Society Saturday – The July 24 Reunion SIG Meeting

Editor's note: Today's post was written by Richard Hanson.

The Reunion SIG, a special interest group sponsored by the Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society, addressed several topics at its most recent meeting on July 24. The first few minutes were spent on comparing the sourcing mechanisms of Reunion and RootsMagic. The overview diagram follows.

Diagram created by Richard Hanson.

RootsMagic's sourcing facility was profiled in detail at the prior (July 17) Root Cellar workshop meeting. Future workshop meetings will address Legacy (August 21), Family Tree Maker (September 18) and Reunion (October 16).
For more information on the workshop meetings:
http://www.rootcellarramblings.blogspot.com/2013/06/society-saturday-documentation-demo.html

During the remainder of the Reunion SiG meeting, topics and questions from attendees were addressed. One such question was how to sync Reunion data between an iMac (desktop computer) and an iPad (tablet computer). I ran my presentation on that topic. Basically, you connect both devices to the same wi-fi network and use built-in menu options to initiate data transfer.

The next Reunion SIG meeting is scheduled for August 28.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Background: In 2011, a special interest group (SIG) was established by the Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society for users of the genealogy database software package called Reunion. It meets 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every fourth Wednesday at the Sacramento FamilySearch Library. Group leader is Ron Setzer. Email Ron if you'd like to be added to the group's email distribution list. Reunion runs on the Macintosh, iPad and iPhone.

Left: exterior entrance to the meeting room. Right: Reunion software displayed.

Shop and Support Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society.
Click here for details.

Society Saturday - Sacramento County Coroner's Records 1887-1969 New Additions

[Editor's note:  Today's post was written by Denise Hibsch Richmond.]

Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society (RCSGS) announces the release of three new books for the Sacramento County Coroner’s Records Collection 1887-1969. This release marks the completion of the series totally 20 books in 12 volumes. RCSGS volunteers, under the direction of Marilyn Ulbricht, extracted and indexed these records from original books of the Coroner's Office of Sacramento County housed at the Center for Sacramento History (Center) and acquired through the efforts of the Sacramento Old City Cemetery Committee.

The books include the decedent’s name; date of death; place of death; nativity; age; cause and circumstances of death; burial and funeral information; and book and page of the original book. A Master Index of all 20 books will be available soon. The extracted information is comprehensive but even more is available in the original books. Also, the Center has many of the original Coroner Inquests that correspond with surnames in the Sacramento County Coroner’s Records Collection.

These publications and others are available for purchase at the Society’s Store. The original books are available for research at the Center by appointment, (916) 808-7072 or email csh@cityofsacramento.org.

The three books just published include:

Vol. XI - Book 18: Coroner's Register January 1961 - June 1964

4,000 Surnames, 332 pages

8½ x 11 soft cover

$30.00+ tax

Vol. XII - Books 19 and 20 with Index

Book 19: Coroner's Register June 1964 - December 1967

Book 20: January 1968 - December 1969

8,989 Surnames, 68 pages

8½ x 11 soft cover

$20.00+ tax

About Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society
The Society was formed in 1978 to help members with genealogical research through education, publication of information and preservation of records. Society activities include a monthly membership meeting, workshop and Reunion for Mac Special Interest Group, an annual spring seminar, a monthly newsletter Geni-Gram, and an online periodical Preserves. It has a long-standing partnership with the Center for Sacramento History for the extraction of original records housed there. Publications of these records and many genealogy books are available for use at the Root Cellar Genealogical Library housed at the California State Archives in Sacramento, California. Contact: rootcellarsgs@gmail.com or Facebook.

Society Saturday – Rio Linda/Elverta Historical Society

[Editor's Note: Today's post was written by Richard Hanson. Photo courtesy of Richard Hanson's Geiger family history photo collection.]

You won't find their website or email address. They have neither. Searching for them using Google yields a few small hints of their existence (their name, a mailing address and sometimes a phone number). But if you are looking for information on your ancestors in the Rio Linda or Elverta areas (northern part of Sacramento County, California), their library may have what you need.

The Rio Linda/Elverta Historical Society currently manages Sacramento County's Dry Creek Parkway. They maintain a museum and library in the one surviving historical structure, a two-story farmhouse.

Street address: 6852 Dry Creek Road, Rio Linda, California

That museum/library is open to the public on a part-time basis. The library is housed in one of the upper-floor bedrooms. It contains numerous local-area historical books, maps and photos. In addition, their society historian has thousands of historical images of Rio Linda and Elverta area, its businesses and its residents.

This Dry Creek Parkway property was owned and run as a dairy by my Geiger grandparents for about ten years (1943-54). They sold it to the LDS Church which ran it as a farm. Sacramento County later acquired it for use as an unimproved park. I wrote a book about the history of that property while it was owned by my Geiger grandparents. That book can be found in their library.

The society hosts several public events each year on that park property, notably Farm & Tractor Days (next one: May 10 & 11, 2013) and Classic Car Show and Swap Meet (next one: August 31, 2013). Pay modest dues to become a member and you get their bi-monthly newsletter containing society news and an events calendar. Membership year runs from January to December.

Phone – society's President:

(916) 991-2484

Mailing address:

P.O.Box 478

Rio Linda, CA 95673

Society Saturday - Thomas MacEntee's Visit to Sacramento

[Editor's Note: Today's post was written by Denise Hibsch Richmond who had the pleasure of being Thomas MacEntee's escort during his visit. Photos are courtesy of Judy Nissila]

Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society is very thankful for the time Thomas MacEntee spent with members before, after and during the Spring Seminar on Saturday, March 16, 2013.  Thomas was very generous with his time and members took advantage of it from the moment he arrived until departure.  He was queried about using technology and social media for society operations and personal family history research....and then there was the seminar itself!

We have a few more pictures of Thomas's nonstop visit to Sacramento for you to view.  First up, a slideshow of the seminar...          

 

 

 

Thomas's visit wasn't all business.  Admittedly, we bragged a lot about our society's projects but we also partied and ate a lot.  The proof is in the pictures.  

 

 

Above two photos - Before the start of the general membership meeting on Thursday, March 14th, Thomas joined the Special Interest Group for Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Ohio that was facilitated by Sandra Benward.  How fortuitous that he could provide some research tips for Illinois (he lives there)!   

 

 

Above two photos - Thomas is seen here on Friday, March 15th at the Center for Sacramento History.  In the first photo, Root Cellar member Marilyn Ulbricht,  Chairperson of the Extraction Committee (left), and Pat Johnson, Senior Archivist at the Center, show Thomas the many indexes of Sacramento County records that the Society has published.  In the second photo, Thomas poses with Pat Johnson  and Extraction Committee members  (l-r) Lois Shumaker, Sammie Hudgens, Sandi Benward and Marilyn Ulbricht.  Many other committee members were on vacation that day.

 

Senior Archivist Pat Johnson gave Thomas a tour of the vault at the Center for Sacramento History.  Looks like he found an interesting record. 

Next, we drove to the Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society Library housed at the California State Archives in downtown Sacramento.  Thomas went directly to the Illinois section and posed with a book that the Illinois State Genealogical Society has just republished, Soldiers of the American Revolution Buried in Illinois.  Thomas was very impressed with the scope of our library.

 

After lunch with the Root Cellar Technology Committee (oops, no photo), we drove to the seminar venue where set-up was underway.  Leland Meitzler, owner of Family Roots Publishing Co., the seminar book vendor, took a break from unpacking books with son Dale to chat with Thomas.

 

With set-up complete we finally let Thomas have some private time at the hotel before his welcome and seminar volunteer appreciation reception Friday evening.     

We heard that Thomas was celebrating his milestone birthday all year long culminating on Dec 25th.  This might be one of his first birthday cakes of the year.  

 

 

The birthday boy himself had to cut the cake with Glenda Gardner Lloyd assisting.

Thomas is sitting with Judy Nissila (middle) and Billie Helms.  Thomas and Judy learned they were distant cousins on the 2011 Legacy Family Tree cruise.  Cousin connections can happen where you least expect them!

 

 

A good-looking group of Root Cellar members surrounded by the man of the hour, Thomas MacEntee. 

 

Showtime!  Saturday, March 16, 2013 at the Spring Seminar.  Thomas MacEntee presented four sessions on using  technology and social media for genealogy

Facebook, Twitter, Wikis - we learned new ways to connect with cousins and more.

 

After a successful seminar, it was time to relax with a tall cool one (mine was a double Shirley Temple) at Thomas's thank you and farewell dinner.  So many members wanted to bid him adieu that the restaurant moved us to a larger room.

 

Can't celebrate a birthday too much - this time with lemon meringue birthday pie!

 He likes it, he really likes it!

 

We had three days of fun with Thomas MacEntee at the annual Spring Seminar for Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society. Thanks Thomas for your generous time, advice, tips and tricks in using technology and social media for genealogy.  We learned a lot.

 

P.S.  Thomas, thanks for serving as co-pilot and being my "shifter". -D 

Society Saturday - RootsTech Session Review

[Editor's Note:  Today's post was written by Denise Hibsch Richmond who gratefully acknowledges the contribution by Fran Marlow.  Photo courtesy of Judy Nissila.]

Well-over 5,000 people descended on Salt Lake City, Utah last week to attend RootsTech 2013, a genealogy conference about connecting with your family roots using technology.   Several members from Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society were among the attendees.

The RootsTech organizers were very generous.  They seemed to understand that not everyone could attend in person so once again, livestreaming of select sessions was made available for viewing from your home computer.  If you couldn't view the session being livestreamed, an archived version or "recap" is still available.  Warning: this could possibly entice you to attend in person next year.



Fran Marlow

Root Cellar member Fran Marlow was one person who watched the session by James L. Tanner from the comfort of her home.  She told me that "attending conferences is always more fun than watching online, but we take what we can get for we can't attend all of the conferences.   I ....found Mr. Tanner to be an interesting and down-to-earth speaker.  He holds the audience's attention but without talking down to the more experienced genealogists in the audience."

At my request, Fran wrote a summary of Mr. Tanner's session titled "Finding the Obscure and Elusive: Geographic Information on the Web".

The location where an ancestor was born or lived may not have kept the same name through the years.  Mr. Tanner stressed the fact that we need to know the exact location for ancestors at the time of an event, such as the birth or the death.  We may have a family group sheet stating the person was born in one place but that may not be entirely accurate.  We know surnames can be incorrectly spelled on records and names of towns can also be spelled incorrectly.  The person recording a document wrote down what he thought was the name he'd been given, but it wasn't always correctly spelled.  The pronunciation as given is also a valid reason why a name may not be correctly spelled.

Boundaries changed therefore official records may not all be located in the town or county where we think they are. That's another reason we need to know exactly where these records may be found which could be in different locations.  No matter how many times a town's name or a county changed names or boundaries, we need to find the records from each location.  What we thought was the correct name where our ancestor lived may in fact not actually be the correct name.
 

Being a researcher we need to find exactly where that ancestor was born, or where they lived by using latitude and longitude coordinates on a map.  That means we check websites for maps to find a specific location and also to get map coordinates. Certain websites can be used to pinpoint a location and map the latitude and longitude such as History Topical National Geological Survey National Map, Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), as well as Google maps. For historic maps try the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Historic Topographic Maps Collection for they have digitized 141,000 of their 180,000 maps.  Another website for historic maps is David Rumsey Map Collection which focuses on rare 18th and 19th century maps of North and South America.  Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia and Africa are also on this site.

Thank you Fran for your report.  Now, we're challenging all Root Cellar members who attended RootsTech in person or from home to send us your comments about the experience.  We'll post it on the blog.

Society Saturday: New Blog Team Member

Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society is pleased to introduce Richard (Rick) Hanson as the newest member of its Technology Committee.  Rick will be writing for this blog beginning Sunday, March 3, 2013.  He will be joining existing Blog Team members Sandra Benward, Ron Setzer and Denise Richmond.  Writing for the blog is on a rotational schedule, a week at a time.

Richard Hanson

Rick is a native of Sacramento but worked in southern California as a computer programmer/database designer/team leader. He retired in 2002 and moved back to Sacramento after spending his first retirement year as a tourist in San Diego. While in southern California, Rick served on the boards of computer clubs, genealogical societies, two condo associations and a chapter of the National Space Society.  He also served several years as editor for the quarterly COMPU.GEN (Computer Genealogy Society of San Diego).

In 1982, Rick started his family history research using a text editor and moved to a Macintosh a couple years later for its publishing capability.  Since then, he's self-published seven family history books.  During the 1990s, Rick started using Reunion genealogy software.  His personal genealogy goal for the first half of this year is to completely reorganize how he tracks and documents sources in Reunion.

In addition to Rick's new new role as Blog Writer, he will continue to contribute to Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society as a helper and occasional presenter for the Society's monthly Workshop and the Reunion Special Interest Group, and a as volunteer at its annual Spring Seminar.

Other local groups benefit from Rick's talents - he's active in the:

• Sacramento German Genealogy Society serving as Secretary and leader of the EasyNetSites admin team
• California GenWeb, having created and currently maintains its website for Sierra County
• Genealogical and Historical Council Sacramento Valley where he's listed in its speaker's directory

William Horn and
Amelia "Bridgett" Keenan

I asked Rick if he had a brickwall ancestor.  Of course!  Meet William Horn, pictured with wife Amelia "Bridget" Keenan.  They married in 1863 in Sierra County, California.  Rick has quite a lot of information about William's activities after he arrived in Sierra County, California on/before 1851 to engage in gold mining.  However, before that only secondary sources say he was born 14 Aug 1929 in Prussia. The "family rumor" is that William jumped ship in an eastern U.S. port in 1846 and later rode to the California gold fields on horseback.

If you have a William Horn and Amelia "Bridget" Keenan in your family tree or just want to leave a welcome message, comment on this post or send it to Rick at rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.

Welcome again, Rick!

Contributed by Rick Hanson
Posted by Denise H. Richmond

Society Saturday - Thomas MacEntee Interviewed

Members of Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society have just received the current issue of its periodical, Preserves.  One of the highlights of this edition is the interview with Thomas MacEntee conducted by yours truly in January 2013.

In less than a month, Root Cellar will be welcoming Thomas as the featured speaker at its Spring Seminar on March 16, 2013.  The published interview provides members with a glimpse into Thomas's background and his thoughts about genealogy, technology and social media.

The Preserves is a member's only periodical but as a shameless plug for Root Cellar and a lure for the 'not-yet' members, several excerpts of the interview are included below.

 

 



Root Cellar: You have your finger on the pulse of technology and genealogy.  What are some relatively new tech tools you have learned about that interest you?

Thomas MacEntee: With the new year, I am fascinated with the "pinning" concept on sites like Pinterest, Google Maps, History Pin, What Was There and more.  I think this is a fun way to use our research finds as genealogists and to reach others with similar surnames and research.  Also, I've become keyed in to the concept of...

 

Root Cellar:  What are the future trends for technology and genealogical research that could affect societies and individual genealogists?

Thomas MacEntee: We need to fight for what I call "resource appeasement" - as more content becomes available online, we need to remind new researchers about all that is not yet digitized.  [Also] Copyright, citing resources, and attribution.  There is too much abuse of content with no...

 

Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree 2010
Blogger Summit. Pictured with Thomas MacEntee (center) are
Root Cellar Technology Committee members
(l-r) Denise Richmond, Sandi Benward & Ron Setzer



About the Spring Seminar March 16, 2013

• Download the Registration Form
• Read about the seminar topics.
• Read about the seminar exhibitors, Family Roots Publishing Company and Cox Black and White Lab.
• Read about Thomas MacEntee here and here.
• Root Cellar member benefits and membership form.

Society Saturday is one of several Daily Blogging Prompts listed on GeneaBloggers.com. 

 

posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond



Society Saturday - Cox Black and White Lab, Inc. to be at Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society Spring Seminar

Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society is pleased to announce that Cox Black and White Lab, Inc. will showcase its photographic services at the Spring Seminar with speaker Thomas MacEntee.

Cox Black and White Lab, Inc. was founded in 1990 by Jeff Cox and Katherine Weedman-Cox.  They specialize in reproducing and preserving photographic history.  Their clients include The California State Library, The California State Railroad Museum, The Center for Sacramento History, The State Archives, The Sacramento Library, Caltrans and various other agencies. 

Katherine Weedman-Cox at Family History Day 2012

Cox Black and White Lab, Inc. has been a long-time supporter of Family History Day at the California State Archives where attendees enjoy the popular exhibit.

The Lab is currently scanning the Jack London nitrate negatives from the California State Parks Collection in Sonoma in an effort to help preserve his images.  Cox Black and White Lab, Inc. also reproduces and restores precious family photos that customers have been bringing them for 23 years.  They love to hear family stories!  Be sure to take this opportunity to talk to Katherine at the Spring Seminar - bring your questions or better yet, your old, faded or damaged family photo to learn how digital photographic retouching may be able to transform your family photo to near original quality.

Cox Black and White Lab can be reached at 916-631-7275 or email customerservice@coxphotolab.com.

About the Spring Seminar
Register now for the Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society Spring Seminar on March 16, 2013 featuring technology and social media expert Thomas MacEntee. 

Half the seats are already reserved!  Pre-registration only.  No tickets sold at the door.

Read more about Thomas here and here.  Read about his topics and print the registration form here.  Hope to see you there!

Written in part by Katherine Weedman-Cox
Posted by Denise H. Richmond

Society Saturday - Sacramento County Records Preservation

Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society values giving back to the genealogy community through its preservation projects.  One of the Society's major efforts has been to bring Sacramento County records a little bit closer to family historians, Sacramento history buffs and the public at large.

Was your ancestor in Sacramento County back in the day?

Women Proprietors or Sole Traders
Sacramento County 1850-1930.
Click on all images to enlarge

 

Record types that the Society has indexed tell fascinating stories of the people who settled in Sacramento County and were recorded under a variety of circumstances!   Indexes include civil court cases, delayed births, militia, divorces, Folsom and San Quentin prisons, homesteads, marriages, baptisms, cemeteries, women proprietors, and the list goes on.  The books are available for purchase in the Root Cellar Store or send us a Research Request.

Through Root Cellar's long-standing partnership with the Center for Sacramento History, an active group of Society volunteers organized by Marilyn Ulbricht gathers every Friday morning at the Center.  Generally, everyone is transcribing the same record type because so many volumes exist.  Each volunteer gently combs through the pages, willing to get a little dusty, stopping occasionally to share an amazing story of the person's data being extracted.  Sometimes they pause for a look-up, using a dictionary of historic medical terminology or a book of California place names.  You see, preservation projects are educational on so many levels!


Cover (above) and sample contents,
Sacramento County Coroner's Records

Currently, Root Cellar volunteers are diligently working to finish the last book of the "Coroner Records Collection for Sacramento County".  The collection consists of 20 registers with a treasure trove of information.  Examples of information include, name, place of death, property and to whom distributed, place of burial, physical description of the deceased, cause of death and description of the circumstances of the death to name a few.  These books cover the years 1887 through 1969.  Each volume published (some volumes have more than one book) are indexed and upon completion of all books, a Master Index will be published. There are additional coroner's records available at the Center from years 1970 through 1978 but are not included in this project.

The Committee  has also nearly completed the "Index of Registers of Wills for Sacramento County".  Anyone doing family research will really have to look at these as there is invaluable information to help complete those missing spots in your family tree.  Some of the wills are extremely detailed giving names, addresses, relationship to the deceased, identification of property, etc.

Excerpt from actual Sacramento County Will



Data extracted from Will Books

Three members of the Society are indexing and extracting the information from "The City of Sacramento Deaths and Internments".  The information will include the date of death, names, nativity, cause of death, and internment.

 

Genealogists are always looking for a picture of an ancestor.  Have you ever considered looking at the police blotter?  Maybe that's why Uncle Zeke or Cousin Edna have been so elusive.  A future project is the "Mug Books from the City of Sacramento Police Department."  Indexing was started but put on hold pending completion of the Will Project.  This book will include the mug shot photos and other information.  Oh my, the stories these photos could tell!

 

As you can see, Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society is dedicated to making resources and information available to the genealogy community and beyond.  We have reaped from others who have done the same and it is our way to express our gratitude.

 

Much more information can be gleaned from the original books available for research at the Center for Sacramento History located at 551 Sequoia Pacific Ave., Sacramento, CA 95814.   Appointments must be made by calling 916-808-7072 or email csh@cityofsacramento.org.

 

Marilyn Ulbricht is always looking for volunteers.  According to Ulbricht, "If you have three or four hours a week and would like to participate in our extraction projects, we would encourage you to come join us on Fridays from 9:00a.m. to 12:00 noon.  You will gain far more than you give!"  For further information, please call Marilyn at 916-467-0020.

 

Submitted by Marilyn Ulbricht

Posted by Denise H. Richmond

Society Saturday - Wikis for Genealogists Webinar Reprise Presented by Thomas MacEntee

Source: By Luigi Chiesa (Own work)
via Wikimedia Commons

New Year, New Tool.  Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society invites you to its first general membership meeting of 2013 to learn about a new research tool to further your search for ancestors.

DATE:  [New Day] Thursday, January 10, 2013

PLACE: [New Place] Christ Community Church, 5025 Manzanita Avenue, Carmichael, CA 95608. Google Map link and see image below.

TIME: 7:00pm - 8:30pm

PROGRAM:  Wikis for Genealogists presented by Thomas MacEntee*. While many think of a wiki as an on-line, collaborative encyclopedia, wikis can be used by genealogists to document their genealogy and collaborate with other researchers or family members. Learn the various wiki platforms and the basics of setting up a wiki.  Note: This presentation will be the CD version of Thomas's live webinar conducted on August 8, 2012 in collaboration with Legacy Family Tree webinars.  Webinar handouts will be available with permission of the presenter.

FREE, everyone is welcome so bring a friend.


View Larger Map

*Read more here and here about Thomas MacEntee, the featured speaker at the Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society Spring Seminar on Saturday, March 16, 2013.  Registration details coming soon.

posted by Denise H. Richmond

Society Saturday - Great Moves for Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society

Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society will be on the move in 2013 (if not already).  An exhaustive and lengthy search for a new location for monthly gatherings ably conducted by members Richard Hanson, Lois Shumaker and Marilyn Ulbricht has concluded.  Following site visits, the Board approved a new day and two new locations for Board, General Membership and Workshop meetings.  

If you're a regular at any of these meetings, you already understand the necessity for the moves.  The community room at the grocery store where the board meetings were held was free but at the discretion of the manager so bumping was always a concern.  The historic schoolhouse where the general membership meetings were held had a nominal rental fee but it lacked adequate space, handicapped accessibility features, a paved and lighted parking lot, and reliable heating and air conditioning.  The former workshop location was free but adequate parking became an issue.

Scheduling issues at the new locations precluded Root Cellar from having only one location and the same day for all meetings.  However, the sites had nearly all items on our must-have list and the Board didn't want to pass up these opportunities.  Change isn't easy but hopefully members will be just as impressed with the new locations and adapt to the new schedule. 

Not surprisingly, the new locations mean increased rental fees for Root Cellar.  The Board continues to be vigilant with the Society budget, making ongoing adjustments for such increases while being mindful of maintaining reasonable membership fees. 

Please read the the following information carefully and make a note on your new 2013 calendar.  Don't hesitate to contact Root Cellar at rootcellarsgs@gmail.com if you have any questions or comments.  Let us know what you think!

Board of Directors Meetings - new location/day (effective December 2012)
Meets 1st Thursday of the month
10:00a.m. - noon
Sylvan Community Center (across from Old Schoolhouse)
7521 Community Drive at Sylvan Road  [Google Map]
Citrus Heights, CA 95610

General Membership Meetings - new location/day (effective January 2013)
Meets 2nd Thursday September - June
7:00p.m. - 8:30p.m.
Christ Community Church
5025 Manzanita Avenue  [Google Map]
Carmichael, CA 95608

Workshop - new location only (effective November 2012)
Meets 3rd Wednesday of the month year-round
1:00p.m. - 3:00p.m.
Sylvan Community Center (across from Old Schoolhouse)
7521 Community Drive at Sylvan Road [Google Map]
Citrus Heights, CA 95610

posted by Denise H. Richmond

Society Saturday - Sacramento County Coroner's Records Collection Completed

Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society is very pleased to announce the completion  of the Sacramento County Coroner's Records Collection 1887 - 1969.  The progress of producing this 20 book collection of over 70,000 indexed names was chronicled, in part, here and here.

Every Friday morning for over three years the extraction team lead by Marilyn Ulbricht assembled at the Center for Sacramento History where the records are held.  Each volunteer had a coroner's record book from which entries were extracted. The books were fragile and cumbersome to manage, some measuring nearly 18 inches square. Great care was taken to protect crumbling spines and delicate pages. Pat Johnson, Senior Archivist at the Center, welcomed the volunteers and the extraction project because it will increase public access to the records via published indexes and promote preservation of the actual books by reducing or eliminating handling.

The adage "dead men tell no tales" couldn't be further from the truth when it comes to coroner's records.  Genealogists with kin of all ages and gender who lived in Sacramento County from 1887-1969 could learn valuable clues about their last place of residence, cause of death and more from our newly completed collection. 

Dae Powell, the Shoestring Genealogist, wrote about the types of coroner's records, how to locate them, and online resources.  The article, written in 2007, remains relevant today except for need to add the Sacramento County Coroner's Records Collection to her list of resources!

The books are available for purchase in the Store on our website or by contacting us by email.

posted by Denise H. Richmond

Southern California Genealogy Jamboree – Follow This Society

If you are not following the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree blog, possibly you should consider it. This is just one of great things happening at this year's Jamboree.


Jamboree: Share your Favorite Ancestor Photos for a Chance to Win
We are just two months from opening the doors to the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree. Let's kick-start the Jamboree season with a special announcement. It might not be a $640 million lottery, but it would be so much fun to win.

To celebrate the Jamboree theme of Lights, Camera, ANCESTORS, our partner, 1000memories, is sponsoring a photo contest, and you can win a prize valued at $220.


1000memories.com is the new shoebox for your old photos. 1000memories is a free site that lets you share and preserve the family photos that are sitting in your old albums and hard drives. 1000memories makes it easy to digitize, preserve, and share your family history with the right people.
Share your favorite ancestor photo for a chance to win one of THREE Scan Cafe scanning kits to digitize up to 1,000 photos, slides, and or negatives (a $220 value). The photo in each of these three categories with the most “likes” by the start of Jamboree wins!

• The most humorous photo of an ancestor
• Pre-1900 photos
• Photo of the best-dressed ancestor

Here’s how it works.

• Visit 1000memories.com and register for a free account.
• Email mike@1000memories.com for an invitation to the Jamboree community shoebox. Put "Jamboree Shoebox" in the subject line.
• Add your favorite ancestor photos at http://bit.ly/HmnmaS and identify the category by adding it as the photo caption.
• Identify the person in the photo by adding a tag. Please include the name and other information as you wish: time period and location where the photo was taken.
• You can upload as many photos as you like.
• Please email mike@1000memories.com for assistance using ShoeBox.

Voting

• View the photos that have been uploaded. Feel free to check back often to see new photos as they are added.
• Vote for the favorite photos by clicking on the photo, and then clicking on the small heart on the left side of the photo to “like” them.
• You may vote for any photo only once.
• Voting closes at 12:00 noon Pacific Daylight Time on Friday, June 8, when the doors officially open for Jamboree.
• Winners will be announced during the Social Hour at 5:00 on Saturday.
• The contest is open to everyone. Need not be a Jamboree attendee to participate.
• Only one prize will be issued per person.

Notes

• Photos will be accessible to the public through Internet Archive "forever" and you may choose to remove them after Jamboree. Your call.
• Photo slideshows will be displayed throughout Jamboree.
• Officers of the Southern California Genealogical Society and the Jamboree Committee may participate but are not eligible to win.

Helpful Tips
If you don’t have digital copies of your photos, you can scan your photos using ShoeBox by 1000memories - a free photo-scanning app for iPhone and Android.If you don’t have a smartphone or scanner, simply take a photo of the photo with a digital camera and upload it to the Jamboree shoebox.

Prize Details
ScanCafe is the global leader in professional scanning services, having scanned over 65 million images. Scanning kits are specially designed packing boxes to send up to 1,000 photos, slides, and/or negatives to ScanCafe’s scanning facility. Each of your photos is scanned by hand by a trained technician, a digital copy is automatically added to a private shoebox on 1000memories, and your originals are returned to you along with a copy of your photos on DVD.

Remember
You can't win if you don't play!

Posted by Ron Setzer

Society Saturday - New Coroner's Volume Released

This post has been updated to include a sample page from Book 13.

Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society is pleased to announce that Book 13 of the 20 books in the Sacramento County Coroner's Records Collection has now been published as Volume 6. When completed, the entire collection will cover 1887 - 1969.



Sample page from Book 13, click to enlarge



Book 13 is titled Coroner's Register - Indexed and covers January 1935 through December 1940.  Information extracted consists of Surname, Given Name, Date of Death, Place of Death, Sex, Nativity, Age, Marital Status, Cause of Death, Inquest Date, and Remarks. This information provides valuable clues for the family history researcher.

Root Cellar volunteers extracted and indexed these records from original books of the Coroner's Office of Sacramento County held at the Center for Sacramento History and acquired through the efforts of the Sacramento Old City Cemetery Committee.

Book Description:

• Alphabetical Index of  2,714 names and extractions
• 8½" x 11" soft cover
• 240 pages
• $20.00 plus tax, shipping and handling

Orders may be placed by using the Publications Order Form on the Root Cellar Sacramento Genealogical Society website at www.rootcellar.org.   Inquiries may be sent to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com.

Society Saturday is just one of the blogging themes suggested on Geneabloggers.  You can show-off your ancestors here by sending a short story and photo to rootcellarsgs@gmail.com

posted by Denise Hibsch Richmond