San Francisco Treats!

Today I stumbled upon a great find.  Over at Internet Archive I found a huge collection that has been contributed by the San Francisco Public Library.  Everything can be viewed online or  you can download them as a PDF file all for FREE!




Application for Marriage Licenses in San Francisco for 12 December 1912 to June 1915


12 December 1912 to 14 February 1913


14 February 1913 to 24 June 1913


24 June 1913 to 15 December 1913


14 December 1913 to 15 June 1914


14 June 1914 to 14 January 1915


April 1915 to June 1915


Other Vital Records I found of particular interest to the San Francisco researcher:


Re-recorded Marriages 1860 - 1973 in the same book as Index to Marriage Certificates July 1904 - August 1905 and September 1905 - 17 April 1906


San Francisco Death Certificates 1 July 1904 to 1 December 1904
#1 to #338
#339 to #695
#696 to #1018
#1019 to #1325
#1326 to #1677
#1678 to #2030
#2031 to #2300
#2601 to #2900
#3201 to #3500


Vital Records from the Trinity Episcopal Church in San Francisco - Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1849 to 1 July 1906


Vital Records from the San Francisco Daily Evening Bulletin for the years 1856, 1857 and 1861


Records from Tombstones in Laurel Hill Cemetery 1853 to 1937 -  These records were complied by Five San Francisco Chapter National Society Daughter of the American Revolution.  There is a note inside the book on the title page "Where there are burials after 1900 (except for 1906, on and immediate following the earthquake) these are ashes, cremated remains"


The Great Register of Voters for San Francisco County - 1866   The Great Registers are especially valuable if you are looking for a naturalization date and place. Some years you will even find a physical description of the voter.


For those researching property in San Francisco, block books are a fantastic resource.  City block books are similar to county plat books, both give the names of the owners.  There are more San Francisco block books besides the ones I mention below.  Just do a search on "San Francisco Block Book."


The Handy Block Book of San Francisco showing size of lots and blocks and names of property owners in 1894


The San Francisco Block Book for the years 1901 and 1907


Merys Block Book  of San Francisco 1909 - maps were made from the block books of the City and County Assessor of San Francisco  




If you were wondering how they got to San Francisco and what their trip may have been like then take at look at 


The Pacific Tourist 1881- illustrated trans-continental guide of travel, from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean; containing full descriptions of railroad routes across the continent ... a complete traveler's guide of the Union and Central Pacific Railroads




You will also find many of the following (too many for me to list here separately) at the Internet Archive and all are available to read online or download as a PDF file and all are FREE:




Social registers and society blue books and club rosters 
Local family histories
San Francisco and other bay area city, county and business directories
Oral histories of local residents in the San Francisco bay area

The 109th Edition of the COG is Published

The 109th edition Carnival Of Genealogy has been published over at the new blog THE CATHOLIC GENE.


This month 24 bloggers submitted posts about where their ancestors worshipped.    Today is Sunday so if you didn't make it to church, you should be able to redeem yourself by clicking on over and giving it a read!

SNGF - Spin the Ancestor Roulette Wheel

Saturday Night Genealogy Fun over at Seaver's place  always has fun tasks to complete.  Joining in the fun and completing the tasks serves another purpose for me.  It shows me where in my research that I need more work.


This week's task:


1) How old is your great-grandfather now, or how old would he be if he had lived? Divide this number by 4 and round the number off to a whole number. This is your "roulette number."
 2) Use your pedigree charts or your family tree genealogy software program to find the person with that number in your ahnentafel (ancestor name list). Who is that person?
 3) Tell us three facts about that person with the "roulette number."




I have 4 great grandfathers, so I closed my eyes and pointed to one on my chart and the winner is:  Hillery T. Harris.  Born in 1894, he would be 117 years old today.  Divide that by 4 and the Roulette Spins to #29 who is one of my favorite ancestors

My 2nd great grandmother

MINDA  ELLEN  WALLACE

Three Facts about Minda Ellen Wallace :  


(1)  Minda was born 20 November 1861 in Yadkin County, North Carolina, married George Wesley Harris 10 April 1883 in Poweshiek County, Iowa and died 14 March 1942 in Allen County, Kansas     

(2) Minda's brother Micager Cilvester Wallace was granted a patent for a butter churn - Patent No.  253,961  dated 21 February 1882.     

Minda & Family 1 month before death in 1942.  From L-R: daughter Elizabeth, son, John, Minda, husband George, son Fletcher, son Hillery

(3)  Three of her favorite songs were sung at her funeral - "In the Garden", "Shall We Gather at the River?" and "Will the Circle be Unbroken?" I get warm fuzzies every time I read these sentences from her obituary:  "She had a loving nature and to know her was to love her.  She was a devoted wife and a true and kindly mother who loved her children dearly."

Pssst. Hey You - Yeah You!

 Last week the media world went a little crazy when Lady Gaga's First Communion photos were unleashed on the public.  Well, I know where you can find the mother lode of some well know bloggers' First Communion photos.

Bloggers like Jasia from the Creative Gene, Lisa Alzo from The Accidental Genealogist, Steve Danko from Steve's Genealogy Blog, Donna Pointkouski from What's Past is Prologue, Lisa/Smallest Leaf  from 100 Years in America and of course Me!

And if you really want to get down, there are even a couple of wedding photos of very young Craig Manson from Geneablogie and Denise Levenick from The Family Curator.

What in the world would bring this "host" (pun intended and yes I did blatantly lift it from Jasia ) of bloggers together?  Why a new blog of course!  Oh, that and the fact that they are all Catholic which brings me to the point of this post - Announcing a new blog.

The brainchild of Donna Pointkouski, THE CATHOLIC GENE is a new blog that will explore Catholic genealogy from the different viewpoints of all the authors. That's just a fancy way of saying that I haven't a clue as to what it's all about but with bloggers like we've got on the show, I know that you won't want to miss a single post!

Fabulous Friday Favorites

Of all the memes out there, this is the one I really need to make more of an effort to participate in.  How very selfish of me not to share my cache of must-read blogs with you.  So in an effort to redeem myself, here is what caught my attention this week:

Brett Payne (she sighs while batting her eyelashes), better known by his blog PHOTO-SLEUTH,  is back after taking a break from blogging.  His post "Which sibling is it?" is a must read.  I am so in awe of his exceptional  knowledge of Victorian photographers and the equipment they used.   His methods of dating old photographs blows me away sometimes.  I am truly impressed that he knows so much about women's fashion for that time period, in particular the hats!

My B.F.F. Brenda Dougall Merriman made me love her all over again with her post "The Great Big Fat World Tree."  Pay particular attention to the 6th paragraph, last sentence and I know she will win your heart as well!

My Daguerreotype Boyfriend is one for the ladies.  It's unknown author describes the blog as "Where early photography meets extreme hotness."  Need I say more?  I am absolutely green with envy that I didn't come up with this idea myself.

The photo below is for my son who bet me $20 that I couldn't prove I was part Vulcan.  Hah!  Pony up cowboy.  You would think my children would know by now not to ever doubt my word!

We Were All First Timers Once

I have a million things that I need to be doing right now, so of course I decided that now was a good time to catch up on my blog reading.  After skimming and reading through over 500 postings, one theme seemed to keep popping up - new bloggers who are also new to conference-going and while excited about attending, most are questioning whether they will fit in.  Maybe if we all shared our first time at a conference, it will make others less nervous. 

My first conference was an experience I'll never forget.  In 2006 I decided to attend my first conference.  I had just finished 2 years of Family History Studies at Monterey Peninsula College and felt I was ready for action.  

The Conference:  BYU's Conference on Family History & Genealogy

The Place:  Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah

Where I Stayed:  In the BYU dorms ON CAMPUS

Length of Conference : 5 days

Picture if you will - ME, a cigarette smoker, coffee guzzler,  and notorious for using swear words at inappropriate times attending a conference where about a 95% of the attendees and speakers are Mormon.  Heap on the fact that I  stayed in the dorms of a Mormon university.  Then top it off with I did not know one single person with the exception of my instructor from the above mentioned coursework.  The cherry on the very top was that my wardrobe did not include anything that covered my body down past my knees nor over my shoulders.

I'll give you a few minutes here to soak that image in and then to stop laughing. 

Looking back at it now, I am not sure where I got the nerve to attend such a large venue all by myself on my first time out the gate. Before the day was even half over, I wanted to go home.  Salvation came in the form of a most excellent roommate.  We had been paired up by the staff and had never met each other before.  She came into the dorm room and found me in tears.  I explained that while I had been allowed (albeit grudgingly) into the conference center with my attire, I had been turned away at the BYU Library and the BYU cafeteria. It was the end of July and 100 degrees, what was I supposed to wear? I felt really out of place.  I needed caffeine and a smoke, heck even the soft drink machines on campus were caffeine-free.  I had flown in and had no way to even leave campus.  I then thought with horror - was the entire city of Provo caffeine and smoke free?

My roommate just smiled and then explained to me about the dress code on campus and as guests we were expected to adhere to it.  She then drove me off campus to buy some instant coffee and a mug to keep in our room.  By the time we returned, there were appropriate clothes hanging on the door to our room. That instructor I mentioned earlier?  She had heard about my difficult day and had brought me clothes from her own closet.  Thank you Karen Clifford.  My roommate then told me that 25 years ago she was a student at BYU and the dorm we were in was the same one she lived in.  She showed me how to get on to the roof of the building where I could sneak a cigarette.  She never told me how she obtained this knowledge and I never asked.  I made it through the rest of the conference, I learned so much and made some new friends.

So here is what I think needs to be done for first-timers:

1.  To the conference planners:  Do not assume that everyone attending has been to your venue before and already knows the ropes.  Jamboree 2011 had a session devoted to the first timer.  The orientation showed how to get the most out of the 3 days.  It even showed people where the bathrooms were located!  

2.  There should be a type of "Buddy" system available for the first-timer, especially if they are attending alone.

3.  Nobody should have to eat alone.  If you are at a conference and see an obvious first-timer eating alone, invite him/her to join you and/or your group.  

We were all first-timers once.  Come on people, pony-up and spill your guts.  It's cheaper than therapy and you'll probably encourage someone to attend a conference.  Win-Win.

Hangouts Are The Coolest Thing Since . . Well Since Ever!

Part of Google's new social platform - Google+ - includes a group video chat feature.  Google Hangouts allows up to ten people to video chat with one another. Hangouts are FREE and easy to use once you download and install a browser plug-in you’re all set.

In my experience, it does make a difference  what type of webcam you use.  The first time I tried to participate in a hangout I was using my Asus Netbook that has a built-in webcam, microphone and speakers.  It was very frustrating - a huge lag in the video to voice, constant freezing up of video and issues with the speakers.  I tried plugging in a headset with microphone and it made things a little better with the speaker sound but still had the lag and freezing.


So on the advice of Mark Olsen, I bought a Logitech HD Webcam C525.  It came with software but after reading reviews of the webcam, I elected not to install the software.  All I did was plug it in to the USB port and Voila - I was in video chat heaven.  


I am sure that any brand of webcam will do the trick as long as it has the following capabilities:


Resolution - The higher the resolution the better. Low resolutions make the video appear "grainy."  A minimum of 640x480 is suggested.


Frame Rate - Frame rates are measured in frames per second, so look for "fps" on the webcam packaging.  Low frame rates produce images that freeze.  You must stay above 15 fps in order to stream video, and you're better off staying closer to 30 and higher.


Auto-focusing and automatic light adjustment are also features to look for.




While in a Hangout, I feel like I am in the same room talking with people.  It's like magic being able to see and talk to other genealogists who, because of logistics, I might never have had the opportunity to meet in person.


If you are not over at Google+ and need an invitation just leave me a comment and I will happy to send you one.

Disclosure - Mark Olsen only suggested the Logitech brand to me, I chose the specific model.  And no one compensated me to mention this in my blog.  However if Logitech or Mark Olsen would like to make me a poster girl for their company, I might be able to find the time.  They know where to find me.   

I Ching, You Ching, We All Ching For Something

Over at Randy Seaver's place - GeneaMusings - it is time once again for Saturday Night Genealogy Fun.

Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to:

1)  The writer of the Nuts from the Family Tree blog wrote about her question for the I Ching ( Book of Changes) guru in Cluless No More.  I thought that this might be a fun thing to do on Saturday night.

2)  Go to http://IChingOnline.net and ask a question relating to your genealogy research.  You can "throw the coins virtually" or "throw the coins by hand."  You have to click the "throw" button six times, then click on "Read."

3)  Report the question you asked and the answer you received, in the form of the Cast Hexagram (which explains the situation you are now in, or what has gone before), to your readers.   

4)  Does the answer make any sense to you?  How do you interpret the answer?

OK so I asked a question that is a little different than what the game calls for.  I asked the Great and Powerful I Ching  - 


"Oh where, oh where has my writing Mojo gone?" 


Although not a direct question about my genealogical research, the outcome certainly affects my research.


I chose to "throw the coins by hand" rather than "throw the coins virtually." A little extra effort might go a long way.  Here is my reading:



Cast Hexagram: 15 - Fifteen


Ch'ien / Modesty


The Mountain does not overshadow the Plain surrounding it:
Such modest consideration in a Superior Person creates a channel through which excess flows to the needy.

Success if you carry things through.


SITUATION ANALYSIS:


The Cosmos is moving toward equilibrium.

Extremes are being tempered, excess is beginning to shift toward the empty.
You can use these moderating influences to strike a balance in the world around you.
Remember, though, that this Leveling will not come about through an arrogant confiscation of excess, but through subtler persuasions.

OK I can go along with all the above.  I think that I even understand some of  what it is trying to say to me.


HOWEVER the price I have to pay is very expensive.  BEHOLD! - the last sentence  in my reading -

Modesty and moderation are the keys.

I Ching - you're killing me!

photo of I Ching from Wikimedia Commons

A Quote That Should Be Set To Music

Today in my mailbox there came a gift of a wonderful quote that sums up perfectly how I feel about documentation and citations and such.


"Documentation is like Sex:  When it is good, it is very, very good and when it is bad it is better than nothing"
     
                                                                                                                            - Dick Brandon



The only thing that would make this even more perfect is if it were set to music.  I don't know who Dick Brandon is but I am now a huge fan. Sigh.

Hip Hip Huree - Today I Am Three!

Huree?  Just go with it, it rhymes.

Three years have passed in what seems a blink of an eye.  Three years ago there were less than 100 Geneabloggers and today there are close to 2000! I am told that there are close to 300 readers who follow my blog on a regular basis.  I am simply amazed that anyone reads my blog.

When I started out, I had no idea what I was going to write.  Three years later and I still do not have a clue from one day to the next what I will write.

Now that summer is coming to an end, my off-line world is gearing up. El Toyon Chapter NSDAR (I am still the registrar), The San Joaquin Genealogical Society (I am still the editor of the newsletter) and as if I didn't already have enough on my plate I am now the secretary for the California State Genealogical Alliance.  Client projects have been slowing down, but hopefully things will pick up in the Fall.

I am starting a new blogging venture in September with some of the cream of the crop in the geneablogging world.  Look for an announcement coming soon.

In this next year I'll try to stay on topic or theme . . . .or not.