Archive for September, 2008

Tuesday Tales – Some Final Thoughts From Home

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Mary Mettler is finally back from her genealogy trek across the country.

I am home! What a wonderful summer! A genealogy friend just asked me if she should go on a trip like mine for her 70th birthday. YES! Naturally, I have some last thoughts about the trip.

The most important task is to plan, plan, plan and then plan some more. I spent about six months planning my trip. Try not to attempt too much, and do limit the lines you will investigate. Then, locate and research the web sites of the historical societies and libraries in the locations where these ancestors lived. Join the local historical societies ahead of time and ask them for any special information or assistance you need. Many of the smaller historical societies have limited hours, so planning and contact is essential. Often, they will open up for out-of-town travelers, if you contact them ahead of time. I was thrilled to work with these local volunteers and/or historical society members to find the special treasures of my ancestors. The historical societies appreciate any donations you can make, too. In the summer, advance reservations for lodging are essential in the small towns, especially in Vermont with its limited tourist season. I wish I had had more time in most of the towns, but I always feel that way after a genealogy trip! Since you can’t spend three solid months researching without a total brain meltdown, do plan on attending some family functions, visiting friends and/or sightseeing in between genealogy stops. I also enjoyed beginning and ending my trip at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

I highly recommend that you take your car, as life is much easier. You need room for files and all the “goodies” you will find, as well as clothes and all your technical gear. I did some Christmas shopping for real Vermont maple syrup and Wyoming huckleberry jam. The car also gives you the ability to travel to the small towns, which are not close to a major airport. I tried to leave sufficient time for them, as I could return later to those near major airports. One final word of warning – do not take Route 95 across the George Washington Bridge on a sunny, summer Sunday afternoon! In fact, try not to take Route 95 ever! I will never complain about the Bay Bridge traffic again!

Just for fun, I thought I’d list some of my favorites and my disappointments. My biggest disappointment was that so few places allowed me to use my scanner. I think we, genealogists have to campaign to change this. I certainly understand that the libraries/historical societies need the revenues from copying, and I do not mind paying for each page I scan. The scanner is no worse than a copier, as far as the light is concerned; and it is easier on books than copy machines, with the possible exception of the “book minder” copiers. I did use my camera for some documents, but the scanner is much better.

Since I couldn’t use my scanner very often, my favorite “toy” was my GPS. I wish I had purchased one of these a long time ago. I call mine “Jill,” as that was the voice choice I liked. Jill plotted the route, estimated my time of arrival and showed me the nearest lodging, restaurants, drug stores, movie theaters, etc. The GPS takes the stress out of driving, especially for someone as directionally disadvantaged as I am! I enjoyed Bed and Breakfast lodging the most, especially when they were near the historical societies. In Suffield, Connecticut, I stayed at The Lily House across the street from the Kent Memorial Library. In Dorset, Vermont, The Dovetail Inn Bed and Breakfast is across from the Dorset Historical Society. Both these wonderful B&B’s are within walking distance of restaurants, banks and grocery stores. My favorite breakfast was at the Victorian Bed and Breakfast in Rock Island, Illinois, while my best dinner was at the Drunken Noodle Thai restaurant in Essex Junction, Vermont. Both of these compare very favorably with San Francisco’s best!

Well, I could go on and on! I would be happy to hear from any of you, who might want to make a similar trip. I won’t be going off again for a while, as I have to deal with a file box full of my research. Analyzing this information, copying it for my nephew and second cousin-once-removed, filing it in the family file folders and entering it in my computer will take a long time!

I am looking forward to reading the future blogs of your trips!

Mary Mettler

Read the entire series:
Part One: Salt Lake City
Part Two: Indiana
Part Three: Pennsylvania
Part Four: More From Pennsylvania
Part Five: Washington D.C.
Part Six: Suffield, Connecticut
Part Seven: Vermont
Part Eight: Dorset, Vermont
Part Nine: West Point and Back to Pennsylvania
Part Ten: Some Final Thoughts From Home

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Something New in October: Member Consultations

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Something new has been added to the October Family History Month offerings this year – Individual consultations – for members only.

Several CGS members with specialized skills have volunteered to come into the library to share their expertise. Thirty minute sessions are by appointment only and can be used by members to help resolve a particular research problem or to get a fresh perspective. All session are private, one-on-one and free – a special member benefit in the month of October.

Our member consultants include some notable specialists: Dorothy Koenig, Dutch Colonial New York, 1624-1700; Steve Danko, Eastern European and Immigration; Jeremy Frankel, Jewish; Swen-Ove Westberg, Swedish; Pam Meeds Williams, California before statehood (1848); Steve Harris, New York; Tom Gessner, Massachusetts from 1620 and New Brunswick; Linda Darby, the South, and more. Jennifer Regan will be available for sessions on using Google for genealogy research. Other members have volunteered to help with subscription sites, such as Ancestry, Footnote and Rootsweb. There is something for everyone – in fact, non-members may want to join just to take advantage of this fantastic offer!

The one-on-one sessions have been scheduled for Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays throughout the month. The complete listings of consultants, topics and times have been added to the CGS Google calendar for October. In addition, the full schedule can be downloaded from the CGS Web site.

All consultations must be scheduled in advance with Events Coordinator, Carolyn Steinberg. E-mail Carolyn or telephone CGS at 510-663-1358 and leave a message with your name and number and she will return your call. Sorry, no walk-ins.

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Getting to Know Me and the CGSL Blog

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In the weird, wonderful world of genealogy blogging, members of the community sponsor carnivals, throw out challenges and tag one another with memes – all in an effort to encourage their fellow genea-bloggers.

Terry Thornton of Hill Country of Monroe County, Mississippi issued the Getting to Know You challenge:

The number of new blogs is increasing so rapidly that many of us are having trouble keeping up with reading and visiting. There never seems enough time to get to know new blogs much less to interact with their authors. To help out in that regard, I’m issuing a challenge to all Bloggers to help us get to know each other.

I hope that Terry doesn’t mind if I stray slightly from his very specific format.

As I state in About Me, my name is Kathryn Doyle and I am a CGS board member and chair of the Marketing Committee. I started this blog ten short months ago as an experiment and I’m happy to report that so far it is a successful one. I blog exclusively for the members of the California Genealogical Society and Library. I try to use my voice and keep the rest of me out of the blog, as much as possible. (This post is obviously an exception!)

The blog’s purpose is to promote the society, to advertise events and meetings, to take readers “behind the scenes” and introduce member volunteers to each other and to the world and perhaps to serve as a “how to” guide for other societies.

Here are three examples of the types of articles I blog for the society:

Roberts: What We Found
This is the second installment of a five-part series on Corporal Harold Roberts which exemplifies the team spirit behind the research done at CGS.

A Tribute to Anne Robinson
This article was written for a National Women’s History Month carnival which gave me the opportunity to honor a truly dedicated volunteer. This kind of post has evolved into an on-going “Member Spotlight” series.

Digital vs. Print – Where Do You Stand?
I’ll be writing more about the administrative side of the society in the future. Do inquiring minds really want to know?

I am also very fortunate to have many partners who have been willing to contribute photographs, story ideas, background information, articles and entire series (thank you Mary Mettler!) to the cause. It is an honor and a pleasure to write for so many dedicated volunteers.

Dick Rees and me – in the pink.

Photograph courtesy of Judy Bodycote.

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Book Repair Workshop Returns October 25, 2008.

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The California Genealogical Society is now taking reservations for the fall Book Repair Workshop to be held on Saturday morning, October 25, 2008, from 9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Back by popular demand, the workshop is part of the October Family History Month menu of classes and other offerings.

The perennial favorite, taught by Book Repair Committee Chairman, Bill O’Neil, is limited to ten enrollees. Workshop participants learn book repair techniques by actually creating a book for themselves. Pages are provided and the pupils create the binding. The finished product will be a copy of a “how to” pamphlet written by the late Dick Thrift, founder of the CGS Book Repair Committee. Everyone goes home with a self-made instruction book and souvenir of the day.

The fee is $15.00 for materials. Reservations are required and can be made by email or by calling CGS at 510-663-1358. There is a also a sign-up sheet at the reception desk. A copy of the full schedule of classess offered during October Family History Month can be downloaded from the CGS Website.

Photograph of the Dick Thrift book presses by Kathryn Doyle, 9/22/2008.

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Wordless Wednesday

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California Genealogical Society
Brainstorming Breakfast Bonanza!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008







Special thanks to Marianne Frey, Cynthia Gorman, Steve Harris, Jane Lindsey, Paul Mayer, Chris Pattillo, Dick Rees, Lavinia Schwarz, Nancy Servin, Pat Smith, Carolyn Steinberg, Judy Bodycote and Lorna Wallace who attended this early morning meeting and came up with so many amazing ideas!

Photographs courtesy of Jane Lindsey.

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Tuesday Tales From the Road – West Point and Back to Pennsylvania

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Mary Mettler is still on the road. This is Mary’s ninth report:

I joined my nephew’s family on Saturday morning, August 23, 2008, for a very special day at the United States Military Academy at West Point – A-Day, short for Acceptance Day. My grandnephew, Stephen Schnorf and the other “new” cadets had finished “The Beast,” as the summer Cadet Basic Training is known. Traditional ceremonies merge them into the Corps of Cadets. Prominent alumni from classes, which will celebrate fifty-year reunions during the four years of the current Cadet classes, served as reviewers.

The upper classmen marched out of the arches on the far side of the field.

The new plebes marched in on the opposite side
of the field and turned to face the upper classmen.

After the appropriate ceremonies, the plebes marched across the Plain to join the corps. The entire ceremony was quite moving, and one couldn’t help but feel the power of the long years of tradition. Stephen had the rest of the day off, his first in many weeks. In between meals, our hungry cadet showed us around the base. Please note that West Point is referred to as a base, not a campus! I’m slowly learning the lingo. I was so grateful for the opportunity to be part of this day!

The Schnorf family and Mary Mettler.

From West Point, I returned to Carlisle, Pennsylvania and a day at The U.S. Military History Institute (MHI) at the U.S. Army Heritage & Education Center (AHEC). What a great place and a superb resource for military history! MHI has some 15 million books, military newspapers, manuals, periodicals, letters, diaries, oral histories and other manuscripts, as well as a powerful computer search capability. You enter your military ancestor’s name in the computer, and it identifies his unit and a list of sources for that unit. I entered a first cousin-three times removed, who had been a surgeon in the Civil War. The list included three units in which he served and the sources of information on those units. I was able to document his entire service and all the battles at which he participated, including Gettysburg. Their catalogs and online information are available at www.USAHEC.org.

While you are doing genealogy, the rest of your family can walk around The Army Heritage Trail, an interactive outdoor museum with exhibits from the French and Indian War through Vietnam.

Now, the bad news. They, too, told me that no information is available on where the Pennsylvania Militia units served in the Revolutionary War. They considered it very lucky for me to have found Capt. John Lamb’s initial service in the pension of a soldier in his Company. One excellent source, however, was a pamphlet, Understanding Pennsylvania’s Revolutionary War Military Organization as an Aid in Genealogical Research by Col. John B. Trussell, USA-Ret. It not only explained how the Militia and the Continental Line were organized but also identified the three types of service the Pennsylvania Militia provided, namely augmentation of the Continental Army in conventional operations, protecting the frontiers from Indian attacks and providing guards for the supply depots and prisoner of war camps in Pennsylvania. Trussell said that the latter was by far the type involving most of the men who saw active duty.

The massive Pennsylvania State Archives in Harrisburg was my last vain attempt to identify where Lamb’s militia unit served. For his company, I found lists of delinquents and fines and some teasers, such as his expense report for reimbursement for pay for twenty days of drummers and fifers. Alas, there was no information on where these troopers went! These archives house many other records, e.g. land records, many of which can be ordered or even accessed online at www.phmc.state.pa.us. I’m at my sisters’ house in Akron, Ohio for the Labor Day weekend and then plan to begin the trek home with a couple of stops along the way.

Your genealogist on the road,
Mary Mettler

Read the entire series:
Part One: Salt Lake City
Part Two: Indiana
Part Three: Pennsylvania
Part Four: More From Pennsylvania
Part Five: Washington D.C.
Part Six: Suffield, Connecticut
Part Seven: Vermont
Part Eight: Dorset, Vermont
Part Nine: West Point and Back to Pennsylvania
Part Ten: Some Final Thoughts From Home

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Citing “Occult Powers” in a New Netherland Genealogy

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It happened again – a cousin found in the library – only this time I was an eyewitness. While waiting for last week’s board meeting to begin, director John Moore was relating a fascinating story about the Wilsey family. One mention of the name and suddenly he and Shirley Thomson were New Netherland cousins! John sent the full story:

Shirley Pugh Thomson and John Moore.

Last Wednesday, prior to the Board meeting, we had a discussion about the “unusual research” methods used in determining the origins of the family. The story goes something like this.

The Wilsey family is an early New Netherland family with many descendants, including at least two members of the present CGS Board. In 1908 Jerome Wiltsee published a genealogy for the Wiltsee (Wilsey) family. Jerome Wiltsee, Sr., A Genealogical and Psychological Memoir of Philippe Maton Wiltsie and his Descendants, With a Historical Introduction of the Wiltsie Nation and Its Colonies, (Atchinson, Kansas, 1908). The book was given a broad distribution (we have a copy in the CGS Library.) It identifies Philippe Maton Wiltsie as the original immigrant and ancestor of the Wiltsie family. Phillip is described as a Walloon refuge from Wiltz Luxembourg who came to Fort Orange in 1623 and was killed by the Indians in 1631 with two of his sons captured by the Indians before they escaped in 1639. One of these sons Hendrick Martenson is the ancestor of the Wilsey family in America.

Over the years there were several membership applications submitted and approved by the Holland Society based on Phillipe Maton as the immigrant ancestor. In 1975 the Genealogical Committee of the Holland Society asked George Zabriske to research Jerome’s account. After a through study Zabriskie determined that many of Jerome’s conclusions were pure fiction and had no basis in fact. Philippe Maton Wiltsee just did not exist! Jerome had however warned his readers that his conclusions were based not only on normal genealogical research but also on his “supernatural” or “occult” powers.

Does this mean that the way to resolve “brick walls” in genealogical research is through communication with the spirit world? It certainly would revolutionize our society! Something to think about!

On a more serious note, the Jerome Wiltsee book is now out of copyright and copies are available not only in many libraries but also on the Internet. From time to time we hear from genealogists who have traced their ancestry back to Phillipe Maton based on Jerome’s book. Fortunately the Zabriskie analysis is set forth in a series of articles appearing in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record (Volumes 106-108). Wilsey researchers who have relied on Jerome can be referred to these articles. Incidentally, the real Wilsey immigrant ancestor is Hendrick Martenson van Copenhagen and his male descendants do qualify for membership in the Holland Society!

I have agreed to bring some of my material to the next board meeting to compare notes with Shirley. We are both descendants of Hendrick Martenson van Copenhagen but we are not yet sure where our lines differ.

Best,
John

John Moore has been interested in genealogy since his law school days when he devoted some library time to research his mother’s family. He has more time since retirement from Kaiser Aluminum where he was Vice President Deputy General Counsel and Secretary. John served six years as a Trustee of the NEHGS and is currently a member of the NEHGS Council and a Director of the California Genealogical Society. John has a number of New Netherland ancestors and holds membership in the Friends of the Holland Society.

Shirley Pugh Thomson has held a seat on the society’s Board of Directors 1998-2008 and is a former chair of the CGS Publication Committee. She has been interested in family history all of her life, although these days she admits to spending more time on CGS business than on her own research. Shirley made some progress during the past year using DNA. She recently presented Hints on Publishing Your Family History with Matthew Berry.

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Linda Darby’s Report from FGS Philadelphia

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CGS member Linda Darby loves a good conference. She sent this report from the Federation of Genealogical Society Footprints of Family History Conference in Philadelphia, September 4 to 6, 2008:

Conference attendees remained cool, inside the spacious Philadelphia Convention Center, while the City of Brotherly Love baked in record high temperatures. We were greeted by that renowned genealogist Benjamin Franklin, and also welcomed by Ms. Betsy Ross. The conference had numerous sessions on German, Irish, and Pennsylvania research. All attendees obtained a CD of the syllabus, could download specific sessions from the FGS website, and a hard copy could be purchased for $32. Many folks don’t like the weight of all that paper. And, printing is pretty pricey these days. Many sessions were recorded, and the recordings on CD could be purchased, so as invariably happens, if you are interested in more than one session at a specific time, you can hear them both.

Jane Lindsey and Linda Darby in Salt Lake City
at the CGS Research Tour last April.

In addition to gleaning information from the session, another incalculable benefit of attending conferences is talking to other attendee and sharing information. One such incident occurred at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania the Tuesday before the conference began. Many folks attending the conference had come in early to do some local research. I was no exception. While browsing in the Scranton City Directories, I encountered another attendee. We began chatting. She was from Boston. She was looking for a family from a small town near Scranton. My family is from this same town. What surname? Incredibly, she was looking for a collateral line of my family! We exchanged business cards, and I’ve passed along her information to a cousin in that line. He was astounded. You just never know.

Next year, the FGS Conference, Passages Through Time, will be held in Little Rock, Arkansas, September 2-5, 2009. Y’all come!

Linda Darby

Photograph courtesy of Cathy H. Paris, Apr 19, 2008, Salt Lake City, Utah.

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October Family History Month Activities

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For nearly a decade, October has been celebrated as Family History Month among genealogy enthusiasts. The California Genealogical Society and Library will celebrate by hosting beginning to advanced genealogy seminars throughout the month. Topics range from organizing and performing basic genealogical research to utilizing technology and software to preserve your research. All seminars are open to the public and the usage fee for non-members is waived so the library resources are available, free of charge.

CGS Events Chair Carolyn Steinberg has put together a full menu of offerings which is available in the Family History Month October 2008 Events brochure, designed by Colleen Huntley. The complete schedule of classes, workshops and consultations can be found on the CGS calendar.

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Wordless Wednesday

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California Genealogical Society Membership Meeting
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Ron Arons – Best Bet Internet Sites

Photographs by Kathryn Doyle (iPhone camera).

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