Friday, October 21, 2016

Family History Day is 22 October 2016 at the Chula Vista Civic Center Library

CVGS and the Chula Vista Library are sponsoring a FREE Family History Day at the Chula Vista Civic Center Library on Saturday, 22 October, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Randy Seaver will give the keynote address, "Be An Ancestor Detective," at 10:30 a.m. in the Auditorium.

At 12 noon, Ceasar Castro will present "Who Is Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas?" in the Auditorium, a "Who Do You Think You Are?" style program which will explore the family history of our Mayor with her in attendance.

There are also workshops throughout the day for:

*  How to Build a Family Tree

*  How to Search for Ancestors for Free

*  How to Interest Your Family In Its History

*  Crafts for Children

*  See Your Library's Genealogical Resources

The flyer for this event is:


There is more information on the CVGS website, www.CVGenealogy.org

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

No CVGS Program Meeting on Wednesday, 26 October

There will not be a CVGS Program meeting on Wednesday, 26 October due to the CVGS/CVPL Family History Day program on 22 October.  

Please see the notice for the Family History Day at  http://cvgencafe.blogspot.com/2016/10/family-history-day-is-22-october-2016.html.


Monday, October 17, 2016

The October 2016 newsletter of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society was published last week.

Society Members can read it online, in a PDF format - use the "Members" link (roll over "Members," and click on "Newsletters") at www.CVGenealogy.org.  Non-members can read CVGS Newsletters two months after publication, per Board of Directors direction (on 
www.CVgenealogy.org, roll over "News" and click on "Newsletters").

The Table of Contents lists:

page 1 - October 22nd Family History Day

page 2 - President’s Message 
page 2 - Register for Meetings on CVGS Website

page 2 - New CVGS Nametags Available
page 3 - Next Computer Group Meeting


page 3 - Lemon Grove Research Group News
page 3 - November 5th Saturday Workshop 

page 3 - October 1st Saturday Workshop Reviewpage 4 - September 28th Program Review
page 5 - SDGS/SDHC Genealogy Day on 15 October


page 5 - CVGS Officer Nominations for 2017/18
page 5 - French-Canadian Research Periodicalspage 6 - September Research Group Review 
page 6 - Recent Genealogy News

page 7 - LOCKSS - Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe

page 7 - Geni Pro is on Library Computers

page 9 - CVGS Society Information 
page 9 - San Diego Genealogy Events
page 10 - Genealogy Days in Chula Vista



Friday, October 14, 2016

CVGS Research Group Review - 12 October 2016

The October 12th Research Group meeting had 16 members in attendance.

In the first hour, Randy discussed:

*  The Spyglass File, a forensic genealogy mystery by Nathan Dylan Goodwin, set in World War II England, was fascinating.  It is available on Amazon in paperback or Kindle versions. 

*  The GEDmatch.com website, which analyzes raw autosomal data from AncestryDNA, 23andMe or FamilyTreeDNA, is a FREE website that analyzes your ethnicity and provides a chromosome browser to show matches with other GEDmatch users.  

*  The group watched the first 30 minutes of the "FAN + GPS + DNA: The Problem-Solver's Great Trifecta" presentation by Elizabeth Shown Mills.  FAN refers to the Friends, Family, Associates and Neighbors concept, GPS refers to the Genealogical Proof Standard, and DNA refers to DNA testing and analysis.  The webinar is in the Archives of FamilyTreeWebinars.com.  Randy encouraged the attendees to watch the rest of the webinar before 17 October while it is free to watch.

In the second hour, we went around the table to hear research problems, questions and successes of the attendees:

*  Diane had a fabulous find of a link to an important historical person - Cristobal Colon.  the great-granddaughter of her 22nd great-grandfather, Garcia de Toledo in Spain, married Diego Colon, son of Cristobal Colon.  She used the FamilySearch Family Tree to find this relationship.

*  Bobbie sent family group sheets for her Titus family to the Lake County, Illinois, Genealogical Society for their files that shows the family coming from Germany and settling in Lake County, Illinois.

*  Bobbie's husband's son has 25% Native-American ancestry according to an autosomal DNA test.  There was great information about Native-American research in the latest issue of Family Tree Magazine.

*  Shirley gleaned several ideas for solving her brick wall problems in upstate New York from the Elizabeth Shown Mills webinar.  She has received many Record Hints for her ancestral families from FamilySearch and MyHeritage.

*  Arlene found a cousin - the writer of the On Granny's Trail blog, who was on a recent radio/podcast program and talked about Arlene's mother's ancestors.  Her mother's uncle is buried in American Samoa, and Mormon missionaries to American Samoa took photos of gravestones there.

*  Helen's mother's first cousin took an autosomal  DNA test and she is awaiting the results.

*  Mary N. found a naturalization record in a FamilySearch index for Antony Casper in 1899 in Ohio.  She asked how to obtain the record.  We brought the index card up on the screen, and it said the record was in Volume 3, page 350 of the Jefferson County, Ohio probate records, which can be obtained on Family History Library microfilm.

*  Bea, who is new to genealogy research, is finding information on FamilySearch to verify her mother's information.

*  Ana has been searching new records for Mexico on FamilySearch and is back to her 4th great-grandparents.

*  JoAnn made a 32 page chart on MyHeritage and put it on a wall at her home.  It's interesting to see the extent of the family.  She is trying to find her grandson's ancestry in Guam; her son-in-law has found a cousin.

The next meeting of the CVGS Research Group will be on Wednesday, 9 November at 12 noon in the Conference Room at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library.

Tuesday, October 4, 2016

September 2016 Program Review - "Stump the Chumps" Problem Solving Panel

The CVGS program meeting on 28 September featured three CVGS genealogists answering research questions submitted by members one month ahead of the meeting.  There are about 30 in attendance, including all but one of the questioners.

The researchers prepared short presentations to review the questions and responses, and each response took 5 to 10 minutes.  The eight questions and a summary of the answers were:

1)  Karen Y. asked:  "My ancestors emigrated from Norway by ship into Quebec in the 1850s.  How does one trace their journey from Quebec to their eventual homes in Iowa and Minnesota?"

Randy Seaver responded:  The FamilySearch Wiki page on "Norway Emigration and Immigration" provides a wealth of material on this topic.  American records that can help include county histories, military pension records, naturalization records, census records and church records.  The Norwegian-American Genealogical Center and Naeseth Library in Madison, Wisconsin has an extensive library with a Norwegian immigrant database that might be helpful.  Randy shared an article found in a book that told the migration story for one of his wife's Norwegian-born relatives.

2)  Paula-Jo C. asked: "I have an ancestor's brother who died during the Mexican War in Mexico.  I have tried to find microfilmed records.  Where can one find death records from that time period?"

Ceasar Castro responded:  Paula-Jo's soldier was Charles Houston, a musician in the Georgia Infantry, who died in February 1848 near Veracruz, Mexico.  The National Archives has archival material about the Mexican-American War, including battle records, death records and medical  records.  There were three hospitals in the state of Veracruz - in the city of Veracruz, in Jalapa, and in the Castle at Perote.  The Descendants of Mexican-American War Veterans has information about the war at http://www.dmwv.org/mexwar/mexwar1.htm, including information about Jalapa and the Castle at Perote.  Ceasar corresponded with researchers at the National Archives and University of Wisconsin - Madison about record availability and obtained more information, including a useful book online at FamilySearch and others can be obtained by Inter-library Loan.

3)  Diane G. asked:  "I think I have found my relative's death date in an index record.  James O'Leary died in Strood, Kent, England at age 60.  What more information might I get from the actual record?  How do I obtain the actual record?  In regards to sending money for the record, how is it done and what is the cost?  Where can I find someone to search for the record for me?"

Randy Seaver responded:  England's Civil Registration of births, marriages and deaths began in 1837 and are available to the present day.  Death certificates include the decedent's name, age, sex, occupation, death date, death place, cause of death, and informant's information.  You can order a certificate by Internet, telephone, or post from the Register General Office for England and Wales. The cost is £9.25, and you can order online at  http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/ and pay by credit card.

4)  Karen S. asked:  "The Strassburger ship passenger list provides the date, name of the ship, the captain and the passengers.  Is there any source that gives more information about the individual passengers?"  

Randy Seaver responded:  You can obtain more information about immigration to Pennsylvania at  https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Pennsylvania_Emigration_and_Immigration.  There are many books, but none really provide more passenger information.  Yo find information about the lives of individual passengers, you need to look for compiled family genealogies and locality books, for periodical articles, and consult the Pennsylvania state, historical and genealogical societies.

5)  Karen S. also asked:  "Can Revolutionary War records be located by the numbers listed next to the patriot's name?"

Ceasar Castro responded:   The book Index of Revolutionary War Pension Applications lists soldiers and their pension record numbers.  The "numbers" are how the records were filed in the National Archives - "S" for Survivor, "W" for Widow, "R" for Rejected, "Dis" for Disability, and "BLWt" for Bounty Land Warrant.  Ceasar went through the records available for one of Karen's soldiers - James Burton of Virginia.  Fold3.com and Ancestry.com have the Revolutionary War pension files that can be downloaded.

6)  Ann S. asked:  "My husband's (Del) 4th great-grandfather was William Garvin.  Where and when did William Garvin die?"

Randy Seaver responded:  Ann provided more information about this man and his family.  Several derivative sources say William Garvin died in Cranbourne, Dorchester County, Quebec in 1869, and was probably in the Church of England. Quebec research information are listed in https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Quebec,_Canada_Genealogy, and search strategies are in https://familysearch.org/wiki/en/Quebec_Search_Strategies.  An online search in the Drouin collection on Ancestry.com did not find him.  Searches of Church of England records near Cranbourne and probate records may provide a death or burial date.  A Rootsweb message board post on the Quebec and/or Dorchester boards may provide information about record availability and cemetery records.

7)  Mary N. asked:  "How do I find an ancestor who walked out on the family and disappeared?"

Shirley Becker responded:  Mary's missing person is Antonio/Anthony Casper who was from Germany and resided in Ohio.  Searches for others of the surname in census records might help.  Historical newspaper searches on Chronicling America and other sites may provide an obituary or news articles.  Published books on Google, Internet Archive and other sites may be helpful.  He may have changed his name.

8)  Virginia T. asked:  "Where can I go, other than the obvious places, to find ship arrivals for Wilmington, Delaware, in the late 1790s to early 1800s time frame?"

Shirley Becker responded: The FamilySearch Wiki page on "Delaware Emigration and Immigration" may be helpful.  The Delaware Genealogical Society has a newsletter and research assistance.  The University of Delaware Library has a help section for researching passengers and naturalizations. The National Archives has ship arrivals and passenger lists, and these are also on Ancestry.com.

This program was very well received by the attendees because of the interesting research questions and the material presented by the researchers.  





Sunday, October 2, 2016

Genealogy Days in Chula Vista - October 2016

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society events for October 2016 include:

 ** Saturday, 1 October, 1 p.m to 4 p.m., Bonita-Sunnyside Library (4375 Bonita Road) -- 
CVGS Workshop in Community Room.  Randy Seaver and others will lead a discussion of "Backing Up Your Computer" Saturday Workshops are for hands-on experience with computers, software, websites, etc.

** Wednesday, 12 October, 12 noon to 2 p.m., Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) -- CVGS Research Group meets in the 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, 19 October, 10:15 a.m. to 2 p.m., Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) -- CVGS Computer Group meets in the Library Computer Lab, led by Shirley Becker. Bring your laptops to sharpen your computer skills and investigate online genealogy resources.

** Saturday, 22 October, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) -- CVGS Family History Day meets in the Auditorium.  The keynote speaker at 10:30 a.m. will be Randy Seaver on "Be An Ancestor Detecitve."  At 12 noon, Ceasar Castro will present "Who is Chula Vista Mayer Mary Casillas Salas?" There will be workshops in the Conference Room, the Computer Lab and the Genealogy Research area.

**  Wednesdays, 5, 12, 19 and 26 October, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) -- Research Assistance in the Family Research area.  John Finch will help you with your research problems.  Bring your laptop if you want to do online research.

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-Sunnyside (County) Library is located at 4375 Bonita Road in Bonita - turn north on Billy Casper Way, just west of the Otay Lakes Road intersection with Bonita Road, on the north side of Bonita Road.

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.  All CVGS events are FREE to attend, except for some seminars and picnics.