Note: The Web version of this issue of The Roots Tracer contains all of the words and all of the non-decorative graphics of the original paper version, but does not preserve the original typographical formatting.
ISSN0736-802X THE LIVERMORE ROOTS TRACER VOLUME XIV SPRING 1995 NUMBER 2
Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society PO Box 901, Livermore, California 94551 TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME XIV NUMBER 2 Editors' Notes 544 Local FHC Hours 545 Calendar of Events 545 Izzy or Izzn't He? 546 Family Reunion 547 This is Your Life, Elva 548 What's the Date? 549 Computer News 550 Library Notes 554 Portuguese Research 554 Book Reviews 555 Meet the Members: Lara Ulrich, Ralpha J. Myers Crouse 557
LIFE MEMBERS OF L-AGS: Beverly Schell Ales Anastasia Alexander Carrie Alexander Terry Crane G. E. "Robbie" Robinson Harriett & George Anderson Judy Person BENEFACTORS: Addie Martz Doug Mumma WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS: Irving Stowers Pam Anderson Hundal Margarete Henry Jim Steinhaus Robert and Carolee Smith
LIVERMORE-AMADOR GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY P. 0. Box 901, Livermore, CA 94551 President Fran SAMANS 510-447-0761 1st VP and Membership Chair Erma McCUE ... 510-443-1512 2nd VP and Program Chair Katherine BRIDGMAN 510-846-4898 Recording Secretary Harold NORRIS 510-447-6067 Corresponding Secretary David CURRY 510-447-7589 Business Manager Chuck ROCKHOLD 510-455-5911 Roots Tracer Editors Jolene & David ABRAHAMS 510-447-9386 Library Chair Judy PERSON 510-846-6972 Publicity Chair Felicia ZIOMEK 510-847-9260 Livermore Cultural Arts Council Rep Don JOHNSON 510-447-4746 Computer Interest Chair Doug MUMMA 510-447-5164 Historian David LINDSEY 510-447-6351 Publications Chair Open The Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society is exempt from Federal Income Tax under Section 501(c)(3) (literary and educational) of the Internal Revenue Code and California Taxation Code 237020.
The Roots Tracer is a quarterly publication with articles of interest to the genealogist. Members are encouraged to submit their "Profiles" as well as articles of general interest. Queries are free to members, $ 1. 00 to nonmembers. The deadline for each quarterly is the 15th of June, September, December, and March. Send to: Roots Tracer, P. 0. Box 901 Livermore, CA 94S51 Any book presented to the Society will be reviewed in the quarterly along with the purchase price and address of the publisher. Our Library is located in the Pleasanton Public Library building, 400 Old Bernal Ave., Pleasanton, CA. Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday, monthly, 7:30 PM, at Congregation Beth Emek, 1866 College Ave., Livermore, CA. Membership in LAGS is open to any individual, library, or society. Our fiscal year is January 1 through December 31. Membership includes a subscription to the quarterly Roots Tracer. Publications Members Non-Members Postage Surname Index (1994) $9.00 $14.00 $2.00 Livermore Cemeteries (1988) $12.00 $17.00 $2.00 Pleasanton, Dublin Cemeteries (1990) $8.00 $12.00 $2.00 Roots Tracer Index $3.00 $4.50 $1.50 The above publications are available on diskette (IBM or Mac) for the same price as the paper copies. When purchased with a book, they are half price. Members Handbook $4.00 $6.00 $2.00 (Prices subject to change) Send check or money order to: Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society P. 0. Box 901, Livermore, CA 94551 DUES Individual $12.00 Family $18.00 Life $125.00 Benefactor $30.00 Patron $60.00 Life (Couples) $185.00
EDITORS' NOTES For the past ten years, George Anderson has had the challenging and rewarding assignment to read and review books purchased by L-AGS for our library. George has also been chairman of the Library Committee and Publications Committee for many years. As of January, George has relinquished the chairmanship of both committees, and is going to spend more time with his own genealogy, traveling, and, of course, his grandchildren. On behalf of L-AGS, I would like to express to George our deepest thanks for all the wonderful reviews he has written, which have all been published in this magazine. Judy Person, a long-time member of L-AGS, has taken over chairmanship of the Library Committee. She has been an active member of this committee for many years, and is retired from the staff of the Pleasanton Library. We look forward to reading Judy's book reviews and her comments on new acquisitions to the library. Don't forget, our holdings are on the shelves in the Pleasanton Library. We still need to have someone step forward to take charge of the Publications Committee. George Anderson would be pleased to explain the duties of the committee, which are not too strenuous! Please tell our President that you would like to help. And chairmanship can be shared by two or more members of our Society. L-AGS would like to express condolences to the family of member Vern Barr on the sudden death of son Vernon Charles Barr Jr. Vernon passed away in February in Phoenix, Arizona, as a result of complications of diabetes. The Executive Board of L-AGS has extended an Honorary Membership to Olivette Chin. Olivette was one of the founders of L-AGS. In 1977 Olivette contacted the Adult Education Department of the Livermore Unified School District and requested that a course in genealogy be offered. They agreed to do so on the condition that she find an instructor for the course. She contacted Ed Pyle, who agreed to teach a one-semester course consisting of three-hour lectures on genealogy. L- AGS was formed as a result of the interest generated by Olivette, Ed and some of the students. L-AGS has come a long way since then, and the Board thanks Olivette for her many contributions.
QUERY Karen Reynolds, 1050 25th Ave. Moline, IL 61265-4724. Searching for descendants of my grandfather Christian JORGENSEN of Moline, IL: JORGENSEN, ROSA, HANSEN, PEDERSEN/PETERSEN, THERKELSEN, OXSEN, MORRELLA, DANIELS, MOQUIN, BAKER, SCHAFER, VONK, PIANKA, SOUZA, MARTIN in Pleasanton, Milpitas, Mt. Eden, San Lorenzo, Dublin, CA.
LOCAL FAMILY HISTOR CENTER HOURS There are now two LDS Family History Centers (FHCs) in the Livermore Valley. One, in Livermore, has been in existence for some time. It is located in the LDS Church, 950 Mocho. Hours of operation are: Monday - 10:00 AM 3:00 PM Wednesday - 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Thursday - 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM. The newest FHC is located in the LDS Church at 6101 Valley Avenue in Pleasanton. This FHC is open: Tuesday through Friday - 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Friday - 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM Saturday - 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. It is suggested that you leave a message on the church's answering machine (846-0149) the day before you want to do research to make sure the library will be open. Both churches are in need of volunteers to help keep the FHCs open and available for genealogists and historians wanting to use the computers and micro-fiche readers. If you would like to volunteer a few hours of your time on a fairly regular basis (and help your own research), you are urged to contact Dean Lee in Livermore, at 447-3497, or leave a message on the answering machine (846-0149) at the Pleasanton church.
CALENDAR OF SELECTED GENEALOGICAL EVENTS (From various sources) 3 - 6 May: NATL. GEN. SOC. & SAN DIEGO GEN. SOC. national conference: "A Place to Explore". Topics: Records and their availability; Migration patterns; History, what events shaped the area of your research; Evaluating evidence; Organizing & publishing; Hands on computer classes. For more info write to: NGS 1995 Conference, 4527 - 17th St. North, Arlington, VA 22207-2362. At the Town & Country Hotel & Convention Center. 13 - 15 July: NEW ENGLAND HISTORICAL GEN. SOC. will mark its sesquicentennial with a Major conference entitled "150 Years -- Exploring Our Heritage". Included in the program will be presentations by leading genealogists on such subjects as U.S., Irish and English research, Biology & Genealogy, New England Gravestones, African-American Genealogy, New Bedford Whaling and Portuguese Immigration, and Germans to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. Write for full details to: NEHGS, 101 Newbury St., Boston, MA 02116. 11 August: NATIONAL ARCHIVES PACIFIC SIERRA REGION: Military Part I: Pre-Revolution to War of 1812. 9:00 AM - 12 Noon, 1000 Commodore Drive, San Bruno, CA. 8 September: NATIONAL ARCHIVES PACIFIC SIERRA REGION: Military Part II: Civil War to WWII. 9:00 AM - 12 Noon, 1000 Commodore Drive, San Bruno, CA.
IZZY OR IZZN'T HE? David Abrahams Great Uncle ISIDORE ABRAHAMS. "Uncle Izzy" for short. He was the youngest brother of my grandfather Maurice, and I have been trying to find out where and when he was born. I knew that he was born after 1897, since another brother, Bernard, was born in that year. Dad said he thought Uncle Isidore was born in 1899. So that's where I started. I also knew he was born in London, but didn't know whether in the East End or in Croydon. I looked through the British Index to Births for Isidore Abrahams, born in London between 1897 and 1901. There were several with the same name. I narrowed my search to Whitechapel and Croydon, since I knew that his parents lived in both of those districts at one time or another. (NOTE: The Index to Births is in the Santa Monica, CA, FHC - on microfilm.) Working with Dr. Anthony Joseph, a professional genealogy researcher (and a medical doctor) in Birmingham, we ordered the birth certificate that came closest to fitting the approximate date and place. Unfortunately, it was not correct - right name, wrong parents! Since it was close to our departure for England, I went no further, thinking I might do better in London. However, since we spent a lot of time visiting and interviewing relatives, and due to time constraints, I didn't get that far with my research. During our travels, we went to Birmingham, and met Dr. Joseph and his wife Judy. Anthony has been helping me for better than two years by finding birth certificates and other related data. During our visit we discussed the missing Isidore. Again, I didn't come to a decision as to what to do. Anthony had no suggestions either. We had the good fortune of making a second trip to London. And we had lunch with my Aunt Jo. Aunt Jo reminded me that when she was young, she told Uncle Isidore that she didn't like "Uncle Izzy" and was going to call him "Uncle Bob". The name stuck, and I remembered Dad also telling me that "Uncle Bob" was his nickname. Then I talked to one of Dad's cousins, who told me he thought that "Uncle Bob" had lived in Birmingham and was buried there! (Hadn't heard that before!) Once home from our trip and settled in, I began corresponding with Anthony again. In one of my letters, I told him I was still looking for Isidore Abrahams, and I thought he was buried in Birmingham. Could Anthony do some research for me along those lines? And, by the way, his nickname was "Bob". Within a very short time, I had a letter back from Anthony, discussing possibilities for some other aspects of my research. But he saved the best for last, and I quote: "When you provided me with a little more detail on 'Bob' Abrahams, I knew immediately who he was. I was his doctor for the last five years or so of his life and his step-daughter is well known to me and lives less than a mile from me!" Anthony has since provided me with the birth certificate of ISRAEL ABRAHAMS, who is in fact my great uncle. I now know that "Izzy" is not Isidore as everyone in the family thought! "Izzy" can be short for either Israel or Isidore! The lesson to be learned from all this is that one should never forget nicknames.
FAMILY REUNION Mildred Kirkwood Doucette I was in Owen County, Illinois in 1992, looking for records of my grandfather's grandparents at the Library. The librarian gave me a couple of fat manila folders and I spent an enjoyable time reading through them. I found a copy of a newspaper article, which said there is a family reunion, held the first Sunday of August since 1919, at a park on my great-great-grandmother's land in Oregon. This family was on the first wagon train to bring women and children to the Oregon Territory in 1843. In 1993, a re-enactment of the wagon train was held for the 150th anniversary. I joined the wagon train and had a great time. At the end of the trail in Oregon City, we walked into a city park that had booths with food, music, etc. One booth was run by the Sons and Daughters of Oregon Pioneers. I mailed an application and quickly received a letter that started with "A long-lost relative!" She told me that this family has also had reunions in Oregon for years, on the first Sunday in September. In 1994, I was in Oregon at the right time and attended both family reunions. I turned out to be a "missing link" in both families. I didn't know a soul there in the beginning, but I soon got to know everyone. At the Matheney family reunion, they had a computer and a copying machine, so we exchanged photos and information all day. I had so much fun that I hated to see it end. I met a relative who lives about 4 blocks from me in Livermore. I have been all over the country and to many libraries, as well as the National Archives and Salt Lake, and have what I thought was a lot of information. He has used only the Livermore Library and has more than I have! At the Groshong reunion, I met 3 elderly ladies, called "The Aunts", all of whom are in their 80's and 90's. They are cousins to each other and to my grandmother, who never met them. There was one man who looks just like his great-grandfather, beard and all! He brought his grandson to the reunion and the boy was asking a lot of questions of everyone about the family. What a great way to carry on "genealogy fever"! The woman who wrote to me has become a good friend, and we spent some time together while I was in Oregon. You may find information about family reunions in some unexpected places. If you do, go to the reunion. You may not know anyone for the first 5 minutes, but you will soon be having a great time. You will also get lots of new information. In both families, I found books that had been written, pictures, recipes and a great feeling of belonging!
DOLLARHIDE MOVES The Dollarhide Systems of Bellingham, WA, was purchased by AGLL of Bountiful, UT. Bill Dollarhide is now Director of Publications for AGLL. All telephone orders for Dollarhide products should be directed to AGLL at (801) 298-5446. Contra Costa Co. GS NL 11/94
THIS IS YOUR LIFE, ELVA George Anderson Harriet and I traveled to Minnesota in January (we must be crazy!) for an unusual purpose: to help my Aunt Elva Label celebrate her 100th birthday. The centennial party was also a family reunion, with some interesting genealogical sidelights. Elva was born Elva Black on February 4, 1895 in Clearfield, Taylor County, Iowa. She is now frail but in excellent mental health. She was married twice but had no children. Her only sister, six years younger than she, was my mother. They lived together as widows for many years until my mother died two years ago, so my mother's 49 descendants have been very close to her. Twenty-three of them, plus spouses - 36 in all - attended the reunion. We have been the de facto historians in my mother's family, so we scoured our photo archives to make a "This is your life, Elva" slide show. I rephotographed the old photos into slides, starting with her parents' wedding picture, her baby pictures, photos at sweet sixteen, then others up to the present - 110 slides in all. The show was a hit at the reunion, not only to Elva, but also to the younger set, who had probably never thought of Elva as a young person. To the extent that this kindled a spark of interest in family history in the younger generation, it was worthwhile. Something similar should be considered for any family reunion. The second undertaking was to send an invitation to the centennial party to 134 of Elva's relatives that we have corresponded with over the years. Most of these are distant relatives, and most live far from Minnesota, so we did not expect many to attend the party, but we did ask that they send letters to Elva. We enclosed a computer-generated descendants' chart with each invitation, to show the kinship, and asked that the letter to Elva include news of their relatives-in-common. Only four of these 134 live near Minneapolis, and only one of them attended the party. But at last count 55 letters had been received, and they were still coming in long after the birthday. We have copies of all the letters, many with good data in them. We are happy that our collection of family lore has been put to good use in making Elva's momentous birthday more meaningful to her and to all in attendance, in recruiting younger historians, and in giving us a new infusion of data about our relatives.
DATES AND FADES * DATING PHOTOS If you find a funny looking "postage" stamp on the back of your old photos, the photo was probably taken sometime between September 1864 and August 1866. This was the only period of time that tax stamps were used on photos. From Decatur GS 1-91. Note: Your editor is a stamp collector and can help with identification of these stamps. * FADED WRITING If the writing on an old document or letter is too faded to read, use a 75 Watt "black light" (ultraviolet) bulb shining on the page. Writing will miraculously appear! From Tuolumne Co. Gen. Soc.
WHAT'S THE DATE? John Walden The old style Julian calendar was introduced in Rome in 46 B.C. The Christian world waited until 325 A. D. to use it. A year was 12 months and 365 days. Every fourth year was a leap year of 366 days. Since this calendar is not quite correct, the world kept losing a little time. By 1582 the vernal equinox was on March 11, instead of March 21 - ten days in error. In March of that year, Pope Gregory XIII revised the calendar to get it back in time with the sun. So the day after March 4, 1582, became March 15, 1582. To keep the calendar accurate, the Pope stated that any year that ends with a 00 and can be divided evenly by 400 with no remainder is a leap year. (Example: 1600, 2000) The years ending in 00 that can not be divided evenly by 400 are not leap years. (Example: 1900, 2100) The Pope also made another change that can cause problems for genealogists. New Year's Day was on March 25 of each year. The last day of the year would be March 24, 1531, and the next day would be March 25, 1532. Starting with 1582, New Year's Day was moved to January 1. Only Portugal, Spain and some sections of Italy made the change in 1582. Gradually over the years, other countries changed over their calendars. One of the last countries was Britain and it's colonies. Even so, some sections of some colonies had changed prior to that. In 1750 the British Parliament finally agreed to make a change. By this time, the difference had grown to 11 days. So September 2, 1752 was followed by September 14, 1752. New Year's Day was also changed from March 25 to January 1 at the same time. As a result of the change, many persons in Britain thought they had been cheated out of 11 days of their lives and angry mobs gathered in front of the Houses of Parliament demanding their 11 days back. So beware of what looks like different dates from different sources. It may be just the changes made in the calendar. You may have to research just when a particular country made the changes in dates and New Year's Day. Editor's note: Just to add confusion to the above information, if you are doing research using Jewish year dates, you must add the number 3760 to the Gregorian year to determine the Jewish year. Your editor has available for members' use a hundred-year calendar from 1920 through 2020 which shows all the Jewish dates and holy days as they occur in the Gregorian calendar.
POST OFFICE CAUTION Postal workers caution that folded self-addressed stamped envelopes could cause the letter to be lost or destroyed by the new postal machines. The automated machines that sort billions of pieces of mail do not take a friendly attitude toward bulging letters that do not slide comfortably into the machine. To assure that your letter containing an SASE (Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) reaches its destination, never fold the enclosed envelope. Learning the different common sizes of envelopes is the easiest way to initiate a new habit. #6 - common short ones - they measure six and one half inches long #9 - these are nine inches long - fit nicely into a #10 #10 - business size - they measure nine and one half inches long #11 - measure eleven inches long, a #10 fits easily inside #12 - measure twelve inches, but are heavier, extra postage possible
Computer News by Doug Mumma Computer Interest Group Reorganization Sign-up The L-AGS Computer Interest Group will resume regular meetings in the Summer after reorganization and my five week trip in May "retracing the footsteps of my ancestors." A Computer Interest Group steering committee will be formed to set direction, formulate agendas and participate in the presentations. If you are interested in assisting with the direction of the group and helping with meetings, please call Doug Mumma at 447-5164. A reorganization meeting will be held in April at a mutually convenient time to be announced. Be proactive and call. I need your input, suggestions, and help from which we will all benefit. There have been suggestions made of having our own Web page on the Internet, starting our own BBS, as well as many other interesting ideas. Please participate and make this interest group useful and informative to you and others. Sharing CD-ROM's A number of members have recently obtained CD-ROMs in order to search census and other records at home. Some of us are willing to share them with other LAGS members. I will be happy to maintain a current list of what CD's people have and are willing to share. This way, people won't duplicate what others have already bought and we can collectively create a rather large database. Each person will need to establish their own lending policy, but I think a one week loan period would be reasonable. For this to work, everyone has to be careful of each other's property and return them promptly. Most of these CD's are DOS based and will not function on a Mac unless you can emulate a PC. Call me and let me know if you have any CD's to contribute to the list. CD CD Title Owner Phone Master Name Index (A name index to all other CD's) Doug Mumma 447-5164 CD 110 Social Security Death Benefits Records Index (to 1993) ditto ditto ditto CD 20 0hio 1880 Census Index ditto ditto ditto CD 151 Great Lakes/Md Atlantic 1791-1809 Census Index ditto ditto ditto CD 137 1790 U.S. Census Index ditto ditto ditto - ProPhone 1995 (Telephone #'s of the U.S. -Mac & IBM ditto ditto ditto - Street Atlas USA by DeLorme IBM version ditto ditto ditto - Street Atlas USA by DeLorme Mac version David Abrahams 447- 9386 CD 4 NM, VA, & N. Carolina Marriage Records (1624-1900) John Walden 443-2057 Before you buy any CD's, it is wise to consult one of the catalogs that list, in very specific detail, what counties of a particular state are covered by a census and provide other information about the CD. You may find that your county of interest is not included. Another technique for selecting which CD to buy is to use the Master Name Index to screen a name of interest. This CD will then tell you if the name appears on any other CD. These disks do have errors and are not all inclusive, but they do save you time at the LDS History Center where using their computers maybe difficult due to the heavy demand. Remember, these CD's are only indexes and are not the actual census. You still need to scan through the microfilms to view the census detail. CD's can be purchased through a variety of catalog companies for about the same price, typically $20. All of the CD's have been produced by a single company, Automated Research, Inc. (AAI). They were recently purchased by Banner Blue Software, Inc., the makers of Family Tree Maker, but will continue as a Division. Their new name will be Automated Archives Division, Banner Blue Software, Inc. That is quite a mouthful so they will continue to be known as Automated Archives. They are also requesting that people send in their GEDCOM files for inclusion on new CD's. Granted, they will be "selling" your genealogical data, but you will be getting wide exposure of your information and, hopefully, others will contact you if there is common interest. Also for your information, Robby Robinson, one of our L-AGS members, is the Bay Area Regional Distributor for Automated Archives. He has most of the CD's available for purchase at his home and the price is the same as that posted in most catalogs. Robby is a very convenient source and close. His telephone number is 895-9787 in San Leandro. Call him for the latest catalog and price list. ANIMAP I recently tried out an interesting map program called AniMap. It is a program that can display any particular state and it's county boundaries as they existed since the formation of that state. You can then command the program to progressively show the changes to the county boundaries when they changed for a particular year. The program allows you to put several "markers" on the map that could represent towns of interest. You then watch as the boundaries automatically change before your eyes as time progresses. The full program of the entire United States contains over 2000 color maps with each state requiring about 40 maps to display the county boundary changes that have occurred since it formed. To demonstrate the program, I picked the town of Madison, Virginia where my mother's ancestors settled in 1732. It was fun to watch that town location change from being in the county of King and Queen to Spotsylvania in 1720, to Orange in 1734, to Culpeper in 1748, and finally to Madison County in 1792. Of course I can get the same data from the Handybook or similar reference, but it does not have the same visual impact. You can print out maps for any time period, but they are very "busy" and not of the highest quality, even when using a laser printer. A color printer, however, produces visually superior maps. You can save a map as a bitmap file, The program will only work on an IBM compatible computer running under WindowsTm with a VGA or SVGA color monitor and 2mb or more of memory. While the program is very interesting and entertaining, I find it to be over priced for it's utilitarian value. The basic program, which consists of the United States and one region (6 regions make up the U.S.), costs $39.50. Additional regions cost $15.00 each. The total package of everything is $95.00. You can order the program from the Art Lassagne who owns the GOLD BUG in Alamo. His telephone number is 838-MAPS. He does have a demo available or you can borrow mine. Need Computer Help? Mentors Available! Need help with a computer hardware or software problem? Call George Anderson (846-4265) for Macintosh problems or Doug Mumma (447-5164) for IBM clone related problems. If we can't help you ourselves, we can probably direct you to someone who can. Pleasanton Library's Genealogical Holdings on Computer Disk! Through the effort of George Anderson, the genealogical holdings maintained at the Pleasanton Library have been download from the on-line catalog system. Three files were then created and placed on computer diskette to allow easy searching and scanning of the holdings. One file contains an introduction and a catalog of the holdings, the second is a very large file containing a bibliographic description of each holding, and the last file contains an index of everything. This diskette is very useful if you don't have a modem or want to connect to the Library and do an online search. George has created a Macintosh version and I have adapted it for the DOS users. The DOS version has its own menu and viewer program that allow for easy viewing or keyword searching. In addition, an extra set of files were formatted for Word for Windows 6 which can be easily read by your favorite word processor. The cost for either the MacLibrary or DOSLibrary diskette is $3.50. This is the same price as the paper version, but is more complete. It contains the bibliographic information. Just call George Anderson at 846-4265 for the Mac diskette or Doug Mumma at 447- 5164 for the DOS diskette. They will also be available at the regular meetings. Revised Bulletin Board Telephone Numbers There have been some telephone number changes and additions to the listing of bulletin boards that I passed out at the November Computer Users Group meeting. The changes are as follows: Livermore Police Department BBS 371-4799 PAFinders BBS (San Jose) (408) 246-1451 or (408) 246-8967 (The 800 number no longer operational) Allen County Public Library (Fort Wayne, IN) (219) 424-7241 The Livermore Police Department changed their Bulletin Board number when they relocated to their new building in January. I still recommend using the Livermore Police Department BBS for practice. It is a local call and it has a very nice, colorful menu that easy to use and is intuitive. It has a file area you can use if you would like to learn how to download files. The PAFinder BBS is run by the Silicon Valley PAF Users Group. It has the best genealogy offering in the Bay Area with lots of helpful tutorials and Sysops, The only unfortunate problem with this BBS is it is a long distance call. To use the FIDONET effectively, you must use an Off Line Reader or the phone costs will eat you up. You are welcome to attend one of their monthly meetings where instruction is given about using the BBS. You must join the Silicon Valley PAF Users Group to use the BBS, but you do receive their monthly newsletter with is outstanding and worth the $15 membership cost. A good value! Their 800 number became to expensive for them. Since I am planning a trip to Indiana and have been considering taking a detour up to Fort Wayne and seeing the Allen County Public Library, I was interested to obtain their modem telephone number. No password is needed. It is recommended that set your terminal emulation to VT100. After you connect, type [CTRL] R. The menu is fairly easy to use and I was able to rapidly browse their catalog holdings. It showed that they had several books with which I was not familiar and had not seen previously. It sure is nice to be able to browse a library from the comfort of your home. I make a lot of my long distance connections from between 11 pm and 8 am in order to take advantage of the cheaper night rates. Internet News from George Anderson The Internet has slithered its tentacles into the Livermore and Pleasanton libraries! Thanks to funding from Washington and leadership from the California State Library, both libraries now have Internet terminals open to the public. Livermore currently has one workstation and Pleasanton has two. I am most familiar with the Pleasanton system since I took part in planning it, so the following remarks are known to apply to Pleasanton, but not necessarily to Livermore. At the risk of more over-hyping of the Internet, I will say, "You gotta try it - you'll love it!" Even if you don't have a computer or modem at home, and have never used one, you'll find the system easy and fascinating to use. Sitting at the terminal you can search the catalogs at the Library of Congress, or submit your genealogy "stumpers" to a discussion group, or find out which parish records in Norway have been transcribed, or search for your surnames in vast archives. The information on the Internet is not limited to genealogy, of course - most of its mundane, but you can also find the exotic, the erotic, and the psychotic. One facility that is unfortunately lacking, at least at Pleasanton, is e- mail. Pleasanton started out offering outgoing e-mail, but in less than a month, some unknown patron had committed a serious abuse of the system, and it had to be disabled. A question that is frequently asked is, "Can I search the Mormon Archives on the Internet?" The answer is "no - not now and maybe never." Although the Internet resources are large, they are nowhere near the size of the Mormon archives, so you will still be wise to make the most of our local LDS Family History Centers before going to the Internet. At least three L-AGS members - Sandy Clark in Livermore and Barbara Hill and I in Pleasanton are among the librarians and docents available at certain hours to help patrons get "wired" to the Internet. Advance sign- ups for time on the workstations are recommended at both libraries, but drop-in use is allowed if the stations are not busy. Reservations should be made in person, not by telephone. Free Upgrade of MacLAGS disks from George Anderson! If you bought the Macintosh diskette, "MacLAGS" in 1994, you are eligible to receive a free upgrade to "MacLAGS 95." The programs "Ahnentafel v2" and Narrative v2" on the earlier diskette were limited to handling 1000 or fewer individuals, and to RINs of 1000 or less. Two additional programs, "Ahn 250OA!' and "Narr 2500A," on the new diskette will allow you to handle 2500 persons and RINs up to 2500, if your computer has enough RAM. In addition, the programs have a bug fix for a problem which gave incorrect results for multiple marriages. A new manual is also available. To get your upgraded disk and manual, turn in your old disk and manual to me, George Anderson, at a meeting, or call me at 846-4265 to arrange a trade. "MacLAGS 95" is also available for a donation of $5.00 to L-AGS for members who are first time buyers.
LIBRARY NOTES INDIANA: Submitted by Lillian McAninch, Reference Librarian at the Oak Lawn Public Library is the following information about Indiana. "Once a Hoosier" records migrations of 19th century Hoosier ancestors, either native-born or temporary residents, who moved on to other states. Short biographies will be published in the society newsletter and in bound volumes. Order forms for submitting Hoosier ancestor information by sending a SASE to Elaine Spires Smith, 59201 Merrimac Lane, Elkhart, IN 46517. Send family surname exchange cards to Karen Zach RR# 7, Box 43, Crawfordsville, IN 47933. Patrons are able to access the Indiana State Library Computer System. For remote access by modem to the Indiana State Library's computer system, dial (317)232-3726 at 1200-9600 Baud rate or dial (317)232-3085 at 1200 Baud rate only. Requirements are a Hayes compatible Modem, 8 data bits and 1 stop bit, no parity, VT100 emulation, and Baud rate 1200- 9600. After connecting with the library system, press the RETURN or ENTER. In response to the prompt Username, type ISLOPAL and press RETURN or ENTER. The system will respond with a menu of options to select from. You will be given 30 minutes per LOG IN session. The online public access catalog contains most records of materials added to the state library's collection since 1966 and Indiana division materials since 1978. (Indiana Genealogy Society.) UC LIBRARY STACKS OPEN: The new library at the University of CA in Berkeley opened last September. During the summer, students transferred 1.4 million volumes to the new subterranean facility. The underground repository, designed to be earthquake safe, spreads over 143,000 square feet on four floors, to a depth of 60 feet. The new stacks now hold 52 miles of books and are accessible from either Moffit or Doe Library. The underground rooms feature skylights and custom-made furniture. It is the first library to feature full electrical outlets, data ports, and task lights. There are 450 study tables and carrels which accommodate modems, lap-top computers, and hook-ups with library databases. (East Bay GS NL The Live Oak, V XIV #4, Nov/Dec "94, p6)
PORTUGUESE RESEARCH Judy Person We have been searching for a book on how to do Portuguese genealogy, and finding nothing, I called the American - Portuguese Genealogical and Historical Society (APGHS) in Massachusetts. Mrs. Cecelia Rose of Taunton graciously provided us with some information. There is no book on doing Portuguese genealogy in general, and the books they have to sell are rather specialized. For the list, if you are interest, see their newsletter, The Bulletin Board, at the Pleasanton Library in our newsletter box. They do maintain a library within the Taunton Public Library, and Mrs. Rose had some firm advice: Find our which island in the Azores your ancestors came from. This is most important, then the APGHS will tell you which archives to search. And of course, she recommends doing all possible work on this side of the Atlantic first. This society sounds like a good resource for those of us with Portuguese heritage. APGHS, Inc., P.O. Box 644, Taunton, MA 02780.
BOOK REVIEWS Judy Person The following books recently purchased by L-AGS have arrived, been processed, and are now on the shelves in the Genealogy Section of the Pleasanton Library. SCOTTISH FAMILY HISTORY by Margaret Stuart. Genealogical Publishing Co. Originally published in 1930, this book begins with 75 pages on how to write a family history, then continues for 300 pages on individual families by name, listing all the works and pages where information may be found, such as The Scots Peerage, Caithness Family History, Ancient Scottish Surnames, etc. MAYFLOWER FAMILIES THROUGH FIVE GENERATIONS. General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1990. Volume 4 family: Edward Fuller Volume 5 families: Edward Winslow and John Billington Volume 6 family: Stephen Hopkins Volume 7 family: Peter Brown These are in addition to the first three volumes which L-AGS owns: Volume 1 families: Francis Eaton, Samuel Fuller and William White Volume 2 families: James Chilton, Richard More and Thomas Rogers Volume 3 family: George Soule. These volumes are the ambitious project of the Mayflower Society; they intend to publish, from original sources, the descendants of all the Mayflower pilgrims. If you have family stories about being Mayflower descendants, there are still a lot of volumes to go, but the research is first-rate. GENEALOGICAL REGISTER OF THE FIRST SETTLERS OF NEW ENGLAND by John Farmer. 1829, reprinted 1994. Genealogical Publishing Co. There is a two page list of towns settled before 1692, then an alphabetical list of those "who have been known and distinguished in the annals of New England". As is usual, these tend to be somewhat prominent men, mostly magistrates, ministers, court people, Harvard graduates, Freemen and non- Freemen and emigrants, from 1620 to 1692. PENNSYLVANIA MARRIAGES PRIOR TO 1790. Genealogical Publishing Co. 1890, reprinted 1994. The Pennsylvania Colony's charter provided for a registry of marriages, births and deaths, though this includes mostly records from the 1740s to the 1770s. This began as a part of the wonderful 170+ volume Pennsylvania Archives which some of us have seen in large genealogy libraries. It does not have an index which includes the short added lists, but is arranged alphabetically. PIONEER FAMILIES OF EASTERN AND SOUTHEASTERN KENTUCKY and EARLY SETTLERS OF EASTERN AND SOUTHEASTERN KENTUCKY by William Kozee. Originally published in 1957 and 1961, reprinted in 1994. Genealogical Publishing Co. These volumes are taken from the public records and some from descendants' research. The body is an alphabetical list of families of the area, including the Boones of Greenup County. This covers about mid- 1700s through 1800s. The Pioneer Families are census-type lists of household heads, marriage lists and Civil War soldier lists. Again, we wish for a single index, but this is very much worth the effort if you have early Kentucky folks. Are any of us Boone descendants? THE HISTORICAL FAMILIES OF DUMFRIESSHIRE AND THE BORDER WARS by C. L. Johnstone. Reprint, 2d edition, from Heritage Books. Donated by Kathleen Elm. An 1889 reprint covering Scottish and English family history, beginning with Norman settlers. Many good Scottish names included. MARRIAGES IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF TUAM, IRELAND, 1820 -1829 by Helen M. Murphy and James R. Reilly, C.G.R.S. 1993, Heritage Books. Donated by Kathleen Elm. Dealing with the southern part of County Mayo, the northern area of County Galway, and two civil parishes along the western border of County Roscommon, this covers almost 4,000 records from the pre-1880 Irish Roman Catholic parish registers. Many records were forbidden by the English in 1709 in their efforts to eradicate the Roman Catholic faith, but many of these records were of brides and grooms whose children were the adults of the Great Famine period. This book has indexes by bride, by groom, and by parish, from Sligo to Galway. CEMETERIES OF THE UNITED STATES by Deborah Burek. This new reference volume has been added at the Pleasanton Library, and is numbered R929.5, a genealogy number. It includes many cemeteries, but mostly ones now in operation. There is contact information for many genealogy and historical organizations and libraries and citations to publications. It includes major military cemeteries in the United States and eleven foreign countries. Alas, there are some errors and problems with a new work that is three inches thick. For instance, the Napa and Forestville cemeteries are listed in Alameda County! Nevertheless, this will point many of us in the right direction. I hope that's not a pun! GERMANY: RESEARCH OUTLINE, from the Salt Lake City Family History Library. You may have noticed the rave review of this book in Heritage Quest by Horst Reschke, who answers questions on German ancestry. I can only second the review. If you're doing German research, go for one of the three of these we're adding to the library. There's good general info, then specifics on how to do your work effectively on Germany. Whenever there are resources in the FHL, that's noted, too, with clear instructions on how to find them. These will be in folders in the hanging files. I'll mark them Circulating (can be checked out), since you may wish to study them carefully. YOUR FAMILY'S HEALTH HISTORY, from the National Genealogical Society, donated by Jeanne Tanghe. For those who are concerned about the medical benefits of being a family health historian, here are five articles to increase your capabilities. R929.1072. AMERICAN ANCESTRY: BEING THE NAME AND DESCENT, IN THE MALE LINE, OF AMERICANS WHOSE ANCESTOR SETTLED IN THE UNITED STATES PREVIOUS TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE, A.D. 1776. This is a small print, inexpensive version of a major work, originally published in 1887 by Munsell's, and suggested several years ago by a genealogy library consultant, bought this way because we couldn't find it anywhere in hardcover. Each volume deals with a different locality, with Volume One about Albany, NY and Volume Two on Columbia County, NY.
A PRODUCT ALERT! The National Genealogical Society, with the support of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, advises you to be on the alert when considering the purchase of products based solely on surnames. * Coats of Arms Several companies sell coats of arms or "ancestral arms" for thousands of surnames. Some employ artists to design original coats of arms; others adapt coats of arms found in books. Coats of arms purchased in shopping malls or by mail order are most likely not related in any way to the purchaser's ancestry. Rules on the use of authentic coats of arms differ. You may rightfully use British coats of arms only if you can trace your ancestry through the male line directly to the man who was first granted that coat of arms. Excerpted from the NGS Ethics Committee publication.
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