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
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 MEETING - September 20,
2003
Andrew Pomeroy will be our featured speaker this month. His
presentation is entitled “Mastering Search Engines - Internet Research
Skills You Need.” He will help us learn how to find information using
major search engines and database driven sites. This should be of great
importance to those of us using the Internet to further our genealogical
research.
Mr. Pomeroy currently works as a senior support technician with a major
multinational manufacturing firm and is directly responsible for 300+
computer systems, end user support and training, and system validation. He
is also involved with several independent Internet/Intranet projects.
SOCCGS PROGRAM CALENDAR
October 18 - Seminar featuring Dr. George K. Schweitzer
November 15 - Nancy Bier: "Everyone Lived on the Land"
December 20 - Holiday Party
GARAGE SALE - SEPTEMBER 27, 2003
Our Third Annual SOCCGS Garage Sale will be
held at the home of Leon and Bunny Smith. Please help to make it a success
by gathering up items you no longer want or need?. The Smiths will be
accepting and picking up items beginning September 13. Patrick McShane has
offered to help Leon pick up. Barbara Wilgus is in charge of the jewelry
to be sold at the sale. If you have any to donate please bring it to the
September meeting so she can sort, bag and price it before the sale. Thank
you to those who brought their jewelry to the August meeting.
Please see flyer elsewhere in this newsletter.
SEMINAR - OCTOBER 18, 2003
“On The Trail Of Our Ancestors” - the second annual
SOCCGS seminar will be held October 18 in the Saddleback Room, Mission
Viejo City Hall. The speaker will be Dr. George K. Schweitzer.
Professor Schweitzer is an entertaining and informational speaker who uses
historical reenactment to teach genealogy. We are very fortunate to be able
to include his presentations in our seminar. The cost for this day will be
$20 per person plus $5 for lunch, if desired. Please look for the flyer,
with titles of lectures and registration form, elsewhere in this
newsletter. Reservations for the seminar are being received and
we expect a great turnout. Please, invite your friends; they can print out
a registration form from our web site and mail it in.
Our annual book sale will also take place at the seminar.
OPPORTUNITY QUILT
Opportunity tickets will be available at the
September meeting for the drawing to be held at the October Seminar. The
quilt is 68” x 84” in colors of red, blues and tans. It is of a
“Civil War Stars” design and made with Civil War replica fabrics.
Tickets are a donation of $1 each, or 6 for $5. Proceeds go to our library
fund. Winner does not need to be present at the Seminar. We will deliver
the quilt!
See the quilt at: https://sites.rootsweb.com/~casoccgs/quilt.htm
GENEALOGY: Where you confuse the dead and irritate the living.
AUGUST MEETING
In her presentation Nancy Huebotter made it seem like a painless
undertaking to write an autobiography. Are some of us now ready to begin? I
am certainly thinking about it and wondering where to start. According to
Nancy it doesn’t matter where you begin, just do it!!
Gary Van Zant gave us some insight into using DNA to determine ancestral
lines. Alice Catalyne shared her beautifully-done family book. It certainly
gave inspiration to many of us. Karen Miller shared a recent research
find: “Her Great Aunt Dolly made her living while lying on her back;
and she wasn’t a mechanic!” [You really miss out on some
‘fun stuff’ when you skip a meeting.] Thank
you to Georgiana Emery for the delicious treats!
NEW MEMBERS & GUESTS
Welcome to two new members: Steven Frogue & Mary Lou Brascia.
Steven is searching for the surname Frogg in Fentress County, Tennessee
and in Virginia. Mary Lou is searching for Pritchard &
Greenway.
Guests at the meeting were: Dale Larsen, Donna Brown, Mary Lou Brascia,
Sue Miller, Betty Beason, Jan Harris, John Gothard, Joyce Gothard, Scott
Gothard & Terri Lancey. We enjoyed hearing their stories of surnames
they are searching and hope they will come again and perhaps join our
group.
SOCCGS LIBRARY
This month we are buying
new books. Please give your suggestions to Janet Franks, Herb Abrams or
Mary Jo McQueen, who will contact the other members of the Book Committee
for approval. This is your library and you help raise the funds for books,
so please, let us have your input. Doris Douglas has volunteered to serve
as a Friday afternoon docent. Thank you Doris!
GENEALOGICAL NEWS
“Write Your Life Story.” Learn how at free classes offered through the Santiago Canyon
College Adult Education Program beginning the week of October 6.
Beginning/Intermediate Life Story Writing, on Tuesdays 1:30 to 4:30 pm;
Advanced Life Story Writing on Wednesdays, same time. These nine-week
courses are being taught by Dawn Thurston at the Orange Center, 541 North
Lemon, Orange. Call (714) 564-5300. Learn more at
www.MemoirMentor.com
The Sedgwick Granger Camp of the Sons of Union Veterans has been
organized and is meeting in Tustin. It has been some time since a camp has
been available here in Orange County. Anyone wishing information on
becoming a member of this group may contact Richard Raver at (949)493-4787
or [email protected].
The Family History Alliance holds informal monthly meetings the
last Saturday of each month from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Orange Family History
Center, 674 S. Yorba, Orange. The meetings are held in the Relief Society
Room (on the south side of the building). The goals of the FHA are to
educate genealogists, officers and members of genealogical and historical
societies and librarians about the genealogy and family history resources
available in Orange County, California. Barbara Renick gives a
presentation at each FHA meeting, usually about online and computer
resources (both LDS and non-LDS) for genealogical research.
SEPTEMBER 24 SAFARI
This month's research safari will be to the Los Angeles Family History
Center in Santa Monica. We will leave the parking lot of the Mission
Viejo FHC at 9:00 am. This will be a long day and into the evening so
remember to bring or buy lunch and be prepared to buy dinner. Please try
to sign up in advance, at the September meeting or, by calling Janet or
Mary Jo.
GIVE THE WELSH A NAME
Take ten, he said and call them RICE - Another ten and call them PRICE
- Take fifty others, call them PUGH - A hundred more, I’ll dub them
HUGHES - Now ROBERTS name a hundred score, and WILLIAMS name a legion more,
And call, he moaned in languid tones, Call all the other thousands
JONES.
(Canadian Genealogist, Vol. 8, No. 4, 1986)
INTERNET
The Great Lakes Shipwreck File:
Archaic Medical Terms: [Excellent Site]
****Some helpful websites listed in the RootsWeb Review, 23 July
2003, Vol. 6, No. 30
GENEALOGICAL EVENT CALENDAR
September 20: Genealogy Society of North Orange
County California, Yorba Linda will hold a one day seminar. Geoff
Rasmussen, Mellinnia Corp., creators of Legacy Family Tree, will be the
speaker. He will be speaking about publishing your own family history book
from a computer program. Call (714) 528-4977 for information.
September 27: Annual Kin-Dig Genealogical Fair, sponsored by the
Antelope Valley Genealogical Society, will be held at the Antelope Valley
Inn and Convention Center, 44055 N. Sierra Highway, Lancaster, CA. For
information: [email protected]
October 18: On The Trail of Our Ancestors, South Orange County
California Genealogical Society Family History Seminar, featuring Dr.
George Schweitzer. Registration information included within
newsletter.
October 25: The Pommeran Special Interest Group of the Immigrant
Genealogical Society is presenting a Pomeranian Town Hall in Burbank,
California, on Saturday, October 25, 2003. The featured speakers will be
Martha and Les Riggle. Prior to October 1 the cost is $12.50 per person
with an additional $5 for lunch. For a registration form and additional
information, please go to our website (pomeranianews.com) and click
on our "Calendar of Events." For those of you who may be
Pomeranians and not know it, our area was considered part of
Prussia/Germany until the end of WWII. Then the NE part of Germany along
the Baltic Sea coast was given to Poland. Now the towns and counties use
both their German and Polish names.
October 26 - November 1, 2003: NGS 2003 Research Trip to London will
include a full week of research opportunities at: The National Archives
(formerly The Public Record Office), The Society of Genealogists, The
Family Record Centre , The London Metropolitan Archives, First Avenue House
(for wills after 1858), The Library and Corporation of London
Record Office and other repositories, as requested. Register online at
http://www.NGSgenealogy.org/researchtrips/londonregistration.htm
November 1: Ancestry Novemberfest Family History Seminar, Redlands
California Stake, 350 Wabash Ave., Redlands, CA. Free admission. For
Information: C. Hatch: [email protected]
November 8: Southern California Genealogical Society is hosting an
all-day seminar featuring Bill Dollarhide and Leland Meitzler. (818)
843-7247 or http://www.scgsgenealogy.com
November 15
Chino Valley Family History Fair, Chino Valley Stake,Chino Hills, CA.
Free admission.
For Information: Greg Collinwood at [email protected]
MEMBERSHIP ROSTER
Membership Rosters, for the use of SOCCGS activities only, are
available at the monthly meetings at the cost of fifty cents.
Don’t forget to register for the
Seminar!
Pat Weeks is sharing the following letter written by her great-uncle who
lived in the St. Louis, Missouri area. Pat suggested the title, saying,
“I am so struck with his pride of work and thankfulness of
accomplishment. It is wonderful that he left this story for his family. We
should all do the same.”
“WHEN WORK ETHICS WERE
ALIVE”
History of My Life Up to 79 Years
By Leonard F. Kidd
Sent by Lillian Kidd Cowan, granddaughter of Leonard Kidd
I was born in Chattanooga Tenn Oct 30, 1856. My mother died in 1863 and
we came to Missouri in 1865, my father and five children, four boys and one
girl. My father broke up housekeeping and I went to live with an old family
by the name of Shorer on a farm eight miles south of Potosi, known as
Fourche-A-Renault. I lived with them until I was 19 years old.
In the meantime my father had married again and I went back home and lived
with them. My father went to work on the old Iron Mountain railroad, now
the Missouri Pacific, as a bridge carpenter with foreman Charles Leggett.
All the bridges in those days were built like a house, covered with
shingles. They were covering the bridge just north of Cadet and my father
took sick and he asked Mr Leggett if I could come and work in his place and
Mr Leggett said “Yes, if he can do the work”. Father told him if
I didn’t put on as many shingles as any other man he wouldn’t
charge anything for my work. So I worked three days and when my father came
back to work, Mr Leggett told him that the first opening he had he wanted
me to work for him and would give me a steady job. In a week I got word to
come to work as a regular man, and Oh Boy, maybe you don’t think I was
a happy boy. So I worked steady for the Missouri Pacific railroad for 49
years.
I worked 25 years a bridge carpenter and 16 years as bridge inspector. I
inspected the erection of all iron bridges on the main line from St. Louis
to Little Rock, Ark., and on the Cairo Branch and the Belmont Branch. I was
sent out on the White River Division near Branson, and inspected the
erection of two bridges. In those 49 years I worked for the following
foreman: Charles Leggett, James Harvey, Dewitt Harvey, J. C. Hickson, Ed
Markam, my father, H. P. Kidd, W. D. Cosby, and Fred Meyer.
In my 8 years as scale inspector I worked under the direction of Mr. C.
Waithers, Supervisor of the Mo. Division, and Mr. J. W. Schlinkery, Supt.
Of Scales, and I must say that in those 49 years I had some very risky and
dangerous work to do. I had safety first on my mind every morning when I
started out on my velocipede to inspect bridges and trestles. I felt I had
the lives of every one of my hands that traveled over that part of the
road. Should I have made a mistake or overlooked some bad places on a
bridge or a trestle and the train should be wrecked, probably some poor man
or woman or child would have lost their lives and probably more. So that
feeling in me caused me to be very careful. And another dangerous job I had
was the time of the big labor strike. Mr. Dewitt Harvey detailed me to go
on a velocipede every other night between Bismark and DeSoto and watch all
of the iron bridges and see if anyone had been tampering with them. It was
a dangerous job but I never said no to anything that my foreman asked me to
do and in those 49 years I was never called up for an investigation.
Everything that I done seemed to be satisfactory to all, and when I retired
from service I received several nice letters congratulating me for my good
service. Especially one from Mr. Baldwin and Mr. John Cannon.
I was married October 30, 1882 to Miss Bettie Blades, and three children
were born to this union, two boys, Bert and Walter, and one girl, Lottie.
They were all married and live in St. Louis Mo. My wife died July 6, 1828
and my father died February 1925 at the age of 93 years, 8 moths, 15 days,
leaving me to battle through the remainder of my life all alone. But now, I
am traveling along five months in my eightieth year of age, I am blessed
with good health and happiness. Thank the Lord.
Leonard F. Kidd
March 16, 1936
Lived in my old home for the last 52 years.
SOCCGS Purchases:
Confederate Research Sources; Neagles
CDs: Passenger Immigration Lists, New Orleans, 1820-1850
Maryland Genealogies and Marriages
Long Island Families
The Complete Book of Emigrants, 1607-1776
Confederate Pension Lists
Family Forest World Record Edition: George Eastman says of this cd,
“I do not know of any other product that provides in-depth
information about the family connections of as many individuals as this
one.” “This disk has family information about millions of
individuals.”
Donations:
Frances Hebert
Haywood County, North Carolina Families; Cook
Heritage of Macon County, North Carolina; Sutton
Will Book A, Madison County, North Carolina; Reece
Timesaving Aid to Virginia-West Virginia Ancestors; Wardell
Hearthstones of Home; Foundations of Towns County, Georgia by Taylor
Index of North Carolina Ancestors Vol. I
History of Guilford County, North Carolina
Population Schedules, Guilford County, North Carolina
Guilford County, North Carolina Historical Documentation (Map)
“A Lot of Bunkum”, Old Buncombe County, North Carolina
Periodicals
Assorted copies of The Guilford Genealogist & Rowan County
Register
Unknown Donor:
150th Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers
Thank you to all who so generously donate
to our library.
PRESERVING
GRAVESTONES/TOMBSTONES/MARKERS
By Billie Jean Reese [email protected]
RootsWeb has a great Mailing List -- TOMBSTONE-L -- that has been
around for a long time. It has some wonderful people on the list who are
very helpful in all phases of preservation of a cemetery. Several on the
list are professional preservationists. For information go to:
https://mailinglists.rootsweb.com/listindexes/legacy/other/Miscellaneous/TOMBSTONES.html
There is so much to learn about cleaners and how some chemicals will
destroy the older stones quickly and the newer ones will also get into the
stone and harm them. When in doubt use only water and a soft-bristle brush,
as this does not harm; it will take a little longer, but the stone will
last. Rubbings on old stones will cause the stone to slough off. A good
website for information on this subject is:
"Saving Graves" at: http://www.savinggraves.com/
Before you start cleaning stones, please get some professional help. Stone
carvers and mortuary stone businesses are not always where to obtain the
best information about saving and preserving gravestones. That has been
mentioned on the TOMBSTONE list also. Its archives have good info that can
be researched and printed out. As a member of that list I've learned much
in respect to what is needed to do and not to do in the way of reading,
preserving and maintaining grave sites and stones.
*****Previously published in RootsWeb Review: Vol. 6, No. 30, 23 July
2003.
Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend by the name of
Common Sense who has been with
us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was since his birth
records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered
as having cultivated such valued lessons as knowing when to come in out of
the rain, why the early bird gets the worm and that life isn't always
fair.
Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more
than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (adults, not kids, are in
charge). His health began to rapidly deteriorate when well intentioned but
overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a six-year-old boy
charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, teens suspended
from school for using mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher fired for
reprimanding an unruly student only worsened his condition. It declined
even further when schools were required to get parental consent to
administer aspirin to a student but could not inform the parents when a
student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion.
Finally, Common sense lost the will to live as the Ten Commandments
became contraband, churches
became businesses and criminals received better treatment than their
victims. Common Sense finally gave up the ghost after a woman failed to
realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot, spilled it in her lap, sued,
and was awarded a huge settlement.
Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents, Truth and Trust, his
wife Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son, Reason. He is
survived by two stepbrothers; My Rights and Ima Whiner.
Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone.
[Anonymous from the www.]
EARLY AMERICA
In George Washington's days, there were no cameras. One's image was
either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of George Washington showed him
standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others showed
both legs and both arms. Prices charged by painters were based on not how
many people, but by how many limbs were to be painted. Arms and legs are
"limbs;" therefore, painting them would cost the buyer more.
Hence, the expression, "Okay, but it'll cost you an arm and a
leg."
***********
Needless to say, personal hygiene left much room for improvement. As a
result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women
would spread bee's wax over their facial skin to smooth out their
complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman began to
stare at another woman's face she was told "mind your own bee's
wax." Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term
"crack a smile." Also, when they sat too close to the fire, the
wax would melt, and therefore, the expression "losing face."
***********
At local taverns, pubs and bars, people drank from pint and
quart-sized containers. A bar maid's job was to keep an eye on the
customers and keep the drinks coming. She had to pay close attention and
remember who was drinking "pints" and who was drinking
"quarts." Hence, the term "minding your "'P's and
Q's."
RELATIONSHIPS
Your: Second Cousin’s Son is your 2nd Cousin Once Removed.
Aunt’s Granddaughter is your 1st Cousin Once Removed.
Granduncle’s Grandson is your 2nd Cousin.
Grandfather’s Sister is your Grand Aunt.
Uncle’s Great Grandson is your 1st Cousin Twice Removed.
Brother’s Grandson is your Grandnephew
Aunt’s Daughter is your 1st cousin
Father’s First Cousin’s Son is your 2nd Cousin.
“I should have asked them BEFORE they died!”
C.R. Man Arrested in Internet Genealogy Scam
By Christoph Trappe
The Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette
Friday, August 01, 2003
CEDAR RAPIDS -- Local investigators say they have cracked a genealogy
Internet scam that spread across the nation and overseas. Police on Friday
arrested Elias Abodeely II, 22, of 340 Owen St. NW, on suspicion of
identity theft and three felonies -- first-degree theft, money
laundering and ongoing criminal conduct. The crimes are punishable by up to
47 years in prison. Investigators claim Abodeely masterminded a 3-year
genealogy scam that netted at least $14,000 and between 220 and 260
victims. The total could be higher, but investigators haven't added up
everything yet, said Cedar Rapids police investigator Greg Koenighain.
Many visitors to Abodeely's genealogy Web sites signed up for what they
thought was a five-day trial period, with the option of canceling after
that time was up. They supplied financial information but found they were
unable to cancel memberships and that money was taken out of their accounts
or that their checks were cashed, police charged. "I got onto the site
and all it does is bounce me into free sites I could get into without
paying," said Glenn Oden, 59, of Graham, Wash., who said he
lost almost $100 by signing up at the genealogy site. "I'm looking for
the cancellation logo and there's none -- not anywhere inside the site. A
few days go by and, guess what, he cashes the (online) check." At
other sites, the cancellation button didn't work, Koenighain said. Then,
one day in April, Oden said, his electronic check number was turned around
and the check was cashed again.
The identity theft charge stems from an accusation that Abodeely stole
four women's Social Security numbers and used the numbers to establish
accounts he used to process credit cards. "His associates solicited
people for employment in data processing," Koenighain said. "The
women gave them this info. They don't even know Abodeely."
The Iowa Attorney's General Office received 84 complaints about Web sites
linked to Abodeely dating back to 2000, said Bill Brauch, director of the
office's Consumer Protection Division. Abodeely was booked and released
from the Linn County Jail on Friday afternoon.
At least one of Abodeely's Web sites -- genseekers.com -- was still
operating Friday, but officials were shutting it down, Koenighain said.
Dick Eastman of Northborough, Mass., who publishes the Eastman Online
Genealogy Newsletter to about 20,000 subscribers, said he received about
100 complaints about Abodeely's Web sites. "It's a clever little scam.
He's very subtle," he said. "He says (he has) access to millions
(of records), and one e-mail even said he has access to billions of
records."
[The foregoing is from Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter at
http://www.eogn.com.
ARE YOU KITH OR KIN?
Kin are your blood relatives, the co-descendants of a common ancestor.
They are also called "kindred" and "kinsmen."
Kinship can either be patrilineal (on the father's side) and/or
matrilineal (on the mother's side).
Collaterals are kin who have common ancestors not in your direct line of
descent (e.g., siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews and nieces).
Kith are persons with whom you have a close relationship, not necessarily
by blood. They may be friends and acquaintances of your ethnic background,
culture or language.
[Thanks to The Stovall Journal, 6377 Limewood Ave.,
Memphis, TN 38134]
"Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were
inscribed in a book!
Job: 19:23
*****
My Ancestors must be in a witness protection program!