Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Local Society Publications can be a Goldmine

Whenever I travel to an ancestral place, I try to visit the local library, genealogical society and historical society to try to find records that are not available anywhere else. My experience is that documents in these repositories can provide unique records that break down brick wall problems. The problem is finding them!

As a good example -- my San Diego Genealogical Society (SDGS) publishes a quarterly called San Diego Leaves and Saplings. They published the 35th volume in 2007 - this volume has 164 pages of data extracted from San Diego County records. The tables of contents are below:

Volume 35, No. 1 (Jan - Mar 2007):

* In the News -- From San Diego -- page 2
* Silas STEVENS and Irene TRACY Family Bible Record -- page 5
* Index to 1932 Great Register, San Diego County, CA - Carlsbad Precinct No. 1 -- page 9
* Index to 1932 Great Register, San Diego County, CA - Carlsbad Precinct No. 2 -- page 16
* San Diego County Hospital Records, 1925 (continued) -- page 23

Volume 35, No. 2 (Apr - Jun 2007):

* In the News -- From San Diego -- page 42
* Robert E. MILLER Family Bible -- page 45
* Applications and Consents of Parents for Marriage, 1868-1869 -- page 50
* San Diego County Hospital Records, 1925 (continued) -- page 57

Volume 35, No. 3 (Jul - Sep 2007):

* In the News -- From San Diego -- page 82
* Franklin V. CROUCH and Mary Emily "Mollie" MILLER Family Bible -- page 85
* Indigent Register for the County of San Diego, 1891-1894 -- page 90
* BUTLER Family Record -- page 95
* San Diego County Hospital Records, 1925 (continued) -- page 97

Volume 35, No. 4 (Oct - Dec 2007):

* In the News -- From San Diego -- page 122
* Samuel CLARK Family Bible -- page 125
* Marriage Licenses and Certificates, 1880 - 1881 -- page 130
* Marcus Schiller - "The Jewish Horatio Alger of Old Town" by Bob Wohl -- page 132
* San Diego County Hospital Records, 1925 (continued) -- page 134
* Volume 35 (2007) SURNAME Index -- page 151

Fortunately, San Diego Leaves and Saplings is included in the PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) so that knowledgeable researchers can find a reference to records like these. SDGS has put their Tables of Contents online at http://www.rootsweb.com/~casdgs/leaves/index.html. A Google (or other search engine) search will find them if the correct phrase is used.

SDGS has also collected data on many specific topics and put them into publications. A Google (or other search engine) search will find them if the correct phrase is used.

SDGS provides a search box for San Diego Leaves and Saplings, but it finds only the Table of Contents words and not items from the Surname Index in each volume. There are Surname Indexes for all 35 volumes. A researcher has to find a repository with the published volumes and search each Surname Index in order to find their research targets.

In San Diego County, the complete 35 volumes can be found at the Carlsbad Georgina Cole Library, the Chula Vista Civic Center Library, the Escondido Library Pioneer Room, the San Diego Public Library (downtown), and San Diego Genealogical Society library in El Cajon, and the San Diego Regional Family History Center in Mission Valley. A complete list of repositories with complete or partial holdings is found at http://www.rootsweb.com/~casdgs/leaves/holdings.htm.

The current editor of San Diego Leaves and Saplings is Marna L. Clemons. She is aided by a staff of nine dedicated genealogists. Subscriptions to this publication are $15 per year. You can get more information at the SDGS web site.

No comments: