Vol 7 No 3 ......Editor: Gail Gilbert ......March 2000
South Orange County California Genealogical Society
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 wishing to join. Yearly membership fees are $20 per calendar year for individuals, $25 for joint membership. SOCCGS is not affiliated with the LDS Family History Center. SOCCGS EVENTS 18 March 2000 Our speaker will be Leland Pound who will talk on Quaker Research. 15 April 2000 Eddie Grijalva will talk on the topic of Mexican & Spanish Research. OTHER SOUTHERN CA EVENTS 4 March 2000 The Orange County CA Genealogical Society will present an IrishWorkshop from 12:00-4:00 pm in the Maddy Room of the Huntington Beach Central Library, 7111 Talbert Street, Huntington Beach. Topics will include Irish Names and Originis, Probate and Wills Records, Irish On The Internet, Valuation and Cancellation Books 1860-Present, and St. Patrick's Day Party. Speakers are Charlotte Smith, Dee McMahon, Laurel Doherty, Pat Corcoran, Bobbie Purdue and Muriel Fitzsimmons. Fee is $3.00 per session. For more information, contact Muriel at (714) 962-4592 or e-mail [email protected]. 11 March 2000 The German Genealogical Society of America will hold its Annual Meeting in conjunction with a Seminar on German research by John T. Humphrey, award winning author of numerous volumes on PA historical records. (He will be one of the presenters on the new PBS series, "Ancestors", see below.) Topics to be covered are Genealogists Handbook for Baptismal Records, Researching 18th Century Germans, Life in Mid-18th Century Pennsylvania, and Moravians: 18th Century Clerics and Clerks. Registration begins at 9:00 am, Seminars from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm, at the Bette Cree Edwards Humanities Auditorium, Scripps College, Claremont, CA. For more information contact Ken (626) 444-4395, Maureen (805) 526-6109, or GGSA (909) 593-0509 (message). Non-member fee is $22. 28-29 April 2000 The California State Genealogical Alliance will host its annual series of workshops in conjuncion with the California Genealogy Society's annual Family History Fair to be held at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. For further information, contact David Abrahams-CGSA, 737 El Caminito, Livermore, CA 94550, e-mail: <[email protected]>. OTHER SOUTHERN CA EVENTS (cont.) 6-7 May 2000 The Southern California Genealogical Society and Family Research Library present the 31st Annual Jamboree 2000 at the Pasadena Center, Pasadena, California, Sat. 8:30 am-6:00 pm and Sun. 8:30 am-4:00 pm. In addition to lectures, there will be exhibits and beginner classes. Lunch is available. Admission is $10 for one day, $15 for two, payable at the door. For more information, please call (818) 843-7247, or e-mail <[email protected]>. For a roster of the 10 speakers and 18 topics, look up their website at http://www.scgsgenealogy.com. * * * * * * * * * * * * PBS Series: ANCESTORS II As we indicated above, new episodes of the successful PBS Series, ANCESTORS, will be aired nationally starting in June 2000. You should contact your local PBS stations for viewing dates and times after March 1st, but 13 episodes are planned as follow: Episode 1 - Discovering Records - stories that come to life from census rolls, military records etc. Episode 2 - Family Records - how records by ordinary people can become invaluable research tools Episode 3 - Compiled Records - identifying useful records and how they can be used in research Episode 4 - Genealogy &Technology - how to use computer research to find family connections Episode 5 - Vital Records - how they can be used to connect generations in different places Episode 6 - Religious Records - how to determine the church to which your ancestors belonged Episode 7 - Cemetery Records - how to locate and transcribe one tangible marker, a tombstone Episode 8 - Census Records - your ancestor's exact place in American history through the census Episode 9 - Military Records - how they can help develop a picture of a relative you never knew Episode 10 - Newspapers as Records - they can provide clues or expand on your family's history Episode 11 - Probate Records - details in wills can provide clues, even to finding the old homestead Episode 12 - Immigration Records - how to use them to find name-changes from the "old country" Episode 13 - Writing a Family History - how to start, sort fact from fiction and publish your story In addition to the above television programs, Ancestors Web Courses which parallel the series will be offered by Brigham Young University's Division of continuing Education via the Internet. Also the Ancestors Guidebook will be available, for those who prefer hardcopy, with an optional Instructional Video which outlines the research process. The Ancestors Website offers additional expert instruction, and an online Teacher's Guide provides lesson plans for conducting classes. Check this out at http://www.kbyu.org/ancestors. MEMBERSHIP REMINDER Our membership chairman, Iris Graham, reminds us that members who don't renew by March 15th will be dropped! If your mailing label indicates you haven't paid, this may be your last newsletter. ARE YOUR DUES OVERDUE? FEBRUARY LIBRARY NEWS There is still need for a docent on Wednesdays. So, please volunteer if you can help. FEBRUARY BOOK ADDITIONS 1. Traces by Indiana Historical Society, Vol. 11, #4, Fall 1999, donated by Pat McCoy 2. Nauvoo Journal Dedicated to Church History and Biography 1830-1857, Vol. 11, #1, 1999, donated by Kathie Mauzey 3. The Cochise County Historical Journal, Vol. 29, #2, 1999, donated by Kathie Mauzey 4. Ray County Reflections, Vol. 8, #4, 1999, donated by Kathie Mauzey 5. Genealogical Computing, Vol. 17, #1,2,3,4, 1977, Vol. 18, #1, 1998, donated by Kathie Mauzey 6. The Alsace Emigration Book, Vol. 1 by Cornelia Schrader-Muggenthaler, donated by Mary Anderson in honor of Pierre Lux 7. Managing a Genealogical Project by William Dollarhide, donated by Mary Anderon in honor of Mary Eugenia Reid 8. Cagle Journal of Historical Inquiry, donated by Mary Anderson in honor of Russ Anderson 9. Ellis Island, Gateway to the American Dream by Pamela Reeves, donated by Bill Barker 10. Rowen County North Carolina Register, Vol.14, #4, 1999, donated by Beverly Long 11.United States Cemetery Address Book by Elizabeth and James Kot, donated by Ruth Loustaunau 12. Oregon Genealogical Society Quarterly, Lane County, Vol. 31, #1-4, 1993, donated by Mary Wood 13. Idaho Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 35, #4, 1992; Vol. 36, #1, 1993, donated by Mary Wood 14. Washington County, Pennsylvania marriages, donated by Mary Wood 15. Second Boat, Vol. 11, #6, 1991, donated by Mary Wood 16. How to Trace Your Pedigree Ladies, by Arlene H. Eakle, donated by Mary Wood 17. Scotch-Irish Sources for Research by Afton Reintjes, donated by Mary Wood 18. American Migration Patterns by the Genealogical Institute, donated by Mary Wood 19. Genealogical Library Collection Shelf List of the Paradise Genealogical Society, donated by Mary Wood 20. Nexus, Vol. 12, #2 & 3, 1995; Vol. 14, #2-4, 1997; Vol. 16, #5, 1999, donated by Mary Wood 21. Beaver Briefs by the Willamette Valley Genealogical society, Vol. 24, #1-4, 1992, Vol. 25, #1, 2, 1993, donated by Mary Wood 22. Orange County California Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vol. 29, #3,4, 1992, donated by Mary Wood 23. Genealogical Helper, Jan/Feb 2000, donated by SOCCGS 24. Genealogical Computing, Vol 19, #1, 1999, donated by Sharon Robison 25. Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society Quarterly, Vo. 26, #2, 1999, donated by Friends of the Library Bookstore * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * MORE COURSES SCHEDULED The Orange County CA Genealogical Society has the following courses on Computer-assisted Genealogy scheduled to meet at the Huntington Beach Central Library, Room C, 7111 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach, CA. (see their website at http://occgs.com). Evening meetings, instructor Dr. Lloyd Budwig: March 7 at 7 pm Tuesday, Windows tips and Word Processors April 2 at 7 pm Tuesday, Ultimate Family Tree software, grouping, splitting (database), footnotes - embedded and endnotes Beginners Meetings, instructor Chris Hansen March 2 at 1 pm Thursday, Windows 98 - Explorer, creating folders, find function, click and drag files, and other functions as time permits April 6 at 1 pm Thursday, Family Tree Maker - Book function of FTM, scrapbook function, tree functions, Family Finder function Intermediate Meetings, instructor Chris Hansen Feb. 17 at 1 pm Thursday - Scanning - scan photos, edit scanned photos, inserting pictures into FTM, attaching photos to E-mail March 16 at 1 pm Thursday - Internet - genealogy sites & queries, OCCGS.com homepage, downloading files April 20 at 1 pm Thursday - GenBook and book functions of FTM (samples displayed) TIPS FROM DEAR ABBEY In Abigail VanBuren's column in the L.A. Times 2/12/00, Charles O'Reilly, a genealogist from Rutherford, NJ, had this advice for us all regarding storage of the personal histories of family members: ". . I'm asking you to remind your readers that magnetic media are surprisingly fragile. Recording artists and engineers have gone back to the studio only to discover that tapes made as recently as 30 years ago are flaking away and worthless. Cassette tapes that sit on a shelf untouched for decades develop "dropouts" for no reason. Media preferences change, too - many children today have no idea what to do with a vinyl phonograph record, and the same fate could befall today's audio- and videocassettes. By all means, have Aunt Edna record her history. But if she gives you an audio recording, make sure you transcribe it right away as a backup. And if you use a word processor, print the file. a computer file will last only as long as today's word processor, and the hard drive is a magnetic medium as well, making it as vulnerable as audio-tape. Paper might yellow, but it stands a better chance of surviving the centureis than tapes and computer disks. And while you're printing the file, make several copies and send them to various relatives who might also be interested in saving them for posterity. Some will inevitably be destroyed, but the more copies that are made, the more likely one will be preserved." GOOD ADVICE! OUR ROOTSWEB SPONSOR As we reported in our last newsletter, our society is now sponsored by Rootsweb for our website and our membership mailing list. We have in return contributed to Rootsweb, and as a subscriber have received some useful information on how to make the most of their resources. As most of you know, Rootsweb is committed to making all of their resources freely available to all Internet genealogists. They currently host some 16,000+ mailing lists and some 4,500+ Websites. This is definitely the place to begin if you are just starting with computer genealogy research. We present below some of their resources, summarized from their welcome letter to SOCCGS: Surname Resource Pages at http://resources.rootsweb.com/surname/ US County Resource Page at http://resources.rootsweb.com/USA/ These sites allow the user to access all of the resources at RootsWeb from one page. In addition they provide access to an assortment of search engines and useful links. GenConnect Boards, start at http://cgi.rootsweb.com/~genbbs/index.html Similar to a mailing list, but more static, these boards connect you with other genealogists by surname, region or topic and within each of these 3 categories is a sublist of seven more boards to explore: query, Bible Record, Biography, Deed, Obituary, Pension, and Wills. Mailing Lists, indexed at https://sites.rootsweb.com/~maillist/ At this site you will find information on how to subscribe to any of the tens of thousands of lists for surnames, regions or topics users are researching. This involves joining a group to share a similar interest and RootsWeb advises that you approach this resource cautiously. Mailing Lists archives are at https://lists.rootsweb.com/hyperkitty/ (Threaded Archives) and https://mailinglists.rootsweb.com/listindexes/ (Interactive Search). RSL . . .RootsWeb Surname List at http://rsl.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/rslsql.cgi This site does not store any family files or GEDCOMs, but instead provides a listing of other researchers working on the same surname, with pertinent dates and locations, and you then may contact the researcher at his e-mail address on your own. Search Engines, for other databases, located at http:/sites.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/searches/ Web Sites hosted by Rootsweb are listed at https://sites.rootsweb.com/~websites/ These are independently authored pages, like our SOCCGS Newsletter, which are given free on-line access for everyones use. Some basic ones for researchers are: Cyndi's List of genealogical resources - http://cyndislist.com/ Immigration Ships Transcribers Guild - http://lstg.rootsweb.com/ The USGenWeb Project and related special projects - http://www.usgenweb.org/ The WorldGenWeb Project sites of other countries - http://www.worldgenweb.org/ Research aides and information may also be found at the following sites: HelpDesk at https://support.rootsweb.com/ RootsLink at http://resources.rootsweb.com/~rootslink/search.html RootsWeb Guide to Tracing Family Trees at https://sites.rootsweb.com/~rwguide/ RootsWeb Review, a free weekly newsletter, which you may subscribe to by e-mail to [email protected] ROOTS-L, a collection of files and databases, begins at https://sites.rootsweb.com/roots-1/ State Resource Pages are at https://sites.rootsweb.com/roots-l/usa.htmlTHE INTERNET vs. THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY
I am an old genealogy researcher myself from back in the 1960's, and in spite of having had a career as a systems analyst/computer programmer, I only recently started doing genealogy research on the computer. Let me tell you, I have found, it sure beats the old-fashioned way!. I have been amazed at how much more quickly, with using the Internet, you can find others researching the same surname or locate prime sources without even having to leave home. One of my grgrgrandfathers had a name I thought would be too obscure to research, yet within a few months on the Internet I was able to trace him back to his grandfather who was a Rev. War Patriot from Russell Co., VA. Another tough assignment was trying to trace my mother-in-law's PRICE family when she knew nothing about them except her grandfather's name. Though Price is an extremely common name, I was able to pretty rapidly pinpoint her grandfather's ancestral origins with a degree of certainty, and hopefully I will soon have her line completed. One researcher led me to another, one told me of a new Price genealogy, others steered me to specific references and another actually went to her local library to check records for me. Needless to say, I have found it to be a very friendly atmosphere out there. Most of my search has been done using the surname and county resources of RootsWeb which I described earlier. Another tool which has been most helpful has been the surname forums at http://genforum.genealogy.com/ or from http://www.ancestry.com/ . I try to check in on these sites every few days for new information or answers to my queries for about ten of the surnames I am continously researching. Surprisingly, answering a message on one name often leads to information on another, as it is much easier to share and compare information on the elusive allied families. I have acquired one or two serious research "partners" on each name with whom I now correspond by e-mail. One of these contacts even led to a correction of a marriage in my direct line for my Woodruffs, which had been established for forty or more years. So, I would like to make another appeal to members to share with us your personal researching experiences, and this includes web sites which you have found to be the most helpful, - or perhaps a website that is so unique as to be difficult for the rest of us to find easily. We are all at various levels of experience, I'm sure, some just starting out, but none of us can say he doesn't need some help. Hopefully, we can make this newsletter a more effective tool for sharing information and for encouraging one another when that reoccuring stone wall seems insurmountable. BOOK PUBLISHING - Gray Matter Press at http://www.gmpublishing.com/home.html SURNAME SEARCHING - WHERE ARE YOUR SURNAME LISTS? QUERIES - WHERE ARE THEY? SAFARI PLANS In an effort to encourage more participation, there will be a Safari schedule set up for the year ahead, albeit subject to change on a monthly basis. Safaris will still be conducted on the 4th Wed. of the month, and anyone can join in by just appearing at the FHC parking lot at 9:30 am. Previously, it was not possible to inform you ahead in the newsletter, but with a preliminary schedule, we will keep you informed the best we can. To be sure, though, you can always check in with Janet Franks, our Safari Leader, at (949) 496-8428.