Saddleback Valley Trails
Vol 4 No. 12 Editor: Pat Weeks
December 1997
South Orange County California Genealogical Society
P. O. Box 4513, Mission Viejo CA, 92690
SOCCGS Events
Monthly meetings are scheduled for the third Saturday of
each month and are held from 10:00 AM to Noon at 27978 Marguerite Parkway in
Mission Viejo, between Medical Center Drive and Hillcrest Drive. Visitors are
always welcome.
Membership is open to anyone wishing to join. Membership fees are $20 per
year, January 1 through December 31.
20 December 1997 Our annual holiday party and installation of officers
for the upcoming year will take place at this December meeting. Please come and
share the fun.
17 January 1998 Program to be announced
21 February 1998 Program to be announced.
Other Local Events
21 February 1998 Whittier Area Genealogical Society Seminar to be
held at the Masonic Temple, 7604 S. Greenleaf Ave., Whittier. James W. And
Paula Stuart Warren are the guest speakers at this seminar, presenting their
expertise in methodology, records, uncovering uncommon sources, etc.
Registration at 8 AM, Program 9 AM to 4 PM. Member registration is $22, non
member is $25. A $6 lunch will be available. For more information, please
call (562)696-7322 or (818)333-1194.
30-31 May 1998 29th Annual Genealogical Jamboree will be held in
Burbank, sponsored by Southern CA Genealogical Society. More details to
follow.
MEMBERSHIP
We welcome the following new members:
Irma L. Ward
Daniel & Sheryl Fisher
Norma Roberts
Liz Allen
Eileen Merchant
Betty Klamfoth
The following were guests at our November meeting: Vern Phillips, Mildred
Malmquist, Barbara Staff, Bob Rothrock, George Stayboldt, Patty McNamee, Vivian
M. Pilgrim, Don Franklin, Everett Ireland, Judith Sepull and Jo Renteria.
And, it was a special day, because, we experienced something you don't
see very often at a genealogy meeting: a baby! Sara Miller, born 16 September
this year, attended with her mother Cheri Miller. (And she was as cute as Emma,
the O'possom who visited us!)
LIBRARY NEWS
Betty McKenzie reports the genie section of the new library has been
operating very smoothly, and more donated books are coming in every day. We
want to thank everyone for helping, and for donating books for our collection.
It would be nice to acknowledge the donors, but there have been so many.
Beginning in 1998 this newsletter will include an article of newly acquired
materials each month.
LIBRARY DOCENT MEETING
It is requested that all docents attend an inservice meeting at
our next monthly meeting. Please remember to come early (9:30) to learn the
docents' role at the new library.
MORE SUPPORT FOR OUR LIBRARY
Betty McKenzie spoke to the United Daughters of the Confederacy last
Monday about the new Genealogy section. Their current President, also a
charter member of SOCCGS, Rhobie Reed-Curtis surprised Betty with the gift of
three new books to add to our collection. In addition, Rhobie personally plans
to donate a new book to the library each time a new member joins the United
Daughters of the Confederacy. Thank you Rhobie for such wonderful support.
FAMILY HISTORY CENTER
A new 10 week beginner's course will be offered in January at the
Mission Viejo Family History Center. Please call if you are interested in
attending any of these classes. (714)364-2742.
SAFARI NEWS
The Safari visits will be resuming this January also. The
group meets at 9:30 sharp at the FHC parking lot in Mission Viejo to travel to
a local library for a day of research. Plans for the January location should
be announced at the December meeting.
MEMBERSHIP FEES DUE
Membership fee of $20 is due from ALL members (except those joining
this November) on January 1, 1998. Please make Iris happy and pay up
promptly!
GERMAN FUNERAL SERMONS
"German Funeral Sermons" is an article by Laraine Knowallis Ferguson
appearing in the spring 1997 issue of German Genealogical Digest (pages
6-15) which explains that funeral sermons were common from about 1550 to 1750
throughout the German speaking territories. It was primarily a Protestant
phenomenon, but Catholic funeral sermons were also given in certain areas in
the later years. These sermons consisted of four parts: the actual sermon, the
details about the life of the deceased, the renunciation, and poems and psalms
written by friends and relatives of the deceased. The primary genealogical
value of the funeral sermons is found in the details given about the deceased
and his family members. Not every funeral sermon given at the grave side was
preserved in writing, but only those for which the family was prepared to pay,
and only a percentage of those have survived. In 1919 Dr Moritz Gerhard of
Dresden, chairman of the Roland Society began compiling these sermons
form church and state archives, public or private libraries, of holdings of the
historical societies. By 1967 this index was microfilmed and now contains over
150,000 index cards on 90 rolls of microfilm. These can be found at the Family
History Library, or you can write directly to the German Genealogical Digest,
P.O. Box 112054, Salt Lake City, Utah 84147 (AGLL Gen. Bulletin, July/August
1997)
TAPED SPEECHES
If you can't attend National Gen. Society conferences, but would
dearly love to hear a particular presentation it is possible to order the
cassette. Repeat Performance, 2911 Crabapple Lane, Hobart, IN 46342, phone
(219)465-1234 sells these tapes for $7.50 each. They will send you free
flyers listing tapes from dozens of conferences held in the last decade, a
wonderful way to acquire a personal research library. (AGLL Gen. Bulletin,
July/Aug 1997)
CANADIAN
EXPEDITIONARY FORCE
http:www.archives.ca/db/cef/index.html
A database of over 600,000 Canadian soldiers that enlisted during the
First World War between 1914 and 1918. This is an index to the personnel files
held in the National Archives of Canada. This site contains scanned images of
over 50,000 pages of Attestation papers. The Attestation papers were signed by
the recruit and contained much valuable information for the researcher
including name, birth information, next of kin, occupation and a physical
description.
(Heritage Quest, Oct 1997)
SOUTHERN RESEARCH
Struggling with Southern research? Here's an insider's tip...obtained
from a seasoned researcher in the Salt Lake Family History Library. The
Leonardo Andrea collection is a gold mine. Seems this gentleman spent his life
collecting information about Southern families, especially those in North and
South Carolina and Virginia. This life's work of 188 family folders was
microfilmed, along with enough of his correspondence folders on these families
to fill another 21 microfilm rolls. To check this out, visit your nearby FHC,
use the computer card catalog and look under South Carolina - Genealogy. Then
order the film. Good luck! (From AGLL Gen Bulletin #38 via Whittier Area
Gen Soc. Newsletter, Sept 97)
THE ELUSIVE ANCESTOR
by Merrell Kenworthy
I went searching for an ancestor. I cannot find him still.
He moved around from place to place and did not leave a will.
He married where a courthouse burned. He mended all his fences.
He avoided any man who came to take the U.S. Census.
He always kept his luggage packed, this man who had no fame.
And every twenty years or so, this rascal changed his name.
His parents came from Europe. They should be upon some list
Of passengers to U.S.A., but somehow they got missed,
And no one else in this world is searching for this man.
So, I play genie-solitaire to find him if I can.
I'm told he's buried in a plot, with tombstone he was blessed.
But the weather took engraving, some vandals took the rest.
He died before the county clerks decided to keep records.
No family bible has emerged, in spite of all my efforts.
To top it off, this ancestor, who caused me many groans,
Just to give me one more pain, betrothed a girl named Jones.
(Skinner Kinsmen Update, Vol 15, No. 2)
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