Monday, November 27, 2006

Chula Vista Gen Society meeting today

We had our monthly society meeting today, with officer elections and member sharing (a tradition for the November meeting). This year, we asked our members to comment on their "2006 Research Successes" in 3 to 5 minute talks.

We had 11 members share - all the way from long-time members down to one of our newest members (who joined in October). There was a tremendous variety of remarks - from pure research experience to vacation summaries. Here are my summary of each person:

1) Bobbie (new member in 2006) - found immigration records for her German great-grandparents, and found much French-Canadian data while searching for, and finding, a Native American link.

2) Barbara - found data on her biological grandfather in World War I draft registrations and marriage certificate.

3) Martha - found probate records in South Carolina for her RevWar ancestor.

4) Kathy (new member in 2006) - connected with cousin through Internet with 11 generations of family

5) Shirley - found 1850 to 1880 census data for a previously elusive family with four different surname spellings - added a generation of ancestors.

6) John - found land record in PA for an ancestor, then googled the surname and found cousin with two published books, which extended his line 3 more generations.

7) Randy - started a genealogy blog, organized a successful workshop, found many probate records in MA and RI, got a lead on parents of an elusive ancestor, and visited New England to visit relatives, take pictures and drive through Maine, NH, VT and MA looking at the foliage.

8) Bill - received an email from somebody who found a letter with his surname in a purchased used book. He also vacationed in NC and found connections.

9) Helen - vacationed in Philadelphia and found lots of info on her ancestor, James Wilson, a Declaration signer and Supreme Court Justice.

10) Jan - visited the National Archives, DAR, and Colonial Dames libraries in Washington DC and found RevWar connections.

11) Penny (new member in 2006) - received a letter from a distant cousin (who did not respond to her 1993 letter earlier) who provided lots of data and introduced her to cousins in CA and WA.

Our members enjoy these sharing times because they reveal experiences and research tips, in addition to providing insight into their research problems. Several connections were made between members who had suggestions on further research.

Yours truly was elected President of CVGS for the next two years, and very capable people were elected for the officer positions. Our challenge will be to continue the excellent programs, to find ways to help our members in their research, and to not mess up a really good thing.

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