YVGS FAMILY FINDERS

YVGS FAMILY FINDERS

May 2013--VOLUME 31

Established 1982

YUCAIPA VALLEY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

P.O. BOX 32, YUCAIPA, CA 92399-0032 Sponsored by The Yucaipa Branch Library

NO. 5

President's Message:

It's the little things. Genealogy is the study of our ancestors. When and where were they born, married and

died. Did they serve in a military, leave a will or own property? Now, with the Internet, we can research this basic information and so can the next generations, and the next, and...

We have talked about writing our parents or grandparents stories and sometimes it seems so hard to get started. This month I would encourage you to look for the little things. Let me share a few ideas, both from my family and others that I have talked with.

My grandfather had a lot of trouble with just a little tickle in the throat and a light cough. He always carried around a few lemon drops or horehound candy. The family often wondered if this was not just an excuse to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Grandmother's pound cake was very good and the whole family loved it. The recipe had been handed down from her grandmother. It called for a pound of this, a pound of that and a pound of the other...

Grandparents that had special nicknames for the grandkids or their spouse. No one else was allowed to use those nick names. How did we know not to use them? I don't know, you just knew.

A special little song that was used to put the little ones to sleep.

Early family travel, how did the make that trip that was so special in grandma's memory? Now you add your own, just two or three sentences from your memory and would like to pass on with your

genealogy. You can always get that military record of the time great uncle spent in the war. Have you written down a couple of sentences your great aunt may have told you about--standing on the railroad platform, saying good bye to the man she had just married two weeks before, then waving a handkerchief as the train pulled out of the station. Would she ever see him again??

Your challenge is to write down several two to four sentence memories and record them in that person's story. (The first and fourth examples are from my own family, I have two done already!) Note what you wrote because we will use those things later this year. Remember: It's the little things that you cannot replace from the Internet records.

Floyd K. Ferguson

President, YVGS

2013 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

ELECTED OFFICERS

President

Floyd Ferguson

Vice President

Terry Brown

Jamie Daniel

Secretary

Betty Marcum

Treasurer

Billie Wilkes

APPOINTED CHAIRS

Parliamentarian

Jamie Daniel

Corresponding Secretary Betty Marcum

Librarian

Ruth Bishop

Editor

Jamie Daniel

Hospitality

Sue Wolfe

Welcome

Terry Brown

Membership

Marg Polich

Publicity

Terry Brown

Sunshine

Betty Marcum

Historian

Vacant

The Yucaipa Valley Genealogical Society, Inc. meets at 1:00 P.M. on the SECOND Saturday of each month at the Yucaipa Branch Library, 12040 5th Street, Yucaipa. YVGS annual membership fees are $20.00 for individuals or $25.00.00 for families. This amount includes the monthly newsletter and free query privileges. $10.00 will have our newsletter mailed to another society or individual out of the area. The Editor and Society assume no responsibility for statements made by contributors. Misstatements of fact will be corrected upon receipt of proof of error.

What you Missed! Yucaipa Valley Genealogical Society

General Meeting Minutes April 13 , 2013

The meeting was called to order at 1:20 P.M. by President Floyd Ferguson.

The pledge of allegiance was led by Terry Brown , who then welcomed our guests: Verliane & Norm Bennett; Nancy Stucker; Charlene Zink.

President Floyd Ferguson informed us of the change in management at the Library. Carl, whom we have dealt with since returning to the library is retiring and will be replaced by Alicia Mesa.

Secretary Betty Marcum read the minutes from the March meeting and they were accepted as read.

Treasurer Billie Wilkes reported a net loss of $304.10 for the month of March. This loss was due to postage expense and printing for the March workshop. The Treasurer's report will be filed with the minutes, and is

always available for the membership to see at the meetings, or by contacting the Treasurer.

Standing Committee Reports: Programs: Teri Brown ask for ideas for future speakers or programs for meetings. Membership: Marg Polich reported that there are now 32 paid members. Hospitality: Sue Wolfe ask for volunteers for refreshments for the months of June, July & August.

The was a question and discussion regarding belonging to different 'Societies". Some members said they felt the advantage was worth the expense.

Floyd reminded everyone to be thinking about what they could do at the "Show & Tell Meeting in August".

After a short break Floyd Ferguson presented the program "I have the proof...and so do you. Why don't they match?"

The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 P.M.

Respectfully submitted by

, Betty Marcum Secretary.

1.) Saturday May 11, 2013 Yucaipa Valley Genealogical Society Meeting at Yucaipa Branch Library, 12040 5th Street in Yucaipa. 12:00 P.M. Workshop--Continuing "building your genealogy house" and finding your family. 1:00 P.M. Meeting Speaker: Ken Enlow from Corona Genealogical Society Topic: Female Ancestors Come join us. And bring a friend!

2.) Sunday May 26, 2013 Family History Research Class at 7:00 P.M. at the Redlands Family History Center (Stake Center High Council Room), Wabash and 5th, Redlands. Topic: Access to Paid Subscriptions Through the Family History Center Presenter: Annette Leffman

Deadline for articles for the newsletter: Thursday

Before the first Saturday of the month. This next month (June), I need to have

your articles by May 30! If you have articles, pictures or essays you

would like to contribute to the newsletter, please contact the editor, Jamie Daniel, at: jamiedaniel33@

or 909 792-2962

or

P.O. Box 32

Yucaipa, CA 92399-0032

Editor's note: Every year, I try to have a series of articles that help us all with our genealogy research.

This year, I will be using entries from the blog

Marian's Roots and Rambles by

Marian Pierre-Louis. If you need a reminder of Marian's extensive biography,

please take a moment to visit Marian's website, .

Marian's Roots and

Rambles

Please read the following with a reference to Floyd's President's message...we all have memory triggers...Now, all we have to do, is write a few sentences about them when they happen!

Memory

Triggers

historic New England cemeteries with a friend. The memory card on my camera filled up so I stopped taking photos. There weren't that many very old gravestones so I stopped looking at the carvings and started reading the names.

I saw names like Shufelt and Mowry. Names that took me right back to high school. They were names of former classmates that hadn't crossed my mind in years.

High school seems like another lifetime to me. I hadn't thought about these people much less seen them in over 25 years. To have a trigger take me back to a detailed vision of my past was unexpected.

Later in the day while I was driving around I heard the song Eternal Flame by the Bangles. I have a powerful memory of that song from when I was a university study abroad student in London. I had been walking down my street when a young man came toward me singing that song at the top of his lungs. He was so full of joy and life and uninhibited by my presence.

That song yesterday triggered an intense memory trip back to my days in London. I have often had brief thoughts about that year but never the movie-like replay I experienced yesterday. I found myself mentally walking through my old flat and the pub across the street. I remembered the people who I met in London and friends from the pub. I thought about my old roommates and wondered what they were doing now all these years later.

Like I said, I'm not much given to reflecting on my own past. I prefer to look forward and keep building the future. I found myself in a strange position giving in to memories.

Have you ever experienced memory triggers that take you back to a moment in time? Does it give you a fleeting memory or a full blown movie of your past? Do you enjoy the memory triggers or do you typically shut them out like I do?

Photo credit: photo by Sweet Cheeks Willie and used under the creative commons license.

I don't usually dwell on the past. Not my own personal past anyway. My occupation, of course, finds me dwelling on other people's pasts all the time. So I found myself in an interesting position yesterday being confronted by my own history.

Everywhere I turned I ran into memory triggers. This has never happened to me before or I've never been willing to open that door.

The middle of the day found me exploring some

"She is insane, of course.

The family history has become a

mania for her."

~Hercule Poirot

Why

Cite

Sources?

/ So you can find your proof again. Imagine taking weeks to find a record on microfilm, then later you need to re-check the film. If you forget to cite the source, you'll have to repeat that lengthy search.

/ So others can find your proof. If you want to share your research, pass it down to descendants or submit it to a genealogical journal, you'll want to be able to show where you found everything.

/ To give your research reliability and credibility. If you want to be confident you're telling the true story of your ancestors and you want to be recognized for your hard work in doing the research, cite your sources.

/ To help you figure out how to resolve conflicting information. If you have a birth year from a census record that also reinforces a family story, and conflicting information from a birth certificate, you're faced with a dilemma. But the birth certificate will likely be more reliable, because it's a primary document and was created closer to the time of birth.

Once I located her, I made some discoveries of her children and other family members. When I went back to organize my notes, I realized that my handwritten notes were difficult to read, I had abbreviated both "baptism" and "born" with a letter "b," and I had neglected to indicate where I had obtained the names of two of the children.

I was able to straighten out the mess and the confusion, but it took almost as much time to do that as it did to do the research in the first place.

Don't let your excitement over a new discovery cause you to be hasty in taking notes and making citations. When you are trying to figure out where to go next, you will be glad that you don't have to "redo" your original research.

Your ancestors are dead-they are not going anywhere. Posted: 21 Apr 2013 by Michael John Neill

Don't forget! We're selling Stater Bros.

gift cards at the meeting.

The Society receives a percentage back from Stater's...and everyone needs groceries!

The money we make from the cards is paying our bills for the society: speakers, printing, coffee, etc.

Please consider buying a card or two to use when you do your grocery shopping (or give as gift). It really helps our society!

Thank you Betty Marcum and Sue Wolfe for the delicious refreshments you brought to the April meeting. Refreshments for the May meeting will be provided by Marg Polich and Juanita Marshall.

Sue Wolfe, Hospitality

Genealogy Tip of the Day

Don't Slack off When

You're Excited

I recently discovered a probable sister of an ancestor for whom I have been looking for over twenty-five years.

Evidence and Sources

in Genealogy

Evidence

NATURE OF EVIDENCE

DIRECT -- speaks directly to the point in question (e.g., a birth certificate is direct evidence of the date and place of birth of the person for whom it was issued). INDIRECT or CIRCUMSTANTIAL -- provides facts from which a conclusion can be inferred (e.g., approximate year of birth can be inferred from the date of an infant's baptism).

Sources

TYPES OF EVIDENCE

PRIMARY -- personal testimony of an

eyewitness or a record created shortly after the

event by a person with personal knowledge of the facts.

Where and when was the record made? Who made it? For what purpose was it made? Did the information come from someone

with personal knowledge of the facts? Was there any reason for the informant to

provide inaccurate information, either intentionally or unintentionally?

Applying the answers to those questions:

An official birth certificate is better evidence of a date of birth than a diary entry made by an individual not present at the birth. (However, even an official birth record might not provide good evidence of the child's parentage in the case of an adoption because in some places concealment of the identities of the birth parents of an adopted child is officially sanctioned and substitute certificates falsely showing adoptive parents as birth parents are put on record.) Moreover, even official records can and do contain errors.

Death information provided by the attending physician is primary evidence of the date and place of death, but birth information on the same certificate (provided by someone with no personal knowledge of the date and place of birth of the decedent) is secondary evidence.

SECONDARY -- Evidence that is copied or

compiled from other sources or that is written from memory long after an event occurred.

A genealogist should not rely solely on secondary sources but should locate and examine the primary sources upon which a compiled account was based, if extant, of course.

In weighing genealogical evidence, remember that two pieces of evidence from the same source are not really two pieces of evidence. For example, a newspaper obituary might give information which later is used in a compiled county history.

Original Sources

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