Monday, February 28, 2011

Genealogy Days in Chula Vista - March 2011

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society events for March 2011 include:


** Saturday, 5 March, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Escondido Family History Fair.  CVGS carpool leaves at 7:30 a.m. from downtown parking garage, returns at 5:30 p.m.  Contact Randy Seaver (619-422-3397, rjseaver@vcox.net) to join the carpool.  Registration required ahead of meeting.
** Wednesday 9 March, 12 noon to 2 p.m., Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) -- CVGS Research Group meets in the Library Conference Room, led by Randy Seaver. We will review the latest genealogy news, share success stories and information, and discuss members research problems, and potential solutions, based on the collective knowledge and wisdom of the group.

** Wednesday, 16 March, 12 noon to 1:30 p.m., Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) -- CVGS Computer Group meets in the Library Computer Lab, led by Shirley Becker.

** Wednesday, 30 March, 12 noon to 2 p.m., Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) -- General Society Meeting meets in the Conference Room. After a short business meeting, Paula Sassi will present "Handwriting and History."

** Wednesday mornings (10 a.m. to 12 noon) - March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 - Genealogy Table Talk with Dearl Glenn in the Family Research section of the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library. He is ready and willing to help people with their research, discuss a research problem or success, or just tell stories.

** Wednesday evenings (5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.) - March 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 - Genealogy Help with CVGS members in the Family Research section of the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library. They are ready and willing to help people just starting on their genealogy research, discuss a research problem or a success.

The Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library is located at 365 "F" Street in Chula Vista - between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue, midway between I-5 and I-805 (take the "E" Street exit from the freeways). The Bonita Library is located at 4375 Bonita Road in Bonita - just west of the Otay Lakes Road intersection with Bonita Road, on the north side of Bonita Road. The Chula Vista South Library is at 389 Orange Avenue (southeast corner on Fourth Avenue) - parking lot is off of Orange east of Fourth.

We welcome guests and visitors to our CVGS programs and events - if you are in the greater San Diego area and want to attend our events - please come and introduce yourselves.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

CVGS Program Summary - Margaret Lewis on Military Records

The February 23rd Program Meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society at the Chula Vista South Branch Library featured Margaret Lewis speaking on "Identifying and Researching Your Ancestors Who Served in the Military." 

To identify ancestors that might have served in the military, suggested checking your pedigree chart for men born between these years:

Born 1726-1767:  American Revolution (1775-1783)
Born 1782-1799:  War of 1812 (1812-1815)
Born 1796-1831:  Mexican-American War (1846-1848)
Born 1811-1848:  Civil War (1861-1865)
Born 1848-1881:  Spanish-American War (1898-1902)
Born 1849-1885:  Philippine Insurrection (1899-1902)
Born 1872-1900:  World War I (1917-1918)
Born 1877-1925:  World War II (1941-1945)
Born 1900-1936:  Korean War (1950-1953)
Born 1914-1955:  Viet Nam War (1964-1972)

She then identified possible records that are available from each time period that might provide information about the lives of military men.  Items covered include Draft Registrations, Census Records, Enlistment and Service Records, Pension Records, Confederate State Service and Pension Records, Land Bounty Warrants, Cemetery Records, Disabled Soldiers Homes Records, Veteran and Lineage Society Records, Regimental History records, Discharge and Separation records, and Dog Tags. 

During the presentation, Margaret effectively used images of different record types to help explain her points.  She also told the story about her Union Soldier, and later Buffalo soldier, great-great-grandfather, Jacob Wilks being buried in San Angelo, Texas, without a memorial stone (he had just a gravestone).  She inquired about purchasing a proper Veteran's marker for the grave, and the cemetery agreed to work with her.  Before she knew it, she was invited to San Angelo for the dedication, all expenses paid, was treated like a celebrity, with newspaper articles, and met a second cousin who had been tending the grave.

Sunday, February 20, 2011

CVGS Program Meeting - Wednesday, 23 February Features Margaret Lewis on Military Records

..
February 23th Program Meeting

at 12 noon at the Chula Vista South Branch Library
(389 Orange Avenue, Chula Vista) Conference Room

"Identifying and Researching Your Ancestors Who Served in the Military”
presented by Margaret Lewis

Margaret Lewis is the Vice President of the San Diego African American Genealogy Research Group in San Diego, California. Marti is a compelling and influential voice in the genealogy community and she advocates for the study of Family History.

Her genealogical specialty is in Military and Slave Research. She is known for her boundless enthusiasm, and has provided genealogical presentations and workshops statewide in California, including Arizona and Nevada.

Marti's love for genealogy is expressed through her many published articles: "A Soldier's Story;" "My Family Link;" "He Touched Me;" and a family poem "Ancestral Roll Call."

She volunteers as a contributor to the “Find A Grave” web-site transcribing 100’s of obituaries and photos. She is also a consultant on African American Genealogy at the Family History Center in San Diego CA. During the month of February, Marti will be teaching classes in “Researching Your Roots” with Particular Emphasis on the Challenges Unique to African Americans, every Thursday, 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the Family History Center, 4195 Camino Del Rio South, in San Diego.

One of Marti's greatest feats was fulfilling a genealogical research request from an inmate in Norco State Prison. In a 12 hour period with only 3 names, she was able to add 5 generations dating back to 1795 to his very prestigious family tree.

In July of 2010, Marti was contacted by the Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio, Texas, to see if she would be willing to share her personal story and documents on her great great grandfather Jacob Wilks, to be featured in an exhibit, which highlights the 9th U.S. Cavalry. The exhibit opened in July, 2010 through January 3, 2011. Marti is also featured in the exhibit. Two local newspapers from San Antonio, Texas, contacted Marti for telephone interviews about her contribution to the exhibit. See stories on links below.

http://www.examiner.com/museum-in-san-antonio/riding-into-history
http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/A-story-of-frontier-valor-783291.php

Please note that this program is at the South Branch of the Chula Vista Library for this month only. It will be in the Conference Room at the west end (near Fourth Avenue) of the building.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Research Trip to the Escondido Family History Fair on Saturday, 5 March

The registration form for the Escondido Family History Fair on Saturday, 5 March (from 9 AM to 5 PM) are due to the organizers by Sunday, 20 February. Therefore, they should be mailed no later than Thursday, 17 February. The form is online at http://www.familyhistoryfair.net/images/stories/REGISTRATION_-_2011_2.pdf in PDF format.  Download it, print it out, fill it out and send in to the organizers.

Attendance at the Fair is FREE. There are five sessions with 6 or 7 talks in each session on many topics from beginner level to intermediate level. If you want a printed syllabus with all of the speakers handouts, it will cost $13. If you want a box lunch and drink ( probably from Subway) it will cost $9. You can order them on the registration form.

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society will have a carpool to attend the Family History Fair. We will leave from the Chula Vista parking garage promptly at 7:30 AM, so that we arrive in time to register and get a good seat for the Keynote talk given by Diane Loosle of FamilySearch. We will leave Escondido at about 5 PM and be back in Chula Vista around 5:30 PM. CVGS will have a booth staffed by members in the Exhibit Hall to share CVGS benefits of membership and to network with other genealogists. Nobody can sell anything at this Fair, so the exhibit is mainly informational in nature.

If you want to go to the Family History Fair with the CVGS Car pool, then please contact Randy Seaver (619-422-3397, rjseaver@cox.net) to get on the carpool list. We will take as many cars as we need to get everybody there and back.

Friday, February 11, 2011

9 February Research Group Summary

There were 14 members at the Chula Vista Genealogical Society Research Group meeting on Wednesday, 9 February at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library.

Randy Seaver discussed the basics of Land Records - highlighting State Land state characteristics of metes and bounds;  Federal Land state use of the meridian, baseline, range, township, section and aliquot parts;  finding land records on the BLM GLO website (http://blm.glo.gov/); finding older land records using grantor and grantee indexes and then in the deed book volumes, either at a county office or on Family History Library microfilm. 

Bobbie described an Illinois court case she is investigating from 1912 where a husband sued his wife, who was in a mental hospital, to sell land to his son.

Helen described an experience where she wrote to obtain a deed from a county office, and the clerk provided a contact with a cousin who requested the same deed.

Pam had good luck making phone calls to a Connecticut town.  She received copies of deeds and family information from the clerk.

Dolores asked where people obtain research logs.  Some attendees said they obtain them online or make their own a word processor.  Randy showed some examples of his forms that are in Microsoft word.

Pam asked about obtaining vital records, land records and probate records in Columbia County in New York state.   Shirley described the administrative jurisdictions in New York of hamlets, villages, towns, cities and counties.  Randy mentioned that there are quite a few church record books for Columbia County in the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC), and that land and probate records for most counties are in the FHLC. Others recommended checking the USGenWeb links for New York counties - some are very well done and have lots of user-contributed information.

The next CVGS Research Group will be on Wednesday, 9 March at 12 noon in the Conference Room at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street in downtown Chula Vista).

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

CVGS Newsletter for February 2011 is Available

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society Newsletter for February 2011 was published on 7 February, and distributed via a PDF email attachment and by postal mail to those who requested it.  The Newsletter is online at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cacvgs2/Newsletters/11_02feb.pdf

The Table of Contents includes:

*  page 1 -- February 23rd Program Meeting

*  page 2 -- President’s Message
*  page 2 -- April 2nd Seminar Notice
*  page 3 -- January 26th Program Review
*  page 3 -- Escondido Family History Fair Announcement
* page 4 -- Research Group News
*  page 4 -- Who Do You Think You Are? TV Show
*  page 5 -- Computer Group News
*  page 5 -- Chula Vista Centennial Celebration News
*  page 5 -- Genealogy 101” Classes Coming Soon

*  page 6 -- Book Review: Life in the Civil War
*  page 7 -- Computer-Related Genealogy News
*  page 8 -- Lemon Grove Research Group News
*  page 8 -- Ask Gene E. Allogee, Research Tips and Techniques
*  page 8 -- Query: Lee and Lorna Lampkin
*  page 9 -- CVGS Society Information
*  page 9 -- San Diego Genealogy Events
* page 10 -- Genealogy Days in Chula Vista

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Genealogy Days in Chula Vista - February 2011

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society events for January 2011 include:


** Saturday, 5 February, 12 noon to 2 p.m., Bonita Library (4375 Bonita Road) -- CVGS Genealogy Workshop meets in the Community Room, with Shirley Becker leading a discussion of  "Beginning Computer Organization."


** Wednesday 9 February, 12 noon to 2 p.m., Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) -- CVGS Research Group meets in the Library Conference Room, led by Randy Seaver. We will review the latest genealogy news, share success stories and information, and discuss members research problems, and potential solutions, based on the collective knowledge and wisdom of the group.

** Wednesday, 16 February, 12 noon to 1:30 p.m., Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) -- CVGS Computer Group meets in the Library Computer Lab, led by Shirley Becker.

** Wednesday, 23 February, 12 noon to 2 p.m., Chula Vista South Branch Library (389 Orange Avenue) -- General Society Meeting meets in the Conference Room. After a short business meeting, Margaret Lewis will present "Identifying & Researching Your Ancestors Who Served in the Military."

** Wednesday mornings (10 a.m. to 12 noon) - February 2, 9, 16, 23 - Genealogy Table Talk with Dearl Glenn in the Family Research section of the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library. They is ready and willing to help people with their research, discuss a research problem or success, or just tell stories.

** Wednesday evenings (5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.) - February 2, 9, 16, 23 - Genealogy Help with CVGS members in the Family Research section of the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library. They are ready and willing to help people just starting on their genealogy research, discuss a research problem or a success.

The Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library is located at 365 "F" Street in Chula Vista - between Third Avenue and Fourth Avenue, midway between I-5 and I-805 (take the "E" Street exit from the freeways). The Bonita Library is located at 4375 Bonita Road in Bonita - just west of the Otay Lakes Road intersection with Bonita Road, on the north side of Bonita Road. The Chula Vista South Library is at 389 Orange Avenue (southeast corner on Fourth Avenue) - parking lot is off of Orange east of Fourth.

We welcome guests and visitors to our CVGS programs and events - if you are in the greater San Diego area and want to attend our events - please come and introduce yourselves.

Please contact Virginia (email irishdoll@cox.net)  for more information.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Saturday Workshop - Beginning Computer Organization

The next Genealogy Workshop is Saturday, 5 February at 12 noon at the Bonita Library (4375 Bonita Road in Bonita) in the Library Community Room.

Shirley Becker will lead a discussion of "Beginning Computer Organization."  She has another beautiful presentation on how to organize and manage your computer genealogy files.


In her last workshop Shirley demonstrated how to organize your paper files so that you can find them when you want them. In this workshop she will show you how to accomplish the same with your computer files.