Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Visited the San Diego FamilySearch Library Today

The Chula Vista Genealogical Society had a research trip to the San Diego FamilySearch Library in Mission Valley today, with 12 members attending.  Most of us carpooled the 12 miles from Chula Vista and back.  We arrived at about 10:15 a.m. and left before 2 p.m.  It was a fun time and I got quite a bit of work done.

My colleague, Diane, took a number of photographs - here is me at the computer terminal:


I was viewing FamilySearch digital microfilm - the digitized images from FHL microfilms.  Many of them are available at home on FamilySearch through the FHL Catalog.  Others, like most of the images I captured today, are not available at home because of license restrictions, but you can view them at a FamilySearch Library or Center which has access.  

My preparation for the trip last night was to retrieve my To-Do list from my paper piles, and add several of the items that I wrote about in past blog posts that were not available to view at home to the list.  I created a "Downloads" folder on my USB drive and used that to collect my finds from digital microfilm.

What research items did I seek?  Here's a partial list of the record images I captured:

*  The 1865 marriage license of Elijah McKnew and Jane Whittle in Tuolumne County, California.

*  Death records for Jonathan White (died 1850) and Simon Wade (died 1856) from Killingly, Connecticut vital records.  But there was no record for Miranda (Wade) White in 1850 for some reason.

*  Killingly, Connecticut land deed records for Henry White - I found nine of them from the 1850s.

*  South Kingstown, Rhode Island Town Council records with probate records for Thomas Hazard (1745), Job Card (1777) and Solomon Carpenter (1750).   I also found that Daniel Carpenter's 1784 will was not allowed by the town council for some reason, and is not included in the records.

*  Jamestown, Rhode Island Land Evidences with probate records for Ebenezer Slocum (1741).

*  Hilperton, Wiltshire Surveyor's Account Book (1840-1852) for Richman, Rich and Marshman.  These records were very sparse and very difficult to read.

*  Hilperton, Wiltshire Land Assessments (1773-1884) for Richman, Rich, and Marshman entries - captured 1773 to 1793.  There's more to obtain.

There were items I searched for but did not find, including:

*  Chicago, Illinois birth registration information for my grandmother, Emily Kemp Auble (born in 1899).  She has never been in the indexes, but I hoped that she would be in the microfilms.  Nope.

*  The Dodge County, Wisconsin 1861 marriage record for "David" Smith and Abigail "Vanse," my 2nd great-grandparents.  There was no digital microfilm for this record - I will have to look or it on real microfilm at the FHL.

*  South Kingstown, Rhode Island Town Council and probate records for Mary Hazard (1857);  I forgot that her married surname was Oatley.

*  Little Compton, Rhode Island probate records for Joseph Ladd - I searched without an index and did not find it.

*  North Kingstown, Rhode Island probate records for Ebenezer Slocum (1715).  There was an inventory for him, but the image was very light and not readable.

I had several other items on my To-Do list, but ran out of time to investigate them.  I'm going back on Saturday for the SDGS RootsMagic User's Group and will try to get more.

I also consulted with several CVGS members on their problems, and listened as the FSL staff helped several of my colleagues on the computer in the FamilySearch Family Tree and finding records on digital microfilm.

Not bad for about three hours of work.  I brought home 52 images.

I was looking forward to having pie at Marie Callender's with my colleagues after the drive home, but my wife called while I was driving back and was locked out of the house.  So, I came right home instead of going for pie and camaraderie with my friends.

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Copyright (c) 2018, Randall J. Seaver


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5 comments:

Linda Stufflebean said...

Sounds like a fun day. Check with the court house to determine if the will that wasn't proved was left there but not recorded. It might be in a miscellaneous folder or in loose records. I found a will from 1825 that way.

Diane Gould Hall said...

Heck of a job in a short time Randy.

Unknown said...

How about leaving a duplicate house key outdoors somewhere for such eventualities in the future? Not exactly rocket science.... But you have to remember to put it back (in its hiding place, that is) if and when you have occasion to use it, and that can be a challenge (I speak from experience). Glad you had such a productive library visit. The key (not the front door key, another key) is preparation, which clearly you're a master of.

Christine said...

Wow, you found a lot of stuff during this field trip. Thanks for sharing!

Marian said...

Janine Adams blogged advice today about using a personal laptop to access the FamilySearch "portal" at a FamilySearch Affiliate library. It was a revelation to me, especially because sometimes we have more researchers than work stations at a library.

https://organizeyourfamilyhistory.com/simple-tip-accessing-family-search-documents/