Note: The Web version of this issue of The Roots Tracer contains all of the words and all of the non-decorative graphics of the original paper version, but does not preserve the original typographical formatting.
ISSN0736-802X THE LIVERMORE ROOTS TRACER VOLUME XIV WINTER 1994-1995 NUMBER 1 Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society PO Box 901, Livermore, California 94551
TABLE OF CONTENTS VOLUME XIV NUMBER 1 From the Presidents 526 Calendar of Events 527 Notes From All Over 528 Addendum to "Cemeteries of Pleasanton & Dublin 529 The Bookshelf 530 Book Review 532 L-AGS Library Notes 532 Computer News 533 Resource Notes 536 Meet the Members Doris Spilmer BURNETT 539 Jean E. HARTLEY 540 Barbara June (SMITH) HALL 541 Cathe NORMAN 542 Barbara (CREIGHTON) WILLS 543
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
LIVERMORE-AMADOR GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY P. 0. Box 901, Livermore, CA 94551 President Fran SAMANS 510-447-0761 1st VP and Membership Chair Erma McCUE ...... 510-443-1512 2nd VP and Program Chair Katherine BRIDGMAN 510-846-4898 Recording Secretary Harold NORRIS 510-447-6067 Corresponding Secretary David CURRY 510-447-7589 Business Manager Chuck ROCKHOLD 510-455-5911 Roots Tracer Editors Jolene & David ABRAHAMS 510-447-9386 Library Chair Judy PERSON 510-846-6972 Publicity Chair Felicia ZIOMEK 510-847-9260 Livermore Cultural Arts Council Rep Don JOHNSON 510-447-4746 Computer Interest Chair Doug MUMMA 510-447-5164 Historian David LINDSEY 510-447-6351 Publications Chair Open 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 nonmembers. The deadline for each quarterly is the 15th of June, September, December, and March. Send to: Roots Tracer, P. 0. Box 901 Livermore, CA 94S51 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 January 1 through December 31. Membership includes a subscription to the quarterly Roots Tracer. Publications Members Non-Members Postage Surname Index (1994) $9.00 $14.00 $2.00 Livermore Cemeteries (1988) $12.00 $17.00 $2.00 Pleasanton, Dublin Cemeteries (1990) $8.00 $12.00 $2.00 Roots Tracer Index $3.00 $4.50 $1.50 The above publications are available on diskette (IBM or Mac) for the same price as the paper copies. When purchased with a book, they are half price. Members Handbook $4.00 $6.00 $2.00 (Prices subject to change) Send check or money order to: Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society P. 0. Box 901, Livermore, CA 94551 DUES Individual $12.00 Family $18.00 Life $125.00 Benefactor. $30.00 Patron $60.00 Life (Couples) $185.00
FROM THE PRESIDENTS We would like to thank the members of L-AGS for their support during our term as co-presidents. Your willingness to volunteer or say yes when asked to participate in one of the tasks to help make our club more productive and interesting was very much appreciated. Our best wishes go to the new president and her Board. Harriet Anderson and Beverly Schell Ales
History repeats itself - I know, for I am part of the history of L-AGS. About 20 years ago, when L-AGS was in its formative stages, I served as its 2nd President. I thank you for making it possible for me to be President of the organization once again. L-AGS has just about completed 20 years in its history. We have a fine Board and Committees, composed of knowledgeable and experienced individuals who will continue the well-established spirit of teamwork and will continue to further the upward trend in all phases of our operations. We must continue to expand our scope of interests to include the genealogical concerns of all our members. We will try our best to live up to the confidence you have given us by your election of Board members. Please help by participating fully in all our programs and letting us know your thoughts about the various aspects of our activities. You can begin by attending as many meetings as possible. We want to see you; all of you! Fran Samans
OBITUARY Terry Crane, Life Member of the Livermore-Amador Genealogy Society, died of heart failure on Saturday, 31 December 1994. He was 45. Mr. Crane was a popular community leader and was a mortgage broker and real estate salesman. The membership of L-AGS wishes to express their condolences to the family.
WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS Royce & Lynne Eckard Eugene Fisher Barbara Hill Jack & Peggy Norman Edward A. Pyle Kenneth A. Surryhne Barbara Wills
CALENDAR OF SELECTED GENEALOGICAL EVENTS (From various sources) 13 JANUARY: San Bruno Nat'l. Archives - Basic Genealogical Workshop "Using Census Only", a hands-on workshop on what to do before your film reaches the machine. 10:00 AM - 12 Noon. Cost $12 in advance; $15 at the door. Contact: Rose Mary Kennedy, 415-876-9009. 14 JANUARY: Gen. Society of Stanislaus Co. will bring Helen F. M. Leary "Seeing Genealogy in a New Light", 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM. Registration $20, Modesto Centre Plaza, Ash-Magnolis Room, 1000 "K" St., Modesto. Contact: Don Wilson, 209-869-3966. 17 JANUARY: San Ramon Valley Gen. Society meeting, 9:30 AM - 2:30 PM. Heritage Quest Workshop conducted by Leland Meitzler of Heritage Quest. Bring your lunch, drinks and dessert provided. 22 JANUARY: Calif. Gen. Society is holding a "Beginner's Day", strictly for people new to genealogy, "Help Getting Started". Free for CGS members; $5 for non-members. 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. Please bring lunch as few places are open for food. More information: 415-777-9936. 28 JANUARY: Gen. & Hist. Council of Sacramento Valley - 4th Annual Genealogical & Historical Conference, 8:30 AM - 4:00 PM at the Cordova Sr. Center, 3480 Routier Rd., Sacto. SGGS, PO Box 660061, Sacramento, CA 95866-0061. 28 JANUARY: Sonoma Co. Gen. Soc. general meeting will feature Patsy Daniels, owner of Daniel's Chapel of the Roses in Santa Rosa. The topic will be "Using Funeral Home Records". 1:00 PM at Lark Hall, Rm. 2009, Santa Rosa Jr. College. 11 FEBRUARY: San Bruno Nat'l Archives - will hold a Volunteer Training session. 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Contact: Rose Mary Kennedy, 415- 876-9009. 25 FEBRUARY: Sonoma Co. Gen. Soc. general meeting will feature Christine Rose, whose topic will be "Too Young for the Revolutionary War and Too Old for the Civil War - Neglected Treasures". 1:00 PM, Lark Hall, Rm. 2009, Santa Rosa JC. 10 MARCH: San Bruno Nat'l. Archives - Basic Genealogical Workshop. 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM. Cost $12 in advance; $15 at the door. Contact: Rose Mary Kennedy, 415-876-9009. 10 - 11 MARCH: Calif. Gen. Soc. 10th Annual Family History Fair. "Following the Paper Trails Across the Continents" will be held at The Fashion Center, 8th & Townsend, SF. See inside back cover for more information. 25 APRIL: Sacto. German Gen. Soc. will feature John D. Movius, "Germanic Auslanders, Researching Your German Ancestors from Behind the Old Iron Curtain". A workshop after will use a computer and the new FHL catalog on CD-ROM to help in finding film, fiche and books needed to solve individual research problems. SGGS, PO Box 660061, Sacramento, CA 95866-0061. 3 - 6 MAY: Natl. Gen. Soc. & San Diego Gen. Soc. national conference: "A Place to Explore". Topics: Records and their availability; Migration patterns; History, what events shaped the area of your research; Evaluating evidence; Organizing & publishing; Hands on computer classes. For more info write to: NGS 1995 Conference, 4527 - 17th St. North, Arlington, VA 22207-2362. At the Town & Country Hotel & Convention Center.
NOTES FROM ALL OVER SPEAKERS NEEDED The California State Genealogical Alliance (CSGA) is in the process of assembling a new state-wide Speakers Directory. If you have a topic you would like to talk about at other meetings, please contact Jolene or David Abrahams, 447-9386, as soon as possible. The deadline for submitting information for inclusion in the new directory is 1 February 1995. RAILROAD RETIREMENT RECORDS A meeting was held with representatives of the U.S. Archivist's office and members of the CSGA board of directors in Richmond last spring. As a result of that meeting, Railroad Retirement pension records, which are of great value to genealogists and historians, will no longer be destroyed. However, this is only a temporary measure until a decision can be made as to what portions of these records are of value to us. READER'S DIGEST CALENDAR I recently received a calendar from the Reader's Digest dated 1995, Family Diary. In this beautiful little pocket calendar, besides the 1995 calendar, there is a listing of the Easter Dates from 1995 to 2009. Also, there is a 200 year Calendar Index which lists every year from 1867 to the year 2066. Many calendar years are the same. Example: 1867, 1878, 1889, 1895, 1901, 1907, 1918, 1929, 1935, 1946, 1957, 1963, 1974, 1985, 1991, 2002 and 2013 have the same weekdays of the year. In other words, January 1 will be on Tuesday of each of those years. The Index has only 14 different arrangements for the 200 years! My interest started in this because I was born on 7 April 1929, which was Easter Sunday. I have not had my birthday on Easter until 1986. Easter Day is always the first Sunday after the full moon which occurs on or after March 21; if the full moon occurs upon a Sunday, Easter Day is the Sunday after. I was anxious to find out if my husband, who was born on 19 June 1927 was born on Father's Day, which he was, a Sunday. Our oldest daughter was born on Mother's Day, 12 May 1957, which was a Sunday. My second daughter was born on 7 August 1960, a Sunday - which is also the same date as my brother's birth - although his birthday was a Thursday, which is also the day of the birth of my son, 4 December 1958. If any readers would like to have dates from this calendar, please call me at 846-5297. Submitted by Beverly Schell Ales DEAD LETTERS On Sunday, 18 December 1994, the San Jose Mercury News published an article written by Fay Faron, owner of the Rat Dog Dick Detective Agency in San Francisco, regarding letters to Santa Claus. She published a list of agencies that might also be useful to genealogists and historians, which has been reproduced below. Send your letter to one of these agencies, which will either give you information or forward your letter if it fits the right criteria - often at no charge. * Social Security Administration, Department of Health and Human Services, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore MD 21235. The administration must be able to identify the person, either by Social Security number or date and place of birth, and the letter must benefit the receiver, rather than the sender. * Military Locator, 9700 Page Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63132. For $3.50, the agency will forward your sealed letter to anyone who is either still in the service or who is receiving benefits. Helpful information includes a Social Security number, service number, date of birth and date and place of service. * Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Benefits Admin., Administrative Support Staff (20A52), 810 Vermont Ave. N. W., Washington, DC 20420. Another shot at service member, this time aimed exclusively at veterans. Send the same information as above, and the Department will forward a letter to the last address where it mailed benefits. * National Cemetery Registry, Dept. of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC 20420. Those killed in action, or who served and have died since, might now be buried beneath a white cross. * U. S. Office of Personnel Management, 1900 E St. N. W., Washington, DC 20415. The office can give you the work address of a current federal employee, or forward a letter to a retired one. * You can also try calling the Federal Bureau of Prisons in Washington at 202-307-3126. The Bureau's Inmate Locator Service can tell you if someone is or was incarcerated and when they will, or did, get out. Submitted by Don Johnson ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY The Historical Genealogy Dept. of Allen Co. Public Library was organized in 1961 by the library director, Fred J. Reynolds. The Dept.'s renowned collection contains more than 181,000 printed volumes and 220,000 items of microfilm and fiche. This collection grows daily through department purchases and donations from appreciative genealogists and historians. Following is a sample of the holdings: FAMILY HISTORIES - more than 38,000 volumes; CENSUS RECORDS - Federal and State & Territorial; CITY DIRECTORIES - 30,000 R. L. Polk Directories dated 1964 to present, and some on fiche from 1785; PASSENGER LISTS - most National Archives passenger lists and indexes on microfilm are available; MILITARY RECORDS - these holdings include most microfilmed National Archives service and pension records, Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Indian Wars & Disturbances, Mexican War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection, Korean War; U.S. LOCAL RECORDS; NATIVE AMERICAN RECORDS - please consult the department's Bibliography of Sources for Native American Family History which details print and microtext holdings by state and by tribe; AFRICAN-AMERICAN RECORDS - consult the department's Bibliography of Sources for African-American Family History which details print and microtext holdings by state; CANADIAN RECORDS - consult the French-Canadian & Acadian Genealogy pathfinder for further details; BRITISH ISLES - this collection contains 15,000 printed volumes which includes Ireland, England and Scotland; GERMANY; OTHER COUNTRIES AND PERIODICALS - the department holds the largest English-language genealogy and local history periodical collection in the world with more than 3200 current subscriptions and more than 4,100 titles; COMPUTER DATA BASES; AUDIO CASSETTES AND VIDEOS. Contact the Allen County Public Library at 900 Webster St., PO Box 2270, Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270; phone 219-424- 7241, ext. 3315. Their library catalog is now available on-line via modem at 219-424-1330. From the CSGA Newsletter, September 1994
ADDENDUM TO THE "CEMETERIES OF PLEASANTON AND DUBLIN, CALIFORNIA" Published January 1990 FALLON Plot, page 104, Sect A-Row 7 MARY CATHERINE FALLON MURRAY b. May 17 1847 w. Mission San Jose, 1st white child born at mission d. Oct 1941 (age 94 yrs) w.b. St. Raymond's Pioneer Cemetery, Dublin, California Daughter of Jeremiah Fallon early pioneer of Dublin. Submitted by Beverly Schell Ales
The Bookshelf Family. 1994. By Ian Frazier. Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York. 386+vi pages, 6x9 inches, hard cover. Photos, charts, maps. Unindexed. $23. Donated to L-AGS by George and Harriet Anderson. When Ian Frazier, a best-selling author, sat down to go through the family papers that his parents had left him, he began to ask himself the same questions we all know so well: Who were these people? What were they like? Where did they live? What did they do? Whatever happened to them? That was the beginning of a search that led to this beautiful book - a model family history that is, remarkably for its kind, a current best- seller.
After being bitten by the bug, Mr. Frazier plunged into five years of research. He visited all of the homeplaces, buried himself in local libraries, read all of the books mentioned anywhere in the inherited papers, followed the trail of one ancestor's Civil War regiment, and interviewed every relative he could locate. The interviews as printed are unabridged - one uncle given to drink, profanity and obscenities is quoted verbatim and at length. That you won't find in the usual family history. "Family" is about ordinary people, but in the hands of a skillful writer like Mr. Frazier, they seem extraordinarily alive. They were named Frazier, Hursh, Wickham, Bachman, Benedict and Wildman, they ended up mostly in Indiana and Ohio, and they were preachers, farmers, lawyers, teachers and small-town editors. One was a slave trader, a fact that had been expunged from the family traditions about him. One was a congressman and several were drunks. The author duly notes vital dates and places when he learns them, but they don't seem to interest him. He doesn't mention using any Mormon resources. He does what so many of us want to do, but often don't: go beyond the skeleton of dates and places, and add the flesh and blood, personality and spirit of our ancestors. In addition, Mr. Frazier embeds all of his subjects in their context - the prevailing local conditions and attitudes. He has obviously done much study of local history. Besides being relevant to the story, these historical settings are instructive to those of us who have ancestors living at the same time and in the same region as his. The family history is brought right up to date. Mr. Frazier's father died of Alzheimer's in 1987 and his mother of cancer in 1988. Both were in their late 60s. The chapters about them are dispassionate and loving at the same time. His father was a Navy officer in World War II, then an industrial chemist for Sohio. His mother was a high school drama teacher and the adviser to the yearbook. An interesting aside is that Jeffrey Dahmer, the late serial killer, attended that school and succeeded in sneaking into a yearbook photo where he didn't belong; the editors had to ink out his face. "Family" invites comparison to Alex Haley's "Roots." Both are rarities: family histories with mass appeal. Both are by authors who became entranced by family mysteries. Beyond that, there is little in common. Haley found that his family's history was full of high drama, deep pathos, memorable characters and fascinating local color. Add to that the novelty: most of us were surprised and pleased that African-Americans could have traceable ancestries. These are just the ingredients for a hit book and a record-breaking TV series. "Family," on the other hand, charms with its disconnectedness, its realism and its historical insights. There is pathos in the death of the author's younger brother and its effect on their father, but it is simply made part of the theme that common people are uncommonly interesting when looked at closely enough. I found great pleasure in reading "Family" and I think you will too. It helps if you read the book while sitting in a deck chair on a luxury cruise ship in the Caribbean, as I did. The life of a book reviewer is tough, but someone has to do it! If you need a better reason than enjoyment to pick up this book, consider it as a pattern for that family history that you are going to start on any day now. It is an ideal worth emulating. All the facts about each ancestor are there, but woven readably into character sketches. Sources are cited in a 16-page appendix of fine print. There are plenty of photographs, a few maps, and two lonely pedigree charts, crudely hand- drawn as if to make the point that the book is about people, not genealogy. "Family" will be put into the L-AGS library in circulating status, so it can be checked out to be read at home. ******************** Catalog of the Pleasanton Genealogy Library. 1994. Compiled by George Anderson, Harriet Anderson and Judy Person. Published by L-AGS, P.O. Box 901, Livermore, CA 94551. 20 pages, 8 1/2 x 11 inches, soft cover. Diskette (IBM or Macintosh) also available. Price not yet announced. Pleasanton Genealogy Library? What's that? The subtitle of our new catalog explains: "... comprising holdings of the Gayle Pipes Memorial Library of the Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society and genealogical holdings of the Pleasanton Branch Library of Alameda County." Since the genealogy shelves at the Pleasanton Library contain many books from both L-AGS and the county, it makes sense to publish a joint catalog, and to pick a simple name that encompasses both collections. Hence, "Pleasanton Genealogy Library."
All L-AGS books are now in the Alameda County online public access catalog (OPAC), so there might seem to be little need for a printed catalog. That may seem especially obvious since the OPAC can now be dialed up from home. Yet there are good reasons for an old-fashioned catalog. In the first place, we want L-AGS to be useful to all members, not just those with computers and modems. Also, the dial-up access entails a toll charge from Livermore. Second, the open hours at the Library are now about half what they used to be, because of budget cuts from the state. Members who have trouble getting to the library during open hours can use the printed catalog to do their homework, to make best use of their time on site. Another use for the catalog may not be obvious. Actually, it is a use for the diskette that is also available. On the diskette is the complete database for all of the 714 books (in 605 sets) that currently constitute the Pleasanton Genealogy Library. Our newly-published catalog contains only abstracts of the information in the database. To publish the whole database would have meant a document of 80 pages instead of 20 - an impractical and unnecessary expense. A printed copy of the full database will be available near the genealogy stacks in the library. Having the diskette (and having a computer!) allows one to search the database even more flexibly than can be done on OPAC. For example, I knew there was a book in our collection containing obituaries from the newspaper "Vindicator." That word does not appear in the OPAC subjects, but by searching for it in the database I quickly located the book as call number "978.137 VINDICATOR," obituary index for the Valley Falls, Kansas, Vindicator. Our new catalog lists 605 "sets" of books, a set being either a single book, multiple copies of the same book, or multiple volumes of a series. The main list is in call number order and contains the set number, the call number, the title and author and the number of books in the set. The subject index contains a list of 521 subjects occurring in the OPAC data for these books. Following each subject are the set numbers of the books dealing with that subject. For example, there are nineteen sets of books cited under the subject, "Emigration and Immigration." We are proud of the L-AGS/Pleasanton Library collection. We hope our new catalog will enhance its usefulness. ******************** This is my swan song as book reviewer for the Roots Tracer. I have enjoyed the assignment because it gave me an excuse to read our new books and think about them, and to re-examine my own research practices in light of what I read. My first column appeared exactly ten years ago, in the Winter 1984 issue of our quarterly. Now it's time to quit.
SNOW HILL REMEMBERED, by Richard E. Stevens. Heritage Books, 1994, a gift of the publisher. This is a history of the Harris family of Maryland, Ohio and Kentucky. It's a well-written, well-researched history of the family of the English history of the immigrant Charles Harris who is found in Somerset County, MD in 1767. He apparently came from Somerset County in England. After he, a modest planter, and his family moved from place to place in Maryland's eastern shore, they made the difficult trek across the Alleghenies to Kentucky, then to Ohio where most of them stayed. Of local interest, one of their number came to California after the Civil War and worked in a mercury mine near St. Helena, then at New Almaden, and settled after his marriage in San Francisco. Among the allied families with greater numbers are Baker, Bransford (including Susanna, the "Silver Queen" of Park City and Salt Lake City, UT), Hodge, Hughes, Maddox, Noble, Nordyke, Smith and Van Meter.
L-AGS LIBRARY NOTES Judy Person You may know we've been talking about acquiring a CD-ROM drive, which will need a fast enough computer, one with a 486 chip, to run some of the newer less-expensive programs which would benefit our research greatly. One item we want is PhoneList, for example, which would give us 90 million names, addresses and phone numbers. We thought there might be spare computers from the old library catalogs at Pleasanton, but they aren't fast enough to be worthwhile, so we've been casting about. I asked the Pleasanton Library League of they could donate a system, but at $2,000, we all wanted to see what else might turn up with further research! One League member said her brother might be discarding 486 computers from his office to get Pentium-loaded ones, but we don't know yet. We have so many talented people to help us think these things through that we'll surely come up with something. If you have any ideas, please call me at 846-6972, or George Anderson at 846-4265. Beyond that, we have a short list of books we are planning to buy. If you have any suggestions, donations, or if you'd like to do this year's club service on the library committee, please let us know!
EDITORS' NOTE At the January L-AGS Board meeting we found out that Rhett Williamson, one of our favorite members, was in the process of relocating to Atlanta, Georgia. Rhett has traced his ancestry back beyond the Civil War. During that War, his great-grandfather was a doctor on the side of the Confederacy. Having proven his lineage, Rhett has participated in reenactments of Civil War battles, and played the part of the good doctor. Dressed in his Civil War uniform, Rhett has spoken at our club, discussing battlefield medicine of the era. Rhett - we're going to miss you. Good luck, and come back and see us.
Computer News by Doug Mumma Computer Interest Group Meetings Discontinued Until Further Notice The L-AGS Computer Interest Group meetings will be discontinued until further notice. Because of other time commitments, I am unable to properly prepare and conduct the type of meetings that have been held in the past. If there is sufficient interest to continue the meetings, I may resume them again after I complete a month long genealogy trip in May to Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, and Virginia. Meanwhile, if you have any specific questions or problems regarding computer hardware or software issues, please give me a call (447-5164) if it relates to DOS machines or to George Anderson (8464265) for Mac computers. We will continue to serve as mentors in these areas of interest. PAF 2.31 Sent to All Registered Owners! By now, I'm sure that all of you PAF users have received your PAF 2.31 upgrade diskettes from Salt Lake. I have not heard of any further problems with the program and I presume everything is OK. There has been some talk about the next major release of PAF and what features it will contain. From all indications that I have read, the next release will be downward compatible to the 8088 machines (the original PC machines). This is very disappointing to many PAF users because it probably means that this program will not incorporate many of the outstanding features found in many of the newer programs, such as Family Tree Maker for Windows or Roots IV. This means that you will have to continue to buy additional shareware programs to make PAF the full featured program that it should be. If you have any additional concerns or need specific help, you can contact the PAF technical support line at (801)-240-2584 in Salt Lake City. PAF for Macintosh Beta Test Several of our members have signed up to be beta testers for a new version of PAF that is being written for the Mac. They are awaiting diskettes in order to start testing. The current promised release date for the beta program is the first week of February. I will keep you posted regarding their progress and hopefully, by the next newsletter, there will be something positive to report. At least this is an indication that something is happening regarding a new release of PAF for Mac. Multimedia for Christmas Santa was good to me and put a multimedia system under the Christmas tree. I was excited thinking about this new world of multimedia. I opened the box immediately and then, against my better judgment, decided to install everything right then. It should only take a few minutes. Right? Without hesitation, I took the case off of my computer and installed the new CD-ROM player and the sound card along with the necessary interconnecting cables. So far, so good and it only took a few minutes! With continued excitement, I began loading the software. Disk I loaded just fine and then it happen, a dreaded error message flashed on my screen, "Can't read the disk in Drive A." I was disappointed because I was ready to try all the new CD-ROM disks. I checked the installation disk and found it was OK and showed no read errors. I repeated the installation procedure and again, the same message appeared. What to do now? I skimmed through the manual looking for any troubleshooting hints that might help. Nothing! I then noticed that they offered a 24 hour, 365 day a year, technical support 800 number. Even though it was Christmas, I immediately called them and got the usual - a busy signal. After 10 minutes of rapid redialing, I finally got through to the voice mail system. To ease the pain of waiting, I turned on the speaker phone and started doing other things. After one hour, a human voice began to ask me all of the usual questions, i.e. name, rank, and serial number. Then he announced that he was just prescreening the calls to speed up the process and a technical support person would answer shortly. I tried to shout "wait", but to no avail. After another hours wait, Bob, the tech finally said hello. I described my problem and off we went on our repair odyssey. We checked everything and even rebooted my machine with minimal parameters. He finally said, "I will send you new disks, that should solve your problem --- but just a minute" and off he went again to where ever they go! After a brief period, he returned to announce we would try one more thing. We would copy the three installation diskettes to a "temporary" directory on my hard drive and try the installation again, but using the files on the hard drive. Well it worked! He couldn't explain why and I still don't understand it. I was now operational after 3 hours on the telephone, much to the chagrin of my wife, daughter, and grandkids. What did I learn? Allow plenty of time and don't try to install a multimedia system yourself unless you are comfortable with taking your computer apart and making software changes to correctly set the Port, IRQ and DMA to accommodate your system. Also be prepared to call technical support for assistance and hope they give you an 800 number. By the way, COMP-USA was offering free installation. Family Tree Maker Deluxe Edition on CD-ROM Having finally installed the multimedia equipment I was ready for the fun part. The system is great! One of the first things that I loaded was the CD-ROM version of Family Tree Maker (FTM). Because I had just recently upgraded to the latest Windows version of FTM, I was able to obtain the CD-ROM disk upgrade for only $5 which is a great bargain! The CD is full of great information. It contains a very nice genealogy "How-To" guide. There are four fantastic reference tools: directory of phone # and addresses, dictionary of genealogy terms, form letters, and Family Finder Index. The directory of phone # and addresses is very useful in looking up various government and county organizations that contain archives of interest to genealogists as well as other general organizations. You search by conveniently clicking on a map of the United States and the state of interest. Cute and it works nicely. The dictionary is nice and it contained a number of terms with which I was not familiar. The form letters are convenient and a reminder of what should be in letters that you send to various people. The last item, the Family Finder Index, is very powerful. It contains over 100 million names!! That's a lot of names and why it must be contained on a CD. The index is an index of actual names of individuals extracted from the census records, selected state marriage records, selected state land records, all publicly available social security death benefits records and many other archives. Wow! To test it I did a search on my surname, Mumma. The search yielded 511 occurrences of my name. A number were repeats where someone is listed in a census records for different years as well as in marriage or social security records. I was impressed. Each entry shows the archive date and description as well as the CD# that can be obtained from Banner Blue, the software manufacture. They obtained the information by special arrangement from Automated Archives, a research company in Utah. Overall I am very impressed with Family Tree Maker. It's a fun program to use, the visual graphics and printed charts are great; you can include digitized pictures; and they teach you how to do genealogy! I think the program is a must for new and beginning researchers as well as seasoned pros. I like the fact that they couple information and helpful hints in everything they do. In the printed manual, for example, they have a section on "Outdated Medical Terminology" in the appendix. I see the term "grippe" used as a cause of death but can never remember that it was used to describe the influenza epidemic in 1918. Dropsy, another common cause of death, is listed is congestive heart failure. You can document any and all facts that you enter and you can also enter non-traditional living arrangements. A must for our modern situation. I have a few minor complaints and recommended enhancements that I have submitted for their consideration. This program is a good choice for everyone to buy and try. If nothing else, it prints out great charts! The price is reasonable ($50 for the CD-ROM version) and you can buy it at discount at Costco. Street Atlas USA Version 2.0 (CD-ROM) The second CD-ROM that I received and tried was Street Atlas USA. I really liked this program. It is totally intuitive and I only read the small manual later to see if there was anything that I missed. After you install and run the program, you are presented with a map showing about one third of the United States. At this point, you have several choices as to how you can zoom in on a particular location. One is to use the mouse and bulls-eye pointer to centralize your area of interest and then click the zoom-in button a number of times until you reach the desired degree of magnification that you desire. When I centralized on my house in Livermore, I could clearly visualize the lot upon which my house sits. The printed map scale was about 666 feet to the inch. Although some of the streets are shown as being a little crooked and not straight, it is a fantastic representation considering the scale of the scanned images of maps. The other, and easiest, method of locating a point of interest is to enter either a telephone number, a zip code, or the city and state name. After you have made these selections, you can narrow your search further by entering the street name of interest. Now you can again zoom in to the desired magnification. You can print maps at any magnification scale. The price of the program is about $80. This is a fun program that I hope to use extensively while preparing for my genealogy trip next May. It will be helpful in identifying exact locations of relatives, both living and dead. I may even buy the "Trip Planner"' version to create a series of auto maps similar to that done by the AAA travel service. The map on the fight was created in Street Atlas USA, copied to the windows clipboard, and then inserted into the text. The full scale map is, of course, much clearer. This is a great way to document your travels.
RESOURCE NOTES COPYRIGHT The Copyright Reference Guide for the Genealogists, by Daniel J. Hay (Centerville, UT: Advanced Resources, Inc., 1993). The author discusses legal ramifications of the copyright laws; reproduction and copyright infringement; copyrights and computer software, and unpublished diaries. This is an excellent resource, with references to other sources on the subject. It points out how genealogists may become authors at any point. Soft cover, saddle wire stitched, 29 pp., appendix, 5 1/2" x 8 1/2', $4.95 (add $.50 shipping). Order from: Advanced Resources, Inc., 144 Parrish Square, #144, Centerville, UT 84014.(The NC Gen Soc Journal Vol. XX, No 2, May 1994 p 132.) RESEARCH TIPS If you are planning to do research at the Library of Congress in the near future, you may be surprised to find out that they have closed the stacks to all researchers and the Manuscript Reading Room on Saturdays claiming the need for increased security and problems of limited funds. Reduced hours are also in effect for other reference rooms. There are no indications that the Library intends to modify this policy. AMERICAN INDIANS-PACIFIC NW For an update on what is currently available in the Family History Library on American Indian Material in the Pacific Northwest, read pages 9-11 in the Genealogical Journal, Vol. 22, 1994, No. 1, the Utah Genealogical Association Journal. If you are interested in Germans from Russia genealogical records, read pages 1-8 in the same issue. RUSSIAN RESEARCH Research services are available in Russia through AROS/RAGAS (Archives of Russia and its American affiliate, the Russian American Genealogical Archival Service). Requests can be made in English. There is a $22 charge for obtaining a single birth, marriage, or death record. There is a $50 charge to set up an account for extended research and a $6 per hour research fee. These rates may go up as costs increase in Russia for copies, etc. They may be contacted at RAGAS. P.O. Box 236 Glen Echo, MD 20812, telephone (202) 501-5205 ADOPTIONS 'IN RE' Sometimes adoption records can be found in county record books where divorce and probate records are filed. The courts are very clever and instead of putting adoptions under "A" they place them under "I". In these record books, generally open to the public, they are indexed alphabetically. Turn to the "I" index and find "IN RE." Under this Category you will find petitions to change names, petitions to adopt, etc. (Contra Costa Co GS NL V8 #9, Sep '93 via SMCGS Newsletter, Vol 12 N. 1 Jan '94. ) PRESERVING NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS Two tablets of milk of magnesia and a quart of club soda. Mix together and place in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours. Put the mixture in a pan that is long and wide enough so that the clippings won't touch each other. Add the clippings and let them soak for an hour. Remove and place between sheets of paper towels and gently blot to remove as much of the moisture as possible. Allow to air dry and they should be like new. This should make the paper like the original color, eliminating the yellow look from age. (Central California Chapter, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia Newsletter, Jan, 94) FREE GENEALOGICAL WORD LISTS FROM UTAH The Family History Library 35 N. West Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150, is publishing a new series of genealogical word lists. Available are word lists for Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, German, Latin, Spanish, French and Portuguese languages. The lists include about 900 words that you are likely to find in genealogical sources and their English translations. They are free with a long SASE. (The Odom Family Tree, Apr/May 1994) NEWSPAPER ORIGIN The word "newspaper" is not derived from the word "news" as you might think, but from North, East, West and South, indicating that the information is derived from the four corners of the globe. (The Tree Branches, Glendive, MT via the Odom Family Tree, Apr/May 1994) AROUND CALIFORNIA NEW POLICY AT THE OAKLAND FAMILY HISTORY CENTER It is a sad sign of the times when the research centers on which we depend must make announcements such as this: 17 June 1994 It is with deep regret that we announce a new policy regarding what patrons may bring into the Oakland Family History Center.... We have experienced a very large amount of theft this past year... In order to insure that all patrons have access to all of the various materials here, we will no longer allow patrons to bring in brief cases, large cases, bags, backpacks, or large purses. We will only allow a small notebook, tablet or a very small binder. We would appreciate it very much if all brought and used pencils. Please leave your large bags,..., etc. in your car. Lockers will be available for ladies purses... We will insist that all purses be placed in the lockers. If any have found a film, book or microfiche that you have in your possession that belongs to our collection, we would greatly appreciate it being returned. No questions asked. SAN FRANCISCO Kathy Beals' book A Useful Guide to Researching San Francisco Ancestry, for genealogists is recently available. This guide includes cemetery records, newspaper notices, directory listings, census records, Land records, and other valuable indices. It can be purchased through California Genealogical Society, PO Box 77105, San Francisco, CA 94107- 0105 The California Genealogical Society Library has acquired "Record Books of the San Francisco Probate Court" dates 1906 to 1940. Volume 11 of the 180 volume set is missing. These are Probate Registers of Actions from the San Francisco Superior Court, 1906-1940. The records include deceased, minors, incompetent or insane people and even missing persons. The City started these records immediately after the 1906 Earthquake. Seventy-five percent of the first volume is reinstated records. That is, people who had died between 1902 and early 1906, and for whom applications were entered to reinstate the previous documents. Each of the volumes contains 600 pages; the first 500 pages are original docket numbers and the remaining pages are continuation pages for lengthy probates. The Superior Court has the index covering 1906-1981, and CGS has the microfiche index from 1906-1924. (CGS Nugget, 4:2, p. 28-30) SACRAMENTO The California Section of the CA State Library located in Sacramento will have a new address as of 11 Oct 1994. It will be: 900 "N" Street, Room 200. Call 916-654-0176 for hours of operation and other information. LIBRARIES ON-LINE The Stockton Public Library now has a public-access dial-in catalog for those with a modem. Phone (209) 937-7323; setting 8N1, VT100 or higher terminal emulation. Hit return several times when you connect. Type LIBRARY at the login message. Choose "1" for Central Library. Use the pattern S=IILLINOIS GENEALOGY or S=DAVIS FAMILY. (San Joaquin Co GS, 14:3,p.6) The Santa Clara City Library now has a public access catalog accessible from any computer with a modem and communications software. VT100 or TV1925 terminal emulation, 2400 baud (if using 9600, turn off error detection and data compression), 8N1, full duplex. Numbers: (408) 984- 3271 (or 3272 or 3273). When connected press CR once or twice. Select the proper emulation for your system by typing V for VT100 or W for TV1925. To Logoff type D (disconnect) from the main menu screen. Be sure to use your hang-up command to disconnect your modem from the line. (SC Co HAGS Nwsltr, 36:10,p.83) DECEASED PHYSICIANS & MELVYL Requests from several members for more information on the AMA Directory of Deceased Physicians prompted a MELVYL search. For those of you who have not yet discovered what a useful research tool MELVYL can be, here are the results of that search with comments in italics. MELVYL is the public access library catalog of the University of California it also included California State Library holdings. Public access requires a modem equipped computer. There are two numbers, one for 1200 baud connects and one for 2400. In either case the communications settings should be E-7-1 with Full Duplex. 1200 baud (510)642-7400 2400 baud (510)642-6092 When you are connected, the host asks which resource you wish to use [Request:_], respond: annex/Carriage Return press CR again when the connecting prompt appears. It may take several CR's before the annex terminal information and prompt appear. When they do, type telnet melvyl, CR. You are asked to enter your terminal type or press ? for a list of codes. When you set up your communications software, you are usually given the option of which terminal emulation to use. A good choice for MELVYL is VT100. When you have entered your terminal type and pressed CR you will get the MELVYL opening screen. The key commands you need to know are: f for find something in the catalog ti for an exact title tw for a word in a title pa for a personal author ca for a corporate author su for a subject heading d for display the results of a search So for the AMA directory... Search request: F CA AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION AND TW DIRECTORY This produced a warning that it would be a long search because a common word (directory) was included. MAKE YOUR OWN MICROFILM You can copy your genealogical records on microfilm by using a 35mm SLR camera. Have the film developed for use in a microfilm recorder. Use Kodak Tri-X Pan film, 36 exposure, ISO 400. When you have it developed, specify return of the roll uncut. (Santa Clara Co Hist & Gen Soc NL V 37 #3, p21, Oct '94) WARNING! The New Mexico Genealogical Society has filed a Temporary Restraining Order against Thomas D. Martinez of California. Martinez is selling Santa Fe Baptisms 1747-1848, Santa Cruz de la Canada Baptisms 1710-1854 and San Jan de Los Caballeros Baptisms 1726-1870, The NMGS states that he is disseminating inaccurate and/or unsupported information upon which the general public may mistakenly rely in conducting research. The Archdiocese of Santa Fe gave the NMGS, and only the NMGS, exclusive rights to extract the material from the sacramental registers and publish it. Mr. Martinez has been requested by both the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and by NMGS to cease publication. Please write to NMGS at PO Box 8283, Albuquerque, NM 87198-8283 if you have purchased any of these books. (Orange Co. CA GS Nwsltr, 28:7,p.2)
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