Saddleback Valley Trails
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 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, July 15, 2006
Bill Bluett
“A Genealogical Journey Of Discovery”
During this presentation Bill will share the story of his quest for the Bluett family genealogy. His pursuit has taken him from Pennsylvania to California and even to England. We will learn a great deal about researching the “old fashioned way,” along with discoveries to be made via the Internet.
Bill has been engaged in genealogy research since 1999. His mother, Betty, began, in the late 1960's, collecting information she has shared with Bill. He is now utilizing many of the resources she used plus a tool she did not have available, the Internet. Still today, hard copy documents are as important as Internet files. Together they serve as a means of discovering the document trail which our ancestors have left behind.
Bill is a native Southern Californian, and has lived in Orange County for over 29 years. Genealogy became his hobby shortly before retirement in 2001. He is currently the SOCCGS Vice President and also serves on the Board of Directors of the San Clemente Historical Society.
You won’t want to miss this valuable genealogy lesson from one of our own!
Note: The speaker originally scheduled for July, Penny Feike, has been canceled, due to illness.
2006 CALENDAR
August 19 - Michael Kratzer, “Cemetery Research”
September 16 - Nancy Huebotter, "Writing and Producing a Family History"
October 21 - Seminar, Dr. George Schweitzer
November 18 - Member-Participation Program. Details to be announced. December 16 - Annual Holiday Luncheon
SCHWEITZER SEMINAR: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21
Seminar data and a registration form are on page seven of this newsletter. Registration information is also on our website as listed on the back of newsletter. It is not too early to reserve your place for our fifth annual seminar. Those who remember Dr. Schweitzer from the 2003 seminar will be anxious to hear him again, and this will be a great experience for those who have not yet watched and listened to his presentations. Dr. Schweitzer does many of his lectures in costume. He will assume a frontier persona for the Scots-Irish lecture, and become a Colonial during the Virginia presentation. Opportunity tickets for the handmade quilt will be available at the July 15 meeting. Remember, all proceeds from this project will benefit our genealogy library.
SAFARI - No safaris are scheduled for July or August.
Live as if there is no tomorrow. Dance as if no one is watching.
Eat chocolate like it’s the last day of your life.
(www.quickquotesinstantjournaling.com)
LIBRARY VOLUNTEERS
Please think about donating two or three hours a month, or, join the substitute list. Call Bunny Smith, 949-472-8046, if you can help.
Training classes for prospective docents are held on Wednesdays (10-1, except 4th), Thursdays (12-3) and Saturdays (10 to 1, except 3rd). These classes are also open to current docents and members wanting help in using the resources available at the library. If this is not convenient, please call Bunny to reserve a more convenient time.
PICTURES FOR JULY MEETING
Hospitality Chairman, Leesola Cannon requests that we bring Civil War pictures and/or memorabilia to the July 15 meeting. Leesola is providing us with this fun project at, so let’s support her efforts.
WEBSITES OF INTEREST
http://www.mckirdyindex.co.nz McKirdy Index Ltd-Analytical Genealogical Finding Aid to the Statutory Registers of Death for Scotland 1855-1875
http://www.heritagepursuit.com/ Great site for Ohio researchers.
http://www.oldmapsetc.com/ Photocopies of Old Maps, Old Prints and Old Articles of Interest to Genealogists and Historians Pertaining to New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, California, Scotland & Wales from GLEASON'S OLD MAPS.
http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/ Family tree site, Genes Reunited, is the largest family tree tracing site in the UK.
http://home.att.net/~wee-monster/ Resources for German Genealogy on the Internet
http://www.collectionscanada.ca/genealogy/index.htm A good summary of major Canadian record sources and links to relevant websites.
Brigham Young University website http://lib.byu.edu/ Search over 5000 books which the Family History Library has put online.
Polish Roots http://www.polishroots.comThis site has a listing of translated entries of the Slownik Geograficzny, a 19th-century Polish gazetteer that provides information about towns in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.
http://www.sdistory.orgSouth Dakota State Historical Society, Naturalization Records, Veterans Census, State Census BIA Indian Census, WPA Graves Registration and County Records. (Borrowed from WAGS Newsletter, June ‘06)
The British Isles FHS-USA
will present John M. Kitzmiller II as the featured speaker at its 18th annual Seminar on Saturday, July 15, 2006 at the Veterans Memorial Complex in Culver City, CA. Mr. Kitzmiller will be speaking on English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh research as well as a lecture entitled
"What's new in British and Irish Research."
https://sites.rootsweb.com/~bifhsusa"
Back on its golden hinges the gate of Memory swings,
And my heart goes into the garden and walks with the olden things.
~Ella Wheeler Wilcox, 1850-1919
Donations & Donors:
Virginia Makielski
History of Albemarle County in Virginia
Maggi Finnigan
An Index to Roads in Albemarle County, VA Surveyors Books 1744-1853; Albemarle County, VA Road Orders 1744-1748; Virginia - Albemarale County
Willis Wyant
Deutsch-Englische: German-English Primer, New German Reader; Ohio Lands, A Short History; Evans Creek Lutheran Church Records (Tuscarawas County Ohio; Ohio Area Key; Sandusky County, Ohio Plat Book; Crawford County, Ohio Plat Book; Index to Somerset County, PA Wills 1795-1900; Tustin Tintypes, A Pictorial History of Old Tustin, California; Snook Family Newsletters
Willis also donated the following periodicals: Hayes Historical Journal; Ohio Genealogical Society Quarterly (2005); Kith 'n Kin; Ohio, The Cross Road of our Nation; Rock Island County, Illinois Genealogical Society.
Isabella Tagore
Ellis Island, Gateway to America; Ellis Island, Interviews in Their Own Words; Italians First!; Ancestors, A Beginner's Guide; Family History Made Easy; Finding a Place Called Home: A Guide to African- American Genealogy & Historical Identity; In Search of Our Ancestors, 101 Stories in Rediscovering Our Family History; The First Passage, Blacks in the Americas 1502-1617; The Genealogy Sourcebook; Tracing Your Ancestors, An Illustrated Guide to Compiling Your Family Tree; Tracing Your Ancestry; The Essential Guide To Unpuzzeling Your Past
Eugene Cramer
How to Locate Anyone Who Is, or Has Been in the Military
SOCCGS
I Remember When…; Understanding Colonial Handwriting; The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy (New, Third Edition); Some Jewish Families of Hesse and Galicia
Thank you to our generous donors. A complete listing of the additions, with authors and shelf location, is available at the docent desk. Bunny Smith, Librarian
FEDERAL PRISON RECORDS
Member, Kathy Mauzey has located the records for her grandfather who was incarcerated at Leavenworth 1929-1933.
The website for Bureau of Prisons is http://www.bop.gov. Click on “Inmate Locator” the top of the home page. That link is for locating inmates from 1982 to present. On the side of that next page is a link to "locate inmates released before 1982.” Follow the directions given.
Kathy tells us, “After I received the locator number and the years he was incarcerated, I e-mailed the National Archives that services the region for Leavenworth, KS asking if they had prison records for this time period. If they did have the records I was requesting them under the Freedom of Information Act. I received a response right away saying they did have the records, how many pages (it included a mug shot), and the cost.”
“The Archives took my credit card over the phone, and I received the records within 2 weeks. Included were a mugshot of my grandfather, a letter written to him by my grandmother, letters from various people to the warden requesting that he be made a trustee to work on the farm, and a list of people who visited or wrote to him, plus a list of living relatives. In the papers was the District Court number from the District Court in Tulsa, OK. Now I'll write to the National Archives in Dallas-Ft. Worth (the Archives covering OK) for the Court record.”
You will need to know if the person was in prison for a federal or a state offense.
Generations, like an immeasurable wheel in time, are tirelessly turning,
persistently moving toward the beckoning path of tomorrow.
The journey taken by our ancestors can be revisited
only through fragile old photos, faded and yellow with age,
and stories which are the legacy that becomes our heritage.
(Quick Quotes www.quickquotesinstantjournaling.com)
Tips from the Pros: Shorten Your List of Favorites
Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA Scot
What is the state of the “Favorites” or “Bookmarks” in your browser? Is it one long list of links that falls off the bottom of the screen? Is it made up of links you use regularly, that all lead you to what you need, and is the total less than 200?
I suggest you select Favorites for very good reasons; underlying my choices are these three:
– Sites which are always useful.
– Sites very useful for what I am working on now.
– Sites I want to be certain I won’t forget.
Websites qualifying as my favorites tend to be:
– The best of “gateway” sites.
– Great background sites for history, geography, and information about records.
– Data sites I presently need.
– My favorite search engines.
I use Folders, 12 of them, which is a number I can manage; no more than twenty website links are in each one. Here are some of my folder titles: Genealogy General, British Isles, England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, My Societies, My Research, and Personal Miscellaneous.
Economy and organization in your selection of Favorites will improve your success in finding sites and reduce wasted time. I never forget that those who manage good gateway sites are keeping track of valuable resources for me. Here are my two favorite gateway sites for research in Britain and Ireland:
http://www.genuki.org.uk GENUKI (Probably the best known site for UK and Irish research.)
http://www.mts.net/~bydesign/RUS/Guide.htm Really Useful Sources (Simple structure and care in selection means this site lives up to its title.)
Topics:
Scots-Irish Genealogical Research
Virginia Genealogical Research
Finding Your Ancestors’ Parents
Questions & Answers
Refreshments - Door Prizes - Drawing for Handmade Quilt
Preregistration must be received by October 18 / Tickets at the door $25.00, no lunch.
(Seminar information & registration form also available on SOCCGS website.)
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SOCCGS ‘2006’ Seminar Registration
Name(s) ___________________________________________ Registration: _________@ $20.00 ___________________________________________________ Box Lunch: _________@ $ 7.50
Address: ___________________________________________
City & Zip:__________________________________________ Total: $____________ Telephone:__________________________________________
Mail to:
SOCCGS, P.O. Box 4513, Mission Viejo, CA 92690-4513
Information: (949) 581-0690 or https://sites.rootsweb.com/~casoccgs/
