kimberly Powell

Staying Organized When Time is Limited by Juliana Smith

Organizing Stories into a Book or Booklet by
Emily Aulicino

CGS Ancestors

Photo Tributes to the CGS Family


This month's CGS Ancestor Photo was submitted by Dick Rees. Dick made this composite of the Tupper family from digital images of the original tintypes.


Tupper Family


These are the nine children of Solon and Nancy Cook Tupper of East Douglas, Massachusetts and Bakersfield, Vermont. Nelson, the eldest son, was born in 1841 and the youngest, Francis, in 1855. The tintypes were doubtless all made on the same day, probably by an itinerant photographer. There were actually ten children but one died in infancy before the photographs were made.


Josephine (center, bottom) was my great-grandmother. I remember her visiting us when I was about only about four or five. At the age of 86 she embarked on a bus trip to see some of her children! My grandmother's brother lived, I think, in North Carolina at the time and she went to see him and then to my grandmother in New Haven. She died in 1942 and my parents took me to Vermont for the funeral.

Josephine was an interesting woman. She once asked my grandfather to take her to visit the writer and poet, Ella Wheeler Wilcox. He was amazed to learn that his mother-in-law knew Mrs. Wilcox. "I don't," she replied, "but I soon will." Mrs. Wilcox was probably astonished at the stranger who rang the doorbell of her summer home, but Josephine was invited to come in and have tea in the garden. She and Ella Wheeler Wilcox did become friends - they got together whenever my great-grandmother was visiting from Vermont. When Mrs. Wilcox died in 1919, she specified that her funeral service was to be held from my grandfather's funeral home, a great boost for his business.

-Dick Rees


If you would like to see your CGS Ancestor featured in a future edition of the CGS e-News, please e-mail your image and include a brief description.


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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.