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ISSN0736-802X THE LIVERMORE ROOTS TRACER VOLUME XIII WINTER 1993-1994 NUMBER 2 Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society PO Box 901, Livermore, California 94551
TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME XIII NUMBER 2 Message from the President 457 Calendar of Events 458 Queries 458 The Bookshelf 459 Surplus Publications 461 This Week in History 462 Computer News 464 Notes From All Over 465 Meet the Members 469
LIVERMORE-AMADOR GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY P. 0. Box 901, Livermore, CA 94551 President Beverly Schell ALES 510-846-5297 lst VP and Membership George ANDERSON 510-846-4265 2nd VP and Programs Isabel NOLTE 510-447-4062 Recording Secretary John WALDEN 510-443-2057 Corresponding Secretary Beverly MORRIS 510-846-4952 Business Manager Chuck ROCKHOLD 510-455-5911 Publications Chairman George ANDERSON 510-846-4265 Publicity Felicia ZIOMEK 510-847-9260 Livermore Cultural Arts Council Rep Don JOHNSON 510-447-4746 Tracer Editor Jolene & David ABRAHAMS 510-447-9386
The Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society is exempt from Federal Income Tax under Section 501(c)(3) (literary and educational) of the Internal Revenue Code and California Taxation Code 237020.
The Roots Tracer is a quarterly publication with articles of interest to the genealogist. Members are encouraged to submit their "Profiles" as well as articles of general interest. Queries are free to members, $1.00 to non-members. The deadline for each quarterly is the 15th of June, September, December, and March. Send to: Roots Tracer, P. O. Box 901 Livermore, CA 94551 Any book presented to the Society will be reviewed in the quarterly along with the purchase price and address of the publisher. Our Library is located in the Pleasanton Public Library building, 400 Old Bernal Ave., Pleasanton, CA. Meetings are held on the 2nd Tuesday, monthly, 7:30 PM, at Congregation Beth Emek, 1866 College Ave., Livermore, CA. Membership in LAGS is open to any individual, library, or society. Our fiscal year is September 1 through August 31. Membership includes a subscription to the quarterly Roots Tracer.
Publications (Prices are postage paid): Surname Index (1988) $7.00 Livermore Cemeteries (1988) $19.00 Pleasanton, Dublin Cemeteries (1990) $14.00 The Bookshelf (1992) $3.00 Roots Tracer Index $6.00 Livermore Cemetery Index $6.00 (Prices subject to change) Send check or money order to: Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society P. O. Box 901, Livermore, CA 94551
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT David Abrahams As we turn over a new year, I am turning the leadership of L-AGS over to a new president. Beverly Ales, assisted by Harriet Anderson, will have assumed the presidency by the time you read this issue of The Roots Tracer. I look back at the past year's accomplishments with pride. We revised the constitution and by-laws so that they more nearly match the calendar year; we had some great programs - provided by our able program chairman (and my wife), Jolene; we co-sponsored an all-day seminar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; and we made many valuable additions to our library, which is housed in the Pleasanton Public Library. This publication has also been rejuvenated. During the past year, we have published many good articles written by our members. It is hoped that the members will continue to make similar contributions in the future. Your editors will publish articles with useful information that others may be able to use. Articles should not be travelogues, but should be about your family histories and your research efforts. Articles might also include - or be about - sources, techniques, how-to and how-not-to do research, with specific contacts, addresses, telephone numbers and names of books, etc. We will leave the length of the articles to the judgment of you writers, but the editors reserve the right to edit in order to make them fit the available space in The Roots Tracer. Articles may be submitted at any time, and will be held for the next available issue. If possible, please submit articles to the editor on a diskette (which will be returned).
LIFE MEMBERS OF L-AGS: Beverly Schell Ales Anastasia Alexander Carrie Alexander Terry Crane G. E. "Robbie" Robinson BENEFACTORS: Judy and Don Person David and Linda Curry WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS: O. M. Barlow David Karlson Larry Renslow Regina Schaefer Cherie Swenson William Vierra
CALENDAR OF SELECTED GENEALOGICAL EVENTS (from various sources) 8 February 1994 LIVERMORE-AMADOR GENEALOGY SOCIETY meeting at 7:30 pm, Congregation Beth Emek. Our program will include having your old photos copied onto film so that you can have new prints, etc. made. There is a nominal fee for this service, provided by our own members. 26 February 1994 Genealogical Society of Stanislaus County will present Lloyd D. Bockstruck (Supervisor Genealogy Section Dallas Public Library, Dallas TX; Faculty, Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research, Samford College, Birmingham AL; Author of Researching in Texas) speaking on "Genealogical Problem Solving" at their seminar on Saturday 8:30 am to 4:00 pm at the Modesto Centre Plaza, Ash-Magnolia Room, 1000 "K" Street, Modesto CA. Contact Don Wilson, 209-869-3966. 22 March 1994 Sacramento German Genealogy Society presents Ed Brandt "Germanic Surnames" (plus a night Surname Workshop for our working members). Want a name analyzed? Contact John Movius, P. O. Box 4327, Davis CA, 95617-4327, to indicate your interest. 15-16 April 1994 California Genealogical Society Ninth Family History Fair at The Fashion Center (next door to last year's site), 699 Eighth Street (near Brannan), San Francisco. For more information call 415-777- 9936. 7 May 1994 San Ramon Valley GS and Contra Costa County GS will hold a seminar featuring Lloyd Bockstruck. Details to follow. 1-4 June 1994 1994 National Genealogical Society Annual Conference, Houston, TX. Join them in Houston and Explore a Nation of Immigrants. Watch for more details at club meetings.
QUERIES June-Marie GANNER, 1500 Villa #119, Clovis, CA 93612 Would like to locate descendants of HENRY C. SMITH, b. 25 October 1824, Fort Defiance, Ohio. Was a Judge in Alameda County and d. 24 November 1875 in Livermore. Laura M. BILLY, 22232 - 196th Ave., SE, Renton, WA 98058-0439 Need information on H.P.B. NELSON, last known in Jackson, CA. His mother was Katherine (Katrina) NELSEN, d. 1915 in Jackson, CA. His father was Lars NELSEN, d. 1904. Both parents were born in Denmark as well as H.P.B. NELSEN and siblings. Children of Lars & Katherine were Anna Marie, m. John MONSTER; Kirstin Margarethe Pauline, m. Neils ANDERSEN; (2) Herman NELSEN; Louisa m. Mr. HOLMS, (2) Louis FENNER; Peter G; H.P.B. The parents of H.P.B. NELSEN lived in Orillia, King Co., WA and obituaries were found in Kent, WA papers. Maureen Markt DEARBORN, 257 Franklin St., Holyoke, MA 01040 Wish to correspond with descendants of John O'LEARY, b. 7 March 1857 at Mass., who married Alice LADD and resided in Livermore, CA. Descendant of his sister Abigail O'LEARY MARKT.
The Bookshelf Genealogist's Handbook for Atlantic Canada Research. 1989. Edited by Terrence M. Punch. Published by New England Historic Genealogical Society. 6x9 inches, 142+viii pages, hard cover, index, maps. $10.00. Donated to LAGS by Judy Person. Many Americans have special reason to be interested in the Atlantic provinces of Canada. In one group are the Cajuns of Louisiana. They are descendants of French Acadians who were forcibly deported from that region in the 1700s. Others are American relatives of the Loyalists who fled to that part of Canada after the Revolution. Finally there are the descendants of European ancestors who stopped in Maritime Canada for a few years, or even for generations, before settling in the United States. There are many more in this last group than is generally realized, as was pointed out by Joseph King when he talked to LAGS several years ago. He is the author of "The Uncounted Irish," the title of which refers to the Irish who stopped in Canada on the way to the US and hence were counted as "Canadian," not Irish, on our censuses. This handbook is a thorough inventory of all records of genealogical interest in the four Atlantic provinces of Canada: New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. For each province, there are also historical overviews, address lists for help by mail, extensive bibliographies, and "county" maps (the nomenclature varies with the province). A final chapter covers resources not specific to one province. For instance, there is a description of the vast literature about the worldwide dispersion of the Acadians. Each chapter is written by a professional genealogist accredited by the Genealogical Institute of the Maritimes. ******************* Alameda County, California, Genealogical Research Guide. 1993. Published by the East Bay Genealogical Society, Oakland. 8 1/2x11 inches, 219 + xi pages, spiral bound, with index, illustrations and maps. $24.00. Donated to LAGS by David and Jolene Abrahams. Here is a book to admire! A master list of every conceivable source of genealogical information in our county - all the books about the county and the people in it, all the cemeteries and mortuaries, all the city and county offices and the records they hold, all the libraries (there are an astounding 94 of them!), all the school districts (some of them will verify names, birth dates and places, parents' names, etc. for students), and all the religious organizations. Bev Ales was the LAGS representative for supplying information to this book. Our library is described fully and our two cemetery books are cited numerous places. It must have taken a massive effort for EBGS even to contact the myriad offices, libraries and cemeteries, much less get them to supply the information desired. Surprises abound: did you know that the Amador-Livermore Valley Historical Society in Pleasanton has the Sanborn's fire insurance maps of Pleasanton and the Murray Township court records for 1879-1933; that the Dublin Historical Preservation Association has local telephone directories from 1901-1954; that the California State University Library in Hayward has 3090 volumes of affidavits of voter registration for 1866- 1921, and that these are indexed while the great registers are not? It would be nice to have a book like this for every county in the United States. The WPA survey produced such books, but more limited in scope, not for every county, and by now outdated. This seems to me to be a great project that the California State Genealogical Alliance could sponsor for our state, and maybe the LDS church could sponsor for the whole country. ******************* 10,000 Vital Records of Central New York, 1813-1850. By Fred Q. Bowman. Published by the Genealogical Publishing Co. 1988. 6x9 inches, 338+vii pages, cloth bound, indexed. $22.50. Donated to LAGS by Judy Person. LAGS already owns one other volume of this series covering eastern New York and will probably order the remaining volume about western New York when funding allows. The title is almost literal - there are exactly 10021 records in this book, 5124 of marriages and 4897 of deaths. The records were drawn from marriage and death columns of nine early newspapers which cover a 14- county area of central New York. The main section of the book lists all grooms and all deceased persons in alphabetical order, with an abstract of the record and a citation to the newspaper and publication date. Many of the abstracts contain birth dates and places and parents' names. All other persons mentioned in the abstract, including brides and marriage officials, are alphabetized separately in an 8200-name index. Another index lists some 1500 marriage officials, their affiliation and the number of marriages attributed to them in this book. ******************* Guide to Family History Sources in the New Jersey State Archives. Second edition, 1990. Compiled by Bette Marie Barker et al. Published by the New Jersey Department of State. 8 1/2x11 inches, 34 pages, soft cover. Maps and illustrations, no index. $8.50. Donated to LAGS by Judy Person.
New Jersey records go back to 1664, a few years after the first English settlement. Apparently no documents exist from the earlier Swedish and Dutch period. This slick, beautifully illustrated pamphlet presents a thorough inventory of the records collected since then by the state archives in Trenton. (I wonder if the cost of this booklet was one reason that Governor Jim Florio had to raise taxes, leading to his ouster this fall by Christine Todd Whitman.) An interesting peculiarity of New Jersey deeds is that the first ones were granted by the two "proprietors," Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, the original owners who got the land from the Duke of York. These proprietors still retain their status as private corporations, and the early deeds are in their possession, not in the archives. The addresses of the proprietors, to whom researchers are obliged to apply for these deeds, are given in the book. Beside the usual records to be expected in state archives, there are some unusual ones: "Inquisitions on the Dead, 1688-1798," apparently like inquests; "Insolvent Debtors, 1747-1818;" and "Inquisitions on Loyalists in Essex County." This booklet is helpful in listing what records the archives do not have, and in giving the location (such as the state library in Trenton) where they can be found, or publications in which they have been printed.
SURPLUS PUBLICATIONS George Anderson, L-AGS Library Committee Your LAGS Library Committee has decided to dispose of some little-used newsletters in the library collection. Most of them are not journals containing genealogical data of timeless value, but are instead the newsletters that societies use to keep their members informed of current activities, to document local sources and to pass along research tips. The committee also decided not to continue to hold surname periodicals dealing with one family name. If the library is currently receiving the newsletter, the latest few issues will be kept on the shelf. Although these publications have not received wide use at the library, many of them are first class in quality and of great interest to those researching the particular locality or surname covered. First call to receive these surplus items are members who donated them. Unfortunately, we do not have a record of which ones were donated, and by whom. If you donated some of the publications listed below, and would like to have them back, please call Judy Person at 846-6972 before February 1, 1994, to arrange their return to you. The publications not reclaimed by donors will be sold at the February 1994 LAGS meeting. These are the publications available: Genealogy Bulletin (William Dollarhide) 1991-1992 NGS Newsletter (National GS) 1988-1993 Diablo Descendants Newsletter (Contra Costa County GS) 1988-1993 H.A.G.S. Informer (Hayward Area GS) 1988-1993 Live Oak (East Bay GS) 1987-1992 Wine Press Newsletter (Napa Valley) 1991-1993 Newsletter (San Mateo County GS) 1992-1993 The Arkansas Family Historian (Arkansas GS) 1982 The Backtracker (Northwest Arkansas GS) 1981-1982 Waconda Roots and Branches (North Central Kansas GS) 1983-1991 Traces (South Central Kentucky Historical and GS) 1988-1989 The Prospector (Clark County, Nevada, GS) 1991-1992 Speaking Relatively (The Ohio GS, Cuyahoga East Chapter) 1979-1993 The Tracer (The Ohio GS, Hamilton County Chapter) 1980-1992 Lancaster Legacy (Pennsylvania Genealogy and Local History) 1983-1984 Corodus Chronicles, York County (Southwest Pennsylvania GS) 1984-1986 The Pennsylvania Traveler-Post 1978 Central Pennsylvania Genealogy Magazine 1970 Newsletter (Upper Cumberland, Tennessee, GS) 1981-1982 Ansearchin' News (Tennessee GS) 1981 The Connector (Hamilton Family) 1991-1993 Newsletter (Nesbitt/Nisbet Society) 1986-1988 Pangburn Letter (Pangburn Family) 1983-1992 Philips and Kin of Franklin County, Illinois 1982-1984 Richardson Researcher and Historical News (Richardson Family) 1983-1992 Newsletter (Rodrigues Family) 1982-1989 American Portuguese Genealogy and History Society 1991-1992
THIS WEEK IN HISTORY The following news notes are copied from various editions of the Livermore Herald and the Livermore Echo newspapers. L-AGS wishes to thank Barbara Bunshah of the Livermore Heritage Guild for providing these interesting personal news bits. From the Livermore Echo, week of 14 November 1893: Last Friday morning this valley was visited by the most severe windstorm experienced in many years, and a large amount of damage was done, the most serious being to barns and windmills....FARMER's iron warehouse suffered considerable damage. The schoolhouse in Harris district was blown almost into pieces, as were a number of other small buildings in that vicinity. The monument over the grave of C. J. STEVENS, in the Masonic Cemetery, was blown down by the wind of Friday morning. From the Livermore Echo, week of 5 December 1893: Louis MEL this week shipped 25 boxes of olives to the experiment station at Berkeley. From the Livermore Echo, week of 12 December 1893: Brother D. J. FOLEY, formerly of the Pleasanton Star....informs us that he will commence the publication of a paper, to be called the News, in Pleasanton, about Jan. 1st. C. J. WETMORE shipped a ton of ripe olives to ST. Helena on Tuesday. They brought six cents a pound. The perpetrators of a daylight burglary at the home of Dr. ROBERTSON were captured and sent to jail. From the Livermore Echo, week of 19 December 1893: William RYAN of the firm Ryan Bros., undertakers, has graduated from an embalming school in San Francisco and his diploma now hangs in the parlors of the firm on Lizzie Street. Death of Mrs. Valentine ALVISO (nee Josefa LIVERMORE, a daughter of "the elder Robert LIVERMORE). From the Livermore Herald, week of 31 October 1918: Dr. G. F. ROGERS is Head of Arroyo Sanitarium; succeeds Dr. CARY who joined Military Service with rank of Captain. Mrs. J. A. SEGBERS meets death in wreck of (steamship Princess) Sophia; is 3rd of family to die by drowning. (Her brother, Wm. BAILEY, drowned in the Yukon, and a niece, Miss Albertine BERNAL, was lost in the wreck of the steamer Columbia.) Record wool shipment left here this week when C. G. OWENS, local buyer for the H. I. HABER Wool Co. of San Francisco shipped a full carload direct to the Commodity Credit Corp. of Boston, Mass. From the Livermore Herald, week of 28 November 1918: John BAUGHMAN is back in his old position as clerk in Victor & Harris' store after being employed for several months in one of the Oakland shipyards. (Several years later he became a partner, then sole owner of the store now known as Baughmans.) Livermore officer, Lt. W. C. BROWN, wins Croix de Guerre, for rallying company in midst of battle. From the Livermore Herald, week of 5 December 1918: The board of trustees of the grammar school met Thursday and elected a new principal, Ernest J. CUTHBERTSON, to take the place of Principal D. E. MARTIN, who takes a position in the office of the County Supt. of Schools on Jan 2nd. California furnished the nation a total of 137,033 men for service in the army, navy and marine corps between the time the National Guard of the state was ordered mobilized and the signing of the armistice....the first men called into federal service were the 3 infantry regiments of the State Guard, i.e. the 2nd, 5th and 7th. Livermore had a unit then known as Company I in the 5th..... From the Livermore Herald, week of 12 December 1918: Local flyer, Lt. Eugene McGLINCHEY, creates sensation in East; with companion does stunts that thrill spectators in Illinois town. Dr. G. F. ROGERS quits as Sanitarium head; may be succeeded by Dr. R. BUSH. From the Livermore Herald, week of 19 December 1918: Farewell reception given to D. E. MARTIN; many brave storm to pay respects to retiring (grammar school) principal. Carl WENTE, formerly connected with the First National Bank of Livermore, has been appointed head of the Bank of Italy's branch at Madera. From the Livermore Herald, week of 21 November 1943: Mr. & Mrs. Jacob TWISSELMAN observe golden wedding. From the Livermore Herald, week of 12 December 1943: Miss Dolores MILLER highly praised; N. Y. Post terms Livermore musician gifted performer in Town Hall debut. From the Livermore Herald, week of 19 December 1943: Home delivery of the S. F. papers was to be discontinued after Feb. 1st due to the shortage of available carriers. Delivery would continue in the business district. The announcement was made by local dealer George McKENZIE.
COMPUTER NEWS COMPUTERIZED TELEPHONE DIRECTORY George Anderson How would you like to be able to look in one telephone book that includes everyone in the United States? We often have need of such a compilation when we are trying to locate "lost" living relatives, but of course, in book form it would be humongous - by my estimate, 15 feet thick. There are several electronic databases that now give this service. One that is accessible, for a fee, by computer modem from the CompuServ network is called "PhoneFile." Here is how MetroNet, the compiler of PhoneFile, describes the system: "Phone*File provides electronic access to a database of over 80 million U.S. households, and contains consumer data which includes name, home address, phone number, and length of residence. Listings can be retrieved from the Phone*File database through searching by name with address; by name with ZIP code, city, and/or state; and by telephone number. The information contained in Phone*File is obtained from public record or published information. These sources include consumer "white pages" telephone directories, published birth announcements, real estate transactions, and information that is made available by public agencies." I have been using PhoneFile for over two years, and have yet to see a "length of residence" listed. Also, every record I have seen has included a phone number, leading me to believe that not many have come from "birth announcements, ..." where phone numbers would be missing. A drawback to PhoneFile used to be that you had to search state-by-state, manually entering the request for each state in your computer and sending the request over the modem to CompuServ, then entering the next state, etc. Recently I downloaded a program from America Online, another network, that allows me to automate the process so that I can enter the surname I'm interested in and search the whole United States in one pass. I have used the new system to conduct searches for two LAGS members, and it seems to work well. The cost for each search was about $2. The catch to PhoneFile is that it is cost-effective only for rare surnames. There are about 10,000 Andersons just in Minneapolis, so a nation-wide listing via PhoneFile would take days and piles of money! I would be glad to do PhoneFile searches for other members, or to share the program that automates the process.
COMPUTER NOTE From CSGA Newsletter, March 1993 A new program is available to assist PAF users in writing a book. This program is called "GEN-BOOK". It takes the data from your PAF 2.,2 files and generates a book, putting the data into a Wordperfect 5.0 or 5.1 file. For additional information and sample pages, please contact Clement Custom Programming, 2105 Country Lane, Auburn, CA 95603 or call 1-916- 889-8801.
NOTES FROM ALL OVER
POLISH RESEARCH From TOWARZYSTWO GENEALOGICZNO-HERALDYCZNE SOCIETAS GENEALOGICA AC HERALDICA Wodna 27 Palac Gorkow 61 - 781 Poznan, POLSKA The Genealogical-Heraldic Society in Poznan, the first organization of this kind in Poland, was founded in 1987 by a group of scholars and amateurs interested in genealogy and heraldry. The time was not ripe yet for that kind of activity, as the communist authorities still considered these areas of research to be "improper". Nevertheless we continued our work and gradually our membership grew, our monthly meetings became regular, and we established contacts with many foreign organizations of similar kind. The aims of the Society include on one hand popularization of genealogical and heraldic knowledge among amateurs, so that their research is based on sound scholarly foundation, and on the other - starting and coordinating research projects of more general importance, such as compiling inventories of archival sources and bibliographies, indexing vital registers, building up a library collection, etc. The Society does not offer any research services. Poland has no tradition of amateur genealogy and therefore the work to be done is considerable. This obviously requires funds that are not available from the state while the membership fees hardly cover the basic costs of copying and mailing information sheets to members. All the administrative work, lectures and articles are contributed by members on a voluntary basis. We are, therefore, looking for sponsors who could help us raise funds for publishing. Donations from private persons have made it possible for us to publish four issues of our quarterly GENS but more is needed for the work to continue. We would also be grateful for any donations of genealogical or heraldic books and periodicals from other countries, so that our library collection might form a nucleus for a future centre of genealogical-heraldic research in Poland. It is only now that we can accept foreign members. Members receive information sheets about current events, new publications, etc., and copies of our Genealogical Data Bank which lists surnames researched by other members and is updated semi-annually. Both of these publications may be issued also in English versions for foreign members when there are enough of them. Each member can enter any number of surnames to be included in Genealogical Data Bank, the aim of which is to establish contacts between people researching the same families or areas. Members can also subscribe to the quarterly magazine GENS and contribute articles. The articles are in Polish with short summaries in English. The quarterly is available for members only (or through publication exchange). Annual membership fee is US $15 (or equivalent in other currency) and subscription to GENS is US $10 (for 4 issues). The money can be sent either directly to our account PKO BP I/O Poznan, Nr 63513- 4356-132 or via a postal money order or a bank draft payable to Towarzystwo Genealogiczno-Heraldycznew Poznaniu (no personal checks, please).
FOREIGN CURRENCY PURCHASE David Abrahams If you need to purchase foreign currency drafts, RUESCH INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL SERVICES may be able to help you. A phone call to 1-800-424- 2923 is all that is required. I have used this service to purchase British pounds. I called the above listed number and told them what I needed. The clerk then quoted the exchange rate and told me that there was a $2.00 service charge. When I told him that was acceptable, the clerk asked me for the name of the payee and said the exchange rate he quoted would be frozen until the company received my personal check. In less than three weeks, they sent me a draft, made out to the payee and a receipt for the transaction. I know Ruesch covers most of Western Europe; however, they cannot provide Polish currency!
THE NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION From Viking, February 1993 For a visit of a genealogical sort, set your sites on St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., where the Norwegian-American Historical Association provides threads connecting the curious present to the concrete past. It s rich and fascinating collection of books, periodicals, newspapers, manuscripts, photographs and other documents relevant to Norwegian immigration and new life in America began with the founding of the NAHA in 1925, roughly 100 years after the first 53 immigrants bid farewell to Norway and boldly traveled to New York aboard the sloop Restauration. NAHA's manuscript collection is stored with great care in more than 1,200 manuscript boxes and cases, each a treasure trove of personal and national legacy. When scanning the stacks, one gets the sense of Christmas here - of hundreds of precious boxes waiting to be opened. And rarely is a visitor disappointed: Ledgers, scrapbooks, bygdeboeker (Norwegian regional or community histories), charts, passenger lists on microfilm, journals, letters and diaries of immigrants await the patient researcher, whether amateur historian or professional scholar on sabbatical from a Norwegian university. "What is unique is not what we have but what we have done," says Dr. Lloyd Hustvedt, executive secretary. "Our publications go far beyond what most associations could possibly dream of." One can visit the archives in person or the NAHA will provide a cursory survey by mail request. (A charge is made only for services beyond "normal".) NAHA's hours vary; call ahead. For more information, write to the Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1510 ST. Olaf Av., Northfield, MN 55057; or call (507)646-3221.
MINNESOTA HISTORY CENTER George Anderson Harriet and I were in Minnesota in September and had the opportunity to visit the new Minnesota History Center in St. Paul. It is a magnificent granite edifice with hundreds of thousands of square feet for research, exhibits, education, administration and archival storage. Genealogists and historians now have access to 550,000 books, 37,000 maps, 250,000 photographs, 38,000 cubic feet of manuscripts and 45,000 cubic feet of government records. The new facility, costing $74 million, is six times bigger than the one it replaces, and consolidates Historical Society holdings that used to be stored in several locations around the city. It is located a few blocks from the state capitol. We spent several hours there. The reading room was large and sparsely occupied, but the microfilm room, with 48 readers, was cramped and crowded - a bad sign for the future. The librarians were courteous and helpful. The catalog is computerized using the PALS system. After we got home, I dialed up the PALS computer via my modem (1-612-296-2252 or 1- 612-636-2067) and was able to browse the catalog from home, although doing that for any length of time would be prohibitive in long-distance charges. Using a local PALS number, that problem would be eliminated. We also spent a half-day at the Roelvaag Memorial Library at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. This is one of the top libraries in the country for Norwegian-American research. The Norwegian-American Historical Association (NAHA) book collection is included in the general collection of the Roelvaag Library. NAHA specializes in collecting manuscripts, letters, obituaries, papers and newspapers related to Norwegian-American life. Forrest Brown, retired Head Librarian of the Roelvaag Library, now manages the NAHA collection. He kindly gave us a detailed orientation of materials in his charge. We were able to browse in the huge collection of obituary clippings and found several of interest. The Roelvaag Library is also on the PALS system, but I was unable to connect with my modem on the number given to me. I have printed materials on both the Minnesota History Center and the Roelvaag Memorial Library that I would be glad to share with LAGS members.
TO RESEARCH PASSPORT RECORDS For records of passports issued prior to 1906 write to: National Archives General Reference Branch Washington, DC 20408 For records of passports issued between 1906 and 1922 write to: National Archives Suitland Reference Branch Textual Reference Division Suitland, MD 20409 For records of passports dated after 1925 write to: Passport Services Department of State 1425 K Street NW, Room 386 Washington, DC 20524 To conduct a search of passport records, the department requires: * Your NOTARIZED request, providing your full name, date and place of birth, current address, and the reason for the request. * The full name, date and place of birth of the file subject. * The dates that the file subject may have applied for a U.S. passport. * If the file subject was born after 1900, EITHER notarized consent from the file subject authorizing release of the information from his/her passport record to you OR convincing evidence of death in the form of a newspaper obituary or a death certificate. * A file search fee of $15 for each subject - checks or money orders should be made payable to the Department of State.
SALVATION ARMY SERVICES Edited from a Dear Abby column The Salvation Army operates a Missing Persons Locator Service in 90 countries throughout the world. This service is available to the public. Those interested should be aware of the following basic guidelines: * The inquirer should be searching for a near relative. Do not request a search for old classmates, sweethearts, wartime buddies, etc. And do not ask to find runaway adult children or someone owing you money. * The inquirer must be able to provide essential information about the missing person. * The Salvation Army reserves the right to accept or reject any request for services based upon consideration of reasonableness, feasibility or notice. * The inquirer is asked to forward a $10 nonrefundable donation. * The inquirer may secure information and/or a missing persons inquiry form by contacting the nearest Salvation Army office in his/her area or by contacting the nearest Territorial Headquarters. Addresses: P. O. Box C635, West Nyack, NY 10994; 1424 Northeastern Expressway, Atlanta, GA 30329-2088; 30840 Hawthorne Blvd., Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90274; 10 W. Algonquin, Des Plaines, IL 60016.
PENNSYLVANIA RECORDS Birth and death records for Pennsylvania are available from: Pennsylvania Dept. of Health, Division of Vital Recordss, P. O. Box 1528, New Castle, PA 16103. Nonrefundable fees are $4.00 for birth certificates; $3.00 for death certificates. NOTE: Your Roots Tracer editors have one copy of an application form - which members may copy.
CALIFORNIA SOURCES The Smithsonian magazine reported in April 1993 that Sutro's library was stored in two warehouses, only one of which burned in the 1906 fire. His heirs donated the surviving books to the State of California, and the library opened to the public in 1917. Rare books constitute 60 percent of the collection. However, the genealogical materials, much donated by others, makes up 90 percent of the library's use and is the biggest such collection west of Salt Lake City. (Editor's note: I recently spent two days at the Sutro Library researching a family who lived for many years in San Francisco. Using City Directories from 1850 through about 1945, and SF telephone directories circa 1943-49, I was able to reconstruct a fairly decent history of this family's business dealings, where they lived, and who they shared their homes with. Adding in federal census information gave me that much more data.) The California Genealogy Society at 300 Brannan Street, San Francisco, is open Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 9 am to 4 pm. They have recently acquired 180 volumes from the City and County of San Francisco. The Registers of Actions regard probate and over probate number 1 to 900,000, over the period from 1906 to 1940's. They are currently being indexed.
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