This blog is for and about the California Genealogical Society. We hope you will join us on our genealogy journey!
Recent Posts
Saturday, January 21, 2012
1:00 p.m.
California Genealogical Society Library
2201 Broadway, Suite LL2
Oakland, CA 94612
The bylaws of the California Genealogical Society specify that the regular January membership meeting shall be the Annual Business Meeting "at which time the annual budget shall be adopted and all appropriate business presented."
This year's meeting will be postponed one week to avoid the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. The Annual Business Meeting will be held on Saturday, January 21, 2012, at 1:00 p.m.
President Steve Harris will preside over the meeting. Agenda items will include:
Carly Perez, Operations Manager of Cushman & Wakefield of California, Inc., the management company of 2201 Broadway, sent this reminder about the annual Breuner Building holiday drives:
This holiday season 2201 Broadway is supporting two wonderful ways to give back in our community.
The December 2011 eNews, volume 5, number 12, has been published and emailed to members and friends. As always, the eNews features timely information about the California Genealogical Society and our upcoming events. Each edition also includes Suggested Links From the Blogosphere and a photo feature: California Ancestors.
 |
| The Isacksen sisters (l. to r.) Sophie Louise Isacksen Hansen (1884-1978), Agnes Rasmine Isacksen Nygard (1891-1971), Lily Isacksen Monks (1888-1980), and Mary Dorothy Isacksen Hansen (1880-1952). |
The 2011 Nominating Committee – Kim Cotton, Linda Okazaki, Patricia Smith, and Chair Jane Lindsey – has announced the nominations for the 2012-2013 board of directors for the California Genealogical Society. Nominations will be presented at the Annual Business Meeting and Volunteer Appreciation Reception on Saturday, January 21, 2012, at 1:00 p.m.
The nominated members are:
 |
| First sale of our new Insider's Guide to California Genealogy. |
 |
| Thirty-eight genealogists provided more than 300 consultations. |
 |
| Directors Craig Manson, Diana Wild and President Stephen Harris |
The November 2011 eNews, volume 5, number 11, has been published and emailed to members and friends. As always, the eNews features timely information about the California Genealogical Society and our upcoming events. Each edition also includes Suggested Links From the Blogosphere and a photo feature: California Ancestors.
This month member Paul Mayer pays tribute to his wife LoisMarie's ancestors - Thorvald and Ragna Rodley, of Lookingglass, Oregon.
 |
| The Rodley family, left to right: Irene, Arnold (my wife's father), John, Ragna, Irene, Ruth, Oscar, Thorvald and Ralph. Not shown are two daughters: Lucile and Betty Louise. |
CGS member Kay Speaks sent word of this upcoming workshop.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
12:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Oakland Regional Family History Center
4766 Lincoln Avenue
Oakland, CA 94602
Are you curious about what Chinese resources are available at the Oakland Regional Family History Center but haven't had the chance to check it out? Come learn from Assistant Director Marge Bell of the center and Kay Speaks and Christine DeVillier as they tell us how they have used the resources of the center and its Salt Lake City parent, the Family History Library, to research their Chinese roots. Kay will be covering research techniques at the center and Christine will talk about using the FamilySearch catalog and Chinese databases. All are welcome to attend - you don't have to be a church member.
Schedule:
12 noon – Bring a bag lunch to talk story with the group. Bring your discoveries or share any roadblocks you are facing in your research so the group can brainstorm some research options.
1:30 to 3:30 p.m. – Orientation to the center by Marge Bell, examples of research by Kay Speaks and Christine DeVillier, experienced genealogists.
The classroom has seventy seats and about sixty computers, so we will take the first 60 respondents, and then have a wait list.
Cost: Free!
RSVP by emailing Kay Speaks. When you respond, if you wish, please list your name, city of residence, village, surnames, etc. Depending on response, we may limit the number of attendees from each family.
Sponsored by Oakland Regional Family History Center and Chinese-American Family History Yahoo Group
Copyright © 2011 by Kathryn M. Doyle, California Genealogical Society and Library
Answer: Cemeteries!
In 1900, San Francisco was a Wild West boom town driven by greed. The city fathers removed cemeteries and banned burials. Research Director Nancy Peterson shares this little-known piece of San Francisco history in a new video by Shannon Reese and Kathleen Jones.
Earlier this year, then-Vice President Chris Pattillo shared her Genealogy Addiction with readers. Chris was in a race with the clock to finish another family history book in time for a family wedding.
I'm pleased to announce that Chris finished on time and published The Pattillo Family History with Stover, Drake, Gaines, Land and Ward Ancestors. She brought a copy to "Creative Ways to Share and Write Your Family History Research" – one of the Thursday evening discussions this summer.
Chris was able to make her deadline thanks to the assistance of Ernie Grafe. Originally, she had intended to learn InDesign and do all the production work herself. She notes: "Since I had such a short time to write, edit and produce the book (only 4 months), I wisely made the decision to work with Ernie, an editor/producer who I met while taking an InDesign class and whose services I have since utilized for my business." Chris advises it's okay to use help: "It's not cheating and frees one to concentrate on the research and writing."
 |
| The Pattillo Family History with Stover, Drake, Gaines, Land and Ward Ancestors |
About the Author
I am the great-granddaughter of James William Pattillo and Carrie Brooks Stover, granddaughter of Lewis Wood and daughter of James Edward Pattillo. This is my fourth family history publication, but not the last. I have been interested in genealogy since the mid-1960s. I joined the California Genealogical Society (CGS), based in downtown Oakland, in 2004. In the summer of 2010 I took a month off and immersed myself in family history research. I learned many new research techniques and was finding a lot of new information. Using the Melba Crosse book and other family trees found online, I was able to take our family back several more generations. I knew I would want to publish another book and share this information with the rest of our family, but the question was, when? Your “Save the Date” postcard gave me the answer. Since it arrived I have been possessed, and devoted most of my free time to continuing my research and writing this book. During my month off, and since, I have learned a tremendous amount about how to do genealogy research. The members of CGS have been generous and patient in guiding me along — particularly Jane Lindsey, Vinnie Schwarz and Judy Bodycote. I am grateful for their help, passion and inspiration.
In selecting this year's best state websites for genealogy, we were looking for databases where you can look for a relative's name. Many of the 75 sites (at least one per state) have indexes, and in many cases, you can even view images of original records.
Click the Databases tab to search more than 350,000 records – including voter registers, probate records, cemetery records and more – in the California Names Index for free. If your ancestor's name appears you can order a copy of their original record for $10. Members have online access to San Francisco church records and newspapers.
Access more than 5 million California newspaper articles from 1846 to 2009.
The October 2011 eNews, volume 5, number 10, has been published and emailed to members and friends. As always, the eNews features timely information about the California Genealogical Society and our upcoming events. Each edition also includes Suggested Links From the Blogosphere and a photo feature: California Ancestors.
This month, member Pat Gallagher honors her Gallagher family of San Francisco.
 |
| L to R, seated: Alice, William J., Jr (my father), Mary Maloney (my grandmother), William J. Gallagher (my grandfather); rear, standing: Madeline and Theresa |
The Fall 2011 edition of The California Nugget has been sent to the printer and should begin arriving in members' mailboxes next week. It's another information-filled issue by Editor Jane Hufft and Production Editor Lois Elling.
Dear Readers:
This issue of the California Nugget is arriving in your mailbox earlier than usual so we can share exciting news about two events. First, the California Genealogical Society proudly announces the publication of the newly revised Raking The Ashes, Genealogical Strategies for pre-1906 San Francisco Research. This new second edition is the finest tool available for conducting genealogical and historical research in San Francisco in the years before the great earthquake. No one knows more about work-around strategies to find cemeteries, records, repositories, unique sources, church information, land records and other genealogical and historical records related to San Francisco than author Nancy Peterson. Completely updated, painstakingly researched, carefully organized and thoroughly user-friendly, Raking the Ashes, second edition, belongs on the shelf of every California researcher. For more information and ordering information, please see page 17.
There’s more! CGS and Ancestry.com are bringing a special all-day genealogy con- ference to San Francisco on Saturday, November 5. This informative day will offer many workshops and lectures. If you can be in the area, plan on joining us. Registration information is on page 16.
In other articles, Amy Coffin’s description of the first RootsTech Conference will take readers one step further into an exciting future where technology and genealogy meet. Rachel M. Popma, editor of Indiana Genealogist, has graciously allowed us to reprint her recent article that describes how to add eBay to your toolbox of genealogy search strategies. In “California Ancestors,” Jim Sorenson recounts the unexpected results of a persistent search to find just one more cousin. Virginia Turner looks back on early days of researching at CGS, and Sheri Fenley recounts the story of a successful pioneering family in San Francisco.
One way to have your family’s history saved for posterity is to have it in print. Have you thought about submitting your family’s story to the Nugget? We are always looking for well-researched family histories as well as articles that will help our readers become better genealogists and more successful writers and researchers.
Jane Hufft, Editor
It's always a great pleasure to announce publication of a member's book so this time it's quadruply special. Four of the eight authors of Portraits of Our Patriots: Stories of Revolutionary War Ancestors are members of the California Genealogical Society – Millianne (Peirano) Lehman, Linda Longley, Mary Mettler and Terri Taylor.
 |
| L to R: Annette Litle, Cathy McCausland, Carol Yenne, Terri Taylor and Mary Mettler. Not shown: Joan Evans, Millie Lehman and Linda Longley. |
 |
| Jane Hufft and Denise Richmond |
 | |
| Genealogist quilters Pat Richley and Jane Hufft |
Did you make it into the library this summer for our extended Thursday hours? Tim Cox and Jane Lindsey cooked up the idea last year and it has proved to be wildly successful. We've gotten lots of positive feedback from members who enjoyed coming to do research on a day they didn''t have to pack up and leave at 4:00 p.m. Some even came in at 9:00 a.m. and stayed until 8:30 p.m. closing!
 |
| Kim Cotton led "Social Networking: Facebook, RSS, Twitter and Blogs" on 6/16. |
 |
| Cathy Paris led "Creative Ways to Share and Write Your Family History Research" on 7/28. |
