Wordless Wednesday – Then and Now

by Kathryn Doyle (8/6/2008)

California Genealogical Society President Jane Lindsey is “big sister” to five younger brothers. It’s where she got her training to be CGS “Mother Hen.”

Photographs courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey.
Tuesday Tales From the Road – Indiana

by Kathryn Doyle (8/5/2008)

CGS member Mary Mettler is still on the road. This is her second installment:

The trip is going great! I’m in Fremont, Indiana tonight and will get my first rain and maybe big hail, according to the forecast. My car won’t like “big hail” or even “little hail” for that matter. I’ll be staying with my sisters in Akron and seeing my niece and grandniece and having lunch with some high school friends over the 4th of July weekend.

Cynthia, I forgot the name of your little hometown in Iowa, so I waved at all the towns! I didn’t see a lot of flood damage – just low parts of fields and runoff channels down the hills of corn.

Yesterday, I drove 20 miles along the Mississippi from Rock Island, Illinois to Cordova, Illinois where my 2nd great grandparents are buried. It was a gorgeous cemetery with trees and was very well maintained. Quite a number of the graves had flowers on them. To my complete surprise, there was a potted plant beside my ancestors. I asked the maintenance man about it, and he said he found the pot very close to them and put it right beside them only 15 minutes before I arrived – pretty spooky!

This morning I ran across the Mississippi from Rock Island, IL to Davenport, Iowa and back. Can’t say as I have ever run in two states in the same run! I crossed next to an island with an arsenal, where Confederate soldiers had been held during the Civil War and Germans and Italians in WWII. Yesterday, I’d been searching in the 1860’s newspapers, and every day they listed the names of the Confederate soldiers who died there the day before. Quite often it was pneumonia, since blankets were a rare commodity. Then, there was a horrific small pox epidemic. We hear about Andersonville and the poor treatment of our Northern soldiers, but the winners write the history books. Thus, there is nothing about Rock Island and the poor confederates!

Please don’t forget me! I’m homesick already!

From Your Roving Reporter,
Mary

Read the entire series:
Part One: Salt Lake City
Part Two: Indiana
Part Three: Pennsylvania
Part Four: More From Pennsylvania
Part Five: Washington D.C.
Part Six: Suffield, Connecticut
Part Seven: Vermont
Part Eight: Dorset, Vermont
Part Nine: West Point and Back to Pennsylvania
Part Ten: Some Final Thoughts From Home

Workshop: Hints on Publishing Your Family History

by Kathryn Doyle (8/4/2008)

Saturday, August 9, 2008
10:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.
CGS Library, 2201 Broadway, Suite LL2, Oakland, California

There are still a few spaces left in this Saturday’s workshop – “Hints on Publishing Your Family History” at the CGS Library.

At some point, it is time to put a stop to the research (at least temporarily) and create something tangible that can be passed down to the next generation.

Shirley Pugh Thomson, Matt Berry and Jane Knowles Lindsey are ready to share their experience and help you explore the options available, including newer non-traditional, online methods, such as blogs. The CGS Library collection has scores of examples of traditionally published histories for you to peruse. Our panelists will choose a few so workshop attendees can see some prime examples.

Shirley Thompson, retired owner of Indices Publishing, will present two talks, “Skills Needed to Publish Your History” and “Mistakes to Avoid.” Matt Berry will discuss his experience self-publishing using Lulu.com.

The workshop day will include a lunch break so bring a brown bag. There is a nearby deli if you prefer buy a sandwich and bring it back to the library.

The workshop is free for CGS members but is limited to fifteen people. There will be a sign-up fee of $10 for non-members. (This fee can be applied toward membership on the day of the workshop.) There is a sign-up sheet at the CGS Library desk. Please call CGS at 510-663-1358 to reserve a space.

Photograph courtesy of Jane Knowles Lindsey.