Obiturary Sunday – Caruth Smith Washington

It has come to my attention that a Real Daughter, Caruth Smith Washington, age 104 of Monroe, New Jersey, passed away on November 20, 2012, at Cranbury Nursing Home, Monroe.  She was the daughter of a Civil War Medal of Honor recipient and believed to be the last direct descendant of a slave in America.            

Born to the late Gertrude Catlett Smith and Color Sergeant Andrew Jackson Smith, Caruth was an educator and community activist in CA and NY.  She was predeceased by her husband, Dr. Edward L. Washington: son, Ricque Le'Seur, Sr. and sister Susan Shelton.  Survived by her grandchildren,China, Bart, Che, and Ricque Le'Seur, Jr., two nephews; one niece and a host of relatives and friends.

The memorial service was Wed., Dec. 5th at 7 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, 771 Somerset Street, Somerset, NJ.  The arrangements are by Anderson Funeral Service. No mention of where she is buried.

The obit is a Central Jersey newspaper, online (see below) and published in Home News Tribune on December 4, 2012:

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/mycentraljersey/obituary.aspx?n=caruth-smith-washington&pid=161454506#fbLoggedOut.

Submitted by Jim Monteton

Posted by Ron Setzer

Mocavo Christmas Gift

A holiday gift to their favorite genealogists: free scanning until New Year's!

 

FREE Scanning with Mocavo until December 31st, 2012

Mocavo.com - a new paid search engine PLUS much more

From now until the end of the year Mocavo will scan your documents, send you a digital copy, and put them online at Mocavo - for FREE! They will even send your materials back to you, if you choose. They work with they comminity to bring all of the world's genealogical information online for free, putting up everyone's family history within reach. They are bringing lots and lots of historical information and databases to Mocavo. 

Read more about it and you decide if this is something that you would like to do. Keep in mind that this offers expires at the end of the month, end of year - December 31, 2012. 

........posted to help you advance and keep organized by Sandra Gardner-Benward 




 

Friday Questions Questions and more Questions????

I have now received the following email from three different sources with the same questions? It is a legitimate email with questions that are important?? Can you help?

Do you know where all the records for your county are stored?

Representatives of FamilySearch were recently told that many California counties were transferring older records to historical societies and museums. For genealogists this may be a good move as often records are more easily accessible.

However, it is important to know where the records are. Can you help? The answers to the following questions will put us on the right track.

 

1. Do you know of any transfers of records from government agancies to Historical Societies, Libraries or other repositories?

 

2. Do yo know of inventories of records of government records or records that have been transferred to repositories? If online, please send a link. 

 

3. Do you have contacts in government agencies or other repositories that could help in accessing their record holdings?  

 

 

Thursday - Those Special Places - Sutro Library

If you are not aware, SUTRO LIBRARY has moved and is now located in it's new home on the campus of the San Francisco State University. (1680 Holloway, San Francisco, CA 94132)

My check is has been mailed and now I am waiting. I am anxious to go and explore the new building (actually it is now located on two full floors). I am going to go down with lots of friends on February 13, 2013 Wednesday on a planned bus trip. Melanie Howard from GAS organization (Genealogical Association of Sacramento) is organizing this annual event.

The Sutro Library moved to their new 6 floor facility located on the San Francisco State College  campus - J. Paul Leonard Library -Sutro Library, Location: 1630 Holloway,  SanFrancisco, CA 94132. They are located on the top two floors. As many of you know, the Sutro Library not only has the distinction of having one of the most comprehensive Genealogical and Family History collections in existence, but houses some of the rarest and most unique manuscript and book collections the world has to offer.

 When : Wednesday February 13 , 2013

Time: 7 AM to 7 PM

Where: Bus trip to the new, expanded,  6 floor Sutro Library building in San Francisco

Cost: $35.00 for GAS members, $40.00 for non-members (need at least 30 to make it a go)

Send your check now. It will not be cashed until 2 weeks before the trip

Make the check out to Genealogical Association of Sacramento or G.A.S.
Include your name, address, phone number, email and where you want to catch the bus.

Questions: email Melanie Howard melnesia@comcast.net

916-383-1221

Mail your check to

Melanie Howard

7345 Pritchard Rd
Sacramento CA 95828                                                                                                                                    
Want to come along?  Don't wait too long to reserve your seat, do your homework (check the catlague, get whatever line you want to work on in order with the areas you want to search on), meet at whatever pick up is convenient for you and we will see you on the bus......... might want to consider 'brown bagging it',  but I am told there is a cafeteria not too far away on campus......... 

NOTE: FIRST PICK-UP at 6:45 AM In front of the CHP office on Massie Circle ( near the intersection of Stockton Blvd and Massie Circle)  SECOND PICK-UP : between 7 and 7:15 AM on Point West Rd in front of the Doubletree Hotel (Near Arden Fair)  Parking on both sides of  Point West Rd THIRD PICK-UP is new this year: It is in the Car pool Parking lot on Enterprise Blvd and West Capitol Ave in West Sacramento about 7:30 AM and the  FOURTH PICK-UP will be in the Car Pool lot on Mace Blvd and Hwy 80 about 7:45 AM

Wednesday Wisdom .... Is it STILL fun?

Why Aren't You Having Fun with Your Family History Research? I received an email the other day from Upfront with NGS and it made me really think about my own research. The question was "At some point, does your genealogy and family history research stop becoming fun? Yes, at sometimes it does. I think sometimes I get overwhelmed with the whole task and don't break it down in to smaller pieces, ones I can handle better. I am obsessed with solving this puzzle NOW. Also, I guess I keep bumping up against the same brick walls. Do you only do one line - your direct line only? OR do you reasearch other lines too? I do research all lines and I DO MEAN ALL LINES not just my direct line of GARDNER. I have learned a little bit about everyone but not alot about anyone. This articles suggested that there are three other ways of going when your genealogy stops becoming fun........                1) Stop doing genealogy for a while.     2) Switch the focus of your research (refocuss on another line or a different time peroid)     3) Produce something to share that you have learned Genealogy research is really a journey and not just a destination....  we do want to enjoy the whole journey. You need to 're-energize' yourself, feel good about what you are doing. Don't frustrate yourself......  put it away and start researching somewhere else. Besides creating family books, you can create CD's and DVD's, scrapbooks. If you 'google' different ideas you will find company's that specialize in mugs, Christmas ornaments, t-shirts, family reunion shirts, and so much more. I know my father got some type of gadget that converted his glass slides to picture form. Now that was a large project for him since our family has YEARS of taking slides. Make yourself feel good by sharing family information with extended family members. Whether it is in the form of binders with written information, published books on a single person, or event, record family stories and share them, scanning those scrapbooks that you can not get the pictures out of without tearing them (so frustrating) scan them or take pictures of them......... Another source on this subject: Kenneth R. marks of The Ancestor Hunt website posted a peice with the title "Why Aren't You Having Fun with Your Family History Research? In the article, he asks a few questions to ask yourself about your research and why it's no longer fun and then he suggests.... "Stop focusing on the ancestors you don't know and start focusing on the ancestors you do know" When you stop having fun with your genealgoy research, who do you do?      ...........posted by Sandra Gardner-Benward to help you think about other ways of doing something to change the outcome

Tuesday Tips...... Do you copy right or wrong or do you know the difference?

Copyright and Copy Wrong -- Genealogists and Family Historians need to do it RIGHT!  (I absolutely love this title... such a great play on words but oh so true too)

Posted: 06 Dec 2012 05:00 AM PST

Image source: http://sensiblecopyrightsolutions.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/copyright-symbol.jpg

Respecting copyright is important!

Copyright can be complex!

Many genealogists and family historians violate copyright!
(I have decided that I will write out this entire article since I feel it is a very important topic)

Many of you may have heard about a copyright violation of Cyndi’s List which occurred last month.  This is probably the most recent and egregious example of “theft” by the genealogical community.  And, it happens all the time!  Every bit of information you see duplicated in verbatim from someplace without recognition of the original author can be a form of violating an author’s copyright!

You wonder why some people don’t post their genealogical research?  Many don’t post it because they are concerned that others will “steal” the research they have worked on for years (sometimes decades) without attributing it to the person who put in all the hard work.  If you worked for years on something, would you want others to use it without giving you credit?

Michael Leclerc recently did a blog post on this topic (Copyright and Copy Wrong) and states (emphasis is mine) ...

It is astounding how some people think that they can do anything they like with anything they want on the Internet. It is all there for the taking and doing with as they will. Genealogists are among the worst violators... Do read his full article.

 

Want to learn more about copyright law and genealogy?  Check out these excellent resources on the topic:

§ The Legal Genealogist, Judy G Allen – numerous posts on various copyright issues as pertains to genealogists.  Check these out!

§ Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) – Copyright & Genealogy

§ Sharon DeBartolo Carmack (Family Tree Magazine) – Copyright for Genealogists

§ Gary B. Hoffman (Genealogy.com) -- Who Owns Genealogy? Cousins and Copyright

§ Cyndi’s List – Intellectual Property --> Copyright

 

And, just doing a search on Genealogy + Copyright will bring up a lot of other equally informative posts.




....... from "Upfront with NGS (National Genealogical Society) Dec 6, 2012 (this is only one of hundreds of great aricles from NGS. This is one good reason to join this National Society)

posted to educate our members:  Sandra Gardner-Benward

Monday Motivation for learning MORE

Aren't we lucky to be living in such a wonderful techy era in time......!!  Learning on your computer through the internet from across the street, to across the country to around the world....

 Look what is happening at the National Archives in Atlanta..........

The Friends of the National Archives-Southeast Region, Inc., are please to present Using Spreadsheets to Help Organize Your Research with Linda Woodward Geiger, CG, CGL.

Linda will demonstrate a variety of uses for MS Excel 2010 (applicable to other spreadsheet programs) relating to genealogical and historical research.

Monday, December 10th, 2012

Time: 7:00 pm Eastern  (4pm Pacfic)

Register now. 

Note: There is no limit to the number registering for this webinar, but attendance is limited to 100 attendees (the first 100 to sign in to the event will be able to view the live webinar). The webinar will be recorded (if all goes well) and will be placed on the "Members Only" pages of the Friends website

 

What is a webinar? A Webinar is the term used for a Web-based seminar, lecture, or presentation delivered via the Internet. Audience my register and attend (using their computer) from the comfort of their home 

Time Change for 2013 Webinars

2nd Tuesday, 2pm Eastern Time (looks like they have been on the second Monday at 7pm)

We are working on the schedule. Please send us an email to inform us of presentations you'd like to see or speakers you'd like to hear.

Bookmark the website, sign up for their announcements and keep an eye out for their 2013 schedule.

 

(taken from email sent to me from NARA Friends of the National Archives/ Atlanta Office)

.................posted to help the learning curve go quicker & easier by Sandra Gardner-Benward