Blog | California Genealogical Society

by Chris Pattillo (7/29/2020)

Chris Pattillo is a CGS Board member and oversaw the development of the CGS Strategic Plan.

New resources have been added to the CGS website! During the interviews for the CGS Strategic Plan one oft-made suggestion was the need to add more resources to the website. Well, we heard you and are happy to announce that Part One has been accomplished and is ready for you to explore.

The Website Content Committee started by identifying resources held in our library that will be of interest to our members. We then ranked those suggestions and dove in. Committee member Stewart Traiman scanned two volumes of lineage charts that were created by CGS members between 1955 and 1957. Then our volunteer coordinator, Kathleen Beitiks, mobilized a team of volunteers to index the names that appear on those charts.

The team has finished indexing all of the 65 charts in volume 3.1.

These two volumes of lineage charts were
created between 1955-1957

All 135 lineage charts have been scanned and
over half have been indexed so far.

Committee member Theresa Murphy checked each chart for completeness and accuracy, and committee member John Ralls added links to each tree and has put the material on our website. You will find a link to these new records on the home page. You need to first Log-In as a member. The SEARCH button will take you to our Databases page where you should select the link labeled “Lineage Chart Images”.

We invite members to use this new database and welcome feedback. You can use the SUGGESTIONS tab on the bottom left side of the website to submit comments or suggestions.

Much More To Come

Volunteers are working on indexing 70 additional lineage charts in Volume 3.2. As soon as that work is complete, we will add it to our website. We have also made excellent progress on two volumes of Pedigree Charts that were created in the early 1900s, which Ron Madson is photographing. We are looking into adding the Ahnentafel Charts that were done by CGS members in 1921 and 1944.

Other projects that are being considered include:

· A set of birth records from the San Francisco Archdiocese that was compiled by CGS member Anne Robinson

· Thirty biographies of signers of the original California Constitution that were researched and written by CGS member Wayne Sheppard

· Records from our manuscripts collection

We are also looking to add more culturally diverse records to our collection.

If you would like to get involved with any of these projects please contact me at [email protected]or Kathleen Beitiks at [email protected]

Online genealogy, week of July 27-August 2

by Jennifer Dix (7/24/2020)

Here is a list of online genealogy events for the coming week. Most are free. See our post “Genealogy Learning in the Time of Coronavirus” for links to archived classes available at Ancestry, FamilySearch, RootsTech, and more.

August 1: Be sure to check out the CGS workshop “Rules for Entering Family History Data” with Russ Worthington (fee)

Celtic Connections Virtual Conference (fee)

Registration opens July 31 for this series of prerecorded webinars and live chats

To register for one of the events below, click on the name of the host organization.

American Ancestors

July 28: “Jewish Women in the Labor Movement” by Judith Rosenbaum

BYU Family History Library

July 29: FamilySearch Q&A with Kathryn Grant

FamilySearch (Family History Library)

July 28: “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Probate: U.S. Probate Records”

Legacy Family Tree

July 28: “Fabulous Photo Discoveries at MyHeritage” by Lisa Louise Cooke

July 29: “Researching a Loyalist Soldier” by Craig R. Scott

Densho.org continues its series on “Finding Your Nikkei Roots”

July 29: “Family History Records in Japan”

Southern California Genealogical Society

August 1: “Cousin Baiting and Cousin Stalking” by Christine Cohen

Conference Keeper has a large calendar of events (too many to list) hosted by various genealogical organizations. New events are added often, so check back frequently.

Here are a few of the coming week’s highlights:

July 28: “Resources on AmericanAncestors.org” by Christine Cohen

July 28: “Jewish History and Genealogy” (panel discussion)

July 30: “African and Jamaican Roots: Who Do You Think You Are?” by Paul Crooks

July 31: “Tracing Black Ancestry: Secrets of the 1817 Slave Registers” by Paul Crooks

August 1: “The Psychology of Searching” and “Ethical Dilemmas in Genealogy” by Penny Walters

August 2: “Mixing DNA with a Paper Trail” by Penny Walters

Be well, stay safe, and happy learning!

Quarantine Quests: The joy of indexing!

by Chris Pattillo (7/22/2020)

Two volumes of pedigree charts
created in the 1890s

This Quarantine Quests story is from Jean Alderson and the other CGS volunteers who are indexing four volumes of Pedigree and Lineage charts for our website.

CGS has a fabulous team of volunteers who have responded to an invitation to help index the names of individuals listed in four volumes of Pedigree and Lineage Charts. The Lineage Charts were prepared in the 1950s and the Pedigree Charts are much older, having been done shortly after the society was founded in 1896. So far, eight CGS members have indexed all the lineage charts in volume 3.1. They, plus seven additional volunteers, have also gotten involved indexing the pedigree charts.

Jean Alderson was the first to volunteer and she is our star indexer. Of the 63 lineage charts, Jean has indexed 37–more than half the total. Now Jean has taken on the pedigree charts and has already completed six of the 35 sets of cards that have been assigned.

Before the quarantine began Jean had been training to become a Desk Volunteer. Now that our library is closed she eagerly agreed to try on the indexing work. Jean taught computer applications during her teaching career so she has the right skill set for the task. She also likes the flexibility of being able to work on the project whenever it suits her and not having to commit to being in the library on a particular day and time.

One of the lineage charts
made by CGS members in the 1950s

Typically, Jean works on her charts after a morning cup of coffee. She leaves her computer open to these files and goes back to it throughout her day working 20-30 minutes at a time. She thinks it is a perfect project to cure boredom and sometimes a good alternative to watching the nightly news.

Of the two projects, Jean much prefers working on the lineage charts which involve extracting names directly from family trees. She enjoys seeing an entire family and learning a little about their lives from the biographical information that is included. Work on the pedigree charts involves typing names and dates from sets of 3×5 cards, which offers its own intrigue. For example, as names are repeated on multiple trees Jean has deduced multiple marriages for individuals. She has been loosely tracking naming traditions finding many Abigails and Hannahs but no Lindas, Karens or Sharons. For males, Ezekial, Ignatious and Zephemiah were popular when the pedigree charts were created. And, then there are oddball names like Deliverance and Experience.

When I asked if she would recommend these projects to others she said yes and noted that she has benefited from similar work that others have done. Now Jean is giving back and hopes that her efforts will help others.

Names from these old index cards will be
transcribed and added to our website.

One of our other volunteers, Barbara Valdriz, has indexed five lineage charts. Barbara enjoys the work and says, “I found myself being drawn in and a bit distracted by wanting to learn more about these families.” Kathleen Beitiks, our Volunteer Coordinator, was thrilled when we started this project because many CGS volunteers want to work from home and this is proving to be the perfect project–particularly now, during the pandemic.

CGS volunteer Ron Madson has been photographing the pedigree charts,
some of which include photos, news clips and other memorabilia.

If you are interested in joining the team to work on these or other remote projects, please contact [email protected] or [email protected]