CVGS Annual Picnic Review

The Annual CVGS Picnic was held on Wednesday, 25 June at the ranch-style home of Gary and Wanda Brock in Bonita.  We had a wonderful time, with about 35 members and guests attending.  It was a wonderful early summer day, sunny with breezes and about 75F.

Their grandchildren were the parking lot directors and shuttle drivers to deliver attendees to the large shady areas amidst the trees near the house, with tables under awnings and a large tarpaulin.  The food tables, and barbecue area, were nearby.  Gary had set up a large display board and some tables to show the military memorabilia of some of the members.

This was a pot luck picnic, with hot dogs, bratworsts and hamburgers supplied by CVGS and cooked to perfection by Gary.  The members brought a wide range of hors d'oevres, salads, beans, veggies, fruit and desserts.  Nobody went home hungry - that's for sure!  

After an hour of sharing with our table mates, we ate the food, and then had an hour of hearing members speak about their ancestors who were in the military and describing the memorabilia they brought to share.  In the last hour, we got to stroke and feed carrots and apples to Tacoma, the Brock's thoroughbred (retired racehorse) who loves people.

I took lots of pictures!  Here are some of them:

1)  Linda, Ann, Susan, Wanda and Jane at my table:

2)  Chef Gary working his magic on the meat:

3)  Arlene and Jane enjoying the food variety:

4)  Ana, Bethel and Jacquie enjoying lunch:

5)  Arlene, ????? and Karen enjoying dessert:

6)  Diane describing her ancestors' military service:

7)  Linda feeding Tacoma a carrot, with Gary supervising:

This was a wonderful picnic with excellent and plentiful food, lots of table sharing and it was fun!  Let's do it again next year!

CVGS Annual Picnic is Wednesday, 25 June 2014

 WEDNESDAY, June 25th ANNUAL  PICNIC

from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

At Home of Gary and Wanda Brock in Bonita

     Our annual picnic will be held on Wednesday  June 25th  from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., at the home of Gary and Wanda Brock in Bonita (4397 Allen School Lane, phone 619-475-4054.  Directions:  From Bonita Road, turn south on Allen School Road, then left on Allen School Lane to 4397.  From Otay Lakes Road, turn west on Allen School Lane to 4397.  The driveway is opposite the intersection of Allen School Lane with Surrey Drive).

    The theme will be about our ancestors who have served in the military.  Who were they and when did they serve?  If you have any items from their time in service, we would enjoy seeing them.  Bring items such as letters, photographs, clothing, war souvenirs, medals, etc. to share with everyone.  Make certain only copies, not original items of paperwork and/or photos are brought to be displayed.  We want to honor all men and women who served their countries.  We are a hodgepodge nation and items from around the world would be fascinating to view.  

     Please sign up to bring food for the potluck.  There are several categories.  Just like last year, there will be a $5.00 fee, per person, to cover the cost of grilled hot dogs and hamburgers.  Please contact Jo Ann Bonner (phone 619-421-3628 or email jabonner13@gmail.com) to coordinate your potluck contribution.

CVGS Newsletter for June 2014 is Available

The June 2014 issue of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) Newsletter was published last week.  You can read it online, in a PDF format - use the Newsletter link at www.CVGenealogy.org.

The Table of Contents lists:

page 1 - June 25th Annual Picnic 
page 2 - President’s Message
page 2 - Library Committee Report
page 3 - Sign the "Genealogist's Declaration of Rights"
page 4 - June 14th Saturday Workshop

page 4 - July 12th Saturday Workshop
page 4 - Lemon Grove Research Group News
page 4 -- Next Computer Group Meeting
page 4 - May 21st Computer Group Review
page 5 - "7 Habits of Frugal Genealogists"

page 6 - Research Group Review
page 7 - May 28th Program Review
page 8 - "Advice to the Ancestry Lorn"
page 9 - CVGS Society Information 
page 9 - San Diego Genealogy Events 
page 10 - Genealogy Days in Chula Vista

June 12th CVGS Research Group Review

The June Research Group of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society was on Thursday, 12 June at 10 a.m..  There were 13 members in attendance.

In the first hour, Randy discussed the SCGS Genealogy Jamboree conference that he attended from June 5-8, 2014.   Syllabus material is available at http://app.core-apps.com/scgs2014.  You can download individual handouts for many of the presentations by world-renowned genealogists. 

There were 14 live-streamed presentations that genealogists all over the world could view for free.  Most of them are on the http://streaming.webcastandbeyond.com/scgs/ website, and will be available until July 5th.  

Randy also showed many of his photographs from the Jamboree, highlighting exhibit hall vendors, his own panels and presentations, and his geneablogging colleagues.

In the second hour, several attendees highlighted their recent genealogical activities:

*  Jane attended the free Friday activities at Jamboree, including the three hour Beginners' class and the Exhibit Hall, and enjoyed it.  

*  Sylvia added comments to another person's Ancestry Member Tree profiles that have the wrong relationships.  

*  Sam's father thought he was an only child, but Sam has found records for two other brothers - one died young, the other was stillborn.  He found a Tennessee death certificate for the stillborn.

*  Susi's sister-in-law, Mary, made a Y-DNA connection of her brother on Family Tree DNA, and is exploring it.  Susi went to the FamilySearch Library in Mission Valley on Wednesday, and the new fast document scanner/feeder was demonstrated.  It costs $1 per hour, and the scanned images can be saved to your own flash drive or to a purchased flash drive.  A sizable stack of papers can be scanned in an hour.  This may be useful for the CVGS Estate Papers project.

*  Virginia debunked a family story that her ancestor was a circuit rider minister in the Midwest.  She found that he was a Baptist minister from his obituary, but not a circuit rider.  The group suggested that the Baptist church archives may have minister's records.

*  Gary received some World War II photographs in email, and one was of a B-52 with the crew standing beside it.  He noted that one of the men was his father!  

*  Arlene found some postcards from the early 1900s that her mother had saved, and wondered what to do with them.  

*  Randy demonstrated how to access MyHeritage Record Matches and how to confirm or reject them, and how to extract information from them into his MyHeritage family tree.

The next CVGS Research Group will be Wednesday, July 9th from 12 noon to 2 p.m. in the Conference Room at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (360 F Street, Chula Vista).

Saturday Workshop on 14 June - "Iowa and Illinois Research"

Susi Pentico will moderate a discussion of "Iowa and Illinois Research" at the Saturday, 14 June 2014 workshop from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Bonita-Sunnyside Library (4375 Bonita Road) in Bonita, California.  The meeting will be in the Community Room at the library.

This program is free to attend.  If you have ancestral families in Iowa and/or Illinois, please come and learn what resources are available for you to perform genealogical research in those states.  Also, please share what information you may have about genealogical research in those states.  

May 28th CVGS Program Review - “Stump the Chumps”

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society program meeting on Wednesday, 28 May was a research panel that discussed possible solutions to CVGS member research questions.  

This was the CVGS version of a Genealogy Roadshow program - eight to ten minutes to describe the research performed in response to a member's research problem or question.  

The nine "elusive ancestor" problems were reviewed by four experienced researchers (Shirley, John, Diane and Randy) were:

*  Who were the parents of Margaret (Armstrong) Tompkins (ca 1765-ca 1815) of Ontario and Westchester County, New York, wife of Nehemiah Tompkins (married 1787)?  

*  Birth place/occupation of Zacarias Guerra (ca 1817 to ????) of El Paso, Texas, married 1852 to Tomasa Bermudes, and where were his parents from?

*  Who were the parents of David Dickinson (1806-1879), born in Green County, Kentucky, husband of Mary Louise McKibben?

*  Find out more about Gaetano (or Thomas?) Del Vecchio (1839-????), married to Columba Buccini (1839-????), and his ancestors. They immigrated in 1899 to New York and resided in Troy, New York.

*  What is birth date, name of wife, marriage date and children of John Bellwood, Jr. (ca 1797 in Ohio -????), father of James Bellwood?  

*  Confirm parents of John Wesley Akers (1839 Kentucky - 1888 California), who married 1866 Sarah Ellen Hughes.

*  Was Margaret (Fleming?) Wilson (1803 S.C. - after 1880 Mississippi), wife of Francis Wilson, a Native-American?

*  Who were parents and siblings of William Francis Greene (ca 1835 N.Y. - 1897 Nebraska), married 1873 to Mary Jane Pollard?

*  Was Eliza (Gailor) Ward (ca 1847 N.Y. - 1876 N.Y.), married 1867 to David Ward, the daughter of Samuel and Almina (--?--) Gailor?

     The members/researchers who posed these "elusive ancestor" problems range in experience from beginner to very experienced, and all were stuck - they wanted confirmation of what they knew and suggestions for further research.  None of the researchers are professional genealogists, and I don't think any of them pursue research more than 10 to 20 hours a week, if that.  All had  done extensive online searching, and most had done some research in repositories or visited the localities in question.  However, none of the researchers had really tried to find probate or land records to help solve their research question.
     
The four members of the research panel divided up the problems, did some online research and thinking about research opportunities, and presented their findings to the members at the meeting.  I spent six to eight hours on each of my problems to try to answer the research question at hand.  Each panel member prepared a short (6 to 10 slides) presentation to summarize what they found in 10 minutes, with text, record images, and maps, plus conclusions relative to the question at hand, and suggestions for further research.  In every case, there were no firm answers to the "elusive ancestor" questions. 
     
In summary, it seemed to me that the researchers with the problems had done a pretty good job of getting to the present state.  However, they were stuck, at a "brick wall" point, and needed suggestions to help them further their research.

Genealogy Days in Chula Vista - June 2014

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society events for June 2014 include:

**  Saturday, 14 June, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Bonita-Sunnyside Library (4375 Bonita Road) -- Saturday Workshop:  Susi Pentico will lead a workshop on "Illinois and Iowa Research."

** Thursday 12 June, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, 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, 18 June, 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. Bring your laptops to sharpen your computer skills and investigate online genealogy resources.

** Wednesday, 25 June, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Home of Gary and Wanda Brock -- CVGS Annual Picnic.  Potluck with hot dogs and hamburgers (contact Jo Ann Bonner for potluck list.

**  Wednesdays, 4, 11, 18 June, 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.

CVGS Program Meeting on 28 May - Genealogy Research Panel: "Stump the Chumps"

WEDNESDAY, May 28th

 PROGRAM MEETING

from 12 noon to 2 p.m.

At Chula Vista Civic Center Library Auditorium (365 F Street)

Genealogy Research Panel: “Stump the Chumps”

This will be a panel of four of CVGS's best researchers (from the left, Shirley Becker, John Finch, Patricia Diane Godinez, and Randy Seaver) who will take research problems and questions submitted from the audience. The panel will be moderated by President Virginia Taylor. Six to eight entries will be selected (time permitting). 

Each selected entry will be presented by a primary panelist who will have performed some preliminary research on the entry. A full panel discussion will follow, including audience participation.

 If you have a problem or are stumped in an area of your research, please obtain an entry form from any panel member or President Taylor, fill it in and submit it to Virginia on or before Wednesday May 21. This is important to give the assigned panelist time to prepare a response.

 So get your entry in early and see if you can "Stump The Chumps." 

May 21st Computer Group Review

The Computer Group meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society on Wednesday, 21 May 2014, had ten in attendance in the Computer Lab using the new library Windows 7 computers.  Shirley Becker demonstrated several websites with free records and web pages, including;

*  Rootsweb/Ancestry Freepages (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~websites/ - she picked one of the Surname Websites to see examples) and the Freepages directory (http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/directory/) to search for material about your ancestors.

*  Rootsweb/Ancestry WorldConnect family trees (http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/) to search for persons in trees submitted by researchers.

*  Rootsweb/Ancestry Message Boards (http://boards.rootsweb.com/) to search for messages or queries submitted by researchers on thousands of surname, locality and topic boards.

*  GenForum Message Boards (http://genforum.genealogy.com/) to search for messages or queries submitted by researchers on thousands of surname, locality and topic boards.

Several attendees found interesting entries on these web pages, family trees and message boards.

May 14th Research Group Review

The May 14th Research Group meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society had 16 attendees. 

In the first 30 minutes (without using the Internet since the projector didn't make it to the meeting), Randy discussed the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, Family Tree magazine, Internet Genealogy magazine, and the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks biography challenge that he is participating in.  He passed several issues of the magazines, and several 52 Ancestors articles, around the table.  

The attendees shared their research questions, research problems and research successes for the blance of the meeting.  For example:

*  Sylvia found a set of third great-grandparents and their spouses checking out Ancestry Member Trees.

*  Diane shared a letter from a relative with some family secrets and noted that "sometimes births occur before marriage and people won't share information."  She also showed how she uses a 12-generation chart, noting that it's helpful to put your research down on paper.

*  Marie is trying to find and contact her granddaughter, who recently married and has had several name changes.  The group suggested using social media, checking adoptee message boards and a surname message board to find go-betweens.

*  John has found more wills in the Essex Antiquarian periodicals on the shelves at the Chula Vista library for his colonial ancestors in Essex County, Massachusetts.  He found one for Reverend William Worcester, and he and Randy learned they were distant cousins.

*  Gary is looking for more military records for his Revolutionary War ancestor, Philip Roff.  He knows he was in the 12 regiment of Albany N.Y. militia.  The group suggested the DAR, Fold3.com records, FamilySearch Books, regimental histories, a local genealogical or historical society, and researching others in the regiment.

*  Karen Y is a volunteer for the Midway Museum, and is working on the Memorial Board for servicemen who died while serving on the Midway between 1945 and 1992.  Previously, the Board had only the name and date of death, and she wants to find the squadron, cause of death and other information.  She has been checking Ancestry.com and Find A Grave for information.  The group suggested newspaper obituaries and Fold3.com for more information.

*  Jane committed a mortal sin by buying a new Windows 8 computer, and needs help with it.  She did find a connection to an Amish or Mennonite family in Pennsylvania recently, and needs to do more research on the family.

*  Virginia found an 1830 declaration of intent for Robert Dunlap in the Pennsylvania Naturalizations database on Ancestry.com.  He immigrated in 1799 from County Donegal in Ireland and was naturalized in 1813 in Nisipining.

*  Gerry's husband's father was in the U.S. Navy from 1900-1905, but didn't serve in a war.  She wants more information about his service.  She wrote to the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis but received little information.  The group suggested an obituary, an enlistment record, a draft registration, cemetery records, and a town history or family genealogy.  

*  Hazel has been working on her ancestry with Diane's help.  She wondered about copyright and privacy issues with photographs on Facebook and other sites.  The group noted that material published before 1923 is in the public domain is used, but after 1923 the photographs are under copyright protection, and that the creator of the material, or their heirs, owns the material.  Permission to use copyrighted material should be requested, and attribution of public domain material is recommended.

*  Arlene has a new Mac computer, since her PC died recently.  She is working on her tree on Ancestry, and wanted to get a software program.  One recommendation was Family Tree Maker for Mac to synchronize with her online tree.  

*  Helen's 4th great-grandparent moved from Virginia to North Caroline to Tennessee, and three sisters moved to Missouri.  One married an uncle, and the uncle was arrested for murder.  She has found census, land and an article in a county history book about the uncle.  Helen also says that we shouldn't believe everything you find in a book or online.

The next CVGS Research Group meeting will be Thursday, 12 June 2014 (note the day/date change!) from 1 p.m. to 3 pm. in the Auditorium at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street in Chula Vista.

CVGS Newsletter - May 2014

The May 2014 issue of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) Newsletter was published last week.  You can read it online, in a PDF format - use the Newsletter link at www.CVGenealogy.org.

The Table of Contents lists:

page 1 - May 28th Program Meeting 
page 2 - President’s Message
page 2 - Library Committee Report
page 3 - April 5th Saturday Workshop Review
page 3 - Ancestry.com Subscription AARP Discount

page 4 -- Next Computer Group Meeting
page 4 - Lemon Grove Research Group News
page 4 - June 14th Saturday Workshop
page 4 - Seminar Committee Report
page 5 - SD Central Library Research Trip Review

page 5 - Southern California Genealogy Jamboree
page 6 - Research Group Review
page 7 - April 30th Program Review
page 8 - “Shaking The Family Tree” Fair Review
page 8 - May 3rd Saturday Workshop Review 

page 8 - SCGS Jamboree App and Syllabus Available

page 9 - CVGS Society Information 

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

April 30th Program Review - “The Orphan Train”

Paul Erickson, a local Chula Vista resident, provided his “The Orphan Trains” lecture to a crowd of about 35 CVGS members and 20 guests, many of whom came from Fredericka Manor. Paul's mother was one of the estimated 250,000 orphaned, abandoned or homeless children who were placed in homes all over the United States between 1854 and 1929. There were two large organizations that did this – the Children's Aid Society (started in 1853) and the New York City Foundling Home (started in 1859, about 100,000 babies over the years). The groups wrote to small towns looking for families to take the children. The families could request children by gender, eye and hair color, etc. Special train cars carried 40 to 50 children at a time, with several chaperones.

Each child had their name on their collar, and the destination family name on their jacket or coat. Boys usually wanted to go to farms, and girls usually wanted to be mother's helpers. When they arrived at their destination, the prospective parents met the child and the sponsoring group. The child could be rejected and would then be taken to the next stop for another possible placement. Not all placements worked out. The Orphan Train book has stories about 40 to 50 Orphan Train riders.

Paul's handout had an advertisement that included this information:

Paul's mother was living in an orphanage in 1901 in New York and was sent to Missouri to find a home. She had no idea why she was abandoned. She loved the farm and school, graduated from high school and business college, married and raised a family in Independence, Missouri. Later in life, she hired a tracer of lost relatives, who found a record of a child with her first name and birth date in New York City, the parents marriage date, and the birth of another child in a Presbyterian Church record. After she died, Paul wrote to the brother, Walter, who wrote back saying he had been told his little sister had died. Walter visited Paul, and said “You look just like my dad.”

There is a National Orphan Train Complex in Concordia, Kansas in a historical landmark building of a Union-Pacific train station (see www.orphantraindepot.org) for more information.

San Diego Central Library Research Trip Review (by Karen Yarger)

On Wednesday, April 23^rd, a small band of CVGS adventurers, led by John Finch and Karen Yarger, began their trip to the downtown San Diego Central Library. All were armed with info sheets on the library and tips for riding the trolley and doing research in the ninth floor’s genealogy collection.

We met at our usual spot on the second floor of the parking structure on Third Avenue. It’s a good thing we carpooled because the first challenge was finding parking spaces at one of the trolley stations. All of the Chula Vista station lots were under construction, a problem which hopefully will be remedied by the time you read this. Buying a senior trolley ticket ($1.25 one way) was a new experience for some, but with laughter and eagerness we boarded the Blue Line trolley, got off at the Park & Market stop, and walked about two blocks to the library. Did you notice that the windows are shaped like open books?

Karen gave a brief tour of the lobby and first floor and the wonderful Sanford Children’s Library, with its 16’ Dr. Seuss murals. It offers everything from displays of vintage favorites like The Wizard of Oz to the newest kid-friendly iPads and computers, and over 56,000 volumes in several languages.

A quick note of the copy stations on the 2^nd, 4^th and 8^th floors, and off we headed to the ninth floor with its domed-shaded terrace and sweeping views. SDGS’s Chris Christensen met us and gave a personalized tour of the Hervey Rare Book Room with its centuries-old books, manuscripts and art. Steps away, he gave us a tour of the genealogy collection (that’s why we came!) and showed us the computers with access to Ancestry.com. Then he turned to helping some of our members with their research.

There’s never enough time to do research, is there? 

 Before we left at 3pm, we learned of a $3 parking lot across the street (not on Padre game days; it’s the Tailgate lot) and vowed to return soon. Now that we know our way around this fabulous resource, we can spend all our time in the stacks. It’s a great way to spend the day!

Genealogy Days in Chula Vista - May 2014

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society events for May 2014 include:

**  Saturday, 3 May, 12 noon to 3 p.m., Bonita-Sunnyside Library (4375 Bonita Road) -- Saturday Workshop:  Randy Seaver will lead a workshop on "RootsMagic 6 Software."

** Wednesday 14 May, 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, 21 May, 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. Bring your laptops to sharpen your computer skills and investigate online genealogy resources.

** Wednesday, 28 May, 12 noon to 2 p.m., Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street) -- CVGS Program Meeting in the Auditorium:  "Genealogy Research Problem Solving Q&A" with Diane Godinez, John Finch, Shirley Becker and Randy Seaver. Refreshments before and after the meeting.

**  Wednesdays, 7, 14, 21 and 28 May, 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.

RootsMagic Saturday Workshop on 3 May 2014

The next Chula Vista Genealogical Society RootsMagic 6 workshop is Saturday, 3 May 2014 at 12 noon until 3 p.m. at Bonita-Sunnyside Library (4375 Bonita Road) in the Community Room.

Randy Seaver will lead the discussion of RootsMagic 6, including:

*  Summary of program capabilities and navigation
*  Demonstration of how to start a new family tree file, including entering basic data, events, notes, sources and media.
*  Answer attendee questions about specific functions and capabilities
*  Where to find help and answers to your questions.

Attendees should bring their laptops with RootsMagic 6 installed.  The latest version of RootsMagic is 6.3.1.0 which was recently provided, and users should have the latest version if possible.  Many features in RootsMagic are the same for earlier versions, but some new features are unique to the latest version.  

If you are going to attend this workshop, and have a specific question, please email it to Randy at rjseaver@cox.net.

April 30th Program Meeting Features Paul Erickson on "The Orphan Trains"

 WEDNESDAY, April 30th

 PROGRAM MEETING

from 12 noon to 2 p.m.

At Chula Vista Civic Center Library Auditorium (365 F Street)

Speaker:  Paul Erickson: Subject:  “The Orphan Trains”

 From 1859 to 1929, the emigration of an estimated 200,000 children took place in the USA----one of the largest movements of people in our history. Yet, many people in this country know nothing of the Orphan Train Era. In 1852, police estimated 10,000 homeless children lived on the streets in New York City. One thousand or more emigrants from Europe arrived daily in the city. Poverty, disease and alcoholism were common. 

What to do with the homeless children? The Orphan Trains heading for the developing Mid-West were one answer.....for the next 75 years.  Two organizations were closely identified with the Orphan Trains. The Children's Aid Society, founded in 1853 in New York City by the Rev. Charles Loring Brace, and the New York Foundling Hospital established by the Catholic Order of Sisters of Charity in 1869. Each sent thousands of orphans West. 

Paul will tell the story of these two organizations and their placements of orphans, the story of one of the riders, my Mother, and the story of the Orphan Train Heritage Society which has preserved the stories of thousands of Orphan Train Riders.

 Dr. Paul Erickson is a retired professor, San Diego State University. He grew up in Independence, MO and served as an Army Sergeant in the final months of World War II. He has a B.A. ( History) Arizona State University, an M.A. ( History) Stanford University, and an Ed.D. ( in Counseling Psychology ) University of Southern California. He is married, and has two sons. He and his wife, Marilyn, currently live at Fredericka Manor in Chula Vista. Dr. Erickson and his sister, Norma Poling, have been active members of the Orphan Train Heritage Society since it's founding in 1986.

This meeting is FREE to attend.  There will be a short CVGS business meeting before the presentation.  Refreshments are served by CVGS members before and after the program.

CVGS Research Trip to San Diego Public Library on 23 April 2014

While we can’t exactly call it our “New” Downtown San Diego Library any longer, it is still new to some of us. If you haven’t been, now’s your chance! We are planning a field trip on Wednesday, April 23rd and will go as a group on the Trolley, meeting at the Chula Vista E Street station at about 11:20 a.m.  

We’ll take the Blue Line (to America Plaza), disembarking at the Park and Market stop, then walk less than two blocks south to the Library. We plan to meet for our tour at the Library’s main entrance shortly after it opens at noon.   If you choose to drive, please remember that parking is free for only two hours (with a library card), and after that it is $1.25 for every 20 minutes (!). 

John Finch is arranging a tour for us of the ninth floor genealogy collection, and we may also have a tour of the rest of the Library as well – there is so much to see!  

 To sign up, please contact Karen Yarger (khy13@hotmail.com ) or John Finch (jan27@cox.net). We will send you further instructions and some tips on what to bring, etc., a few days before departure. Here’s your first tip: The Trolley’s senior fare is only $1.25 – do not buy your return ticket at the same time, since the tickets are only valid for two hours. 

We will probably leave the library about 5 p.m., so there will be plenty of time for some genealogy research. On Wednesdays, the Library closes at 8 p.m., so you may stay as late as you like. For more information on the Library, see http://www.sandiegolibrary.org, or call them at 619-236-5800. 

Karen Yarger wrote this article.

CVGS Newsletter - April 2014

The April 2014 issue of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society (CVGS) Newsletter was published last week.  You can read it online, in a PDF format - use the Newsletter link at www.CVGenealogy.org.

The Table of Contents lists:

page 1 - April 30th Program Meeting 
page 2 - President’s Message
page 2 - Library Committee Report
page 3 - Spring Seminar Program Review
page 4 - Spring Seminar Wrap-Up

page 5 - "The Orphan Trains" Article
page 5 - Southern California Genealogy Jamboreepage 6 - Next Computer Group Meeting
page 6 - Next Research Group Meetingpage 6 - April 23rd Genealogy Research Trip

page 6 - Lemon Grove Research Group News
page 7 - May 3rd Workshop
page 7 - March Program Review
page 8 - "Shaking the Family Tree" Family History Fair
page 9 - CVGS Society Information 

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

CVGS Computer Group Meeting is 16 April 2014

The next Chula Vista Genealogical Society Computer Group Meeting is on Wednesday, 16 April 2014, from 12 noon to 2 p.m. at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library (365 F Street in Chula Vista) in the Library Conference Room, led by Shirley Becker.

Bring your laptops for hands-on use of the library's wifi system.  For more information, please contact Shirley Becker (clanroots@cox.net).

April 9th Research Group Meeting Review

The April Research Group Meeting of the Chula Vista Genealogical Society had 21 in attendance at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library.

In the first hour, Karen Yarger and Diane Godinez made several announcements, and then Randy Seaver discussed how to access and use the FamilySearch record collections, since only some of them are indexed, and some are not indexed.  The latter must be browsed, and there are many "genealogy gems" hiding in those unindexed collections, including probate and land records for several states.  He used New York Probate Records as an example, and demonstrated finding the "waypoints" and locating a specific record in a digitized book of Estate papers for one of his ancestors.  He also highlighted the www.CreateFan.com website to create a number of colorful and useful family tree charts based on information from the FamilySearch Family Tree.

In the second hour, research questions and problems were posed and addressed by group members.  For instance:

*  Laura asked how she should try to find her ancestor, James Craft (1810-1880), who moved from Maryland to Pennsylvania to Illinois to Iowa during his lifetime.  She has only census records for 1850 to 1870, and cannot find his parents.  The group suggested identifying the places that he lived and looking for military, land, church, cemetery, tax and probate records on microfilm or on FamilySearch.

*  Sally is just starting her research, and a family story is that James Russell was a Revolutionary War soldier, and she wanted to know how to prove that.  The group recommended that she confirm her ancestral line back to him by working backwards, using vital, census, military and other records, family by family.  For Revolutionary War soldiers, the DAR has a useful database, there should be a Compiled Military Service Record for the soldier, and there may be a pension file for him.  

*  Jane is also starting her research, and has been working on FamilySearch.  She wondered if she should invest in subscriptions for Ancestry.com and Archives.com.  The group suggested that she should use the free sites, including Rootsweb.com, USGenWeb.org, FindaGrave.com and the Rootsweb WorldConnect family tree database, to find more leads before investing in a subscription site.  She also asked about immigration sites, and the group suggested EllisIsland.org, CastleGarden.org and FamilySearch, and that Ancestry.com had passenger lists for all ports in their collection.

*  Shirley bought some of the Rhode Island Roots periodicals at the book sale at the CVGS seminar and has found some helpful items for her ancestor, Samuel Tillinghast.  

*  Helen asked if some one with the first names of "Ayres Marie" could be an "Iris Marie" in other records.  The group thought so.  She said that autosomal DNA tests show a possible cousin has an "Iris" in their tree.

*  Hazel wondered how accurate FamilySearch Family Tree data is.  The group thought that form any families in the 19th and 20th century, the information was accurate since it was based on family papers and genealogical research.  When you get back into the 18th century and before, the information may not be as accurate because of the lack of records and duplicate entries for persons and events.

*  Bobbie displayed the 150th Anniversary book for her local church in Lake County, Illinois, which has articles submitted by descendants and members, including her own.  This is an example of what you might find at local libraries and historical societies when you visit an ancestral location.  
The next meeting of the CVGS Research Group will be on Wednesday, 14 May 2014 at 12 noon in the Conference Room at the Chula Vista Civic Center Branch Library.