CVGS Research Group 3/10/10 Summary

....
The Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) Research Group meeting had the "gang of 14" in attendance today - and a lively group it was!

Randy summarized the month by going over Faces of America (6 of 14 watched it), Who Do You Think You Are? (10 of 14 watched it), the 2010 Census questions, and the Escondido Family History Fair (15 CVGS members attended).

There were three major problems discussed today:

* Joan found a reference to a 10-generation Hixson family history book, and found out that it was available in Santa Maria CA. However, the library there would only photocopy the index, not the pages she was interested in. She wrote to the publisher in November and received no response. Where could she find the book? The group suggested using http://www.worldcat.org/ to find libraries that have the book and see if they will Inter-Library Loan it to her; she could check the LDS Family History Library Catalog for it; she could look for a Random Act of Genealogical Kindness volunteer to photocopy pages for her; she could hire someone to do the job for her.

* Pam's grandmother was an orphan (mother died young, father in jail) that lived with her two brothers in a temporary foster home in Connecticut for several years. She wants to find out what happened to the two brothers - Charles Lesley Bixby (born 1889 CT) and Edson Howard Bixby (born 1893 CT). Family lore said that Charles died in France, perhaps during World War I, and that Edson served with Pancho Villa. The last record is the 1910 US census. She found a picture of a man named Charles Bixby in a World War II photo collection. Where should she look for more information about these young men? The group suggested obtaining military service and discharge records from the NPRC; checking newspapers (perhaps New York Times?) for World War I casualties; local newspapers about the young men - military, death, marriages, etc.

* Susi has a James Fuller that married Catherine (perhaps Gibson?) in the 1780's in Washington County MD; they had three children in MD then moved to Coshocton and Guernsey Counties, Ohio before 1803. There are many family trees on Ancestry.com - some have Catherine's maiden name as Gibson and some do not. There are three different fathers listed for James in these trees. She stated that a cousin had search the Maryland and Ohio counties for "all county records" and found nothing helpful. The group suggested searching military records for all Fullers and Gibsons associated with the counties, double-checking the county land, probate and tax records, and making sure that to search in the parent counties also. This is the classical NGSQ problem that is often solved using cluster genealogy methodology for associates and extended family members.

We went around the table to answer questions or discuss current activities:

* Kevin has a man that married in 1870, immigrated from England in 1874, and probably died in the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake. He wondered how to find immigration and death data. The group suggested the Ancestry.com passenger lists, finding a naturalization record, checking the http://www.sfgenealogy.com/ website, and looking for obituaries in Bay area newspapers.

* Dick received more family information from several cousins and is trying to sort it all out. He found five family members on http://www.findagrave.com/, but there were no birth or death dates listed. He contacted the FindAGrave volunteer, and then the cemetery sexton, who will send him copies of the index cards.

* Virginia found her mother and father in the 1910 census two pages apart - they married in 1911. She received her Daughter of Union Veterans paperwork to file.

* Pam asked about the Boston Transcript. Randy said that it is indexed in the American Genealogical and Biographical Index (online at Ancestry.com), and the Boston Transcript is available on microfiche at Carlsbad Library and San Diego Public Library.

* Jeanne is helping a neighbor who is cleaning out his parents home, and has found some family history papers, and has gotten interested in genealogy. She attended the Family History Fair sessions on Native-American research in order to help an in-law cousin who has Cherokee ancestry.

* Helen also went to the Family History Fair and thought the Native-American presentations were excellent. She is sharing family history data with her niece, Ruth. They have found some online resources in Google Books. She noted that they too have problems with online family trees.

* Ruth has been going through her grandfather's family letters found in the attic with Helen. They've found that they each had different parts of the family history and are working together to document all of it.

* John has been searching the Norfolk County Parish Registers online at FamilySearch Record Search with some success. He has collaborated successfully with other researchers in the past, but one person now has some things wrong and won't listen.

It was a very informative and fast two hours of genealogy how-to and show me.