Wisdom Wednesday Celebration - Happy 4th Blogiversary2015

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward


Happy 4th Blogiversary to Root Cellar SGS and many more

April 29, 2011 - 2015

Gosh,  another year completed and the beginning of another new year. Time seems to move forward much too fast. I know it is not possible but it feels that way to me. 

Root Cellar SGS is very thankful for it's members supporting our efforts on this blog. We are  also very thankful to Thomas MacEntee who created GeneaBloggers which brings hundreds of genealogy blog and blogger's together in a wonderful way to exchange ideas, gather information, make friends,  and to pass on information about research tips and hints and more to our members. I have shared many other genealogy blogs with Root Cellar SGS members over the years. 

The Tech Team has made some changes over this past year....... besides myself and Rick Hanson.........  Lois Shumaker has joined us.  Her focus is the Society's Preserves Publication and the website. Welcome Lois. 

I am doing a series right now of all the great family keepsakes that members brought, shared and showed off at the February 2015 Show N Tell Meeting. This will run all of April and into May. It is great to be able to share these items up close with ALL of you. I hope you are enjoying the series. 

Saturday posts are generally for Root Cellar SGS happenings - labeled Society Saturday. 

I was lucky enough to be able to attend quite a number of workshops, seminars and conferences this past year. One of the things that gives me a lot of joy is to be able to blog about it before the event letting you know all about it and encouraging you all to attend ..... AND the best part of it is blogging while at the event.......  hoping to bring you right along with me. What a great feeling and so much fun to write about too. Thank you for allowing me to indulge.  You need to know if you go somewhere that others may like to know about, take pictures, contact me and let me know..... if you are doing something genealogy related, I am sure that there are many that would like to know about it. Just keep that in mind. 

 First Year Celebration
Second Year Celebration
Third Year Celebration


Happy 4th Blogiversary to Root Cellar and many many more

April 29, 2011 - 2015

  

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Mystery Monday- SHOW off that Family Treasure & TELL the Story- Linda Sword-Johnson

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward



...........and here is another of many 'members shared items' from our February Show N Tell. Enjoy!!

Presenting Linda Sword-Johnson with this great family portrait.

Martin Van Buren SWORD was born about 1838 in Welsh Run, Pennsylvania. The family lived in several places in the area around Gettysburg, PA until sometime in the 1840's, when they moved westward to Carroll County Illinois, settling in the Cherry Grove/Lanark area.

The surname "SWORD" was changed from something, probably German, in the early 1800's (as far as I know no one has been able to discover the original name).

Martin's father Henry and Martin were carpenters. I have an antique plane that was at least Martin's and possibly Henry's.

Martin first married Hannah PUTERBAUGH. But Hannah died at 24 leaving Martin with their young son Harry.

Martin married again in 1872 to Rosina Edwina DILLEY and they had 3 children:
Rosebud born 1873,
Robert (my grandfather) born 1874 in Minneapolis, and
Erl born 1876 in Illinois

The family had moved to Pueblo by the time the 1885 Colorado census was taken.

Martin served with the 146th Illinois Infantry, Company A, during the Civil War. He enlisted 29 July 1964 and was called to active duty 29 August 1864. He was mustered out 8 July 1865. The troops were called "The Hundred Days Men". These men were called up by the thousands and lightly trained. They were to replace better trained troops as part of a major push to end the war in 100 days. The 146th did not see any fighting.

Martin was 63 when he fell from a tree he was trimming dying several days later on April 25, 1902. He was buried in Roselawn Cemetery in Pueblo, Colorado. His tombstone has the GAR designation. 


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Society Saturday - Election Time in May

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward

Elections Elections Elections Elections Elections Elections Elections Elections Elections    

It is that time of  year for Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society...  it is time for board elections.

Nominating Committee Chair & Past President John Jay and Nominating Committee Members Denise Miller, Nancy Fiorini, Jack Bank and Raymond Smith have been working hard, huddling together, going over their lists, making the phone calls......

During our April general meeting the following names were presented by the nominating committee as candidates for the 2015-2016 board.  

During our next general meeting (May 14 )  additional nominations will be accepted from the floor, after which the election will take place.  If you wish to participate in the selection of next year's leadership team you will want to attend this meeting.  

The newly elected board members will be installed at our general meeting on June 11th.

NOMINATIONS

President :  Rick Hanson

Vice President: Dianne Denny

Secretary: Marie Cape

Treasurer: :LuEllen Pettengell

Corresponding Secretary:  Mary Anne Smith

Nominating Committee (2):  Denise Miller & Nancy Fiorini

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Friday Following - May Happenings @ Root Cellar SGS

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward


                 May Happenings with Root Cellar SGS  

Come out and ENJOY the activities and the other members!!


May 1  Friday    Extraction Happenings 9am - Noon .... every Friday morning
                            Center for Sacramento History
                            551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd, Sacramento
                            Contact: Marilyn Ulbricht



May 7  Thursday    Board Meeting -10am- Noon....... first Thursday of month
                                 Sylvan Community Center
                                 7521 Community  Drive, Citrus Heights
                                 Contact: Diane Maltase

                                 
                                 Legacy SIG - 1pm  ...first Thursday of the month
                                 Family History Center
                                 2745 Eastern Ave, Sacramento


May 8  Friday    NO  Extraction Happenings today only
                            Contact: Marilyn Ulbricht


May 13 Wednesday Roots Magic SIG - 1pm ........second Wednesday of the month
                                      Family History Center
                                      2745 Eastern Ave, Sacramento


May 14 Thursday General Meeting 7pm - 8:30pm ....second Thursday of the month
                                   6:15pm - 7pm Pre-Meeting Roundtable Discussions
                                   7-8:30pm General Meeting9                                                 

                                       Divorce Records presented by Glenda Gardner Lloyd
                                                    more info online   
                                   Visitors Welcome     Contact: Diane Maltase


May 15  Friday Extraction Happenings 9AM- Noon
                             Center for Sacramento History
                             551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd, Sacramento
                             Contact: Marilyn Ulbricht 


May 20  Wednesday Daytime Workshop  1pm - 3pm ... third Wednesday of the month
                                      Sylvan Community Center
                                      7521 Community  Drive, Citrus Heights

                                      This is the time to bring your research problems, your brickwalls, you new                                         finds, discuss them and see what help there may be available. 
                                      Contact: Diane Maltase 


May 21  Thursday  Family Tree SIG -11:30am -1:30pm ....third Thursday of the month
                                   Sylvan Community Center
                                   7521 Community  Drive, Citrus Heights
                                   Contact: John Jay


May 22  Friday Extraction Happenings  9am- Noon
                             Center for Sacramento History
                             551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd, Sacramento
                             Contact: Marilyn Ulbricht


May 27  Wednesday Reunion SIG -10:30am...... fourth Wednesday of the month
                                      Family History Center
                                      2745 Eastern Ave, Sacramento
                                       
May 29  Friday   Extraction Happenings  9am - Noon 
                                       Center for Sacramento History
                             551 Sequoia Pacific Blvd, Sacramento
                             Contact: Marilyn Ulbricht  


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Wordless Wednesday -- Opportunity for DNA Testing at a Discount

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward

TESTING TESTING DNA TESTING TESTING TESTING DNA  



Have you been putting off getting your DNA done? Here is another opportunity and at a discount!! Can't get much better than that!

Take advantage of this special offer which is good from today April 23 through Monday April 27.

If you click through the DNA Day Sale icon to the right, you will save and  Root Cellar SGS will benefit. Thank You for your help and support and Good Luck with family research using the results from your DNA testing.








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Motivation Monday- SHOW Off That Family Treasure & TELL The Story- James Bratt

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward



...........and here is another of many 'members shared items' from our February Show N Tell. Enjoy!!

Introducing member James Bratt 

James says: "I brought a simple grandparent history book bought at a stationary store. It was completed by my father for his granddaughter.  He took quite an interest in it and added photos and when a question didn't apply - he rewrote the question so he could use the space.  It was in his handwriting, which became important, as you'll see.  The book not only was used to help my daughter with her genealogical assignment, but has helped me in my research.  But an additional significance came after my father passed, and I filed a wrongful death suit (asbestos related) on behalf of my mother.  The book became a significant part of the suit because he had written down all the places he had lived, all the jobs he had, his hobbies, and many other items that remaining family members did not know or remember. 

This is a partial page of two pages of index....... two pages of questions

See how James father just  added what he wanted - a picture on this page

Jobs along the way

This is an enlargement of the page above.......... when you get to the blacksmith you will know he was only being teen years............... now that is a young boy out in the world, taking care of himself

just interesting knowing things don't change, except I am just the opposite 

There are lots of pages in this book that just contain handwriting. Lovely lovely handwriting. 

What do you think? I think this is an excellent idea for any parent or grandparent, aunt or uncle for that matter too. If you get a book or two now and fill it in slowly you are apt to fill in more and enjoy the assignment more as opposed to thinking you have to fill all the pages in right away. Just take it page by page. AND if a page question does not apply cross it out and write something else. What a great gift, something truly from the heart.

Thank you James for sharing this booklet and allowing me to share it with others............ 

 James Bratt

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Society Saturday- Extraction Committee Does It Again

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward



Our Extraction Committee, headed by Marilyn Ulbricht, has done it again. Another Publication has been published and added to our list of publication for sale online. As we finish any publication we always present one copy back to our partner Center for Sacramento History.

A whole group of members from Root Cellar SGS work on these documents, books, and papers weekly and turn them out in a form to help researchers. We work every Friday morning at the Center for Sacramento History from 9-noon. If you would like to join us and help please contact Marilyn Ulbricht  NOTE: if you don't have every Friday come on the Friday's you can. If Friday does not work for you I am sure Marilyn can help you work on another day at the Center. There are lots of options, you just need to ask
We can always use more help........ that just means that more items are being extracted, or indexed.


HEAR YE! HEAR YE!...........  get your copy hot off the press!!!

Here we are together again and celebrating another completed publication........ YEA!! 

Here we are again, presenting a copy of the newest publication to the Center for Sacramento History
Pat Johnson, Archivist and Volunteer Coordinator

                   Sad circumstances but now fun reading.

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Treasure Chest Thursday- SHOW off that family treasure & TELL the story- Glenda Gardner-Lloyd

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward


...........and here is another of many 'members shared items' from our February Show N Tell. Enjoy!!

I don't think this member needs any introduction because most of you know Glenda Gardner-Lloyd, a Founding Member, Past President and now Parliamentarian, Teacher, Speaker and very active in the society. And if you didn't know her now you do. 

Glenda came to Show N Tell evening as a member with her precious family heirlooms in hand ready to show and tell...... She was also our speaker for the evening, speaking on Heirloom Wisdom....... and she hosted the Show N Tell event. Wow, I am exhausted. Thank you Glenda for all you do. We do appreciate you.

The arrowheads were all found on the ranch in Modoc County. Only the red and black obsidian are native stone to the area. The very small arrowheads were probably for birds. The long thin one in the middle is an awl.

 I put them into a frame about 38 years ago.

sorry for the glare but you can get a much better look at these wonderful treasures

So you ask, Where is Modoc County?  Hint:  it borders Oregon and Nevada- way north

 If you are interested in finding out more about this County and the artifacts that Glenda brought check out the links below..............

Modoc County, California

and more about Modoc County

Western Artifacts

Here is a 1895 map of Modoc County......... 

Hummmm! Wonder where Glenda's Family Ranch is located? Nothing sounds familiar to me except for Alturas.







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Wordless Wednesday - Ancestry Immigration Records -Free this weekend

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward



ATTENTION Root Cellar Members.........

Ancestry is hosting an open access period to all of our immigrationrecords! 

The database will be open between April 16 to April 20. 

Good Luck in your search..............


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Mystery Monday - SHOW off that family treasure & TELL the story - Paula Parmelee

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward




...........and here is another of many 'members shared items' from our February Show N Tell. Enjoy!!

Let me introduce you to Paula Parmelee......  

Paula has written up one of the family storys from all of her research on her Chaves great grandparents. You can see her pride in her smile. 

Paula: I wanted to share my notebook at show and tell, it represents the work and joy it took to find my great grandparents. I'd met my great grandmother once as a child but didn't really know anything about her which was quite unlike the relationship I had with my maternal grandparents and extended family.

Paula begins.................. My two sisters and I grew up believing our last name was Schaff and our father’s family was of German descent. We didn’t have family stories other than those of our father growing up poor in Denver. We didn’t go visit our father’s relatives like we did our mother’s. We just figured our father’s family wasn’t close and let it go at that. The things we thought we knew about our father and his family changed in 1975 when our mother relayed to us a story she had been told by our estranged father many years before. His family surname was actually CHAVEZ, from New Mexico, and they were Spanish not Mexican. The story goes that when our grandfather, Philip Schaff, Sr., was 8 years old  he, his mother and his siblings were kicked off the family ranch in New Mexico. They moved to Colorado, changed their last name and grandpa went to work to help support the family. How terrible!

We had many questions but no one to answer them. After the divorce of our parents we had lost contact with all of our father’s family. What to do? I found myself wanting to discover as much as I could about our family. But pre-computers and the internet, that research took time, time I did not have while raising four active children. Fast forward to 2011, I decided it was time to start looking for our Chavez family. I began by learning how to research by working on my mother’s and my husband’s family trees. Both families were very well documented and I figured, if I ran into difficulties, I had experienced family researchers who could help me out. By 2012, I was ready to research the Chavez family. 

...........  YES! research she did, lots of twists and turns but Paula broke down all those brickwalls and wrote the story........

........and.this story continues in the pages of a coming issue of Root Cellar Preserves publication. And I find it very exciting to have your family story published so that it lives on and on..... imagine 25 years from now one of Paula's descendants in Allen County Library / Genealogy Dept......... or  Family History Center in Salt Lake City, or at the California State Archives, Sacramento at the Root Cellar Library.........  looking through a Root Cellar Preserves Publication with your family story. WOW!!  

Paula: A treasure of mine, a photo of Donaciana, my grandmother, was taken about 1900. It is the first photo of someone that looks like me, or I look like her. I realized that in all my life I never saw a photo of someone I resembled. I certainly did not look like my mother’s people. That was okay, I looked like my father’s people. I just did not have any contact with them. It is amazing to have friends and family look at Donaciana’s picture, look at me, look back and say that’s you, except for the eyes, that’s you. I found my family. What a great story and many many brickwalls crumbled too. Great Job Paula.........

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Sentimental Sunday - The Rest of the Day - 2015 Spring Seminar

Editor's note: Today's post was written by  Sandra Gardner-Benward & photos from Judy Nissila


This is a continuation from yesterday....  yesterday you looked at pictures of before the Seminar doors open.

                                                            Root Cellar 2015 Spring Seminar in photos
             THE DOORS ARE OPEN NOW............. sit back & enjoy!

starting at Registration................   

registration .............so friendly and organized

looking through their packet, filling out forms for drawings and getting familiar with area

there is always a massive amount of people oooogling the raffle baskets

........... and now is the time to purchase those raffle tickets and they do!!  Plus shop the vendors and bargain book table. Lots to do, but if you didn't get to something in the morning, there are breaks, lunch and after. 

President and Co-Chair of Seminar Diane Maltase opens the day up with 'welcome' and announcements

                                       It is finally time for the day to begin

            introducing speaker D. Joshua Taylor

             ........and here are only a couple lucky basket winners

                             Double Winner? Yes that's right........  two baskets won by one lucky lady

                        Another very Lucky winner.....  it's Linda Lucky ....  she is always a winner

.......and that is the wrap up of Root Cellar's 2015 Spring Seminar. Hope you enjoyed both days of pictures. If you attended, hope you had a good time. If you didn't make it this year "too bad you missed out" but there is always next year......  yes, the committee is already evaluating, going over notes and getting ready to start plans for 2016.



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Society Saturday - Spring Seminar 2015 Sucessfull!

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Sandra Gardner-Benward- photos taken by Judy Nissila... Thank You!



Another very successful Spring Seminar has ended.. This year's speaker was D. Joshua Taylor.
It was a warm day, NO rain or wind.........plenty of parking, new venue........it was a good day.

As you know OR maybe don't know, there is a lot of  pre-planning and a great deal of organizing goes on from the time a seminar ends and the next one begins............... you want to ensure a successful event......... the pictures below will tell the story..........  A big thanks to the Co-Chairs Diane Maltese and Denise Miller and to ALLLLLLLLLL the many many volunteers. Without them nothing would happen.

So lets look behind the scenes and 
              see what is going on before any participants come                                      through the doors..... 

the early morning crew....(they look too happy for morning time)......  getting the signs put up, reserve area for speaker, for lunch delivery.
Helping with parking is a big job

parking this way.........  next!

Registration!  They are ready whenever they are given the word.....

Hall looks like it is ready for the day...........  Can you see all the raffle baskets across the back?  Did you win one?

Heads together.......... Raffle ticket table.......  lets get this on going.........

Here is one of the 15 raffle baskets waiting to be won.

...........and another raffle basket waiting to be won. These are all huge baskets with lots and lots of goodies.

Members are getting the Root Cellar table ready with copies of all our publications, tote bags, t-shirts, charts and more

ah YES, the finishing touch for the Root Cellar table - our California Poppy's

the bargain book table all set to go ......$1 each........  all genealogy related

........ and what is a seminar without vendors and we have them too..............  Our Family Tree -charts

...and more vendors  Cox Black & White- photos

......... book vendors are a must

If you don't have a super kitchen crew you are really in trouble but we never worry about that.........
good morning snacks, excellent lunches and then afternoon snacks.
Can't ever say you were hungry at one of our seminars. 

AND these days you cannot do anything without a techie on hand........ and we have a good one or two.
technology rules.
Rick is getting Josh all set up for the beginning of the day.

Oh my goodness, it is still so early and yet seminar goers are already lining up  OPEN OPEN OPEN

So you can see a lot of the behind the scene tasks were done right after last years seminar ended, and then months ago, last week and the day before and maybe even the day of the seminar........ it takes a chair and many volunteers, a lot of patience, some creativity, and lots of publicity.  Thanks to everyone!

So we are about to open the doors and let everyone in....... 
who attended? how many? who won? 

COME BACK TOMORROW to see the rest of the day ...............


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