Rosemary Joy Stroud
January 8, 1924 – April 18, 2001
Wife of L-AGS member John Stroud

Rosemary Stroud, a dental hygienist during World War II at several military bases and a technician for Monsanto Research, died in Livermore. She was 77.

The native of Wheeling, West Virginia, lived in Livermore for 26 years. She attended West Liberty State College and was a member of the Livermore Amador Symphony Guild and the Unitarian Universalist Church in Livermore. She volunteered at the Valley Care Medical Center Health Library and enjoyed entertaining children as a clown, snorkeling and world travel.

She is survived by her husband of 27 years, John; stepdaughter, Megan Crandell of Redding; sons, Gary Marlin of Park Falls, Wisconsin, and Nick Marlin of New York City; stepsons, Paul Stroud of Colorado Springs, Colorado, John Stroud of Folsom, and Tom Stroud of Portland; and eight grandchildren. Memorial services were held at the Unitarian Universalist Church, with arrangements by Wilson Family Funeral Chapel, both in Livermore.

Memorial Gifts: Hope Hospice, 6500 Dublin Boulevard, Dublin, California, 94568; or Unitarian Universalist Church Building Fund, P.O. Box 12, Livermore, California, 94551.

First, let’s congratulate editors, Vicki Renz and Debbie Pizzato, and the Livermore Roots Tracer Staff on their "Honorable Mention" that the Roots Tracer earned in the National Genealogical Society (NGS) newsletter competition this year. On April 16, 2001, President Curt B. Witcher wrote us a letter saying we scored 270 points out of a possible 300.

First place went to COMPU.GEN with 290 points and second place went to The South Bend Area Genealogical Society Quarterly Newsletter with 287 points. Curt did not say how many were between second place and our honorable mention. That certainly is a wonderful showing in our first appearance in such competition! Curt’s letter closes with "Congratulations on your achievement!"

I researched our competition and found that COMPU.GEN is the newsletter of The Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego (CGSSD) whose web site is at <http://www.cgssd.org/>. The South Bend Area Genealogical Society (web site at <http://www.rootsweb.com/~insbags/>) appears to be only one year older than L-AGS – 1976 vs. 1977! You may know that South Bend, IN is the home of the University of Notre Dame. Although there is a "Newsletter" link, there do not seem to be any issues on line.

A special acknowledgment goes to Kay Speaks for arranging to get L-AGS members a 20% discount at Borders Books on purchases of books and music. Just show your current L-AGS membership card at the time of purchase. The store is located on Rosewood Drive in Pleasanton, near Staples. This discount does not apply to newspapers, magazines and cafe purchases and is good only at the Pleasanton store. If you buy books and music, as Gail and I do, and use this discount, you can more than recover the cost of your L-AGS dues in a year. We appreciate Kay’s initiative in securing this benefit for us. If you have lost or misplaced your current membership card, contact our Membership Chair, Kaye Strickland, for a replacement. She will have replacement cards at our meetings or you may call her at 925-484-3881 or e-mail her at kayecad@aol.com.

Let’s also say "Thank You" to the L-AGS volunteers Wilma Myers, Caroline Foote, Beverly Ales, Dick Finn, Leo Vongottfried and Jon Bryan for their work at the Livermore Art Association Spring Show on April 21^st. About nine, or half, of the organizations that belong to The Livermore Cultural Arts Council participated. Like last year we didn’t sell any L-AGS memberships, but we did give away several brochures and lists of free genealogical websites. Using a laptop computer, we demonstrated an old version of the Family Finder Index with about 250 million names. We did spark some interest in our genealogy collection of over 400 CD-ROMs at the Pleasanton Library. This year we were inside, instead of outside, so we were out of the weather, more comfortable and had more customer traffic. Several of us also enjoyed wine, cheese and crackers provided by Leo, Gail, and Jon at 5 p.m. on Saturday! We have a few photos on our L-AGS website <www.L-AGS.org> that highlight this event.

We have been invited to have a genealogical display again at the Alameda County Fair from June 22 through July 8, 2001. This year we hope to have volunteers available from noon until 3 p.m. every day that the Fair is open, 17 total days. Just like last year, volunteers will be entitled to both free parking tickets and free fair passes for the day or days they volunteer. You may want to use the Fair Schedule to help you choose the days that you volunteer! Frank Geasa and I will be co-chairpersons for this effort.

We are scheduled to celebrate "Family History Month" this October at the Pleasanton and Livermore Libraries. We have cabinets or bulletin boards where we can display some of our special genealogical items to the public. The Dublin Library does not permit booking more than four months ahead of time or we would be on their schedule. We are also planning to provide a genealogy presentation at each library.

If you are 55 or older you might consider a genealogy learning vacation with Elderhostel. Elderhostel is a not-for-profit organization with 25 years of experience providing high-quality, affordable, educational adventures for adults who are 55 and older. They offer hundreds of diverse and affordable programs on just about any subject you can think of. Many of these programs are directly related to our genealogical interests. Looking at some of the recent Elderhostel catalogs you will find programs on "The Irish Immigrant Experience in New York," "American Heritage" (in many states), and "Maritime New England" as well as many others that are directly or closely related to family history.

As you might guess there are a number of Elderhostel programs in Utah at Brigham Young University. The programs range from "How do I begin?" up to "Advanced Genealogy Research of England, Wales, and Canada" and the use of the World Wide Web to find your ancestors. One of the first Elderhostel programs we attended, after I retired a few years ago, was at BYU in genealogy. It was a great program with interesting instructors and the use of the libraries at BYU and Salt Lake City. Some of us will soon be attending an Elderhostel program in New York on "The Immigrant Experience" which will include a day at Ellis Island tracing our ancestors.

If you need an excuse to travel outside of the United States, look no further. Many countries have Elderhostel programs on local history that may relate to your ancestors. A year ago we went to the University of Kent at Canterbury and studied the housing and culture of pre-1900 County Kent where my father’s family came from. Many countries have Elderhostel programs on emigration and genealogy such as "Ireland: Practical Genealogy," and "Sweden Emigration and Genealogy." We will be going to Denmark next month for a two-week program on Danish genealogy.

There are other good things about Elderhostel: you meet some great people, there is no homework, and there are no tests! For more information about Elderhostel, call 1-877-426-8056 or go to their web site at <www.elderhostel.org>.

Caps and pins – may refer to the caps that women wore and the pins that held them to their hair.

Slice and tongs – the slice is today’s spatula, used to turn foods in the frying pan, and the tongs were used to pick up foods.

Knot dish – a dish to hold fancy ribbons, called knots.

Milk trays – used to set milk in to let the cream rise to the top and separate; also called "set pans."

Bed rope – preceded the bed slats used to support the mattress. The rope was strung across the bed frame and the mattress lay on top. The expression "sleep tight" came about because the bed ropes had to be tightened occasionally and it was considered a better night’s sleep with the ropes taut.

Fletchets or hetchels – a hetchel, or hackle, likened to a bed of nails, was a tool used to comb flax to break off the rough straw parts and to separate the fibers in order to spin it and make linen thread.

Dutch wheel – a type of spinning wheel

Stilhards or stilhands – a stilyard, or steelyard, is a portable scale for weighing items.

Allyn Witbeck and Miss Sadie E. Avery, who were married at Wellington this week will never have occasion to complain of dull hours. They can always spend the time figuring their relationship to each other. This is all because George Avery, father of the bride, was married a short time ago to Miss Edna Witbeck, a sister of the groom.

Let us see, by this arrangement the groom’s sister is his mother-in-law. His wife is his sister’s stepdaughter and his own step-niece. There is also ground for Mr. Witbeck to believe that he is his own nephew. If he avoids the insane asylum, it will be the sign of an unusually strong mind.

The first information I found about Pierre, the first new world generation of my infamous Montour ancestors, was in the Dictionnaire Généalogique de Families Canadiennes. I am not sure what the information in this book represents, since it is all written in French. In two different editions, I found slightly different information. One says:

1657, (16 avril) Trois-Rivières Couc, Pierre, b 1624 Mite8ameg8e8e, Marie b 1631; s 8 janvier 1699 Pierre b s 6 août 1665

Evidently "s" means "died."

Children are listed in italics below the main entry:

Pierre b…s 5 avril 1690, a St. Thomas, Pierreville – Marguerite, b 1 juin 1664; m a Jean Masse-Fafart – Madeleine, b 1669; m a Maurice Menard – Jean Baptiste, b 1673; m a Anne Sauvagesse

None of these children would have been born by 1657, the date of this entry, so it must not be a census report. Note that Madeleine and Jean Baptiste were born after the father, Pierre, died in 1665. It doesn’t look like they are grandchildren, either, since the older children were not old enough to have children by these birth dates.

The other entry shows:

1657 (16 avril) Trois-Rivières Couc dit Lafleur, soldat M. de Froment, b 1624, fils de Nicolas et d’Elizabeth Templair, de Cognac; s 6 août 1665. Mite8ameg8e8e, Marie, b 1631 (algonquine) s 8 janvier 1699. Jeanne b 14 juillet 1657; s 23 oct 1679 – Louis, b 27 Nov 1659; m 1683, a Marie Sauvagesse – Marie, 6 1663 – Marguerite, b 1 juin 1664; m a Jean Fafart – Elizabeth, b 1667 – Madeleine, b 1669 – Jean, b 1673 – Angélique, b 1661; m a François Sincerny.

Note again that Elizabeth, Madeleine and Jean were born after the father, Pierre, died in 1665. Also, why isn’t Pierre, s 1690, shown in this entry?

I found the following entry in Searching Through the Old Records of New France, a translation by Armand H. Demers, Jr., of Father Cyprien Tanguay’s A Travers les Registres, Quintin Publications, Pawtucket, RI:

1665 August 6^th The burial of [Pierre] Couc dit Lafleur, 41, one of M. de Froment’s soldiers, who had married Marie Mite8ameg8k8e in 1657 in Trois-Rivieres. He had been shot accidentally by one of his companions. "Occisus glande catapultae fortuito a socio."

There is a footnote: "Catapultae was a catapult or military device for throwing stones, spears, arrows, bullet of some kind, etc."

I don’t understand the French surname system. I have read that "dit" means something like "also known as." But, why would they have needed to use aka’s? The Dictionnaire Généalogique de Families Canadiennes says: "Couc – Variations of surnoms: Coucque – Lafleur – Montour."

The Algonquin Indian name of Mite8ameg8e8e is very intriguing. In Searching Through the Old Records of New France, it is explained that the "8" has a ‘huit,’ a whistling sound in French. I have some information sent to me by a relative that says, "From an early book on the Algonquin language that used the "8" symbol, it was described as a guttural grunt, with a vocalized "AAGH" sound. The name would likely have been pronounced MEE-TAY-AAGH-AH-MEG-AAGH-KA-AAGH-AY."

It is also interesting to note that the Huron Indian name Sauvagesse is actually the French word for savage.

Pierre and Marie’s granddaughter, Jeanne Couc, was assassinated and Pierre, her father, beaten. The murderer, Jean Rattier du Buisson, was sentenced to be hanged. After two appeals, he was given a choice: be hanged or accept the post of official executioner of New France. Can you guess which he chose? From Nos Ancetres Quebec, No. 27 by Jacques Saintonge. Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre, 1995.

Little did the people in Murray Township realize what the future might bring when in July, 1899, the Herald reported, "It is rumored that the valley is soon to have an automobile. Mrs. (Phoebe) Hearst is said to have purchased one; if true, ours will be the first rural community in the state to have one of the marvelous vehicles." In September of that year, a local doctor ordered an automobile from the Best Works in San Leandro, who heretofore had primarily manufactured threshing machines. It was the beginning of a social revolution.

In early 1901, a salesman for Locomobile autos came through Livermore on his way to deliver a machine to a Bakersfield customer. It was a magnificent machine – steam-powered, gas-fueled, at the cost of one and a quarter cents a mile, with a double cylinder reversing engine. The salesman "favored a number of local citizens with a spin over the model roads of the valley, and all were delighted by the experience." By the time the salesman departed, H. R. Crane, a local bicycle dealer, had been named Locomobile agent.

But there was a downside to this new innovation. Automobiles never failed to produce panic among wagon and buggy teams. As a remedy, the Automobile Club of California offered a "horse familiarization" course where, by locating one or two automobiles at some convenient place in the community, horse owners could bring their animals close to a vehicle with its motor running.

Local farmers constantly railed at inconsiderate drivers who failed to slow down when passing a team on the road. A petition, addressed to the County Board of Supervisors, asked that automobiles be banned in Livermore Valley, insisting that "most drivers are of an irresponsible class who have only recently joined the ranks, as they appear to have little knowledge of their machines except to drive them at their full speed." The Board pointed out that automobiles have an equal right to the roadway. The Murray Township Supervisor argued that "automobiles of San Francisco do thousands of dollars of damage to our roads and do not contribute one cent to their support. This problem will never be settled until the State takes over the main highways."

Early day automobile manufacturers multiplied like today’s dot.com companies. It was reported that a company had been formed in San Francisco to take over the old Bilz Buggy and Wagon Works in Pleasanton for the manufacture of automobiles. "…The company already has orders for several large machines and (the principals) are confident that the industry will assume large proportions." Nothing more was ever reported about this venture.

Meantime, locals were becoming comfortable with the automobile. In July 1904, Dr. J. K. Warner purchased a 10-horsepower Cadillac automobile. It was said to have been fitted with the latest improvements "including a powerful searchlight which will be valuable for use on mountain roads at night. The machine is a heavy runabout, but the tonneau cover is so arranged that a second seat and canopy top can be used where needed." Three months later, Dr. Warner traded the Cadillac in for an Oldsmobile, as "he found it too heavy a machine for his purpose." H. R. Crane bought Warner’s Cadillac and rented it out for excursions – complete with chauffeur.

Crane, the Locomobile agent, took on sales of other automobiles. In 1903, it was the Oldsmobile line; in 1905, the Autocar, Rambler and Pope-Hartford lines; and in 1907 he became the local Ford agent.

Law enforcement was another issue brought about by the automobile. There were outraged citizens in Pleasanton when the town fathers raised the speed limit from 10 to 20 miles per hour within the town limits. The Town Marshal was, however, instructed to see that the ordinance was strictly enforced.

A new State law became a source of some confusion when three local citizens were cited one evening when they left their automobiles standing in front of the Bell Theatre on Livermore’s First Street without their lights on. The confusion? The law used the term "in use." The law stipulated that automobiles will have two lights in front and one red in back burning from a half hour after sunset until a half hour before dawn when a vehicle was in use. Some drivers interpreted this term to mean only that time when they were actually traveling from place to place. The County District Attorney, however, interpreted the law differently and ruled that a vehicle standing on the street "awaiting the owner’s pleasure was in use." It cannot be said to be out of use unless housed in a shed or garage. The Legislature clarified the language shortly thereafter.

Automobiles had become a common sight on local streets by 1905, and horses no longer shied at them. That same year the first taxi service started up when John Lassen purchased a 10-horsepower Pope-Hartford touring car and proposed to do a general passenger business around Livermore and throughout the valley.

And so it went. Horses became accustomed to passing automobiles; drivers became more or less conscious of traffic regulations; and pedestrians became more adept at avoiding aggressive drivers. The situation hasn’t really changed much in a hundred years.

The newly formed Tri-Valley TMG (The Master Genealogist) Users Group meets at 7:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of each month at the LDS Church, 950 Mocho Street, Livermore.

Most of us are beginners with TMG and the focus is to start with the Tutorial and work forward. With the assistance of experienced TMG users, we will help each other with our problems or challenges in learning the program.

Kay Speaks will provide her laptop and projector for viewing the program on screen, so everyone can see how the program functions while we work through the various features of software. And, as always, we hope to have useful handouts and samples.

The software developer’s website describes their software as "a powerful genealogy program that has long had a reputation as the one that does it all." It is described as "the premier genealogy program for the serious genealogist. It combines power and ease of use" (Eastman Online Genealogy Newsletter). You can visit Wholly Genes Software at http://www.whollygenes.com   and download a demo version of the software.

We genealogists, in our passion for family research, seem to own several family tree programs because we like specific characteristics of each program. We hope you will become a charter member of our group to check out the many sophisticated features of The Master Genealogist and have support in learning how to use yet another genealogy software program.

If you have old undated letters in your collection of family papers, do not discard the envelope in which they were mailed. The postage stamp, along with your estimate of the approximate age of the writer, may help date the letter. Prior to 1847, stamps were not used on letters carried by the U. S. postal service. Later, the first-class postage rates, per ounce, as of the following dates, were:

During February L-AGS member Doug Mumma gave us a presentation titled "Genetic Genealogy – Using DNA to Research Your Ancestors." This was special because it is "state-of-the-art" research and was included in the cover story of the January 29th issue of U. S. News and World Report. Doug described genetic data that university researchers may be able to publish in another three years.

This study included 30 male participants who potentially shared his Mumma surname and live in America, Canada, Germany, and Estonia. At the time of his presentation, he only had data from 9 of the 12 genetic loci. On his web site, The Mumma Surname DNA Project <http://www.mumma.org/DNA.htm>, Doug now shows the data for all 12 loci in the table near the end of his article.

What did I learn from Doug’s presentation? A genealogist wants to collect many ancestors in the database – Doug has over 46,000 names in his. I probably want to discuss any of my DNA research plans with Doug before I spend much time or money on them.

During March, J. Carlyle Parker of Turlock spoke about "Wanting To Go To Salt Lake City, But Can’t: Tips For Genealogical Research Without Going To The Family History Library." Many of these tips are in his book titled, Going To Salt Lake City To Do Family History Research, which is now in its third edition. Several L-AGS members purchased one or more Parker books that Carlyle and his wife Janet brought with them.

Mr. Parker was a professional university librarian from 1958-1994 at California State University, Stanislaus. Carlyle served as the founder and volunteer director of the Modesto and Turlock Family History Centers from 1968 to 1997. Whenever I hear Carlyle talk, I realize that he is reminding me that I don’t utilize the LDS Family History Centers nearly as much as I should.

During April L-AGS member, David Abrahams, spoke about "Taking Your Genealogy on a Trip." David covered some excellent tips that he has developed over the years and has picked up at similar genealogical presentations. He mentioned using Map Guide to American Migration Routes: 1735-1815.

Successful research is the product of good organization and thorough preliminary research. David says to include allied surnames that married into your ancestral lines along with alternate surname spellings. Information about local history, wars and droughts could suggest reasons why your ancestors migrated. He even studies old newspapers available on the UC Berkeley campus.

David likes to learn the hours that local libraries, city halls, county court houses and State archives are open. When he arrives he purchases a city or county map of a new area. He carries extra pocket change plus crisp dollar bills so he can "feed" copy machines.

David reduces his important documents to about 65% so they fit easily into one of his two notebooks. He color-codes various ancestral lines to make himself more efficient. When he adds notes, he takes care to write on the back of that page so it cannot get separated when additional pages are added! Sometimes he will Z-fold large pages into at least three folds to get it in one of his notebooks.

One of the best tips I got from David was "how to camouflage your laptop computer while going through airport security." Apparently laptops have become some of the favorite prey of airport thieves because they cost between $1000 and $2000 more than a desktop computer. His wife, Jolene, suggested placing the laptop in a diaper bag that looks like it contains dirty diapers! If you are a party of two, have one person pass through the security check first; the second person follows with the laptop only after the first person has completed the process. Then at least one from your party is available to pick up the laptop as it comes through security!

The CIG meets once a month to hear speakers on a wide variety of genealogical computer related subjects such as software (new, revised, how to use it, etc.), hardware (computers, storage devices, scanners, cameras, printers), web sites, useful CDs, etc., that help us in our quest for genealogical information. Often we have very useful handouts and even a door prize or two now and then. During the last several months we have had expert speakers talking about computer security (viruses, hoaxes, chain letters, break ins, etc.) and how to protect our computers.

We had a talk on how to select the Internet Service Provider that best meets your needs. This speaker also gave us a heads up on stopping intrusions into our systems. We have had speakers on proper backup procedures. The April speaker addressed the selection of digital cameras including functionality, cost, data storage, and even the need. Starting in May, we will have discussions about making our own web pages. In the coming months, we plan to hear from software producers, what’s new in hardware and software that might help genealogists, including search engines and getting data from the World Wide Web. Bring a friend.

During the school year we meet the fourth Thursday of every month except November and December at 7:30 at the Livermore Adult Education Building, 543 Sonoma Avenue, Livermore. URL for a map to the school: www.l-ags.org/sonoma.html

Members needing help with a computer problem may call one of the mentors listed in the Member’s handbook.

For information on CIG please call Dick Finn at 925-447-9652 or e-mail him at rwfinn@pacbell.net or George Anderson at 925-846-4265 or gwajr-at-comcast.net. Contact one of us for information about meeting topics or to let us know about items you would like to hear about.

The L-AGS Family Tree Maker (FTM) Focus Group meets the first Thursday of the month at 7:30 at the Livermore Adult Education Building during the school year, 543 Sonoma Avenue, Livermore.

We are primarily a group of FTM users (from beginners - even those who have not installed FTM yet - to experts) who discuss problems and solutions, share successes, answer questions and in general help each other with the Family Tree Maker software.

At recent meetings we have talked about using shortcuts in FTM to input data, generating charts that show specific information and generations, making charts for family reunions, using work-a-rounds to bypass problems, as well as a number of other items.

All people interested or curious about Family Tree Maker and related software are invited to attend. For information on our group please call Dick Finn at 925-447-9652 or e-mail him at rwfinn@pacbell.net   or George Anderson at 925-846-4265 or gwajr-at-comcast.net. Contact one of us for information about meeting topics.

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German Translations By Connie Pitt

When George Anderson read the handwriting on an 1850s German postcard that I had from my grandmother’s collection, he not only made my day, but sent me on a genealogy adventure.

We determined that individuals of their village in Speyer, Germany gave the card to my great great grandparents because they did not want them to forget where they had come from.

George also read an old German marriage certificate for me and I now have the marriage date of a great-grand aunt and uncle. Since I now have the date, I believe that I can find more information in Kentucky where they lived.

More recently, George translated a German report card for another great great grandmother, dated 1842. It gave the birth date, that she was from Stadtamhof, going to school in Pfakofen, Germany, and other school information. George then found an atlas at the Pleasanton Library and showed me where these areas are in Germany. He also researched using the Family History Library, <www.familysearch.org>, to see if they had any information.

These translations have helped me on three separate lines in my family. Two of the translations have led me to the German towns my ancestors came from.

I highly recommend getting those old documents read as soon as possible, as you never know what important clues or information they hold.

I want to thank George for the time he took to translate my personal documents and for helping me.

L-AGS member, George Anderson, is a docent for genealogy on Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m., at the Pleasanton Library.

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From the Attic

Almost Lost
By Anna Siig

Some time in the early 1950s excitement built in our kitchen as we had once again received a package from my mother’s parents. They lived in Denmark and the contents of their gift boxes were always something interesting, different and sometimes delicious! I have forgotten what all came in this particular package except for one item.

The packages always contained several individually wrapped packages. They were sometimes wrapped in brown paper and occasionally in gift-wrap paper very different from the U. S. gift-wrap paper at the time. Even the gift ribbons were quite different from the ones we could buy.

After all the smaller packages were out of the box and opened, clean up of all the paper began. There was some extra paper crumbled up around the edges of the box as filler. There was also a small, wooden match stick box, the kind I had seen my grandfather and my father use when we had visited Denmark some years before. We figured it had accidentally fallen into the box. I have forgotten who decided to take the matchbox out of the larger container and open it. It was a good thing they did.

In the matchbox was a gold brooch! It was the brooch my grandmother had received upon her engagement. My grandparents had sent it in the tiny match box with a note saying it was to be kept for me to wear on my wedding day, whenever that might be! We were all relieved that it had not just been thrown out with the paper and the larger box. It was a close call. Every time I look at the brooch or wear it, I remember the excitement of opening the package and the thrill of finding the brooch! Yes, I did wear it on my wedding day several years later.

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Elizabeth Jenkins' Sampler
By Sue Peterson

In 1898, when my grandfather Raymond Hitt was about 9 years old, his parents divorced. Very soon after, his father, Oliver, married a young Catholic girl who was quickly disowned by her family. In fact my great-grandfather’s family didn’t seem pleased either. My grandfather never spoke of his father and you knew not to ask.

Raymond’s mother remarried and moved to California. She claimed her former father-in-law had money and might try to take Raymond from her. So my grandfather grew up far from his Hitt relatives and any family stories.

In 1948 my grandfather suffered a heart attack and was forced to retire. By 1950, with his parents deceased, he decided to visit the few remaining Hitt relatives in Kansas. There were two of his father’s sisters still living. Aunt Russie was interested in the family history and had saved some heirlooms and a family tree chart.

One of the treasures Aunt Russie gave to my grandfather was a sampler made by her grandmother, Elizabeth Jenkins. My grandfather had the sampler framed. After his death in 1958 the sampler was stored away in a box with pictures. It remained in a box until after my mother’s death in 1976. When my father sold their house a year later I took all the family history materials. I displayed the sampler until 1984 when I moved from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. The movers had packed the sampler and I was unable to find it among the many boxes and so it remained "lost."

In 1992, I moved to Livermore and the boxes went into storage. About a year and a half ago, we decided some of the things in storage should be in a climate-controlled space. The first things moved were the several picture boxes. I checked each one to see what was in it. One of the last boxes we moved contained a number of loose pictures. There among the pictures was the sampler, framed on acid cardboard. I had forgotten what had been stitched on the sampler:

Elizabeth Jenkins,
The sampler
Was marked
in the Year 1829
Charles Jenkins was born 1775
Keziah Jenkins was born 1786

The first thing I did was take it out of the frame, then locate a textile conservator. After almost eight frustrating months, I got it back. The sampler is now stitched to acid-free materials and ready to be framed.

This is the only record I have found that clearly indicates the birth years for my great great great grandmother, Elizabeth, and her parents. Since Elizabeth made the sampler, this is about as close to a primary source as I can get.

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Life in the Past Lane Compiled by Mildred Kirkwood

Some Facts About the 1500s
I got this from my relative, Gloria Stoddard.

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence, the "Bride’s Bouquet."

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then the other sons and other men, then the women and finally the children – last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you might actually lose someone in it, hence the saying, "Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water."

Houses had thatched roofs, thick straw piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the dogs, cats and other small animals, like mice, rats, and bugs, lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof, hence the saying, "It’s raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed. A bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That’s how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt, hence the saying, "dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh on the floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entryway, creating a "threshold."

They cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes the stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while, hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man "could bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and then all would sit around and "chew the fat."

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with a high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Most people did not have pewter plates, but had trenchers, a piece of wood with the middle scooped out like a bowl. Often trenchers were made from stale bread, which was so old and hard that they could use them for quite some time. Trenchers were never washed and a lot of times worms and mold got into the wood and old bread. After eating off wormy moldy trenchers, one would get "trench mouth."

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up, hence the custom of holding "a wake."

England is old and small and they started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night, the "graveyard shift," to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell," or was considered "a dead ringer."

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G. R. O. W. (Genealogy Resources On the Web – The Page That Helps Genealogy Grow!) Compiled by Frank Geasa

The 1930 US Census will be available to the public April 1, 2002. Wondering what to expect? Visit the National Archives site explaining things at http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/1930cen.html. While there, visit the main NARA genealogy page to see what other records are also available. http://www.nara.gov/genealogy/genindex.html.

The US Census Bureau has a listing of census dates for countries around the world (1945 to 2004). http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/cendates/index.html.

Search the Norwegian Census from 1865, 1875 and 1900 at http://www.norwayfamily.com/.

Yet another census database is online for the 1881 census of Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Canada. Look at http://web.mala.bc.ca/dunae/census/.

A site linking to other sites featuring Canadian Genealogical Research categorized by Provinces and Territories as well as general Canadian sites is at http://www.geocities.com/Wellesley/2541/groupproject.html.

General Canadian Genealogy Links has links to some unusual sites such as one listing Canadian Boer War casualties and a Canadian Adoptees Registry at http://www.100megsfree.com/gen/gencan.html.

Terry Foenander’s site dedicated to the Navies of the US Civil War contains many interesting and some unusual lists. Included is a list of Asians in the war, a list of Confederate States Army to Navy Transfers and pay rates for the Confederate Navy. It is an interesting site for Civil War buffs as well as genealogists. http://home.coffeeonline.com.au/~tfoen/

If you have ancestors from the St. Louis, Missouri area, a site which you will want to visit is that titled "Genealogy in St. Louis." It offers good information and a number of excellent search lists, such as cemeteries, obituaries, etc. http://genealogyinstlouis.accessgenealogy.com/.

If you are interested in Jewish genealogy you may also want to visit the homepage of Jewish genealogy at http://www.jewishgen.org/. The site includes an inventory of the microfilms, microfiche and books in the LDS Family History Library Catalog™ (FHLC) which are specifically Jewish genealogical sources. http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/fhlc/

Global Gazetteer is a directory of 2,880,532 of the world’s cities and towns, sorted by country and linked to a map for each town. http://www.calle.com/world/

If you have ancestors or cousins from Australia, you will enjoy the site of The Australian War Memorial. Among the searchable databases are lists containing the names of all who served in WWI or in the Boer War. http://www.awm.gov.au/

A site which facilitates name searching of large databases pertaining to the United States, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, can be found at http://www.kuijsten.net/navigator/usa/.

If your ancestors emigrated from the Baltic Sea area between 1920 and 1939 you will be interested in an ongoing project to digitize 2953 passenger lists from Bremen, Germany for that period. Currently 141 lists for 1920 through 1923 are available online at http://db.genealogy.net/maus/gate/index_en.html.

The Department of Veterans Affairs National Cemetery Administration Site has very useful information on benefits, how to locate veterans, how to obtain medals, etc., at http://www.cem.va.gov/. A very short but interesting feature is a list of the symbols which can be put on the gravestones and the religions they represent. http://www.cem.va.gov/hmemb.htm

If your ancestors served in the U.S. military during the 18^th or 19^th centuries, you might be interested in a site with Pension lists. Included are an 1813 Invalid Pensioners List, an 1883 Pensioners List and the 1890 Veterans and Widows Special Census. The site also offers advice on how to order records and pensions. http://www.homestead.com/pensioners/invalid.html

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Things To File By David Oakley ( dcoakley-at-comcast.net )

L-AGS Future Programs

June 12th: Jana Black, the County Coordinator for the GenWeb site in Marin County, California will speak on the U.S. GenWeb Project. Their website is http://www.rootsweb.com/~camarin/.

July 10th: DAR with Linda Garrett and Pat Moore. Pat Moore will tell us about the Daughters of the American Revolution organization and Linda will tell us about an Anderson Family DAR Patriot and descendants who are connected to Valley Forge.

Researching in Furnas County, Nebraska?
Lelia Haussler, who was assisted in local research by L-AGS, and personally by George Anderson, would like to offer research help in return to those researching in Furnas County, Nebraska. She is a member of the Furnas County Genealogical Society, located in the Public Library in Beaver City, Nebraska. You can reach her at:

Lelia Haussler
RR2 Box 186C
Arapahoe, NE 68922-9446

Find out when an Internet page is modified
http://www.changedetection.com/monitor.html gets you to a page where you enter the URL of the page you want to monitor, your e-mail address, and topics to be monitored. When there is a modification, you are sent an e-mail with the URL on it saying that something has been modified on that page. I use it for surname page monitoring. I subscribe to no additional services and I have gotten several announcements of changes, but no spam that I could recognize.

Need URLs for all fifty states?
http://www.sos.state.ga.us/archives/rs/sarl.htm which is the Georgia State listing of State Archives names, addresses, telephone numbers and URLs for all fifty states, the District of Colombia, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. I’m sure you will refer to it so often you may want to put a shortcut on your screen.

Ellis Island Records
Although hard to access at this time, you will be able to look up and get copies of records on your ancestors. There are 11 fields of data on each person including name, the name of the ship they came on, the port of origin, arrival date at Ellis Island, gender, age on arrival, marital status, and last residence. The web address is http://www.ellisislandrecords.org.

Identification of unknown pictures
http://www.timepast.net TimePast offers to compare unidentified pictures to their warehouse of identified photos and e-mail you the results. Their price is one identified photo for each unidentified photo they will try to identify.

Many of us have family photos dating to the early 19th century. They are treasured photographs, but many of the faces in those photos are not familiar, and names haven’t been preserved.

TimePast tries to identify those photographs and provide a name for those faces. "Join TimePast and your photos will be entered into our database containing detailed information about photographs. As photographs enter our system we attempt to match unidentified photos with known photos in our database. As matches are found we notify the owners by e-mail, and you will be able to label your photos with the names of your family members. We are marketing, buying, selling, storing, and cataloging photographs from the "Diamond Age" of photography that existed from the 1850s to about 1910."

Clues to birth dates and places
William Dollarhide has a checklist of 80 places to look for clues to birth dates and birth places at http://www.genealogybulletin.com/archives/HTML/current4.html.

All about computer viruses
Includes information and daily news about viruses. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/fc/Tech/Computer_Viruses/

Encarta
This page provides a dictionary with definitions and then offers encyclopedia and other links to amplify the subject. http://dictionary.msn.com

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The Morning Side of Mt. Diablo by L-AGS Member Anne Homan

Friday, June 8, 2001 at 7:30 p.m.
Livermore Public Library, 1000 South Livermore Avenue, Livermore, California.

Friends of the Livermore Library present local author, Anne Marshall Homan, who will talk about her long awaited book, The Morning Side of Mt. Diablo: An Illustrated Account of the San Francisco Bay Area’s Historic Morgan Territory Road. It will make its debut in June 2001 from Hardscratch Press, Walnut Creek, California.

Anne and her husband, Don, have lived on the ridge of Morgan Territory Road since 1980. She introduces us to the area’s geology; tells about the Native Americans who traveled and traded in the hills surrounding the road; and discusses the mission and Mexican land grant eras. Then she presents the stories of the Hispanic and Anglo settlers who lived along the narrow road that winds through the hills of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties – vaqueros, merchants, miners, ranchers, entrepreneurs, and "the women who made things work." Anne has conducted oral interviews with over 60 people to write her history.

The book is illustrated with views of the Morgan Territory, some period photographs, and some taken by environmental photographer, Bob Walker. There are endnotes, a bibliography, a general index, as well as an index of family names.

It should be an educational evening to hear Anne talk about one of the Bay Area’s most scenic byways.

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From Grandma's Remedy Book Submitted by Mildred Kirkwood

Spinal Disease

Causes –
The most powerful and frequent predisposing cause is hereditary tendency, especially when hysteria, epilepsy or insanity exists in the family. What is termed a nervous constitution underlies nearly every case of spinal disease. Impoverished blood, sexual derangements, sterility and absence or non-exercise of the maternal instincts are also predisposing causes. Neglect of physical exercises, sexual excesses, and self-abuse, are powerful and prominent factors of this affection. In short, everything that tends to exhaust vital power, and consequently produces a nervous condition, must be accounted a cause. The exciting causes are shock or grief; and injury to the spine by railway accidents, blows, falls, etc. The latter, men are, of course, equally liable; but the nervous system of women is more impressible, so that the immediate shock is more severely felt, and its consequences are more likely to be deep and lasting. For a like reason, various forms of rough exercise that keep the spinal muscles on the stretch, jumping traveling over rough roads, horseback exercise, bicycle riding, etc., may act as powerful exciting causes.

Preparatory Treatment –
The patient should give up sewing, writing, or any other occupation which has caused this trouble; avoid sitting, except in a strictly erect position so that the weight of the head may be sustained by the bones of the spine, and not by the ligaments and muscles.

Remedies –
1. A measure which is of incalculable importance in spinal deformity, is to carry a weight on the head for half an hour at a time and several times a day. The weight compels the person instinctively to assume a position as nearly perpendicular as possible.

2. The electro-magnetic battery is often highly successful when applied in connection with the other measures here given.

3. When the disease is the result of an injury, add five drops of the tincture of arnica to a tumbler full of water, well mixed, and of this give two teaspoonfuls morning and evening. At the same time put twenty drops of the tincture into half a pint of water and use it as an external application three times a day, over the tender parts of the spine.

4. The whole surface may be bathed daily with salt and water; especially should the entire length of the spine be thoroughly and repeatedly rubbed, and indeed, in all other cases where the bones are affected.

5. A wet compress over the tender spot will also afford relief. Sometimes a belladonna-plaster gives much comfort.

6. For unmarried females, after the severe symptoms have been modified by treatment, it is of supreme importance that some agreeable and light occupation, undertaken in a business-like way, should be provided.

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Upcoming Seminars

June 2, Sacramento, CA – Root Cellar - Sacramento Genealogical Society presents Curt Witcher. To be added to their mailing list contact: Sammie Hudgens at SAMIHUD@aol.com or 916-481-4930 or Billie Helms at helmsbj2@aol.com or 916-991-5971.

June 9, Oakland, CA – Using Timelines to Break Through the Brick Walls in Your Research, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Workshop, hosted by the California Genealogical Society, 1611 Telegraph Avenue, Suite 200, Oakland, CA. Speaker: Kenneth Haughton. Discover ways to set up time lines to identify your ancestor when there are many with the same names in one area. Class is limited to 16 people. Cost $15 for members and $20 for non-members. Bring a lunch or purchase it at JJ Café located in the lobby.

July 31-August 1, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT – Annual Genealogy and Family History Conference. For information, contact BYU Conferences & Workshops, 136 Harman Continuing Education Building, Provo, UT 84602-1516; call 801-378-4853; or e-mail valiant_evans@byu.edu.

August 23-25, Long Beach, CA – "Journey to the Past," Michael Gandy, Trevor Parkhill, David Dobson, and other speakers will present sessions in the 14^th Annual British & Irish Genealogical Seminar. Join them on board The Queen Mary for this event which is sponsored by the British Isles Family History Society - U.S.A., 2531 Sawtelle Boulevard, PMB #134, Los Angeles, CA 90064-3124. Details and more information available from Dorothy Losee 310-838-6085 or e-mail dotom2@aol.com.

August 31-September 2, London, England – Forward to the Past is a family history conference on 20^th century records. The expertise of the Society of Genealogists will be used to examine records of the last century. Contact Forward to the Past, Society of Genealogists, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA; e-mail director@sog.org.uk; or visit the web site at http://www.sog.org.uk.

September 12-15, Quad Cities, IA and IL – Federation of Genealogical Societies Annual Conference "Great River Bend Genealogy – A Heartland Gathering." Hosted by Blackhawk Genealogical Society of Rock Island and Mercer Counties, Illinois and Scott County, Iowa Genealogical Society. Web site www.fgs.org, e-mail: fgs-office@fgs.org, or phone: 1-888-380-0500

September 22, Concord, CA – Contra Costa County Genealogical Society seminar with Grace-Marie Hackwell. Details pending.

October 27, San Francisco, CA – NGS Regional Conference, Crown Plaza, 1221 Chess Drive, San Francisco, California. California Genealogical Society is co-host. Speakers: Cyndi Howells the owner and webmaster of Cyndi’s List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet, and Curt Witcher, MLS, FUGA, Manager of the Historical Genealogy Department of the Allen County Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Curt Witcher specializes in research methodology and the use of library and government resources. http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/confSanFran.htm

October 20, Sacramento, CA – Sacramento Genealogical Society presents Nora Hickey, "The Irish Researcher." Details pending.

October 28-November 11, Salt Lake City, Utah – The New England Historic Genealogical Society offers one or two weeks of research at the Family History Library. Participants may opt for the first week, the second week, or both weeks of the program. Tour participants will be assisted by genealogists from the staff who are familiar with the Family History Library’s resources. In addition, personal consultations with staff, lectures on genealogical topics, receptions, group meals and a historical tour of the city will be included in both week-long programs. To find out more, please call 888-286-3447, ext. 226 or e-mail education@nehgs.org.

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Livermore Roots Tracer Staff

Editors	Vicki Renz	Staff Contributors
	Debbie Pizzato	Livermore History	Gary Drummond
		G.R.O.W.	Frank Geasa
Proofreading	George Anderson	Things to File	David Oakley
	Mildred Kirkwood	Life in the Past lane	Mildred Kirkwood
	Cassie Wood	Computer Interest Group	Dick Finn
		Family Tree Maker Group	Dick Finn
Printing & Distribution	Mildred Kirkwood	Past Programs	Debbie Pizzato
	Joyce Siason	Library News	Judy Person
		CD-ROM Updates	Jay Gilson

The following pages are still open for adoption:

• From the Attic
• Meetings/Seminars

If you would like to be responsible for one of these pages, please contact Vicki Renz or Debbie Pizzato for more information.

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Donations to L-AGS

Some of our members have wished to donate books or other items to our group. We will be happy to receive such donations. The donor will receive a Thank You note to use for tax purposes, if desired.

Other members have wished to make a monetary donation on behalf of a loved one or friend. These donations will be used according to the donor’s wishes, or if none is expressed, we will purchase items for our Pleasanton and Family History Libraries.

We welcome such donations and our Corresponding Secretary will acknowledge the gift. If a memorial, an acknowledgment will be sent to the family.

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Last modified 10may04.0547 gwa