Sunday, September 27, 2009

CVGS Program on Wednesday - "Lost and Forgotten Cemeteries of San Diego"

The Wednesday, 30 September program for the Chula Vista Genealogical Society will start at 12 noon in the Chula Vista Civic Center Library auditorium (365 F Street in Chula Vista). After a brief business meeting, the program speaker will be:

Dr. Seth Mallios on "The Lost and Forgotten Cemeteries of San Diego."

Here is Dr. Mallios's curriculum vitae and program description:

"San Diego County has a rich and unique cultural history that can be effectively told through the commemoration of its dead. Local cemeteries throughout the region reflect San Diego's multi-ethnic cultural dynamism and pinpoint marked shifts in power from Native American to Spanish to Mexican to U. S. American governance. They also reveal the current struggle for space in a burgeoning metropolis. Many graveyards have disappeared entirely, erasing the last vestiges of too many of the region's formative pioneers.

"Dr. Mallios will discuss his ongoing San Diego Gravestone Project and its primary goals to preserve local history and reconnect present San Diegans with the past."

"Dr. Seth Mallios is currently Professor and Chair of the Anthropology department at San Diego State University. He is also Director of the South Coastal and South East Information Center. Mallios received his Bachelor's Degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1993 and a Master's Degree and Doctorate from the University of Virginia in 1998. An anthropologist and an historical archaeologist, Dr. Mallios was Site Supervisor at the Jamestown Rediscovery project, specializing in the excavation of and research on the original 1607 James Fort at Jamestown Island, Virginia, the oldest permanent English settlement in the Americas. He continues to serve as editor of the journal he founded there, the peer-reviewed Journal of the Jamestown Rediscovery Center. His first book, The Deadly Politics of Giving, published by the University of Alabama Press, came out in August of 2006.

"Since his move to San Diego seven years ago, he has created the San Diego Gravestone Project, an endeavor that has included two books (Cemeteries of San Diego [2007] Arcadia Press; and Cemeteries of San Diego County [2008] Arcadia Press) and multiple scholarly articles. He developed a Geographic Information System that integrated every archaeological site in the county. Dr. Mallios began excavating at the Nate Harrison Site atop Palomar Mountain in 2004 and continues to dig there every summer. He has just finished his first three archaeological field seasons at the historic Whaley House in Old Town San Diego, having successfully located and excavated the original well."

Please join us for this interesting talk about the cemeteries of San Diego. We request that you enter the auditorium through the conference room on the east hallway of the library in order to sign in, pick up handouts and have a snack before settling into the cushy seats in the auditorium. There will be refreshments after the program in the conference room.

For more information, please contact Barbara Ibaibarriaga at (619) 477-4140 or email at baribai@cos.net.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

CVGS September 2009 Newsletter

The September 2009 issue of the Chula Vista Genelaogical Society newsletter is posted online at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cacvgs2/Newsletters/09_09sep.pdf

It is in PDF format for your reading pleasure!

This issue includes President Gary Brock's article on "What's Up With Windows 7?" on page 8.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Interesting Blog Articles -- August 2009

The genealogy blogosphere has many interesting and useful articles written each month, including these from August and early September:


* Sharon Tate Moody wrote an excellent tutorial on the organization of land records at U.S. county courthouses. It is published as her weekly genealogy column in the Tampa Tribune at http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/23/tr-learn-the-ropes-to-mine-courthouse-deed-records/life/.

* Don’t Expect the Genealogical Helper to Reemerge by Leland Meitzler on the GenealogyBlog.

* Genealogy: Similar to Cocaine, Amphetamines, and Other Drugs of Stimulation by Dick Eastman on Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter.

* Digital Genealogist to Cease Publication by Dick Eastman on Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter.

* Back to the Land - Again by Carolyn L. Barkley on the GenealogyAndFamilyHistory.com blog.

* 101 Ways to Research Your Family Tree for Free by Kimberly Powell on Kimberly’s Genealogy Blog.

* Hurdling the “Brick Wall” without Landing in a Pothole (The Real Value of Source Citation): by Erica on the GenealogyandFamilyHistory.com Blog.


* Shot Myself in the Foot by Thomas Fiske on Leland Meitzler's GenealogyBlog.

* Genealogy is more than just craft. by George Geder on the George Geder blog.


* Genealogy Rant (Pet Peeve) by Lorine Schulze on the Olive Tree Genealogy Blog.

* Genealogy Through A Wider Window by Leah on The Internet Genealogist blog.


* Case Studies: Learning by Example by Kimberly Powell on Kimberly’s Genealogy Blog.

* Ancestry.com in Arbitration over the Drouin Collection by Dick Eastman on Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter.


* Electronic Publishing for Family Historians by Denise Olson on the Family Matters blog.


* Is There a Loyalist in Your Family Tree? by Carolyn L. Barkley on the GenealogyandFamilyHistory.com blog.

* The ProGen Study Group – An Online Genealogy Education Opportunity by Amy Coffin on the Geneabloggers blog.


* Finding daughters married names in census records by Randy Seaver on the Genea-Musings blog.

Monday, September 14, 2009

New and Updated Genealogy Databases - September

The new and/or updated genealogy databases for late August and early September include:

1) New or Updated Databases at www.Ancestry.com ($$)

* Ontario Marriage Records by Clergy, 18968-1948 (W)
* UK Army Prisoners of War 1940-1947 (W)
* Books about German settlers in the USA (US)
* US Census Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880, NY (US)
* Selected US Naturalization Record Indexes, 1822-1855 and 1906-1966 (US)
* Many German record books (W)
* East India Register and Directory, 1844 (W)
* Thacker’s Indian Directory, 1895 (W)

2) New/Updated LDS www.FamilySearch.org IndexingProjects (Free). These databases are available for FREE at http://pilot.familysearch.org/ - the LDS site for volunteer indexed and browsable databases -- recently added or
completed projects:

* Cook County, Illinois Marriages, 1871-1920
* Wisconsin State Census, 1875, 1885, 1895
* Arkansas County Marriages, 1837-1957
* New York State Census, 1892
* British Columbia Birth Registrations, 1854-1903
* Chihuahua, Mexico Catholic Church Records, 1622-1958
* Opava, Czech Rep. Church Books, 1571-1905
* Pernambuco, Brazil Civil Registration 1889-2003
* Merida, Venezuela Parish Registers, 1654-1992

3) New or Updated Databases at www.NewEnglandAncestors.org ($$)

* The Virginia Genealogist, 1957-2006
* Massachusetts Vital Records, Marriages, 1912
* Early Maine Deeds and Wills, Volumes 6-10
* ACGS Index of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials
* The American Genealogist, Volumes 24-28
* The Connecticut Nutmegger, Volumes 32-36

4) New or Updated Databases at www.Footnote.com ($$):

* Washington DC City Directories
* Eastern NY Naturalizations
* Massachusetts Town Records, 1620-1915 (mainly Barnstable Co.)
* Massachusetts Vital Records Transcripts

Saturday, September 12, 2009

CVGS Research Group Summary

John Finch hosted the CVGS Research Group meeting on 9 September - here is his report:

Seven members and a newcomer, Kevin, came to the Research Group Meeting on 9 September and Kevin became a member before the meeting was brought to order. Welcome, Kevin!

John Finch facilitated the meeting in the absence of Randy Seaver. We began the meeting with introductions and John discussed the merits of Member Connect at www.Ancestry.com. Ancestry recently launched this feature that tracks others researching persons in your family tree and alerts you to that activity. For example, Ancestry will report if anyone has taken any information from your tree or added, to their tree, records pertaining to a person in your tree. The benefit of this is that you find out who has a mutual interest in your family and ancestry allows a means to contact that person, which could lead to collaboration. John pointed out that this is just one of many good reasons to have a public accessible family tree on line. Our own Ahnentafels, http://rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cacvgs2/Ahnentafels/snindex.html, would be a good place to start.

No one had a specific problem to discuss, but Joan had a document showing research of a Civil War Union Veteran, that may be of interest to another of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society Member and asked if we could pass the information along.

Dick talked about his trip in July to Wisconsin and Illinois for a reunion and family research. He had some good and some bad experiences in contact with various agencies in his search for records and documents. He had very good luck with www.FindaGrave.com and that brought on a discussion by nearly all of us as to the advantages of this site.

Shirley said that she is not making any progress now in her research and has encountered difficulty with her Pearsall, Miller and Sweet families. She is expecting to review a microfilm that may have information of the Pearsall’s that has not been previously published and is searching archive.org for church records for a New York State community.

Virginia has had contact with a person, a possible cousin, and is comparing family information.

Gary has been sorting through a box of old photographs and papers that had belonged to his mother. He has been trying to identify all the photographs, to make the task easier, he has been placing the pictures into eras and chronological order.

Dearl has been dealing with a family illness and unable to research just now.

Joan has been corresponding with a lady that she met on line and they have been sharing information. Joan suspects that this lady may have confused a great uncle as a grand nephew and asked how she might either prove or disprove the relationship. The group suggested census reports would reveal the correct family relationship.

Kevin had questions about use of internet sites and the protocol for placing family information online.

John is planning for a Fall vacation, driving across the Midwest, and the process to prepare for some genealogical research while on the trip.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Grandparents Day at Stein Farm on 9/12

Grandparents Day will be celebrated on Saturday, 12 September, at the Stein Family Farm Museum in National City, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The farm is located at the corner of F Avenue and 18th Street just across from the John Otis elementary school.

The public is invited to this FREE family event to experience life on a farm in a much earlier time.

Children can take part in sewing and laundry with a scrub board, and will meet the pig, the goose and the chickens that live at the farm. They will see antique farm machinery, view the butterfly garden, the herb beds, and the orchard. Many of the plantings are typical of the time when the farm was the home of the Steins, of German heritage.

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society will have a table at the Farm with family group sheets and pedigree charts to encourage people to write down their family history information.

For more information, call 1-619-477-4113. Visit the Stein Family Farm website at http://www.thesteinfamilyfarm.org/