Saddleback
Valley Trails
South Orange County California
Genealogical Society
Vol. 14 No. 4
Editor: Mary Jo McQueen
April
2007
P.O.
Box 4513, Mission Viejo, CA. 92690
Monthly
meetings are held on the third Saturday of each month from 10:00 a.m. to Noon at
the Mission Viejo Family History Center Institute Building, 27978 Marguerite
Parkway, Mission Viejo, between Medical Center Drive and Hillcrest Drive.
Membership is open to anyone interested in genealogy. Individual membership fees
are $20 per calendar year, $25 for joint membership. SOCCGS is not affiliated
with the LDS Family History Center.
GENERAL
MEETING – April 21, 2007
INTERNET RESEARCH FOR
GENEALOGISTS
Presented
By
Leland Pound
In this presentation Mr. Pound will cover
ways the Internet has changed the methods used to do family history
research. He will explore the
positive changes, as well as the pitfalls.
We will learn how easy it is to access numerous original records, to use
indexes that may contain errors, and to determine the correct
information.
Lee has been researching his own family
for the past 35 years, both in courthouses and on the Internet. He has used the
Internet to view both Census and primary records; and to explore secondary
materials for clues to ancestral information. Mr. Pound is the author of three
family histories.
2007
CALENDAR
May 19 –
Michael Kratzer, “Genealogy on EBay.”
June 16 –
Alan Jones, “Bakers Dozen, 13 websites we should all know and
use.”
July 21 –
Ivan C. Johnson, “British Naming Patterns.”
August 18
– Penny Feike, “Court Records.”
September
15 – Joan Rambo, “Land & Tax Records.”
October 20
– John Colletta, Family History Seminar
November
17, Nancy Carlberg
December
15 – Holiday Party
MARCH
MEETING
Again, our monthly meeting attendance was
over seventy members and guests. Liz Myers topic, “Ohio: Gateway To The West”
proved to be very popular. June Moyer and Barbara Wilgus provided the delicious
treats.
Bill Bluett announced that Jack Naylor
would replace Francie Kennedy as New-member Membership Chairman. He also noted
that Eileen Merchant could no longer serve as Hospitality Chairman. We need a
member to accept the responsibility
of coordinating the “goodie” volunteers, and setting up the refreshment table at
each meeting. This is an easy way to contribute to your Society. PLEASE CALL
BILL! (949) 492-9408) Sandy Crowley announced a project in which she is
involved. Habitat for Humanity of Orange County is building a new community of
homes in San Juan Capistrano. These are “Homes for Heroes” for veterans with
combat-related injuries. Information is available at http://www.habitatoc.org or call Sandy, (949) 589-2328. The SOCCGS
treasury is richer by $247.00, courtesy of the Fremont Savings Deposit Incentive
Program. Three members have deposits that incurred this donation at no cost to
the depositor. Members wishing information on this program please call Mary Jo
McQueen. (949) 581-0690.
SAFARI NEWS
Instead of the Safari this month we will
support the Orange Family History
Center’s Family History Fair on Saturday, April 28. Great speakers with a
wide variety of topics are scheduled. The hours for the event are 8:00 a.m. to
5:00 p.m. There is no charge for the classes, however the Class Syllabus in
$10.00 and Box Lunch is $7.25, if desired. Class information and registration
form can be found on the OFHC website: http://www.zroots.com/OFHC.htm. Forms are also available at the SOCCGS
Library. Please contact Bill Bluett if you are interested in car-pooling. Phone:
(949) 492-9408 or billbluett@cox.net.
A man finds
room in the few square inches of his face for the traits of all his Ancestors,
for the expression of all his history, and his wants. ~Ralph Waldo
Emerson
PRESIDENT’S
MESSAGE
~Bill
Bluett
When
Caroline Rober gave her presentation to SOCCGS in February, she mentioned the
NARA (National Records and Archives Administration) website at www.glorecords.blm.gov/. That
brought to mind the research I have done through this site. If you have not
explored it, and you have an ancestor that acquired government land, you should.
This is one of the “Favorite Websites” on the genealogy library computers. You
can also access these websites in the comfort of your home by going to www.rootsweb.com/~casoccgs/favorites.html.
When you
open the Bureau of Land Management website, click on Land Patent Search near the
top of the page. It will ask for your postal zip code. A page will open where
you can search by state, surname and first name. If you find an ancestor listed,
click on the name. You will then see the legal land description as well as the
image of the Land Patent document that your ancestor filed (if the image is
available). This document holds the signature of the President of the United
States. You can print this image or order a copy (on paper or parchment) for
$2.00.
However, this is only the beginning! You can actually research
more information regarding all of the documents that were filed to process this
land acquisition. Once you find the Legal Land Description on this website, you
can order a copy of all the documents in the file located in Washington D.C. The
National Archives in Laguna Niguel has a form (NATF 84), which can be filled out
and submitted, for a fee of $17.75. In several weeks, you should receive a
packet containing anywhere from 10 to 25 pages of documents from the archived
folder. Be aware that this fee, and other fees, may be increased by the end of
May 2007. See Mary Jo’s article in this newsletter about the proposed
increase by NARA.
This is
what I discovered at the BLM website. James W. Bluett, my great-grandfather,
filed for a Washington Territory homestead in 1883. The land was located south
of Spokane. After submitting the form, I received a packet containing 29 pages
of documents! Many are filled out in his handwriting, and signed. There is a
Testimony of Claimant (filled out by James), and two Testimony of Witness
statements (by neighbors or friends) that verified the family was living on, and
working, the 160 acres. My great-grandfather’s statement gave detailed
information about the house, furniture, barn, well, fencing, farm implements,
and crops; as well as the 100 fruit trees, which they had planted. Also, the
witnesses touched upon a great deal of detailed information in their
testimonies. You can imagine the vivid picture painted by all of this data. I
can almost visualize the farm in 1889, when the FINAL PROOF OF CLAIM was filed
in Spokane. Now, the land legally belonged to the Bluett
family!
I was
fortunate to receive a packet containing so much detail. This may not be the
case for all files, but you don’t know what may be found unless you order the
documents. I enjoy searching out more detail about ancestors. It gives me a more
personal picture regarding their character and the lives they lived during those
times. Because of this type of research I have a greater appreciation for the
sacrifices and hardships that they endured for future
generations.
Check it
out. See what kind of information you can uncover about your ancestor’s
government land acquisitions. You may find some interesting and fun “stuff “
hidden away in those archived files.
MEMBERSHIP
Nine family history enthusiasts joined our
group in March, making eighteen new members since January 1. We extend them a
special welcome. The newest members are: Gerald Baglin, Mission Viejo, papou@cox.net;
Billie May Bowron,
North Dakota rundog@rad.midco.net; Wanda
Jazayeri, Laguna Niguel,
wpjaz@uci.edu; Robert & Melbournea
Pittman, Laguna Niguel,
melba_bird@yahoo.com; Julie
Richards, Rancho Santa
Margarita, julierichards@cox.net; Beverly
Thornton, Mission Viejo,
john.bev@cox.net; Shiryl
Boerlin, Lake Forest, TaxiTaxi@aol.com; Nancy
Consentino, Lake Forest,
n.consentino@cox.net; Elma
Massie, Laguna Hills,
(949) 215-5116.
QUERY
Looking for George Caldwell, born: 1859,
WI and wife Anna (Clark), born: 1878, Ill. They once lived in Orange, Orange Co,
Ca. Had Children: Charles H, born 1905, ND and Marjorie G, born: 1908, ND and
Ruth Catherine, born 1911, CA. Believe they moved from ND to CA, sometime before
1911, before Ruth was born. Please email me at: rundog8@rap.midco.net. Thank you. Billie May
Bowron
A Wonderful Map of the United States. A
Must See!
(Pat Weeks)
This is one of the best maps I have seen showing the growth and history of the United States. Click on play to see the movie. http://www.animatedatlas.com/movie.html
He said,
“La-Brier.” I said,
“La-Brew-Air.”
~Pat Weeks
Some years ago, while manning the desk at our SOCCGS library in Mission
Viejo, a patron began talking to me about his research frustrations. “Bill” told
me his research had gone very well until he found an ancestor who had moved to
Illinois in the very early days.
His quest was halted by his inability to find the connection of this
ancestor to a German immigrant with the name, La
Brier.
There he was, so full of excitement with
the previous research, but frustrated with the inability to find out more about
this German origin. He told me all
about the Briar family; how they came over from Germany, what they did for a
living, and how they settled in western Illinois just when that area was
opening. The more he talked the more my curiosity grew. My family had settled in
that same region when it was part of New France. I asked him to specifically pinpoint
where his early Illinois Briers settled. Then, I immediately knew he was not
talking about a German settler; but a French Canadian family named Normand
dit LaBruyere. In 1747
Louis Normand dit LaBruyere had married an Indian woman there in Kaskaskia
.
Needless to say, my tidbit of information set Bill on a frenzied search
for new data concerning his family.
He even wrote a lovely history which was grabbed up by the Alberta Canada
LaBrier website. So, Bill and I are cousins, at least through that Indian
alliance. If you ever find a French Canadian in your research, you are related
to all other researchers with French Canadian ties. It is 99%
guaranteed!
SERENDIPITY
~Mary Jo McQueen
Member, Dean
Duet, has been searching
five years for a major piece of his genealogical puzzle. This missing segment
was his grandfather, Louis Burgau, also known as “Butts.” Dean knew that his dad
had been raised by an aunt and uncle, supposedly because Louis was incarcerated in a Federal prison on charges of illegally
transporting
cigarettes across state lines. (Hence, the
nickname Butts!) Dean had little information about his father, but had obtained
his social security application, which gave the names of his parents, Edgar
Louis Burgau and Matilda Hotard. The death certificate also gave the same
information.
This enigma led Dean to create a FTM Home Page so that other researchers
could contact him with Duet/Burgau information. At this time he had only
researched back to 1850.
Even though Dean has been a member of SOCCGS for some time, he attended
his first meeting this past February where he heard Caroline Rober speak on
“Courthouse Research.” (This is where the Serendipity begins!) Because of this meeting he made plans
to travel to New Orleans on his way back to California from a business meeting
in Orlando, Florida in order to do some “Courthouse
Research.”
Before leaving the hotel in Orlando he decided to check his home email.
This message jumped right out, “Hi, I am the granddaughter of Mary Estelle
Burgau. Her parent’s names were Edgar & Mathilda Burgau. I am trying to find
out if we are part of the Duet/Burgau Family of New Orleans.” As it turns out, Dean and this newfound
cousin share great grandparents. Her grandmother and his grandfather were
siblings.
Since Dean had already made plans to see another cousin in New Orleans,
to check the courthouse records, he asked if all three of them could meet. He
told her that they were going to attempt to find the burial place of his
grandfather. She replied, “Oh, I know just where he is buried and also his
father, our great grandfather.” (More Serendipity!)
After returning
home, Dean received an exciting message. At the National Archives in Baton Rouge
his cousin found Edgar Burgau’s birth certificate naming his parents, Jean
Burgau and Estell Ramos. Now, Dean has his great great grandparents identities
and the family line back to 1799 in France!
How serendipitous was it that Dean checked his email before
going to New Orleans…..…..and finally attended a SOCCGS meeting?
NEW ADDITIONS AT THE
LIBRARY
*Thank you to Judith Bryant who donated
three books relating to Warren County, Iowa:
*SOCCGS has purchased Researching
Scots-Irish Ancestors: The Essential Genealogical Guide to Early Modern Ulster,
1600-1800 by William J.
Roulston. Dr. Schweitzer at the October Seminar recommended this
book.
SURNAME LIST
http://www.rootsweb.com/~casoccgs/surnames.htm
Herb Abrams is updating the SOCCGS Surname Listing on the Website. Please
check your information, and if corrections and/or additions are necessary notify
Herb (hvabrams@cox.net New members are especially encouraged to add
their Surnames to this list.
Zadock, You’re the
Best!
Adventures in
Genealogy
~Diane Walters
Hearne
Dear Mary,
I’m so glad that you’re ready to begin
genealogy research. Here are some tips for you from my genealogical quest thus
far. I have divided the information
into sections: Names and their pitfalls; Learning about places and cultures;
Lies and interesting discoveries; Clues from letters and diaries; Internet
opportunities; and, finally, Joy of the quest.
First, be wary of names.
If lucky, you’ll have a few good ones like my favorite ancestor,
Zadock West
(1773-1834). I look at a tax list from Monroe, Ohio and see many West’s listed,
but behold, only one Zadock. His
son Zadock might be listed, but a generation apart is usually pretty easy to
determine.
My thinking is that scenes from the 1800s
in England went something like this:
Sarah Colley: “Guess what, Sister;
we’re expecting a little bundle in May.”
Elizabeth Colley: “That will be fun
because your bundle will have a cousin the same month!”
Sarah: “If they’re boys, let’s name them both
Joseph, cute little brothers for your daughter Elizabeth and my
Sarah.”
Elizabeth: “Good idea, I like it so
much I think I’ll name my next daughter Sarah, after
you.”
Sarah: “Thank you, I’ll return the
compliment. We only have six children so far, but I’m sure there will be
more.”
Or:
William: “David, now that you’ve been a
widower for six months, I hear you’re going to marry again and provide a new
mother for your children.”
David, “Yes, I’m going to wed Elizabeth
Lewis. Isn’t it a coincidence that
she has the same first name as my dear first wife, and was actually born in the
same year?”
Meanwhile, 200 years later, a struggling
genealogist is tearing out her hair.
Is the Elizabeth in the 1861 census the first wife or the second? If she was the first, then she’s my
direct ancestor, if not, we’re not related in any way.
Surnames are not much easier. Most of my surnames are pretty common:
Steele, Hoffert, Keller, Myers, Walters, Welch, Garrison, West, Wharton and
Williams. My Colley’s from England
have a more unusual name.
Some surnames, which I like for their
research value, are Blackshaw, Schrader and Schoenborn. The difficulty is that they’re often
misspelled and unrecognizable. This is where thinking outside the box helps.
Apparently, the government paid census takers for the number of houses they
visited in a day. If the worker was
looking forward to lunch, or suffering tired feet at the end of the day, he
might not have been careful about spellings. I am told that if a family wasn’t home,
the census taker might go next door and hear something like this: “Oh, the Schrader’s, well I think they
have eight children, there’s Sarah who’s about eight, Samuel who looks to be
three… Spelling, I guess it’s
probably S-h-r-a-t-e-r.”
You probably think I need to get a life, but I can’t begin to describe
the thrill of discovering a brand new surname on my family tree. If you search for all the siblings of
your ancestor in the census, you’re likely to find (in the days before we put
our elderly away in homes) a grandmother living with her daughter and
son-in-law. Gwenlillian Cole is
living with daughter Sarah and son-in-law William Rees. Voila! Cole! A new surname to
pursue!
Be wary of name changes. My husband, Pat’s, father and brother changed
their surname from Hearn to Hearne due to a misspelling on a paycheck. Levi Walter came back from the Civil War
being called Levi Walters because it was easier to say.
I love learning about the places my
ancestors lived, and what their lives were like. Professional genealogists have identified
several trails across the United States followed by migrant families. I found
Pat’s Hearn ancestors moving right along from North Carolina to Tennessee to
Missouri to Texas, from 1790 to 1850. My Colley family emigrated from Wales, to
Utica, New York, to Dayton, Ohio, to San Francisco following their children who
moved ahead of them. Before the 1900s, families often moved together and if you
look carefully at the census pages, before and after, you’ll often find other
relatives. It’s easy to get sidetracked and begin looking up the history of the
places the families chose to live.
After finding Bernard Walter’s name on the
ship the Loyal Judith,
crossing the Atlantic in 1732 from Germany to Philadelphia, I couldn’t help but
read up on the conditions of ships during that time and the problems of the
Palatine in their part of Germany.
I wanted to know what caused them to leave.
If we could choose where our ancestors
lived, and their religion, I recommend Quakers in Buck’s County, PA. It was there that I found my Blackshaw,
Wharton and Welch families. The rich information in the Quaker Monthly Minutes
is fascinating reading. Here are few examples from the Falls Monthly Meeting,
Men’s Minutes.
“1/3/1689 Committee to speak with Joseph
Clowes who pretends to claim promises from Rachell.
5/4/1689 – Joseph Clowes and Rachell Baker
have acquitted each other. She may
proceed with her marriage.
2/8/1689 – Reported that Roger Hawkins is
dead and buried and few of the neighbors aware of it.
5/2/1693 Complaint by Peter Worrall that
Sarah the wife of William Clowes had raised or spread some scandalous reports to
the defaming of his wife. Complaint
by Joseph Henbey against Wm. Beaks for detaining a small debt due to him. Reported that John Chapman’s family
lives in necessity.
7/2/1770 – Falls Meeting reports that
James Welsh hath gone out in marriage with a woman not of our society.
{Disowned}
1/5/1771 – Falls reports that John
Wharton, Jur. hath been guilty of fornication with a woman {Mary} to whom he is
now married.” (How many soap opera
plots do you count?)
If your people are like mine, it’s
possible to find some who “strayed from the truth.”
Pat’s mother, Virginia, and grandmother, Mayme, always said that George
Bailey, Virginia’s father, died in a duck hunting accident. Mayme always said,
“Water filled his boots and he drowned,” The implication was, that George, or
Mr. Bailey as Mayme called him, died when Virginia was about four years old.
Before the “accident”, they lived in Pocatello, Idaho, moving to California
around 1912.
For a year, I searched in vain trying to
find George’s death certificate. A George Bailey died in 1928 in Power County,
Idaho, but I knew that couldn’t be my George; Pocatello is in Bannock County and
my George died in 1912. Mayme and
Virginia said he was born in Iowa, but not knowing his birth year, and the fact
that his name wasn’t even close to Zadock, clouded the
picture.
Finally, I used a wonderful resource
called RAOGK (Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness), which offers volunteers who
will research at no cost. A volunteer in Pocatello sent me a package of
clippings on the death of George Bailey in 1928, in a fishing accident in the
American Falls Reservoir in Power County, Idaho. Three men perished and the
story was front-page news for days. The articles stated that George, divorced,
lived at the Elks Club at the time of his death, and had a daughter, Virginia,
living in Los Angeles. Another
lesson to be learned here, Virginia never lived in Los Angeles, it was Santa
Ana.
When I told this story to our
grandchildren, my daughter, Deirdre exclaimed, “Grandmother always said her
father died duck hunting.” I retold
the true story chuckling at her response, which provides an insight into the
veracity of family lore. “I like the duck hunting story,
better!”
Libraries have been helpful places in my
search for clues. Through a small one in Saylor Park, Ohio, I learned the name
of a lady named Marjorie who keeps several shoeboxes full of local history
newspaper articles in her home. She
uncovered a booklet entitled, Record of Apprenticeships 1832-37, Dearborn
County, Indiana that
stated that my great-great grandfather, Warren Steele, became a ward of the
county after his mother died and his father took off in 1832. The four siblings were farmed out to
various relatives and friends who were paid for their generosity by the
county. Zadock West was paid $5.35
for keeping Warren’s brother, Oliver for a quarter of the year. Those were
your grandchildren, Zadock!
Old diaries and letters can be goldmines and I am lucky to have
quite a few. My grandfather, visiting his mother in Los Angeles in 1934,
mentions in his journal seeing Aunt Tilly, Uncle Frank, Aunt Vinnie, and Uncle
John. I had wondered what happened
to Matilda and Lavinia Keller. Now I knew the first names of husbands and could
search the 1900 census using the first names of the females, identify the first
names of the males and find the married last names. With that knowledge, I can
find their children and grandchildren with the possibility of meeting them
sometime. Why do I care? Why does the mountain climber risk the hazards of Mt.
Everest? Genealogy is much
safer.
I love finding a new website on the
Internet Recently, I
found a website for Old Merthyr Tydfil in Wales where one can look at maps of
the town, old pictures, read history of the area, and purchase books online. The
bottom of the last page displays two blinking mailboxes to email one of two Old
Merthyr Tydfil experts. I clicked
on the one labeled “Geoff” and emailed a few questions. I quickly received a reply and an offer
of a “potted history” tour of the area when we visit this spring. I will walk the streets where ancestors
David Lewis Williams and Jane Cole walked.
I feel a thrill of
anticipation getting
ready for a genealogy seminar or readying research materials for a trip to the
Carlsbad Library or the Family History Center in Santa Monica. Attending monthly
meetings, surrounded by people who share the same interests is immensely
satisfying.
Mary, these are just some of the reasons I
love this hobby. One tiny
suggestion, change your name to Permelia or Parthenia or Gwenlillian. Your descendants will love you for
it.
Yours in genealogy,
Diane
Estimating Dates of Birth Using
Ages
~Michael John Neill
Ages given in any document can easily be incorrect and care must be taken
when using an age to infer a year or date of birth for an ancestor. That said,
it still is important to remember what an age on a given date means–the age as
of that date. If Elizabeth’s age is listed as fifty years on 6 August 1832, then
at the youngest, she had just turned fifty on that date. At the oldest, she was
one day shy of her 51st birthday. So Elizabeth could have been born on 6 August
1782 (if she had just turned 50) or as early as 7 August
1781.
Of course, this potential range of birthdates makes the assumption that
Elizabeth knew when she was born, that she actually reported the age herself and
gave her true age, and that the age has been transcribed correctly from the
record. Any birth date, or range of birth dates, calculated from an age should
be clearly sourced and noted in your records. Keep in mind that many times such
ages will potentially conflict with one another and often with sources providing
primary information about the event.
The liberties
of our country, the freedom of our civil constitution, are worth defending at
all hazards. We have received them as a fair inheritance from our worthy
ancestors . . . [they] transmitted them to us with care and diligence. ~Samuel
Adams
NARA Proposes a Copy Fee
Increase
A notification to all U.S.
genealogists. Two rules published in the Federal Register on Monday, 26
February 2007, relate to fees for reproductions of records at the U.S. National
Archives and Records Administration (NARA). In the case of Civil War pension
applications, the proposal is for a 338% increase!
Here is the list
of proposed increases:
-- Passenger
Arrival Lists, NATF Form 81, $25.00
-- Federal Census
Requests, NATF Form 82, $25.00
-- Eastern
Cherokee Applications to the Court of Claims, NATF Form 83,
$25.00
-- Land Entry
Records, NATF Form 84, $40.00
-- Full Pension
File More Than 75 Years Old (Civil War Period), NATF Form 85,
$125.00
-- Full Pension
File More Than 75 Years Old (Non-Civil War), NATF Form 85,
$60.00
-- Pension
Documents Packet (Selected Records), NATF Form 85, $25.00
-- Bounty Land
Warrant Application Files, NATF Form 85, $25.00
-- Military
Service Files More Than 75 Years Old, NATF Form 86, $25.00
Both rules are open for public comment
until 27 April 2007.
Go here to comment: http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main
Representative Jose E. Serrano
(DEM-NY-16th) is the sub committee chair of the Financial Services and General
Government Committee. Anyone with comments about the increase in prices of the
mail order requests might want to send an email directly to Rep. Serrano. His
e-mail address is jserrano@mail.house.gov.
Other members of the committee: Carolyn C. Kilpatrick (MI), C.A "Dutch"
Ruppersberger (MD), Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL), Peter J. Visclosky (IN),
James P. Moran (VA), Robert E. "Bud" Cramer, Jr. (AL), Maurice D. Hinchey (NY),
Dave Obey (WI), Ex Officio, Ralph Regula (OH), Tom Latham (IA), Mark Steven Kirk
(IL), Dennis R. Rehberg (MT), Rodney Alexander (LA), Jerry Lewis (CA), Ex
Officio
http://www.house.gov/writerep
WEBSITES
Volunteers are needed to extract family
history information from digital images of historical documents to create
indexes that assist everyone in finding their ancestors. Everyone is invited!
Join the thousands of volunteers who are creating automated
indexes to valuable family history records. Go to the following website to see how you
can help.
http://www.familysearchindexing.org
The Library of Congress and the National
Endowment for the Humanities today announced that "Chronicling America: Historic
American Newspapers" is debuting with more than 226,000 pages of public-domain
newspapers from California, Florida, Kentucky, New York, Utah, Virginia and the
District of Columbia published between 1900 and 1910. The fully searchable site
is available at www.loc.gov/chroniclingamerica/.
To create a Family Health History go to
http://familyhistory.hhs.gov.
Orange County
Archives (The County of Orange’s Official Historical Repository) -
http://www.ocarchives.com
Have you tried this
yet?
~Herb Abrams
Put the name of one of your ancestors in Ancestry.com. If the name comes up in OneWorldTree
click on the name, and click on “Find Famous Relatives” on the right. This will show all the famous people to
whom you are related. If you want
to find out how you are related, click on “Show Relationship.” I am related to a whole bunch of famous
people. How about
you?
Iowa Census Records at
Ancestry
PROVO, Utah, March 15 -- Ancestry.com, the
world's largest online resource for family history, today announced that it has
digitized and indexed all, readily available, Iowa State census records from
1836 to 1925.
Email from a SOCCGS member: “I had a
call on Friday from a second cousin in Iowa whom I have never met but have
corresponded with. He told me his sister, who lives in a different county in
Iowa then he does, put out a box of family pictures for Goodwill. After finding
them, a woman, going through them, found my cousin’s address and called. She
then sent him the pictures. He said he was keeping the photos from his mother’s
side of the family and sending me the Ferguson photos. They are from the turn of
the century. I am so excited.”
Aye, Kathy
Kane
People will
not look forward to posterity,
Who never look
backward to their Ancestors. ~Edmund Burke
ANCESTRY AT THE
LIBRARY
Those of you who
are researching Colonial American Records will find valuable information at the
website of the New England Historical Society. SOCCGS has a paid membership
available on the library computers. Some of the recent additions to this site
include: New England Historical and Genealogical Register
–1847-2000;
Vital Records of Berlin, Massachusetts, to the
end of the Year 1899; Vital Records of the Town of Brewster to the end
of the Year 1849 ; Vital Records of Concord, Mass.,
1635-1850 and
The Massachusetts Society of the Cincinnati
Profiles. Much
more is available so check it out at home and then access your choices at your
genealogy library.
http://www.newenglandancestors.org/research/main/
2007
GENEALOGICAL EVENT CALENDAR
April 20 - Swedish Genealogy Workshop
The Vasa Lodge is
conducting a special Laguna Woods workshop from 6:30pm to 9:00pm held at the
Lutheran Church of the Cross. GenLine, a Swedish software genealogy company,
will present the program. GenLine has a database containing 99.5%of all church
records maintained originally by the Swedish Lutheran Church. There is no charge
for this workshop but advance reservations are required. Call Robert Johnson at
714/529-4023 or email dumsvensk@sbcglobal.net.
April 28 – Family History Fair at the
Orange Family History Center. Reservations must be received by April
18. Forms are available at SOCCGS Library or at
http://www.zroots.com/OFHC.htm.
May
12 – San
Diego Genealogical Society’s All-Day Seminar &
Luncheon featuring Dick Eastman.
A
registration form
can be
found on the SDGS Web Site at http://www.rootsweb.com/~casdgs.
Reservations
must be received by May 7th.
June 8,
9 & 10 - Southern California Genealogical Society’s
38th Annual
Genealogy Jamboree and
Resource Expo. For more
information and/or registration visit the website at www.scgsgenealogy.com
The Largest Irish Festival in Western
America
June 23 & 24 - Southern California Irish Fair and
Music Festival at Irvine
Meadows.
http://www.irishfair.org/
NEWSLETTER FEATURE
ARTICLES
THANK
YOU to those who have
already shared items for the newsletter. They will be printed as space allows.
So far, only about seven
out of the 70, or so, members who regularly attend the monthly meetings have
contributed. Many more of you certainly have Ancestor stories to share. How about that
“great find” which would be of special interest to us all? We would also like to
print special recipes, which may be from
the “olden days”, or a current favorite. Queries will be included in order to assist
members in their search for genealogy information.
The
deadline for articles is Wednesday following the monthly meeting. Items may not
always appear in the immediate newsletter. Don’t want to write a whole article?
Simply submit the basic facts and background information and we will put it
together. Items may be sent via email or Word attachment. All submissions are
subject to editorial approval and may be edited. Send to: mcqueenmaryjo@aol.com
NEWLETTER
MAILING
Please inform the membership chairman of
any changes in your contact information. (Verl Nash – verlsue@cox.net) Since the newsletters are sent by bulk
mail, they are not forwarded. They are returned “postage due.” If your mail is
held while you are out of town they are also returned to us. Let us know and we
can hold, or send them first class.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
South
Orange County California Genealogical Society Membership/Renewal
Application
()
New (
) Renewal
( ) Individual, $20/yr.
( ) Jt. Members, same address, $25/yr.
Renewal
Membership Number(s) _________________________
_____________________
Name(s)
_______________________________________________________________________________
Address
_______________________________________________________________________________
City
_____________________________ State_____Zip ____________Phone
______________________
Email
address:__________________________________________________________________________
Make
check payable to: SOCCGS (South Orange County CA Genealogical
Society
Mail,
with application, to: SOCCGS, P.O. Box 4513, Mission Viejo, CA 92690-4513
