What a Day for Genealogy in Stockton!

Saturday's free genealogy seminar, presented by the San Joaquin Genealogical Society (SJGS) and cosponsored by the California State Genealogical Alliance (CSGA) and University of the Pacific's Jacoby Center for Public Service and Civic Leadership, was a roaring success.  Well before the event, SJGS president and event organizer Sheri Fenley proudly announced that the seminar was completely filled — all 180 registration slots had been taken.

On a gorgeous February morning, everyone gathered in the Biological Sciences Building on the University of the Pacific campus.  The lecture hall was totally filled with excited genealogists.  We actually started early (!) and managed to stay on time throughout the day.

Linda Serna, vice president of the Orange County Genealogical Society, talked about how to create family stories by starting with the facts you have and adding background historical information for context.  She particularly emphasized that Google is your friend and can help you find lots of great details to add to your stories.

Letty Rodella, president of the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research, gave a lot of practical advice on how to research Mexican ancestry.  She discussed several online resources, including FamilySearch.org, Ancestry.com, and a free guide to transcribing Spanish-language records (I've already downloaded it to my computer!).

Tim Cox, program and events chairman for the California Genealogical Society, shared a lot of tools that can help genealogists do their research smarter, more easily, and sometimes just better.  He covered databases, software, gadgets, computer equipement, and even the Internet.  And he was even generous enough to send everyone registered for the seminar a PDF listing all of the resources he talked about in his presentation!

I was the last speaker of the day.  I used some research I had done as a case study and showed how even when you start with only a few pieces of information, if you work methodically and use a large variety of resources it is possible to learn a lot of information about a family and build a tree of several generations.

Throughout the day attendees asked a lot of great questions and were very engaged.  All the talks were well received.  And there were freebies!  The National Institute of Genealogical Studies (NIGS) had sent certificates for every attendee to register for one complimentary online class.  Then we had prize drawings after Tim's talk.  NIGS had also donated two special gift certificates, and Tim had prizes from Clooz and Snagit.  So seven people were especially lucky and went home with a little something extra.

Many thanks to Sheri Fenley, SJGS, UoP, and CSGA for a fun day spent learning about genealogy!

Free Genealogy Seminar February 22, 2014

University of the Pacific

The San Joaquin Genealogical Society is presenting a free seminar on Saturday, February 22, 2014 at University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.  Cosponsored by the California State Genealogical Alliance and University of the Pacific's Jacoby Center for Public Service and Civic Leadership, this is a great opportunity to attend four interesting talks at no cost, hang out with other genealogists, and learn more about the Alliance.

The presentations and speakers will be:

• "Family Stories:  Genealogy beyond Just the Dates", by Linda Serna

• "Fun Tools to Help Genealogists Work Smarter", by Tim Cox

• "Researching Your Mexican Ancestors", by Letty Rodella

• "Reconstructing Family Information When You Start with Almost Nothing:  A Case Study", by yours truly

I'm looking forward to the event and hearing the other speakers.  They're all covering topics I haven't heard before.

Even though the event is free, registration is required to receive the packet of speaker handouts, and seating is limited to 180 attendees.  More information and the registration form are available online.

If you have any questions or cannot register online, contact Sheri Fenley at (209) 373-6847 or sherifenley@gmail.com.

"Newspapers Online" Talk in Stockton

This Thursday, March 17 (Happy St. Patrick's Day! Happy birthday, Lar!), I will present my talk on using online newspaper archives for genealogical research at the Cesar Chavez Central Library in Stockton, California for the San Joaquin Genealogical Society.  After the prepared presentation I'll do some live searches to demonstrate the techniques I talk about.

Newspapers can provide incredible amounts of information that will help you in your research. They can also help give you a more complete picture of your family members by telling you more about their lives. Beyond the types of things you'd expect -- births, marriages, deaths -- I have also found information about jobs, military service, moves, hobbies, civic involvement, travel, naturalization, arrests, and more.