Honolulu County Genealogical Society Blog

Meeting March 10, 2012

2012-02-14T19:41:00.001-10:00

The next meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogy Society will be on March 10th at 9am. Richard Souther will present "Do You Know What Will Be in Your Obituary?" and explain how to write your own obituary.

HCGS Meeting 11 Feb 2012 - DNA

2012-02-11T08:25:00.003-10:00

Tom and Georgia Bopp gave a for the February 11th meeting of HCGS about" DNA & Genealogy - An Update." The interesting power point presentation covered the timeline of DNA testing and analysis for genealogists and the uses of male line Y-DNA, male and female Autosomal DNA, and maternal line's mtDNA. The study and participation in DNA Projects has progressed from the days of scientists Cohanim & Hammer and pioneer Rebecca Cann. Rebecca Cann is a world class researcher in anthropological DNA studies right here at the University of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Georgia has settled on the company of "Family Tree DNA" to do testing. What will the future hold? They speculate that within five years the Full Sequence of Y-DNA testing will be available for $1000... the "Entire Genome." We'll see!

Tom and Georgia Bopp after their presentation having brunch with the hungry geneologists at Waioli Tea Room in Manoa.

Free & Live Genealogy Sessions on your computer

2012-01-30T21:55:00.000-10:00

Announcement from Rootstech http://rootstech.org/

SALT LAKE CITY—RootsTech, a leading family history and technology conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, February 2-4, 2012, announced today that fourteen of its popular sessions will be broadcasted live and complimentary over the Internet. The live broadcasts will give those unable to attend worldwide a sample of this year’s conference content. Interested viewers can watch the live presentations at RootsTech.org. The second-year conference has attracted over 3,000 registered attendees.

The free online sessions include the keynote speakers and a sampling of technology and family history presentations. Following are the fourteen broadcasted sessions and speakers. All times are in Mountain Standard Time (MST):

Thursday, February 2, 2012

8:30-10:00 am, Inventing the Future, as a Community (Keynote Address) by Jay L. Verkler

11:00 am-12:00 pm, Do I Trust the Cloud? by D. Joshua Taylor

1:45-2:45 pm, Effective Database Search Tactics by Kory Meyerink

3:00-4:00 pm, Twitter – It’s Not Just “What I Had for Breakfast” Anymore by Thomas MacEntee

4:15-5:15 pm, Eleven Layers of Online Searches by Barbara Renick

Friday, February 3

8:30-9:30 am, Exabyte Social Clouds and Other Monstrosities (Keynote Address) by Josh Coates

9:45-10:45 am, Publish Your Genealogy Online by Laura G. Prescott

11:00 am-12:00 pm, Optimize Your Site for Search Engines by Robert Gardner

1:45-2:45 pm, Genealogists “Go Mobile” by Sandra Crowly

3:00-4:00 pm, Google’s Toolbar and Genealogy by Dave Barney

Saturday, February 4

8:30-9:30 am, Making the Most of Technology to Further the Family History Industry (Keynote Address) by Tim Sullivan and Ancestry.com Panel

9:45-10:45 am Genealogy Podcasts and Blogs 101 by Lisa Louise Cooke

11:00 am-12:00 pm, Future of FamilySearch Family Tree by Ron Tanner

1:45-2:45 pm, Privacy in a Collaborative Environment by Noah Tutak

HCGS Meeting 14 Jan 2012 - Mapping Software

2012-01-12T17:03:00.002-10:00

The January meting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society was Saturday, the 14th. board members were elected. Jan has resigned her position of newsletter editor.   Bob Stevens will continue as President; Richard Souther will take over the duties of newsletter editor and Program Chair. The Newsletter will be published quarterly instead of every two months.
   An interesting program based on a Legacy Webinar was presented about "Mapping Software for Genealogists" The software covered included:
1. Animap software - fpor the US and Canada $79
  2. Legacy Mapping Tools
  3. Centennia - for the ever changing boundries of US counties since their inception.
4. Map My Family Tree - spots all the locations in your family database $39.95

Dec 2011 HCGS Holiday Brunch

2011-11-22T09:48:00.000-10:00

The annual holiday brunch, organized by Jim Deutch, will be on Sunday, Dec 4th 10 am at the Officers' Club at Hickam Air Base. See the Honolulu County Genealogical Society web page for details:
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hihcgs/programs.html

HCGS Meeting 12 Nov 2011

2011-11-09T09:20:00.003-10:00

The November 12th, 2011 meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society was a workshop about genealogy data software, such as Family Tree Maker, Legacy, Roots Magic, The Master Genealogist or other that members might be using. Many members brought their laptops. The majority of people present used Family Tree Maker so Bobby covered some information on that at the beginning of the meeting, using his laptop and a digital projector. Questions came out rapidly, and various members were able to give the answers.
    One question was what to do with a Gedcom file you receive in your e-mail from a cousin so you can share genealogy family tree information.  The first word of advice was not to merge anyone else's family tree with yours, but see what the other family tree has, look for the information with sources, and use that to continue your own research.
     As might happen, a blogging "expert" on Family Tree Maker software, Russel Worthington, posted a series of how he opened a gedcom he received from a friend and created a separate tree for it in Family Tree Maker 2012. Russ gives great instruction and visuals on how he goes about doing different things in Family Tree Maker. The link to his seven consecutive posts about the Gedcom is at his blog: "FamilyTreeMakerUser"   at
http://ftmuser.blogspot.com/2011/11/file-sharing-and-brick-walls-part-1.html
I recommend that users of Family Tree Maker subscribe (free) to his site you you can benefit from the great information Russell figures out.
    Another terrific blogger who does research on using Family Tree Maker and Legacy is Randy Seaver. His blog is at http://www.geneamusings.com/ Randy comments on the use of the gedcom and Russel's advice, in one post on the Nov 25th posting.


          Family Tree Maker 2012   - where to start a new separate tree

Oct 8 HCGS Meeting

2011-10-02T21:02:00.010-10:00

Harriet Hoffman gave a power point presentation called Find Them, Collect Their Stories, Leave A Legacy. It was about the methodology used in collecting genealogical data for her book, Collected Writings of Joseph Chernoff.(Goodman). Newcomers as well as experienced genealogists found it interesting as well as helpful.

Genealogy Seminar in Oahu 23 Nov 2011

2011-09-08T10:01:00.002-10:00

Genealogy Help in Hawaii and the World --Seminar

Wednesday, 23 November 2011 from 9am to 2pm at BYU-Hawaii, Aloha Center, Laie (near the Polynesian Culture Center - NE Shore)
Seminar fee of $15 to include morning refreshments, buffet luncheon, ethnic experts to assist you

All attendees will also receive a FREE online course (value $89) and free parking

"GenealogyHelp in Hawaii and the World" seminar will include ethnic experts from:
--Canada/U.S./Europe by Louise St. Denis of national Institute of Genealogical Studies
--Hawaiian by Lenneth Lorenzo of " The Hawaiian Geneaologist"
--Chinese by Peggy Lee, descendant of Chinese immigrants
--Japanese by Dr. Bernice Hirai of Hiroshima Genealogy Study Group
--Portuguese by Dan Nelson of Portuguese Historical & Genealogical Society
--Filipino by Bryan Quisquirin a descendant of Filipino immigrants

Additional exhibits will include:
- African American Diversity Cultural Center of Hawaii
- Family History Centers
- Friends of 'Iolani Palace
- Hawaiian Mission Children's Society
- Honolulu County Genealogical Society (Martha Reamy will have books available for donation)
- Okinawa Hawaii Genealogical Society

Pre-registration is required by October 20 with Fran McFarland fjmvana@juno.com

If you have questions, please contact me.
Fran McFarland fjmvana@juno.com
808-203-7245

HCGS Meeting Sat 10 Sep 2011

2011-09-06T12:19:00.002-10:00

The September meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society covered the topic of Finding Your Female Ancestors. It was presented in a Webinar format courtesy of Legacy Family Tree.

Pictured here is Jim Deutsch discussing his great findings of his family while attending the IAJGS - International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies at Washington DC recently.
Harriet Hoffman also discussed her trip there and the reception of her newly published book "Collect Writings"... of her grandfather - a translation from Yiddish to English. She will discuss it further at the October meeting.
The November meeting will be a workshop about various family tree software, so bring your laptops and questions... at least Family Tree Maker, Legacy, and Roots Magic will have their own groups of discussion and troubleshooting.

HCGS Aug 13, 2011 meeting

2011-08-09T10:30:00.004-10:00

The meeting of the HCGS on Saturday August 13th highlighted an upcoming genealogy seminar, what Webinars are all about, and how to order films from familysearch.org.

Fran looking at some of the books to be available at the "Genealogy Help" seminar in November

Fran McFarland discussed an upcoming genealogy event she is putting together to be held in Laie, near the North Shore. It will be at BYU-Hawaii on Wednesday, November 23 (10am-2pm). Louise St. Denis, will be the keynote speaker. She is president and founder of National Institute of Genealogical Studies (NIGS) which offer online genealogy courses. She would like some members to assist her at this event. We discussed the schedule of the seminar and it is tentatively as follows:

"Genealogy Help - in Hawaii and Internationally"

0900 Registration with continental breakfast (so many people will be traveling so far to get to Laie)

1000 - 1100 First Session - Lois St. Denis to explaining the NIGS courses, including Fran's new Hawaii Crash Course, and also their benefit to genealogical societies. Also discussing Hawaii and International genealogy concerns.
1100 -1200 Buffet lunch at Cafeteria (to network with speakers/experts/one another)

1200 - 1400 Panel of experts of Hawaii, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese and Filipino immigration and lives in Hawaii.

1400 Evaluation and dismiss (so everyone can prepare for Thanksgiving)

Registration fees of $10 will cover the meals and seminar.

Table displays will be available for ethnic and society groups.

There will be a table of donated books and genealogical items that have been donated, to offer for free or minimal charge.

Donna Wendt briefly discussed attending the So. Calif. Genealogical Society Jamboree in Burbank in June. She showed how to get a compilation of Webinars that are being offered so you can register to watch them from your home computer... Go to http://www.geneawebinars.com/ which Thomas MacEntee has created to make it easier for people to find the webinars. Also at that site - when you scroll down -- is a list of archived past webinars that may be viewed for free or for a fee. She brought back some CD's that contain recorded Webinars that LegacyFamilyTree.com has produced. A portion of "Google For Genealogists" by Thomas MacEntee, was played for the group to get an idea of how helpful these Webinars can be.

Bobby showing the CD from the online webinar "Google For Genealogists" by Thomas MacEntire

Bob Stevens discussed the new system for ordering films for the LDS Family History Centers. You find the microfilm in the Library Catalog of www.familysearch.org then proceed to order the film online, paying for its rental, as you would any other online purchase. Then you travel to the FHC you've designated that it be sent to, so you can view the film. The rental is good for 90 days. Hawaii does not yet have this system in place at their Centers. It will eliminate a trip to a Center just to order the microfilm in person. You will need to set up an online account to do this. The August announcement of this new film ordering service is located at https://www.familysearch.org/node/1264 and those geographic areas that have the new system in place are listed.

We always have snacks at the meetings!

June 11, 2011 Honolulu Co Genealogical Society meeting

2011-06-06T13:44:00.000-10:00

On Saturday June 11th, the Honolulu County Genealogical Society has it's meeting starting at 9am in Manoa. President, Bob Stevens, says that he will do a presentation on "Organizing Your Documents on the Computer and Online". It will be an extension following Richard's presentation at the last meeting. He will have an introduction to "Cloud Computing". I'll be attending the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree on the same date, so will regretfully miss our meeting. I'll also miss the July 9th meeting in Honolulu, but I'm sure it will be good. I'll be back to report on the August 13th meeting. Donna

May Meeting of HCGS

2011-05-10T14:09:00.001-10:00

Genealogist Richard Souther, at the May meeting of Honolulu County Genealogical Society, presented a power point presentation on "Organizing Your Family Photos." Richard used his ancestors' photos, including Francis Lincoln Souther, the first victim of enemy fire in the Civil War at Big Bethel, VA, to illustrate the various problems and solutions of saving, organizing and using photos. How to label your photos was the highlight with many in the audience needing solutions to their labeling dilemas. And a nice way to index photos is using Microsoft Word for a way to index your thumbnail photos. Photos are essential for displays at reundions and various ways was shown, including a collection from youngest to oldest photos of one individual and a collage of family photos. Storage of your precious photos was also discussed.

Richard Souther presentating "Organizing Your Family Photos"

Half of the audience as Richard does his presentation

A labeling system using portrait of Cornelia Woodruff Casterline

Francis Lincoln Souther portrait in a frame

Richard recently received a software photo program called ProShow Gold 4.5 which can be used to create a custom and enjoyable slide show with narration, titles, music, etc. He showed just the first part of "The Story of Wong Yuen... Journey to Gold Mountain" a photos show by his friend Chauncey Tracy Wong Yuen created in ProShow Gold software. Everyone was mesmerized by the show and is hopeful that Chauncey can join the club sometime in the future and discuss the entire story he told and discuss how to use ProShow Gold or other photo software for telling their ancestors' stories.

Apr 9, 2011 HCGS Meeting & Attie Aletha Acers

2011-04-17T10:18:00.003-10:00

The April meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society proved to be interesting, educational and very entertaining. Martha Reamy spoke to the beginning genealogists passing out forms where they could begin recording their famiy tree. A short U-Tube video was viewed made by the National Genealogical Society about "Getting Started" in genealogy. Using the Clear-Wire wireless internet router, those with their own laptop computers could follow the searches shown through the main digital projector, thanks to the efforts of Lenore Hansen and Bob Stevens.

------Susan Victor giving her presentation about her grandmother "Letha"

With an audience of about 30 members and guests, member Susan Victor made a presentation via DVD about her grandmother Attie Aletha Acers Steele Burgess. With the help of her nephew, and other friends and relatives, Susan, used photos, videos and narrations about her grandmother's life to creat a multi-media presentatio. She used audio bites coaxed from present day descendants to give voices to the video show.

Attie Acer Steele

Rollo Steele

Attie Aletha Acers was born about 1881 at her grandparents home in Delaware Co., Iowa, returning with her mother to their Nebraska homestead, near Concord, soon after. With aspiratons to be a teacher she attended Wayne (Neb) Normal School, now Wayne State College. She was hired to teach at a rural school and boarded with a farm family of German immigrants while teaching. Soon, at age 18, on May 3, 1899 she married Rollo Steele a businessman at the Sioux City stockyards. The couple spent eight years on a ranch in Charles Mix Co., SD on an Indian reservation. There their son, Harold, learned to speak the Sioux language before he could speak English. She also had daughters, Margaret, and Alice. The Steeles moved from the ranch to Wagner, SD, then to Sioux City in 1918. Her husband died in 1945, but in 1954, when she was 72, she married Charles Burgess and she relocated to Long Beach, California. After he died in 1966 she returned to Sioux City in 1975. At age 99 the Sioux City Journal wrote an article about her. She was a unique and independent individual, keeping up with modern trends, writing poetry and prose, and practicing yoga on the beach in Long Beach, when she lived there.
Below are photos from her family album:

At a table display Susan showed examples of her grandmother's needlework and sewing abilities, old photo album, and genealogical charts. Susan even brought refreshments of various cakes and fruits that were reminiscent of both of her grandmothers, one Grandma Attie, who ate a healthy diet, and of her other grandmother who hadn't thought of that. All was delicious, including "Depression Cake" , no-bake fruit bars, and the healthy fresh Hawaiian pineapple.

"Letha" Burgess age 99 yr

Mar- Apr 2011 HCGS Meetings

2011-04-07T13:17:00.001-10:00

I've been traveling, but wanted to mention about our March 12th and April 9th 2011 meetings of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society. These two meetings will focus on Beginning Genealogy, hosted by Marta Reamy. The March meeting drew many members, and the April meeting will continue with a focus on talking over problems and getting some answers for questions. If you have any issues to discuss be sure to attend.

There may be some new faces at the meeting because members Kathy Hudson, Richard Souther, Pat Brown and Donna Wendt were talking about genealogy, family history, and roots from Hawaii to Scotland at last weekend's Scottich Festival at Kapiolani Park. Kathy set up tables for HCGS and the local DAR. It was a great event and if you've never visited the event, be sure to attend next year.

Pat Brown answering question

Kathy and husband Don Hudson (in his kilt)

Feb 12, 2012 HCGS Meeting - DNA

2011-01-13T10:13:00.000-10:00

The Honolulu County Genealogical Society meeting at 9AM on Feb 12, 2011 at the Manoa Gardens Community room will feature Tom and Georgia Bopp, experts and Society members discussing:

Recent Developments in Genetic Genealogy

In the past year, tests of autosomal DNA have become available for use by genealogists. Tom and Georgia Bopp will review the various types of DNA tests available, and will discuss the strengths and limitations of these DNA methods.

Genealogy Workshops Honolulu

2011-01-13T09:52:00.004-10:00

Take advantage of these terrific workshops for genealogy research and family history documentation on Oahu

Local Genealogy Events:

Genealogy at Mission House Museum
by Nanette Napoleon and Dianne Castro

24 Jan or Feb 7, 2011 9am to 2 pm.

$65 to the public, five-hour workshop.

Jan 24, and repeating on Feb 7th there will be workshops for those interested in tracing their family trees, learning basic research strategies. In addition, information will be given about genealogical resources available in Hawaii. Register by Jan 17th, call Christopher Wong at 447-3916.
..See the Star-Advertiser Newspaper, Today section, p. G10; Jan 9, 2011

Nanette with her book, giving a cemetery tour

Workshops to Learn How to Document the
Stories of Older Family Members

Jan 22, 2011 10 am to 1 pm at Ing Direct Cafe, 1958 Kalakaua Ave. (Waikiki)

and

March 12, 2011 10 am to 1 pm at Kailua United Methodist Church

$45 for public Call 585-9977 to register or download a form at http://www.kokuamau.org/

For more information visit http://www.windwardfilms.com/"Gerentologist and documentary filmaker Janette Sargent-Hamill will lead a pair of workshops that will help people learn how to document the stories of their aging loved ones. For the past five years, Sargent-Hamil has produced documentaries that preserve the memories of seniors. With a little training, anyone can do the same thing, she said." HNL Star-Advertiser 9 Jan 2011

Janette preparing a Video for a friend

Jan 8, 2011 Meeting of HCGS

2010-12-17T17:19:00.001-10:00

The meeting of the HCGS for January was held Saturday, January 8th 2011. General genealogical information was discussed, along with proposing future Society presnetations. The election of the Board of Directors for 2011 and selection of officers was held. Continuing officers are: President Bob Stevens, V.P. Tom Bopp, Treasurer Harriet Hoffman, Secretary Martha Reamy. Board members are: Donna Wendt, Lenore Hansen, and Kathy Hudson (new). Refreshments were brought by Martha and Lenore. After the meeting eight members re-assembled at the Waioli Tea Room for brunch (see photo).

Waioli Tea Room - after the meeting

L-R: Bill Miller, Harriet Hoffman, Pat Brown, Kathy Hudson

Lenore Hansen, Martha Reamy, Donna Wendt, Bob Stevens

Dec 5th HCGS Holiday Brunch - Hickam O'Club

2010-12-02T12:39:00.006-10:00

The annual Holiday Brunch for the Honolulu County Genealogical Society was held in the Hickam Room at the Hickam Air Force Base Officers' Club on Sunday December 5th. Buffet and party were from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Scenic Pearl Harbor was adjacent to the Club. As usual the event drew members of the society ready to eat from the fabulous buffet, have champaign, eat desserts, listen to the music, and be a part of the fun gift exchange-and exchange - and exchange. Some of the small gifts were very popular and had three "owners" before they were retired. Thanks to Jim Deutch for making the arrangements at the Club and sending out passes for the civilian.

13 Nov 2010 HCGS Meeting - Where Does It Go When You're Dead?

2010-11-20T15:45:00.005-10:00

    Leilani Adams Maguire led the discussion on: "Where Does It Go When You're Gone?" She has the dilemma of finding the right homes for her cherished family heirlooms . One of Lelani's grandmothers died a while back and Lelani and her cousin have been trying to go through what she left. For example they found 200 years worth of bibles, one with many locks of hair in it, yet no names attached. She scanned the pages of the bibles with information and the covers then happily the libraries of the small Midwest town accepted the bibles for their collections (she kept the one with the locks of hair). She found over twenty daguerreotype pictures of people. There is a footlocker full of photographs from the 1800s in Hawaii.  Another example of the family heirloom dilemma stems from 1957 when her other grandmother, Lillian August Tewksbury, died. Since then Leilani has kept her wedding gown and is wondering what best to do with it, as it is getting fragil and slowly disintegrating?
   Discussion followed:
   1. Decide who is going to get YOUR stuff. Will an adult child of yours who is not interested now, be interested later? Would a more distant family member conserve these treasures? How about a historical society or museum? Her grandfather, Henry Jackson Adams drove the first "Rio" automobile across the United States, with two kids - she found a home for his original scrapbooks - wrapped in deerskin - in a museum in Lansing, Michigan.
   2. Mark items as to who will get them - items in boxes or bags may be seen as trash, but if labels and names of who they should go to are on them, the chances of their survival is greater. Makes a list of these items or collections and keep them with your important papers.
   3. Start giving your heirlooms away now while you have complete control over these items. The recipients will be able to understand who significant the items are. For photographs the website http://www.deadfred.com/ was mentions as a place to send scanned images of unnamed people. Also local museums may welcome photographs of local people, even if not identified.

Lelilani with her grandmother's wedding gown

4. Fabrics are very hard to maintain forever. "Foxing" appears even when wrapped in acid free tissue paper, etc. Even with costly repair/restoration her grandmother's wedding gown would be fragile... and still would need to find someone to take it and store it. Using portions of the fabric for heirloom / scrapbook displays was discussed.

5. Stories are a type of heirloom that can be preserved, but only if recorded some way. Whether in print, on voice recording, stored on the internet or on printed page... it should be done by everyone. Once you are dead your unique stories are gone too, unless preserved in some way.

6.The question is where to find family, libraries, or genealogical societies as repositories of your genealogical research paperwork, heirlooms, boxes of assorted family treasures, bibles, pictures, movies, etc. Questions arise that if a library or society will accept some of your material, what format does it need to be in? Papers in folders? Three-ring binders? CDs? DVDs? Photo albums? Now's the time to plan ahead.

This was a very interesting meeting, thanks to Leilani Maguire.
      ~~~~~~~~~~~~
I've included some correspondence from a genealogist cousin in Texas who answered my (Donna Wendt's) question about "What to do with Your Stuff" -- Robert "Larry" Akin responded:

Larry Akin responds to question

"I separate my stuff into parts. One part are my local family heirlooms. I have some country art that my Dad created, for example. And there are things like the abstract on our family farm that has been in the family since 1857 and other historical pieces that are of most interest just to my children and siblings. I want all of these things to go to someone in my local family and I believe that I can find the "right" people for them. Note that most of these "things" are either of no interest outside of my local family or are available in other repositories like the county courthouse.
Then there is the material that I have collected on the Akin family more distant than my local family. I have met folks that keep extensive journals of their research activity, but that is not me. I just don't write much down as I go along. What little I do have, I intend to scan and put on my hard drive along with all the rest of the stuff. I have done a lot of scanning of materials, and I intend to continue doing that. As I scan stuff, I toss the paper unless it is an original that has historical value.

Note that I keep several backups of this digital data. Hopefully, I will end up with just these historical originals in paper form. These I intend to donate to the NEHGS. I picked them because most of our family originated from New England and because I know that they will appreciate the gift, preserve it, and make it available to others. I helped another genealogist donate her notebooks to NEHGS although I scanned the pages before I sent them off. They are on the CD.

The digital material that I scanned will be sent to some family members, who are interested in our history. I will also give copies to my children, cousins, and siblings although so far few have expressed much interest in genealogy. And, I will include DVDs of this material when I make the donation to NEHGS. I may also send copies to some of the public libraries that are in locations that are important in our history - like the Akin Library in Quaker Hill, Johnstown Library, Dartmouth/New Bedford Libraries, etc.

Then there is the "David Akin of Newport, R.I." family tree on Ancestry.com. This is what I consider my primary repository of genealogy materials. I have no idea how Ancestry.com will evolve during the remaining years of my life, but I am going to continue to add media, sources and names. Hopefully, most of my digital library can be uploaded.

I do not know if or how the ownership of a database on Ancestry.com can be transferred to a different person, but I certainly hope that I will be able to give the ownership rights to someone that will keep it going. I have a number of family members on the site as collaborators, and I intend to continue to refine and expand this group so that there will continue to be a community interested in the material.

Then there is the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. I am keeping a close eye on their offerings and capabilities. They may eclipse everyone else and become the repository of choice for genealogy materials. If so, I will try to switch horses."

Revolutionary Ancestors? Visit DAR meeting 5 Dec 2010

2010-11-18T10:31:00.001-10:00

How to use the DAR library in Honolulu
to find your Revolutionary War veteran/patriot
On Saturday, 04 December 2010 from 9:30 a.m. to noon, a meeting will be held at the Aloha Chapter NSDAR Memorial Library, 1914 Makiki Heights Drive, Honolulu ( lower level of house; parking on street) for those with possible U.S. Revolutionary War ancestors.

Attendees should bring notes and/or genealogical charts or other information showing name, dates and locations of the ancestor they are seeking. There is no Internet access at the library, so do your homework online first and we will show you how to substantiate that information. There are substantial resources at the library for research.
Seating is limited; please reserve your space by Tuesday, 30 Nov 2010 by emailing khudson888@aol.com.
Conducted by Kathy Hudson, Registrar/Volunteer Genealogist, Aloha Chapter, NSDAR

HCGS Meeting - October 9, 2010

2010-10-01T22:39:00.000-10:00

The next meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society is October 9th, Saturday at 9 am. The topic for all to participate in is: Brick walls: Techniques for knocking them down, including whole-family research.

HCGS Meeting Sep 11, 2010 "Portuguese in Hawaii"

2010-08-14T16:12:00.002-10:00

Robert Castro of the Portuguese Genealogical and Historical Society

The September meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society featured speaker Robert Castro of the Portuguese Genealogical and Historical Society of Hawaii.

He spoke about the society, and the immigration of Portuguese in Hawaii. The Portuguese Society library is located at 810 N. Vineyard, Blvd, Rm 11, Honolulu, HI at the Palama Settlement buildings.

They have a popular library and has many activities and resources. The volunteers are very willing to help anyone. Annual dues are $10 each or $12 per family. Phone (808) 841-5044. Whether of Portuguese ancestry, or not, the meeting was of interest to all.

Robert played a DVD on the history and immigration of a Portuguese family from the Azores and Madera to Hawaii, and the life of the father through various jobs on the sugar cane plantations.

All these folks have Portuguese heritage

The "Thomas Bell" a ship that brought Portuguese Immigrants to Hawaii

Note the Portuguese Pride T-Shirt!

HCGS August 2010 Mtg - "Genealogical Societies"

2010-07-26T11:59:00.058-10:00

The August meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society Meeting was held Saturday August 14th, at the Manoa Gardens Community club house. The topic "Genealogical Societies" offered members the chance to discuss the genealogical societies they belong to, and why they have joined them. Descriptions of the societies were given and samples of the newsletters and journals were shown. Examples of how the societies have influenced or aided their family research were given. Story after story was give to describe the kind and wonderful things members of these societies have done. Gratitude goes out to these societies - so far from Hawaii - that provide so much to others. We reolved to joing more genealogy societies!

    Included in the discussion on Genealogical Societies the members belong to were:
Honolulu County Genealogical Society - of course !   http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hihcgs/
National Genealogical Society http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/
Virginia Genealogical Society http://www.vgs.org/
Virginia-North Carolina Piedmont Genealogical Soc http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vancpgs/Index.htm
Southern California Genealogical Society http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/
Warren County (Iowa) Genealogical Society http://www.warrencountyhistory.org/genealogy.html
Iowa Genealogical Society http://www.iowagenealogy.org/
Harrodsburg Historical Society http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kymercer/hhs/
Jewish Genealogical Society of Los Angeles http://www.jgsla.org/
Western Pennsylvania Genealogical Society http://www.wpgs.org/
Grassland Society (Anne Arundel County, Maryland)
Eaton County (Michigan) Genealogical Society http://www.miegs.org/
Genealogical Forum of Oregon http://www.gfo.org/
New England Historical and Genealogical Society (Boston, MA) http://www.newenglandancestors.org/
Portuguese Genealogical Society (Honolulu Hawaii)
Ontario (Canada) Genealogical Society   http://www.ogs.on.ca/index.php

Other groups discussed:
DAR - Daughters of the Revolution http://www.dar.org/library/
PERSI - Periodical Research Index at Allen Co. (Indiana) Public Library http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/genealogy/persi.html
The International Review of Jewish Genealogy http://www.avotaynu.com/
Snodgrass Clan Society http://www.snodgrass-clan.com/

July 10, 2010 HCGS Mtg - "Preservation of Documents & Photos"

2010-07-04T13:42:00.004-10:00

Romy Panko discussed how to preserve irreplaceable documents and photographs at the Honolulu County Genealogy Society's July 10, 2010. In an interesting slide presentation with many actual examples of problems and solutions, she gave us a lot to thing about.

Rosemary Panko

July 10th meeting, 2010

June 12, 2010 HCGS meeting - HEIRLOOMS

2010-06-09T08:24:00.010-10:00

The June meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society was Saturday, June 12th. The first part of the meeting was a group discussion about various topics inclusind the pilot portion of http://www.familysearch.org/ which is easy to access (click pull down tab "Search Records" --> "Records Search Pilot") and has more and more significant small databases now digitalized and indexed. Also mentioned was the Family History Library Catalogue for resources available at LDS Family History Centers. Additionally the DNA research concept of autosomal DNA testing with FamilyTreeDNA and 23AndMe were discussed.
The main portion of the meeting was about Heirlooms and their original owners. Several members brought an heirloom to show the group and tell about the ancestor that originally owned it.
Suzanne Case brought a beautiful Wisconsin winter scene painted by her grandmother, Mertie Livermore b. 1871 in 1883. Her grandmother lived in Beaver Dam, WI at the time. Her married name was Espenett. The most unique part of the painting is that it was done on a plate made of paper mache! It was creatively recessed into an open frame and attached with velcro. In addition Suzanne showed a book, compiled by her sister, called "The Livermore Family Stories" which includes stories of the family ancestors.
See below:

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Lelani Pyle brought a unique necklace owned by her grandmother, Phebe Jane Fouts, mae of tiny metal beeds, seed pearls and a pendant of mother of pearl. It had two strands and doesn't have any history of it in particular. However her grandmother was quite unique herself. Born Phebe Jane Fouts in Benson County, Iowa. At some point she changed her name to Birdie May Baxter. About 1874, she taught school in 1882-83 in Lawrence, Kansas. There she married Adna G. Clark in 1897, and became an Army Officer's wife. Her husband had an illustrious Army career and rose to the rank of Colonel. He was stationed in Hawaii and they moved to Hawaii in 1919. As Jane Comstock Clark she attended the University of Hawaii, receiving a B.A. in literature, and became a published poet. One of the poetry books she wrote about Hawaii was brought to the meeting. It also included poems in the Hawaiian language.
Photos below are Lailani Pyle holding the necklace which is pictured next. Then photo of her grandmother, Jane and her Army officer husband, Adna Clark. Finally the photo of Jane Clark in Hawaii.

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Jim Deutch brought a photograph of his father, Charles Nathaniel Deutch, in his Ford Roadster car. His father was born in 1897 and lived in Buffalo, New York for many years. But later in life moved to St. Louis Missouri. the photograph was taken about 1920 and shows his mother(?) and grandparents, Jacob and Fanny Deutch. He told an intersting story of a chism between the brothers and one how his surnamed changed changed from Dutch to Deutch and even Dietch in the same line. See the photo of Jim below:

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Harriet Hoffman brought a book of a collection of her grandfather, J. J. Goodman's, essays in Yiddish. Written at the turn of the 20th century, her grandfather, born abt 1863 and originally surname was Chernoff, immigrated from Russia in 1890. He moved on to Winnepeg, Canada working as an immigration officer for the railroad during its westward expansion in southern Canada, eventually becoming a journalist for a Winnepeg newspaper. He spoke ten Slavic languages and was undoubtedly influenced by the "Time of Enlightenment" for Jewish / Yiddish authors, and by the Russian socialist environment where he was raised and educated. One day Harriet's cousin, Leah, while doing genealogical research in the Winnepeg historic newspapers, discovered an ad for a literary meeting to discuss a new book of essays by her grandfather. This collection of essays, in book form, was then traced to an old copy at the Amherst University Library, in Massachusetts. It was in Yiddish and had been digitalized at the Yiddish Book Museum through the generosity of movie director, Stephen Speilberg. Harriet and Leah could not rest until they found a translator and had the essays accurately translated from Yiddish to English... a daunting task. Through serendipidous circumstances, they found Hannah, in New York, who has done a tremendous work in the translations. The result is that Harriet has now contracted with an online publisher of books, and at last, the Goodman family is going to be able to read J. J. Goodman's book and gain a unique insight into the perspective of a Russian Jewish immigrant of the time. And from understanding their progenator's struggles, they can better understand themselves.
Below is a photo of Harriet and the Yiddish book of J. J. Goodman's essays, written in the early 1900's with a notebook of those pages in English translation.

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After seeing Suzanne Case's grandmother's painted plate, Susan Ledger Steele Victor was reminded of the China painting her mother, Frances Margaret Speaker, and her mother's four sisters painted many years ago. The five sisters' plates are online at the speaker Family website. Susan had a tough time as a child trying to understand why her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage didn't qualify her for being just like her classmates, who were Dutch, from the Netherlands. And they even only lived 30 miles from Holland, Michigan, to boot! Susan has done a great deal of research and besides the Speaker line from England, her family is hoping to complete more of their German line before they go on a trip to Germany next year. Her grandfather was Wiant Speaker. Below is a picture of Susan Victor with some of her genealogy:

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Donna Hague Wendt brought a letter opener that belonged to her father, Alfred Vincent Hague. She remembers him opening the mail every evening after work in his rocker in the living room. The letter opener is shaped like a propeller. Vince Hague, b. 1909 Des Moines, Iowa, was always an airplane buff, from the days he was a wing-walker on biplanes when he was a teenager - and until his father found out! He also became a private pilot, and was a Captain in the Civil Air Patrol. One night Donna was watching a TV documentary about Charles Lindberg and the Spirit of St. Louis airplane. The propeller looked just like the letter opener. She researched it online and discovered that it was a replica of the propeller made for the Spirit of St Louis's memorable flight across the Atlantic. No wonder that propeller-letter opener found it's way into the house. See photo of Donna with the propeller and photos of her father and the original Spirit of St Louis propeller manufacturer.

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Claudette Derricotte, Martha Reamy and Jean Neuer brought lots of home cooked food for a morning snack and a wonderful buffet brunch. It was absolutely delicious and there was so much food that everyone was given food to take home.

May 8, 2010 Meeting review

2010-06-09T08:22:00.002-10:00

Honolulu County Genealogical Society -- May Meeting

The meeting for May was about Lineage Societies. Bob Stevens presented a brief outline of the subject including the incentive to join and some variety of societies. Members discussed different societies they belong to. Included in the discussion were the

--Mayflower Society;

--Order of the Crown of Charlemagne,

--Associated Daughters of Early American Witches (two members belong - descendants of the Salem Witch Trial women).

--Daughters of the American Revolution -- The DAR was founded in about 1890 and the Hawaii Chapter founded in 1897. Kathy Hudson is a member and said she originally joined because it was before computers and she wanted to be sure her research was documented somewhere. They maintain four boarding schools in Appalachia as service projects. also for "supplemental ancestors" = Children of American Revolution; and there is the Sons of the American Revolution with 26,000 members.

--Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic - which is for the Union military descendants

--Order of the First Families of Virginia - which is by invitation only, and Bob Stevens is willing to accept an invitation.

--Order of Founders & Patriots of America - for descendants of males who settled in America before 1657.

--Order of Descendants of Ancient Planters - in Virginia

--National Society of Hugonauts

--Colonial Dames - the Hawaii Chapter does much to support Iolani Palace in Honolulu

--Daughters of Hawaii

--Order of Kamehameha I

Below is a photo of Richard Souther with his certificate of one of the lineage societies he belongs to, and the other photo is of some of the members at the meeting.

May 8, 2010 Meeting

2010-05-04T12:09:00.000-10:00

I was away in Peru and Ecuador for the last meeting in April, but I hear there were interesting discussions on libraries and topics of genealogical interest, including the TV series "Who Do You Think You Are."

The May meeting for the Honolulu County Genealogical Society will be Saturday, May 8th, at the usual Manoa Gardens Community Building in Honolulu, at 9 am. President Bob Stevens says "Our meeting this Saturday will feature the discussion on Lineage Societies. Some of us will present what we know about the societies, but the success of the meeting will depend on the participation of us all."

Donna

April 10, 2010 HCGS Meeting

2010-04-08T16:12:00.001-10:00

The April 2010 meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society will be discussion type forum with the topic covering "Genealogy Libraries." Members are invited to tell us about your visit to the Family History Center at Salt Lake City, National Archives and Records Admin. Library, Allen County Indiana Library, or any other library you have visited.
Don't forget to watch "Who do you Think You Are" on Friday night at 7pm on KHNL. Time will be set aside during the meeting to discuss this show.

On Saturday April 10th and Sunday, April 11th, Kathy Hudson and Richard Souther will be manning tables at the "Scottish Festival" at Kapi`olani Park.   Members are invited to help out at the HCGS table on either day.

The May meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society will include a discussion on "Genealogical and Lineage Societies. Bob Stevens will have a short slide show then various members will discuss the different societies they are familiar with. I know that Richard Souther will discuss the Nâ `Ohana o Hawai`i (The Families of Hawai`i), and possible Kathy Hudson will discuss the Daughters of the American Revolution.   Donna Wendt is looking forward to describing the Warren County, Iowa Genealogical Society and the Iowa Genealogical Society, both of which she has long-distance membership.

March 2010 HCGS -- Cpt Cook & the Slomski Clan

2010-04-08T15:54:00.003-10:00

The March meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society featured two speakers and about 25 people attended. Ellie Nordyke presented the story of Captain James Cook's voyages in the Pacific, with emphasis on his background in England growing up, and his unfortunate death at the Big Island of Hawaii on his third voyage in 1780. She created an enjoyable DVD which showed the story and also illustrated many of the images in her new book "Pacific Images - Views from Captain Cook's Third Voyage" After the video she answered many questions from the members.

The second speaker was Claudette Derricotte (below) who presented a historical and memorial glimpse of her mother. She searched for and collected old photos needed to illustrate the story of her mother and the Slomski Clan. It was an interesting and comprehensive life story. We waited many months for this presentation and it did not disappoint!

Who Do You Think You Are

2010-03-10T11:19:00.001-10:00

The first of the family history/genealogy series "Who Do You Think You Are" has aired, and I think was fantastic! I've seen the executive producer, Lisa Kudow promoting it on The View, Martha Stewart, and Oprah tv shows. There is a good commentary in yesterday's Honolulu News Advertiser (March 9, 2010) by DeWayne Wickham, a columnist for USA Today. The article is in the "opinions" portion of the Editorials entitled "There is More That Connects Than Divides Us" - a link to the article is below:
HonoluluAdvertiser.com/20100309/opinions3/

The series continues on NBC (Channel 8 on cable) on Fridays at 7 pm.

Don't forget our meeting this Saturday March 13th at 9am with Ellie Nordyke and Claudette Derricotte.

March 13th Genealogy Meeting

2010-02-21T13:16:00.000-10:00

The next meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogy Society will be Saturday, March 13th, 2010, 9 am. We are very fortunate to have noted author and researcher, Ellie Nordkye, show her self-produced DVD and recently published book about Captain Cook and his voyages to Hawaii. She will show Cook's early roots in England.
   Following Ellie will be Claudette Derricotte who will give an in-depth presentation on the family history of her mother using the projector.
   It will be a meeting to attend!!!

Genealogy TV shows

2010-02-21T13:12:00.001-10:00

I've been waiting a long time for these genealogy/family history slanted television programs to materilize. One has been on during the weeks I was in Haiti, but luckily I am watching it on the pbs website on my computer as I type this. It is "Faces of America" they describe it as: "What made America? What makes us? These two questions are at the heart of the new PBS series Faces of America with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The Harvard scholar turns to the latest tools of genealogy and genetics to explore the family histories of 12 renowned Americans — professor and poet Elizabeth Alexander, chef Mario Batali, comedian Stephen Colbert, novelist Louise Erdrich, journalist Malcolm Gladwell, actress Eva Longoria, musician Yo-Yo Ma, director Mike Nichols, Her Majesty Queen Noor, television host/heart surgeon Dr. Mehmet Oz, actress Meryl Streep, and figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi."

Episode 1: Our American Stories - Our American Stories explores the dynamic and shifting relationship America had with her new immigrants in the 20th century. World war tore apart families and sundered the fabric of many lives, but America beckoned and millions came. Yet, America was an ambivalent host. At its best, a place of refuge and salvation, as for film director Mike Nichols whose entire family escaped Nazi Germany. At its worst, a country that would imprison two generations of Japanese Americans, like the ancestors of Olympic gold medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. Along the way, we’ll discover the buoyant American optimism that shaped chance – as in a single encounter that changed cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s life forever – to pave the road to success.
Episode 2: Becoming American -    Becoming American explores the many journeys to becoming American that defined the “Century of Immigration” (1820s – 1924) and transformed the United States from a sleepy agrarian country into a booming industrial power. Stephen Colbert’s Irish great-great-grandfather escaped poverty and religious oppression in Limerick and never looked back, whereas Mario Batali’s great-grandfather, who left the place where his family had lived for centuries, struggled to survive in the quartz mines of Montana. Her Majesty Queen Noor’s Syrian great-grandfather quickly found his footing in New York’s first Arab American community, while Kristi Yamaguchi’s grandfather faced exclusionary laws and racially-defined barriers to citizenship for decades. The obstacles, short-cuts, tragedies and successes encountered or created by the guests’ ancestors from around the world reveal the complexity of our shared history and identity as Americans.

Schedule - Faces of America   with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. premieres nationally
Wednesdays,
February 10 - March 3, 2010
8 p.m. Hawaii Time on PBS   (cable channel 10)

These episodes can be viewed after airing, on the web at http://www.pbs.org/wnet/facesofamerica/video/

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ANOTHER GENEALOGY SERIES
The other Series to begin after the olympics is the long-awaited
         "Who Do You Think You Are" beginning Friday, March 5 at 7 pm... Not sure which channel. This has been a big hit in England, delving in the family histories of well-known people.

Feb 13, 2010 HCGS meeting

2010-02-17T14:44:00.003-10:00

Harriet Hoffman supplied the following notes and pictures from the Genealogy Society meeting which I was unable to attend because I was in Haiti. Thanks Harriet.
Georgia and Tom Bopp gave a presentation on Genealogical DNA "23 And Me" autosomal DNA:
www.ISOGG.org/
23 and me autosomal DNA join free
23 sets of chromosomes
STR = short tandum repeat
SNP’s haplogroup single nuclear??
Haplogroup is predicted y STR’s
Haplogroups ancient ancestry over 1,000 years used for anthropolicagl study
30 groups of men came from 1 male in Africa
30 groups of woman came from 1 woman in Africa
Haplotype is a series of numbers
STR’s referring to YDNA
Non-paternal event
Sorenson Lab testing

Georgia Bopp - Genealogy DNA presentation

2010 HCGS meetings

2010-01-24T14:02:00.001-10:00

I missed the January 9th, 2010 meeting which was a business meeting for elections, but I heard everyone had an enjoyable time.

For February 13th, 2010 meeting, Georgia Kinney Bopp, Hawai'i Regional Coordinator for the International Society of Genetic Genealogy, will talk about what's new in genetic genealogy. There is lots of news to discuss and this will be a great time to ask Georgia questions about DNA research projects.

And get ready for an interesting March 13th meeting when noted author, Ellie Nordyke, will present "Pacific Images - Views from Captain Cook's Third Voyage." This visual presentation brings the earliest illustrations and descriptions of Pacific peoples and cultures as they were observed and recorded on Captain Cook's third and final voyage (1776-1780) with the HMS Resolution and Discovery. Ellie is an accomplished Population Researcher, a research fellow and public health nurse. She is a graduate of Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Univ of Hawaii. Ellie takes us back to Cook's birth in England and any genealogist can certainly relate to the joy of discovering the places in England that Cook knew while growing up. In addition, those with Polynesian roots can see some of the earliest representations of Polynesians by a European.

Christmas Party-Brunch

2009-12-06T22:18:00.002-10:00

Today, Dec 6th, was the Honolulu County Genealogical Society's fabulous Christmas brunch at Hickam Air Force Base Officers' Club. All arrangements were made by Jim Deutsch - thank you! Gifts were selected by number from under the tree, but following rules of the game, if someone had already opened a gift that the next person liked, the new person could "appropriate" the opened gift, and the the victim would have to chose another gift from under the tree or "appropriate" someone else's gift. And so it went. Quite fun, and no telling what everyone might end up with. When all were full of the great food and had their gifts, no one wanted to leave the party. So we sat around and told tall tales, some about genealogy and some not. Below are an assortment of some of photos from the day.

What is a blog?

2009-12-05T09:54:00.006-10:00

Just a shout out to commend the California Genealogical Society & Library of Oakland for their wonderful blog produced by Kathryn Doyle. Recently Kathryn Doyle discussed in her blog (http://blog.californiaancestors.org) for the California Genealogical Society on Dec 4, 2009, that “Amy Coffin of WeTree blog featured the CGSL blog in her article Should Your Genealogical Society Have a Blog? She summed up the blog-website relationship perfectly: Blogs are websites. Websites aren't always blogs. A genealogy society's web page is like a store window. It highlights the group's value, hopefully enticing visitors to walk through the virtual door and explore the site. A blog is like a genealogy society's in-store sale circular. It is a good communication tool for the latest information and quickly changing details. A genealogy society's web page serves one purpose and a blog another. “ Happy Birthday to Kathryn’s blog – she has done a wonderful job promoting her large society.

Meeting 14 Nov 2009

2009-11-14T21:05:00.004-10:00

Today the Honolulu County Genealogical Society meeting focused on using Ancestry.com and search strategies. Bobby Stevens led the discussion using wireless internet connection to illustrate to website.

Interestingly the San Diego Genealogical Society http://sandiegogenealogy.blogspot.com/ hosted their Ancestry.com Family History Seminar at a local San Diego hotel, with three Ancestry.com staff people speaking. Randy Seaver, a noted and prolific blogger has done a terrific job summerizing their seminar and publishing it in his blog "Genea-Musings" today at http://www.geneamusings.com/ Please go to his blog to read all the details and it will serve to amplify and remind everyone of some of the things we also talked about here in Hawaii. Areas of interest in learning about Ancestry.com and it's changes which Randy covered were:

1. The Best Strategies for Getting the Most Out of Ancestry.com

2. Tapping into the Ancestry and Rootsweb Community

3. The Ancestry World Archives Project

4. Publishing and Printing Using "My Canvas"

We had quite a discussion about Ancestry Member Trees and I'll quote one paragraph from Randy Seaver's blog that describe what he noted: "Ancestry Member Trees were described and demonstrated in some detail, noting that any registered person can have a Member Tree (either Public or Private) on Ancestry.com. These trees can be input one person at a time or a GEDCOM file, created by a software program, can be uploaded to Ancestry. One of the questions was about how long the Member Tree would be on the site, and the answer was "forever," even if the submitter ends their subscription or dies, unless the user deletes the tree. A non-subscriber cannot attach records from Ancestry.com databases to their tree, but they can upload images to their own tree, and can search Public Member Trees. The ability of a user to upload a tree directly from Family Tree Maker 2010, or download a tree directly to Family Tree Maker 2010, or to upload a GEDCOM file from another software program, and to download a GEDCOM file from Ancestry.com for any software program, was described. Where should a user keep their "master" file? Suzanne keeps hers on her computer, not online on Ancestry.com."

The place to find where free archieved "Webinars" that Ancestry.com offers is on their "Learning Center" tab, under "Online Classes" The last two online classes, or web-seminars were: "Best Strategies for Searching Ancestry.com" from Oct 14th, and "Getting Started on Ancestry.com" from Oct 7th, 2009. There are plenty of other very interesting hour-long "webinars" available to view anytime from the convenience of sitting in front of your home computer. Check it out.

We welcomed two new members today, Jeannie and Ben Sills (see photo). They have an Ancestry Member Tree and bring a wealth of experience on maintaining a family tree online. In addition they are MacIntosh computer users.

Thanks to Lenore Hansen and Donna Wendt for the refreshments.

Our meeting for December will be the Holiday Party Buffet at the Hickam Air Force Base Officer's Club on December 6th, starting at 10 am. Cost is $20. Be sure to bring a $10 gift to exchange to be in on all the fun. At times we have been able to see submarines go in or out of Pearl Harbor while at the party. Contact Jim Deutch if you plan to attend.

Meeting 10 October 2009

2009-11-13T16:41:00.006-10:00

HEIRLOOMS - PART II

The October 2009 meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society was a continuation of September's meeting about Heirlooms. More members brought and told about the heirloom they have and the stories behind them.

Georgia Bopp brought a Dresden china "knock-off" of an old English Inkwell. It belonged to her great-grandfather from about 1850, so it is over 150 years old.

Jean Neuer showed her Pennsylvanian great-grandfather, Stephen Jordan's cane that he used after suffering a leg wound in the Civil War. She also showed his Stephen's daughter-in-law, Neva Crawford Jordan's white kid wedding shoes.

Suzanne Case brought a writing chest that is 8 generations old, with a list of the successive owners, all women beginning with Sophia Bear who received it in 1786 in England on her 16th birthday.

Jeanne Davis showed a display she created from photos of the Espenett ancestral home in Port D'Envaux, France. Wheat in the frame is from the wheat fields owed by the Espenett family 300 years ago. David Espenett, a protestant, fled France in 1701 to Rye, England because of religious persecution.

Jin Deutch displayed a photo of his Deutch grandparents old Ford Convertible Touring car from about the 1920's, and he couldn't resist bringing his childhood friend "elephinki" a stuffed elephant.

Tom Bopp's father was the family historian and saved an old document written in German by Tom's great great grandfather from 1896.

Marguerite Peach's ancestors have a long history in Hawaii. She showed a special land ownership marker from the days of King Kamehameha III to mark land boundries. She also brough the watch fob of her grandfather John Hills, that is made of Boar's tooth from French Tahiti.

Harriet Hoffman brought a doll that had belonged to her mother, it has a china bisque head, unglazed, with closing eyes, blond hair, moving feet and head, and wearing a white dress. It is probably from 1880-1890.

John Lundin, brought copies of the pages of "Seaman's Books" that were written by his grandfather, William Lundin. He started in 1898 as a cook, then carpenter on a 2-masted brig. He voyaged to Egypt and saw the pyramids in 1900. By 1903 he was on British ships and others from Liverpool. His books note that he carried many emigrants to the USA and brought cattle back to England on the return trip. One ship was the S.S. Haverford. John plans to donate these books to the Maritime Museum in Philadelphia one day.

Paige Dwight had a Daguerrotype photo of her grandmother with another relative. There was a paper with writing on the back and the case had a floral decorated cover.

Patricia Beekman's grandfather's brother, Yonescu Morita Kumomoto was in the Japanese-Russian War and left Japan to come to Hawaii to work in the sugar plantations in 1940. She brought a replica of a lunch pail similar to what her family used for lunches of rice and okazu, near Hilo, Hawaii. She also brought Geta - wooden shoes, and a "sorban" abacus.. the Japanesse sytle abacus has one row of beads at the top (Chinese abacus has two rows).

Rosemary Panko father's German grandmother, loved to do tatting and lace making. She brought a intriguing assembly of old 1900 U.S. coins tied with ribbons and attached at the top to a vial that her this great-grandmother created and the ladies present thought that perhaps the item was used as a counter-weight for holding thread when doing tatting. If anyone has any other ideas, please make a comment.

Rosemary Panko passed out a list of recommendations for Photograph Preservation and websites for how to care for your family collections -- preservation of your resources. Also four websites of companies were listed where one can order archival supplies.

Twenty three people attended this fun meeting, and enjoyed the ghost-like chocolate piece tombstone cupcakes made for Halloween-month refreshments by Jean Neuer.

The next meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society will be Saturday, November 14, 2009 and the topic will be tips and strategies for better searches on Ancestry.com. Please bring laptops and questions. A wireless connection will be available.

Contact Jim Deutch if you are a member and want to attend our Holiday Party/Buffet and gift exchange, at the Hickam Air Force Base Officer's Club on December 6th, 2009 at 10:00 am.

Meeting 16 Sep 2009

2009-09-16T23:31:00.013-10:00

HEIRLOOMS - PART I

The subject for this month's meeting was "Heirlooms - show and tell" hosted by Suzanne Case. Many members must be back from vacations as the attendance was up this month. And for the second months in a row someone has read about the meeting in the "Community Calendar" of the newspaper and came to check us out...complete with something to "show and tell." Refreshments were brought by Louise Chung to everyone's delight.

I'll add photos of the those that brought a treasured heirloom. I missed a couple of people, sorry.

Leilani Pyle holds a peacock feather hatband which her grandfather, Adna G. Clarke always wore on his Panama Hat. He became a Hawaii politician.

Pat Beekman displaying a photo of an authentic Civil War sabre her g-grandfather, Isaac Earl Beekman, of NY, picked up at the battle field of Gettysburg.

Rosemarie Panko shows her ancestor, Sarah S. in an old photo from Long Island NY in an acid free envelope.

Ann Sloat shows the delicately tatted handkerchief made by her great grandmother, Susan Blair (or Rosina Edwards) born in 1856 in Wisconsin.

Bobby Stevens shows off his grandfather, John Archer Clark's pocket watch. His grandfather was born in Virginia and raised tobacco.

Claudette Derricotte brought the small cut glass bowl that her mother used to have on her dresser and always kept her jewlery in it.. Her mother, Clair Rose Solanski Melecha, died at age 92.

Kathy Hudson discusses the large bible of her great grandmother, Rebecca Blandford West...probably received as a wedding present.

The bible pages with additions by Kathy's great-grandmother and her mother.

Harriet Hoffman brough quite a display of an Ansonia Clock which received a chip during the recent San Francisco earthquake of 1989. It was in her grandmother's home, always on the mantel, and Harriet remembers it chimed on the quarter hour. She also brought the old Haviland China dishes and cut glass bowls of her grandmother.

Roberta Jones brought a leather bound bible of the family, Betsy Greene who was born in 1806 in Vermont.

Stan Jones brought a quilt made in 1925 by his grandmother, Mrs. Otto Weaver.

Page Dwight showed a powder keg from the GAR - the Grand Army of the Republic. In addition she wore gold-plated earrings that belonged to Oceana Gertrude Carter.

Martha Reamy's ancestor, Charles H. Welch, was an engraver at the U.S. Mint. She displayed a photo of her great uncle and his bible dating from 1866.

George and Susan Krueger brought a collection of photos and artifacts that could win a prize at a county fair for a family heritage exhibit!. George had photos of his French and German family who moved from New Orleans to San Diego. He had a plate from Bavaria that had belonged to his mother. Susan brought her father's carbon miner's headlamp, a blasting cap can, a piece of gold ore and an electrical line insulator. At one time her father was a miner in the area of Cottage Grove, Oregon. Later he worked as a lineman for the REA in Corvallis, Oregon. Susan also brought a crocheted table cloth made by her mother as well as a canning jar and old spice can that belonged to her mother. The samll photograph on the tablecloth was taken of her parents in 1932, six months before their wedding in June 1933. (click on photos to enlarge)

Elaine Kam brought a charm display she created of various charms she's collected to signify different members of her family. Starting with a charm to her grandfather Sam Won who came from China to Hawaii in 1880. It is a very unique way to show each generation and all the people in her grandfather's descendant family tree. A small strip of jade separates each generational division.

Donna Wendt brought blue mercury glass vases that had been given to her Great-Great Grandparents, Sarah Ann Squier and James Warren Ells, on their 50th wedding anniversary. Their story was: After their marriage in 1833, James and Sarah Ells left Riga, Monroe Co. New York, and first lived in Erie Co., NY near James' family (his father had been a Connecticut whaler). Then for a short time they lived just south of the New York state line in Crawford Co., PA. Returning to Riga, NY they stayed until about 1847 when a big family migration occurred, the whole family (seven kids) moved to Kingston, Marquette Co., Wisconsin now Green Lakes Co. Many of the farms there are now Amish. Sarah’s mother died just as the family arrived in Wisconsin in June 1847. In early Civil War days, when Sarah was about 62 yr, they all moved again, Sarah and James, their married children, her siblings and father moved south of Kenyon, Dodge Co., MN where they lived the remainder of their lives on their farms at Skyberg. In 1883 Sarah and James had a big 50th wedding anniversary, at which they received the two aqua mercury glass vases which Donna has today. James and Sarah made a sentimental visit to Wisconsin to see their old friends and family. On their return home they could only come on the train as far as Concord, They continued their trip home on stage coach towards Skyberg. The horses shied at the train at a crossing, and the coach turned over. This injured eighty year old Sarah and she died several days later in 1889. The cemetery records say she died of accident and heart disease.

8 Aug 2009 HCGS Meeting

2009-08-09T09:15:00.012-10:00

Our program Saturday, August 8th was Karen Sutherland-Pahia presenting "Ways to Put Your Family History Together - - Writing, Printing, Publishing, etc. Customization and image was discussed in front of a large audience. She brought examples of her published works as did society members to show at the meeting. Karen has worked many years with genealogy and working to identify and keep track of the various lines of her farmily's largely Scottish and Hawaiian heritage. In her quest for family history she has even fallen into graves. Sad story that after her grandmother died, all the family photos disappeared with no one knowing what happened to them. Digitalizing photos and documents became critical to preserving the family history. A user of Family Tree Maker software she has organized, written and assembled may histories which she publishes at Kinkos for a good quality and low price. Kinkos provides a free "Proof Copy" to review before they publish the copies you pay for. One family history book she ordered was 50 copies of a 1000 page family line. She uses a combination of the Family Tree Maker Books feature and Microsoft Word. Including picture images within the genealogy report makes the history more interesting and readable, and it's easiest to add pictures after the text is completed. Choice of binding is important, and she uses a spiral had back variety. A flat glued binding is more expensive. It was mentioned that the Family History Library in Salt Lake City prefers unbound pages so they can do the binding there for any copies of family histories that might be donated, rather than the spiral binding.

The index is very important to the book, and also is time consuming once you start adding photo images to the report. So you have to update the page numbers and index when you disturbe the generated genealogy report. She also recommended using spell check as you go, while entering data.

Lenore Hansen gave a short review of her attendance at the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree recently in Burbank, California.

Suzanne Case asked everyone to bring a family heirloom to the next meeting and we will discuss the history and importance to the family for each.

Thanks to Lenore and to Martha for the refreshments.

Meeting July 11, 2009

2009-07-17T17:04:00.013-10:00

ANCESTRAL POTLUCK was the the subject of the July 2009 meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society. After a general meeting with announcements the members each told about the food that they brought to the meeting to share. Each item had a cultural and family connection. Some stories reflected a food that is common to people of a certain country and some food reflected the favorites that were eaten in their home as they grew up. I should have taken notes, but I'll list a few of the foods we enjoyed as best as I can.

Alan Toft had quite a story about the common "Ploughman's Lunch" in his home of England. He brought a selection of excellent cheeses, something about pickles, a long french bread (we're short on English bread in Hawaii) and three bottles of bottled beer that would be eargerly consumed in any English pub.

Although Louise Chung could not attend, she sent a dish reflecting her German heritage: home made saurkraut and pork chops in a bake dish. Harriet Hoffman impersonated a french person and brought a fine tasting quiche.

Donna Wendt (me) pulled out all the stops at home and actually created something from "scratch." I found an online recipe for Welsh Cookies, then bought the required currants (and the other basic ingrediants like flour, vegetable shortening, sugar, eggs, nutmeg, and sugar). The cookies or "Welsh Tea Cakes" are a bit like scones and are cooked in a frying pan after the ingredients are mixed and refrigerated for a couple hours. My Rees cousins in Wales would be proud!

Jeane Neuer brought a tasty tuna spread and crackers that reminded her of her parents favorite after work snack. She said they always had a "Manhatten" drink to go with the snack, but she didn't bring any of those drinks along to the meeting.

Kennydene, a new member, of Hawaiian descent, didn't know it was a pot luck until the morning of the meeting. Not to worry, she stopped by the Liliha Bakery and brought the modern Hawaiian favorite treat of "Coco Puffs" - a delicious special type of chocolate-filled creme puff, buttery and with chantilly frosting. Absolutely my favorite! Maybe next year she'll bring the other Hawaiian favorite (of Portuguese roots) hot "Malasades" from Leonard's Bakery.

Jan Everly Williams brought a specially prepared greens salad with toasted tofu to reflect a bit of Japanese culture. Very healthy! Christine Absher brought a nice selection of cut tropical fruits, reminescent of favorite family foods on these tropical islands.

Jim Deutch brought "Gefilte Fish" and flat bread, traditional with the Jewish culture. Carp or Pike fish is chopped into small pieces, mixed with onions and some other vegetables (carrot, celery, parsley). The mixture is held together as a ball with eggs and matzah meal. It is then boiled in broth for a while. It can be served warm or cold, though it is usually served cold with red horseradish and garnished with carrot shavings.

Ann Sloat brought a big jug of tasty apple juice which brought me memories of pressing apples to make cider. Claudette Derricotte made delicious little flaky kind of cookie bar dessert. I can't exactly describe it, but she used fresh oranges from Jim's trees and the flavor of the filling was absolutely amazing - a bit tart, a bit sweet.

I think Bobby Stevens brought a hot dish, kind of a stew with corn and perhaps pork in it, which was excellent. Lots of ingredients which I can't list now. I think the connecting ancestry was from the English and early Virginia colonial settlers. Other members attended and enjoyed the food, as bringing a dish was not mandatory since there is always so much to go around. The main focus of the meeting was getting together in a social atmosphere and sharing stories of food, while getting to taste some of the delicious creations.

Frima Riva Shatz grandmother of Jim Deutch

2009-07-17T16:37:00.007-10:00

At the HCGS Meeting of May 9th, Jim Deutch spoke about his grandmother, Frima Riva Shatz for a "Mini-Biography." Here is a summary of his talk.

**********Biography of Frima Riva Shatz ******

The following information is based upon family legend and "best guess" reasoning. All dates given are approximate.

Frima Riva SHATZ was my grandmother. She was born in 1881 in the Ukraine town of Ostropol. She was the 6th child of Mordechi and Fayga GLATZER SHATZ. In 1899 she married Isriel Polishuk from the near-by village of Vorobiivka. My great uncle Morris, Isriel's brother, said when he first met his brother's fiancé, she was so beautiful and had such a breathtaking personality, he fell in love with her. However, he could not pursue his heart because she was his brother's betrothed.

Frima Riva and Isriel's first child, Goldie, was born the following year, 1900. She was followed in 1902 by William, in 1904 by Betty, and in 1906 by Dorothy. During a typhoid epidemic, Frima Riva nursed her extended family back to health, only to come down with the disease, herself. She died in 1909. In 1907, prior to the epidemic, her husband, Isriel, had gone to the United States to earn money to bring his family to America. Following her mother's death, Goldie, the oldest daughter, became so despondent that she, too, died "of a broken heart." The family came to America in 1910. Frima Riva's last child, Dorothy, was my mother.

Oahu Cemetery Tour

2009-06-20T18:52:00.011-10:00

We had a wonderful tour of historic Oahu Cemetery in Honolulu, given by Nanette Napoleon, today. Nine people were able to attend. Special thanks to members who gave "a little extra" to make this interesting experience happen: Lenore Hansen, Alan Toft,, Bobby Stevens and Louise Chung. I won the "door prize" of the book Nanette Napoleon has written about the cemetery, by answering a couple questions at the end of the tour. The final question, was: "Exactly where is Elvis Presley buried?" I knew the answer from a visit many years ago: "Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee."

We saw lots of interesting styles of graves and grave markers. Also various family, fraternal, and military plots.

Donna Wendt

Note in the photos below:
--The Hawaii Historic Marker outside the Cemetery on Nuuanu Ave.
--Nanette talking in front of King Kamehameha's cannon which was donated to mark off the plot for US Civil War veterans who are buried there.
--Nanette trying to find worn letters in the volcanic stone marker for one of Harry's ancestors who is buried in this very old plot - (I believe through the Campbell family?)
--Nanette pointing to some interesting cemetery memorials as we walked along.
--Nanette telling us about this US Veteran's area of the Navy, where many are buried who died at Pearl Harbor in Dec 1941 from the Japanese attack.
--At the grave of Elizabeth Pratt (a Hawaiian) and her husband
--Close up of the headstone of High Chieftess, Elizabeth Pratt, longest Royal survivor - with very old image photographed on a porcelan piece in modern headstone.
---1886 Tombstone of Edwin Oakley, from England, with interesting "dagger piercing a heart." Said to be a symbol for "Redemption." Probably put on his stone because he had committed suicide.

Meeting 13 June 2009

2009-06-13T21:12:00.006-10:00

Cemeteries & Genealogical Research was the topic for the June presentation at the Honolulu County Genealogical Society. This was given by me, Donna Wendt as an "Open Office" presentation using my new "netbook" attached to our Society's own digital projector. All went well. I will list the websites I discussed, that have to do with cemeteries, many of which I borrowed from Kory Meyerink as reported by Sharon Haddock in "Mormon Times" of March 16, 2009.

http://www.findagrave.com/

http://www.interment.net/

http://www.linkpendium.com/

http://www.idreamofgenealogy.com/

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/

(Tombstone Transcription Project)

http://www.gravelocator.com.va.cem.gov/

www.daddezio.com/cemetery (Cemetery Junction)

http://www.geonames.usgs.gov/

( U.S. Geographic Names Information System -GNIS)

http://www.funeralnet.com/

http://www.gravestonestudies.org/

http://www.namesinstone.com/

Next Saturday, June 20th, 2009, at 9am we will meet at the parking lot at Oahu Cemetery at 2162 Nuuanu Ave, Honolulu, HI. Hawaii's own "History Detective & Graveyard Historian," Nanette Napoleon will be our tour guide for the 2 hours of our adventure of discovery at the cemetery. The cost is $10 per person, and everyone is invited.

Don't forget that our next month's meeting is July 11th, 2009 and will be our annual ethnic foods pot luck luncheon. Everyone is invited to bring a food that reflects a specific culture, especially their own. This is a fun gathering and all are welcome to attend.

April 11, 2009 Meeting

2009-04-13T20:55:00.007-10:00

The April meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society was a workshop, of sorts, entitled "Helping Each Other" -- with everyone bringing various research books and CDs that others could peruse. President Bobby Stevens led the introductory discussion. Each person told about the items they brought, which amounted to a lot of materials. Laptops were everywhere.

Donna Wendt discussed upcoming programs and passed around a survey asking about members use of Subscription databases and free databases online, and which genealogy soft ware they used. There will be a special fiend trip on June 20th, to the Oahu Cemetery on Nuuanu Ave, Honolulu. Hawaii Historian/Graveyard Detective Nanette Napoleon will conduct a tour for us in this historic cemetery. Cost will be $10 each and any interested individual is invited to join us.

Ann Sloat presented a the mini-biography of her grandmother, Sarah Margaret Russell Sweeley with a power point presentation. Born: 18 April 1888 Lodi, Clay Co., South Dakota --- Died: 19 Feb 1975, Los Angeles, California Teacher, supreme story teller, determined survivor, chin up optimist. Especially poignant were the memories Ann mentioned, that she had for her. (see Ann's photo)

Thanks to Joann Henely for the delicious homemade pre-Easter refreshments.

The next meeting will be on Saturday, May 9th and noted genealogical researcher, Richard Souther will discuss "Timelines: A chronology of Life Events." Jim Deutch will give the mini-biography challenge.

The June 13th meeting will be a presentation on "Using Cemeteries for Research." Fran McFarlan is scheduled to give the mini-biography.

Scottish Festival

2009-04-07T15:41:00.018-10:00

Kathy DeFoster Hudson spearheaded the very successful genealogy tables at Honolulu's 28th annual Scottish Festival & Highland Games, which is a celebration of the heritage and history of the Scots, put on by the Hawaiian Scottish Association at Kapiolani Park. For 7 hours on Apr 4-5, Kathy fielded questions on genealogy of all types at three tables, aided by friends and/or volunteers from the Honolulu County Genealogical Society, including Donna Wendt, Christine Absher, Joann Henely, Karen Sutherland-Pahia, and Don. Richard Souther had an additional two tables to spread the genealogical word, with a speciality in Hawaiian genealogy.

Many spectators came by to look and ask questions, including tourists that happened by the festive scene. Many of the table visitors were dressed in traditional kilts and even some in armor. Various Scottish Clans were represented under the big tent, including the Wallaces and Grants and Campbells.

An adjoining big-top tent had live performances of Scottish music, while the gazebo became the stage for the opening ceremonies with local television personality Dr. Brady singing the US and Hawaii Anthems. A Marine color guard lead the procession around the area. Scottish dance competition, the Highland games and medieval challengers added fun and variety to the day, while many food tents served up great food from Whiskey cake to Haggis. All this was in typical beautiful Hawaii weather, but just a bit windy. Diamond Head was in the background, and the Pacific ocean was within a stone's (of the Scottish Hammer's) throw of the Festival.

Thanks, Kathy, for such a fine job.

Photos of Saturday are shown here.

Mini-Biography Challenge: Melvin H. "Tom" Eggers

2009-04-01T10:31:00.016-10:00

Just catching up on January's mini-biography challenge that Tom Bopp presented Feb 14th...

Tom spoke, with a power point back up, about his Grandfather, Martin H. "Tom" Eggers, born 18 Feb 1894 in Farrar, Perry Co., Missouri. He lived almost 92 years there. See the photo of baby Martin or "Tom" and his big family in Farrar. This 1895 photo is of the family of Henry Eggers, Grandpa Tom's father.

Perry County, Missori was the area was where many Saxons (from Germany) emigrated to (1839) and founded today's Missouri Synod of the Luthern Church. Language in Grandpa "Tom's" home was German, and their church didn't begin services in English until the 1950s.

"Grandpa Tom" was apart of "Eggers & Co." from 1920 to 1966, and was the Postmaster from 1929 until 1959.

Of the many memories Tom Bopp has of "Grandpa Tom", two stand out:

1) " His appearance did not seem to change much as he aged. Photos showing him holding me in 1942 look almost the same as the 1977 photo of him playing with my son."

2) He was 'way ahead of his time, arranging for his daughters to attend high school in Perryville, Missouri, even though they had to pay rent and live away from home. " See the photo of Tom Bopp's mom playing basketball at that distant high school. Tom says that he thinks of this as "Title Neun" or a precursor to Title IX of today - (I think this has a special meaning to today's educators. )

Coming Attractions at the Honolulu County Genealogical Society on April 11th:
Member, Ann Sloat, will present a mini-biography of her grandmother Sarah Sweeley:
Born: 18 April 1888 Lodi, Clay Co., South Dakota --- Died: 19 Feb 1975, Los Angeles, California
Teacher, supreme story teller, determined survivor, chin up optimist.
She sounds like a wonderful woman to learn about!

Jan - March 2009

2009-03-31T09:15:00.021-10:00

Several months have passed since the last entry, as I am doing a lot of traveling and missed Jan and Feb. However I'll review the last three meetings.

The January meeting Jan 10, 2009 was the Annual meeting and election of new board members. Bob Stevens was elected the new President and Tom Bopp the new Vice President; Martha Reamy is the new Secretary. Suzanne Case is new to the Board and Louise Chung is chair of Hospitality Committee. Lenore Hansen presented the Biography Challenge.

At the meeting of Feb 14th Fran McFarland spoke about a Veteran's Memorial as described in a 11 Nov issue of the Honolulu Advertiser article on forgotten World War I veterans' graves at Puukamalii (formerly known as Kalaepohaku) Cemetery in Alewa Heights. Fran McFarland, has been invited to serve on Senator Daniel Akaka's Memorial Advisory Committee to commemorate these veterans. See the Advertiser Photo, above, of a few of the remaining headstones of veterans at the cemetery. Tom Bopp presented the "Biography Challenge" this month. A new Epson Digital Projector has been purchased by the society.

The March 14th meeting was a presentation by Bob Stevens (photo at left) on "Transitioning to New Genealogical Software: Pitfalls and Preparation." He specifically discussed his findings with the new Family Tree Maker edition and with Legacy software. Donna Wendt gave the Biography Challenge on her mother, Nadine Pearce Hague. See summary below. After the meeting about 13 of the members went over to the Waioli Tea Room for a delicious brunch.

The April 11th meeting will be about "Helping Others" a time to share books, CDs or other genealogical information from home. Everyone should bring their laptop computers and there will be a hot spot created to the internet, thanks to Lenore. Bring books and CDs to share.

Continued thanks to Jan Everly Williams for creation and dispersion of our newsletter, "Ke Ku'auhau" (The Genealogist). Besides the ongoing series of WWI Draftees born in Hawaii, she includes timely articles such as Probate findings and How to Contribute to the Online Encyclopedia of Genealogy. There will be another "Hawai'i's Plantation Village Plantation Days" at their wonderful location in Waipahu on Sat May 2nd 10-2. Fran McFarland and others will represent HCGS. See Fran in photo at right with a letter to the society.

Kathy DeFoster mentioned the Scottish Festival on April 4th and 5th at Kapiolani Park, and anyone wanting to sit at the genealogy table should contact her.

Biography Challenge for March

Donna Wendt (photo at left):

NADINE PEARCE HAGUE, by Donna Hague Wendt
The photo on the right shows Nadine Pearce (b.1 Jan 1914) with her parents, Leonard Elias Pearce and Hazel Grace Blanding Pearce in Los Angeles. Her father, Leonard Pearce was the son of Welsh immigrants (John Pearce & Jane Rees of Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Wales), who left the coal mines of Colorado Springs to find a better life in sunny California. Grace Blanding, Nadine's mother, was from Minnesota, a descendant of the earliest English Puritans (Blanding, Ells, Akins, Squier) and dissenters to arrive in New England. Grace grew up in the boarding house her parents built and ran on 21st Street in downtown Los Angeles and in turn, Nadine spent much of her early life at the boarding house.
Nadine's favorite story: Before kindergarten age Nadine was sent alone by train to Flagstaff, Arizona to stay with Aunt Fern & Uncle Carl Farrell for six months. They had a farm of sorts, raising hay and potatoes. One of Nadine’s earliest memories was being “kidnapped” by a man who was a guide for famed western author, Zane Gray. Her story goes that some cows kept getting into their home garden until Aunt Fern was so exasperated she took a beebee gun and shot at the cows to run them off. Later that day Nadine went down the road to play with the little girl who had a pony. While there the cows wandered back home to their barn and the girl’s mother exclaimed that the cows had bloody marks. That’s when little Nadine piped up saying “Oh, my Aunt Fern did that!” Seeking revenge, the neighbors told Nadine and their daughter to go play in the basement when they saw Aunt Fern and Uncle Carl coming down the road in their big car, to pick up Nadine. An argument ensued over the bee bee shot cattle, and when the man made a move as if to slap Aunt Fern, big lumberman Uncle Carl pulled out his gun and demanded Nadine’s release. Nadine lamented that she never got to ride the girl’s pony again.

Nadine met a student, Vincent Hague, transferring in from Des Moines during their last year at Jefferson High School in L.A. One date was all it took to bond a lifetime of friendship and love. They managed to attend the 1932 Olympics in L.A. and at some point managed a trip to Yosemite. But because of the Depression and a lack of jobs they postponed marriage for five and a half years. But as soon as Vincent got a mail room job with Pacific Bell Telephone Co. they set their wedding date for June 1936. As it was all the rage in those days, they married at a cemetery – not just any cemetery, but Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. The trend for beautifully landscaped havens had begun and many movie stars had married there. Since Vincent couldn’t make a movie of his own wedding, he had my mom gather up all the bridesmaids and reenact the wedding in the back yard of the boarding house (see photo).

Nadine worked as a teletype operator with Postal Telegraph and after four years they had saved enough to venture into home owning. With a gift of $500 from Nadine’s father for the down-payment and $500 saved for furniture, they scoured Los Angeles for the ideal home site. As Nadine would say, wouldn’t you know it, they chose a housing development that had been a little airport. In fact LAX is a few miles east of the house. Nadine and Vincent went daily to their home site to oversee construction and dream their dreams. Every penny spent was duly noted in a book by Nadine. At last, in late 1940 they moved into a two-bedroom house on Cimarron St. But the war began and prosperity was still in the future.

Son, Richard, was born in 1941 and daughter, Donna was born at the close of WWII in 1945. They had a classic happy middle class family in Los Angeles, with Nadine always the loving mother and wife. The years passed and the children went off to college. Vincent retired from the telephone company and they moved out to Hemet, California, in the high desert. As usual, the expense details were kept by Nadine.

She returned to her old hobby of china painting and got into ceramics and genealogy. As always, she was ever supportive of Vincent’s interests, now including ham radio and an emergency relay network. Every year for several years they were able to travel with several other couples, their long-time school friends, to countries around the world. These friendships were always strong and had been forged through the Depression and war years. Nadine died May 13th 1980 in Hemet, California.

Holiday Party

2008-12-12T20:38:00.014-10:00

HOLIDAY PARTY
AT HICKAM OFFICERS' CLUB

The Honolulu Co Genealogy Society met on a beautiful Sunday for a delicious Christmas brunch at the Officers' Club at Hickam Air Force Base at Pearl Harbor. This on the anniversary of the bombing of the Harbor. With the club on the channel going into the Harbor we had to remember the chaos and tragedy on that "infamous" day in 1941. Especially interesting to see a submarine slide past the vantage point.

We wait all year for this opportunity to socialize, eat great food, and partake of the entertaining gift exchange, and all our high expectations were met. Thanks to Jim Deutch for arranging the whole thing (see photo above).

Below are some photos from the day as we eat and chose Christmas presents. As is the custom, if the person picking out a gift desires the gift someone else opened, he/she can take that opened gift and the person left empty handed, can then choose another gift for either under the tree - or "steal" one from someone else.

November 25th, 2008 Meeting

2008-11-26T00:39:00.003-10:00

The November meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society was favored with a wonderful presentation by Harriet Hoffman on the her quest to learn about her Stiebel and May family history... "A Moment In Time...Their Story" With concise descriptions and images on a power point presentation, the audience was captivated by her compelling story. It started with Harriet wanting to know about her great-grandfather Max Stiebel - the one whose photos gazed down on her from it's long-time honored position on her wall. She took us on a journey of the root-tracing saga from California to Louisville, Kentucky and Ottoway, Illionis and across the Atlantic to the 1847 birthplace of Max Stiebel, Langenschwarz, Germany. Her Great-grandmother Delphine May's roots were in Herschberg, Germany. Through many research contacts, techniques and minor miracles the story culminates in a big ceremony for the presentation and publication of a book which indexed and described those buried in the entire Jewish Cemetery in Langenschwarz, Germany. This project and book were completed due to the skills, translations of gravestones and records, and untold hours by many researchers who donated their time and energy for this project. It was conceived and set into motion by Dorothee Rupel and her father, Hans Joacuim Ruppel, after many months of e-mail communications and assistance from Harriet. Harriet's husband, Bob, provided computer input for the our Genealogy Society presentation. (see photo on left)

This story is a lesson in asking questions, seeking answers, and never giving up. We were all amazed at Harriet's research, with story and pictures of her visit to Langenschwarz to attend the book presentation ceremony with the Mayor and other invited and community guests this year. Harriet was able to find and see the gravestones of many of her family buried there, including great-grandfather Max Stiebel's father, Samuel Stiebel 1804-1878. Then there was ggg-grandfather Isaak Stiebel's gravestone which yielded, after Hebrew translation, the name of his father, which was Baruch Stiebel. So Harriet was able to go back three generatons from the photograph on the wall. It was a wonderful trip for genealogy and for friendship, which warmed her heart from the generosity and helpfulness of these Germans from the land of her forefathers.

Harriet discussed methods in Jewish research and provide her own gems of genealogy..."from the Hart"... They are: 1) Get "their" stories before they die 2) Go lateral in your research - find the cousins 3) Document your finds 4) Gather all the clues from articles - don't skip anything 5) Get the tombstone photos 6) Go to the churches or synagogues 7) Go to the local historical societies 8) Research the City Directories 9) Never leave without the document you came fore (it may not be there tomorrow) 10) Do not let anything slip by without investigating every angle 11) Go to the genealogy conferences 12) Use our Honolulu County Genealogical Society Blog 13) Enjoy your journey, and make sure to write the stories!

A poem* summed up her feelings:
"Your names are written in a row / Hanging from my family tree / And you will never ever know / what you have come to mean to me. What you were is what I am / So why will you not speak to me / Your lives are hidden in the mist / Of my German history. What you were is all I have / What more do I need to prove / What is missing is your love / To show that you were here. All I can do is shed my tears / To tell you how I feel / Please help me to unlock the years / And show that you were real.
* From Shemot, a publication of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, 12/2001.

October News

2008-10-25T10:48:00.004-10:00

I've been gone for nearly two months on a trip to Canada. Wonderfully, I was able to find the land of an ancestor, Phineas Stevens which was granted to him in 1784 after the Revolutionary War. He was a Loyalist and left New York to try to begin a new life in Nova Scotia. Within 20 years he was back in Vermont to stay. I was fortunate to go to his land and imagine what might have been going on in his life while gazing out from his land to the Sissiboo River and St. Mary's Bay south of Digby. I know members of our society have visited their ancestor's home sites, and I encourage others to make a few trips back in time if you haven't already.

Unfortunately I had to miss a few of our genealogy society meetings this summer. But if anyone will give me information about the meetings I will post it here. If you gave a mini-bio please provide a copy of it and I'll post it here.

Since I've returned to Hawaii and gotten back on the internet I found a few interesting news items:
1) A great website offering reviews of genealogy software is at www.gensoftreviews.com

2) Family Tree Maker will soon come out with version 2009. It is offered free to those who have already purchased the 2008 version. Importantly by next Spring the 2009 version will have a free update that is supposed to include the previously deleted "Book Making Ability" that was missing in 2008 version.

3) On a free archieved webinar (video) at Ancestry.com http://learn.ancestry.com/LearnMore/Webinars.aspx I learned about their new World Archives Project. As near as I can figure out it is similar to FamilySearch.org's. Except only the index, not the images, will be free to the public. Subscribers will see both. The good news for Ancestry.com subscribers is that you can get some kind of a discount on the annual subscription rate, if you decide to do at least 900 names of indexing in a quarter. I don't know how much the discount will be, but it might help the pocketbook a bit. The project in in Beta testing right now. Volunteer indexers will be able to vote on which of the different types of digitalized documents might be worked on next. Supposedly World Archieves Project in association with NARA will focus on projects other than what FamilySearch is projected to do.

4) Next month (November 8th) at our Genealogy Society meeting, Harriet Hoffman will give an interesting and very entertaining presentation on her journey to know her great-great grandparents. Join her as she traces Jewish roots through Kentucky and Illinois back to the German heartland. She and her husband treked across land and sea this year to be apart of a unique event that was a genealogist's dream come true.

Top Genealogy Blogs

2008-08-21T08:15:00.003-10:00

Top Genealogy Blogs are listed from World Vital Records as reported at Dear Myrtle's blog. These blogs, and others, can be easily subscribed to so that the titles appear on your iGoogle homepage. Then you click on the title and the whole blog entry is displayed. This way it's very easy to keep up on the new developments in Genealogy and ways to help your research.

From “Top Genealogy Blogs” article published 18 Aug 2008 in World Vital Records Family History Bulletin, Vol 2, Issue 47.

Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter http://eogn.com
DearMYRTLE http://www.DearMyrtle.com
24/7 Family History Circle http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle
Genealogy Insider http://blog.familytreemagazine.com/insider
Genea-Musings http://www.geneamusings.com
Ancestry Insider http://ancestryinsider.blogspot.com
The footnoteMaven http://www.footnotemaven.com
Family Matters http://moultriecreek.us/family
The Genealogue http://www.genealogue.com

News at Ancestry.com

2008-08-20T17:38:00.005-10:00

Harriet Hoffman sent this good news along to us. She has done monumental work on a couple books on her family and is happy the "Books" feature will be reinstated in future editions of Family Tree Maker software:
"From my special source who is at the IAJGS Conference in Chicago: Last night, a special Jewishgen/Ancestry program was held to announce the new partnership between the two organizations. There will be a link between Ancestry and JG. After that, Ancestry gave a live demonstration of their databases which included copying data, photographs, maps, etc. from an Ancestry.com database into Family Tree Maker. The net result was a BOOK. The pages in the book even turned on the screen. FTM 2009 will be available in about a month and will be free to registered users of FTM 2008."
I don't know if the "Books" feature as we've known it (different from Ancestry Press) will be included with the 2009 FTM or not, but I'm confident it will eventually be released. See below. (Donna)

And from DearMyrtle's blog http://blog.dearmyrtle.com/:
"CHICAGO – Aug. 19, 2008The Generations Network, Inc., parent company of Ancestry.com, and JewishGen, a non-profit organization dedicated to researching and promoting Jewish genealogy and an affiliate of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, today announced a partnership designed to provide easier online access to millions of important Jewish historical documents.
For the first time ever, those interested in researching Jewish ancestry will be able to search JewishGen's databases on Ancestry.com, taking advantage of Ancestry.com's powerful search technologies, including tree hinting and the ability to search all JewishGen databases through one simple interface. The agreement will also give researchers the ability to make connections within family trees and to perform broader searches – searching JewishGen's databases in combination with the other 7 billion names and 26,000 databases available on Ancestry.com. In addition, visitors will be able to network with millions of Ancestry.com members to connect with others interested in Jewish genealogy and discover distant relatives."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Getting back to the "Books" feature of Family Tree Maker 2006 or 16. I found this on this from a year ago on the Ancestry Search Blog http://ancestorsearch.blogspot.com/search/label/AncestryPress ... concerning the lack of the "Books" feature in the 2008 version and the "promise" to include "Books" in a future FTM release.

Ancestry Search Blog: Friday, August 10, 2007

Family Tree Maker 2008 Beta Reports and Books

Books

When I downloaded the first FTM2008 beta, the program said that books were "coming soon". In the latest beta, the books are through the free Ancestry Press which is also in beta. This makes the books in FTM 2008 beta quite different from the books produced from FTM16.

With AncestryPress, you design customized pages online and print them at home. Since these books are so different from previous versions of FTM, you might want to head over to take a look at AncestryPress and give it a try. You don't have to have the FTM2008 beta to try AncestryPress. If you have a tree at the Ancestry.com site, you can create a book at AncestryPress from that. With AncestryPress, you create pages of the book from your own design or one of the design templates provided. You will find individual timelines, family group sheets, military draft cards, census records, and passenger list records templates. Here is a look at the templetsI think the AncestryPress templates will make very attractive books.

There are disadvantages I see to books from Ancestry Press. Because the books are so different from older versions of FTM16, these FTM16 and older Books do not transfer to FTM2008. At least, I couldn't get mine to transfer. If you have a lot of complicated books already created in older versions of FTM, this is a consideration. FTM tech support have been telling callers that FTM 16 style books will be available in a later FTM release. To me that means that they will be continuing to work on 2008. Another consideration is that AncestryPress books are designed online so someone with a dial-up connection may have difficulty creating the books.

Another Free Webinar from Ancestry.com

2008-07-18T04:40:00.003-10:00

Randy Seaver has reported in his blog that Ancestry.com is holding another free public webinar on July 30th at 2:30 pm Hawaii time. You don't have to be a subscriber to Ancestry.com to attend. This webinar is about using the tools in Ancestry.com's new search function. I used the new search function and it is much more flexible in the ancestor searching. I especially like the way you can continually Refine your search parameters to narrow your search. Additionally you can mark each word you put in the search boxes as to match exactly or not. Other tools to be discussed are: Record Previews, Image Snapshots, Type-ahead tools, Global Searches, Advanced Searches, Filters, and Keyword Searches.

The webinar is live and lasts one hour. You go to the link below and give them your e-mail address so they can send you the log-on link and reminders. It's very easy. The webinar is a live seminar with very nice downloaded visuals to go along with the conversation.
Anyone can register to attend the webinar by visiting: http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=112633&s=1&k=F61A5B2CBEC642037CADDF67687EA541

20 June 2008 Free Webinars

2008-06-20T10:04:00.003-10:00

I missed the June meeting of the Genealogy Society, but hopefully I'll get someone's notes to add information here.
Of interest that I found in the "AncestryWeeklyJournal" from Ancestry.com was information on the free "Webinars" available at the Ancestry.CustHelp.com
Their upcoming free webinars are:

--17 June 2008, Irish Ancestry (just missed it)
--24 June 2008, Polish Ancestry
--01 July 2008, Italian Ancestry
--08 July 2008, German Ancestry

And the old ones available to view that have been archived are:
--New Enhancements to FTM 2008
--English Ancestry
--Introduction to Family Trees on Ancestry
--AncestryPress
--Family Tree Maker 2008
--Search Like The Pros

These webinars are a fun way to learn, and if you participate on the actual date/time of the live webinar you can participate in it.

10 May 2008 Meeting

2008-05-10T15:26:00.014-10:00

Alan Toft (see photo) gave an animated and riveting presentation on "English Research - Why I Can't Go Back." He provided an excellent Power Point Presentation which shed some light on the multitudes of ways one can do English research -- from visits, letters, and cemetery footwork, to up-to-date internet search sites. His personal experiences across many years in researching his English roots were enjoyable, especially with all the references to lunatics and pubs. Two pubs in his family are pictured here: the Ploughboy Pub (white) and the Bear & Ragged Staff Pub (brick) in England.

As usual references material was offered for free or at minimal cost. Stan passed out brochures on the Southern California Genealogy Society Jubilee occurring in June at Burbank, California. It looks like two or three of our members will attend.

Delicious refreshments were provided by Louise and Harriet, and after adjournment, 12 decided to have lunch at the Waiolae Tea Room, nearby, in Manoa Valley.

Martha Reamy provided a mini-biography about her grandmother, Mary Adam Wasiljov, see Martha's grandmother in the photo (below). She is in the bottom right of the family photo. The story of her grandmother is below.

~~Mary Adam Wasiljov of 19th Century Hungary ~~

My Grandmother, Mary Adam, was born in 1886 in Modis, Hungary. This is near Kikinda, the largest city in the area. It was on the border with Romania. After the first World War, the territory was given to Romania; after the second World War it was Yugoslovia. Now it is in Serbia, near the Romanian border. When Mary was six her only sibling was born - a brother - who died in World War I. Her mother died giving birth to her brother, so for awhile, she was the "woman of the house", doing all the cleaning, cooking, laundry, etc. After a time her father remarried, but she and Mary did not get along well.

Mary was married young to a man she had not ever met. That man was John Wasiljov (Russian name Wassilov). She came to America at the age of 24 with 3 living children, Peter, Mary and Ethal, and arrived in Baltimore in May 1913. This was just before World War I. They came to "make their fortune", but after the war her father wrote to her and said "children don't come back." It was very bad there at that time. My mother, Louise (Lucia), was the first child born in America, and only one other child in America survived -my uncle Nicholas. There were Mary had 12 pregnancies and 5 living children; many of the children died of diphtheria when small, and several were stillborn.

Mary's husband, John, got a job at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Baltimore, MD, but she did all his work and he went to the bar every day. After that they bought a house near the church, and John went to wo rk at a local Baltimore department store. Because of this, when he died at age 63 (gall bladder disease), she had a Social Security check.

As much as she loved her first and only home, after John died she saw him in the house, and was afraid to stay. The house was sold and she lived many years among her three daughters.

Mary died at the age of 93. She had an easy death. It was summer and she was chilly. Her daughter Ether took her to the hospital and my mother met her there. Mary's blood pressure began to fall, and she closed her eyes and died. She was very good to me while I was growing up. She was a loving person, who never complained. She lived to see my children grow up along with other great-grandchildren. I still miss her and wish I knew more about her family. I found LDS records of the church her family attended, but the records were filmed in 1945, so were only copied until 1945. Mary burned all the pictures she had from the "old country" before she died. She never offered to show them to me.

Martha (Snyder) Reamy

of Baltimore and Hawaii

Genealogy at Hawaii Plantation Village

2008-05-05T08:18:00.004-10:00

The day at Hawaii Plantation Village was a big genealogy and cultural success. Our HCGS had a table at the event, in the old Social/Union Hall - vintage 1920's. After a parade of the various plantation cultures many people came into the Genealogy Societies area and our group was busy helping people get started in tracing their family roots. Many happy faces resulted. Fran got many of them started at her table then they passed down to the table with laptops connected to the internet for searching on the web. Tom and Lenore had their laptops and they had a printer there too, printing up census pages. Also there were Martha, Donna and Harriet. Alan stopped by as did Stan & Roberta. (photo at right of HCGS members by Alan Toft). The other societies in the building had lots of information to share. We sent one teenager over to the Portuguese table and he was very happy that his family was well documented in their database. Other ethnic groups included the Puerto Ricans, Chinese, Japanese, Okinawans, Korean, Philippine, Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders.

Hawaii Plantation Village - Genealogy Day

2008-04-25T12:49:00.004-10:00

Saturday, May 3rd from 10 am to 2 pm the Hawai'i Plantation Village in Waipahu will host the 2nd Genealogy Day at the Village, focusing on Hawaii's ethnic groups. It is free and our Honolulu County Genealogy Society will have two tables there to help people work with their genealogy.
Unfortunately the Hawaii Plantation Village does not update their website, but here is a link, to get general information and directions to the Village. http://www.hawaiiplantationvillage.org/
Come out to the Plantation Village as see what it's all about. It's wonderful. Here's directions:

From downtown: Take H-1 West to Exit # 7 --Waikele/Waipahu. Coming off of H-1 turn left at the stoplight onto Paiwa St. Continue on Paiwa Street until the 5th stoplight, onto Waipahu Street. Turn right onto Waipahu Street and the entrance to Hawaii's Plantation Village is on your left.

You can get a glimpse of last year's Genealogy Day from the video I submitted to www.rootstelevision.com and put "Hawaii Genealogy" in the search box. Click onto the picture of our Fran McFarland and watch the 6 min video.

Below is information from the Hawaii Plantation Village website that describes the diverse ethnic groups that have migrated to Hawaii and that they have village exhibits for:

"A Global Workforce Creates a Multi-Ethnic Community"

With options of fishing, taro farming and other traditional food activities, Hawaiians were less than enthusiastic about the regimen of industrial labor. Furthermore, their communities were not large enough to provide the thousands of workers needed for the rapid expansion of the sugar industry after 1876.

Between 1852 and 1946, approximately 395,000 people were brought to Hawaii to work in the sugar fields. Other immigrant groups who came to Hawaii, although in much smaller numbers include: Gilbert Islanders, Norwegians, Germans, Galacians, Spanish, Hindus, African Americans and Russians. Many workers chose to return to their homelands and for some, like the Spanish, Hawaii was a stepping stone to the mainland. Many remained and made Hawaii their home.

The shared experiences of backbreaking labor, low pay and constant supervision created the foundation for these laborers to overcome their differences and find common ground. Hawaii’s plantation communities always had a disproportionate number of single male workers and in the early years, social relationships were associated with a bachelor lifestyle. Not until 1920 did women and children make up half of the plantation community. It is the workers who stayed in Hawaii and raised families who forged a new plantation community in which elements of their individual cultures merged to form the basis of modern multicultural Hawaii.

Hawaiians
Prior to 1876, Hawaiians constituted 80% of the sugar workforce. While there would always be Hawaiians on the sugar plantations, after 1880, their numbers dwindled in comparison to imported laborers.

Chinese 1852-1897
Primarily bachelors intending to return to China, the men who stayed usually left the plantations after finishing their contracts. They often started families by marrying Hawaiian women. 46,000 came during these years.

Portuguese 1878-1913
Recruited as families, the Portuguese came to Hawaii with every intention of staying. Although starting as field workers, they often moved into Luna positions.17,500 came during these years.

Puerto Ricans 1878 - 1913
Recruited as families, Puerto Ricans emigrated to Hawaii expecting to establish a new community. They traveled to Hawaii via a long railroad ride across the U.S. from New Orleans to California. 5,200 came during these years.

Japanese 1885-1924
Originally, single men dominated this group. But after women emigrated as picture brides, families became more common. As the largest immigrant group, their cultural influence is seen throughout the plantation community.

Koreans 1903-1905
Over 40% of Korean emigrants were Christians seeking religious freedom and a western way of life in Hawaii. Others had political motives and sought to establish an overseas base for the Korean nationalist struggle. 7,000 Koreans during these years.

Photo Labels

2008-04-24T22:18:00.006-10:00

This information is in response to a question by Kathy Martin-Yeager about adding information onto a border of a digital image.

From Ancestry.com's FamilyHistoryCircle 24/7 - Quick Tip from March 24th, 2008
by Diane Harman-Hoog Labeling Electronic Images http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2377&o_iid=23560&o_lid=23560
"When scanning in old family photos to share with the family, I add the information, such as name, place, and date, to the border of the print. I use an image editing program to do this. If the photo does not have a border, I create one. If a person wants to print the photo and does not want the information it is easy to crop off, but by keeping the label, the photo and identification will not be separated."

So I gave it a try:
After some anguish, I've been able to make an annotation at the bottom of a photo, with the software "Paint.net" A free downloadable software at http://www.getpaint.net/ I opened a copy of a photo into the software then went to "Image" then "Canvas Size" then fiddled around with the sizing of the canvas. Easiest, I guess, is to increase the "Print Size" (of the canvas) by clicking on the up arrow for height and the up arrow for width. This makes a white border around the picture. Then I went to "Tools" and selected the Text tool "A" and clicked onto the bottom border of the photo. Add the text. The text can be moved around by clicking and dragging the "nub" that appears. I haven't perfected the text, but it can be increased in size, etc. Save the new creation. Here is the photo - my first- that I used the border and text to annotate the photo. To make it better, I'd increase the text size more, next time. -Donna

Ancestry.com Guide - Free update chapters

2008-04-16T17:58:00.003-10:00

Many have subscription to Ancestry.com. Below is news of updated chapters on their Official Guide to Ancestry.com written by George G. Morgan in early 2007, I believe. Even if you don't have the $20 book, you can download the four new chapters for free.

The Official Guide to Ancestry.com–Updated chapters for free download
To help keep up to date in between editions of The Official Guide to Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com is making chapters on new features available as free PDFs. The four new chapters explain Ancestry's new DNA services, AncestryPress, the updated Learning Center, and Family Tree enhancements.

April 12th 2008 HCGS Meeting

2008-04-11T11:05:00.007-10:00

At out meeting place - The Manoa Gardens Community Center, on April 12th, we had a jam-packed meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society. It was an interesting and varied meeting. Stan Jones presented an excellent program on Genealogy Conferences on Land, Sea and Air. He discussed the major international conferences including the National Genealogy Society (NGS) conference is Kansas City, MO in May, and the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) conference in Philadelphia this September. A list of various State, County and foreign conferences were also listed. Then came the Genealogy Cruises which this year including Legacy, Roots Magic, Royal Caribbean, Wholly Genes, and Irish Genealogy Seminar & Cruise. More information on these can be found online. In the last segment he described ways to get the most out of a genealogical conference, such as how to chose a particular lecture and how to get the most out of the "trade show" portion. He even discussed gleaning genealogical information from fellow passengers or flight attendants and networking on the way to the conference! Thanks to Stan for a very nice presentation. After refreshments we watched the video by Megan Smolenyak & Dick Eastman entitled "Genealogy Cruising" which is online at www.rootstelevision.com

Kathy Defoster presented a Celebration of the Life of Dottie Leilani Behling Hemaloto, who died 20 Oct 2007. Dorothy was a much loved super star of Polynesian genealogy who had been a member of HCGS and living in Hawaii for eight years, before returning to Salt Lake City in 2004 to resume her mission in the Medieval Unit at the Salt Lake City Genealogical Library. A photo of Dottie and the friends in attendance who knew her many years ago is pictured here.

Alan Toft gave a mini-biography on his illusive 2nd Cousin, Thomas Toft. Alan described how he came to discover Thomas, a native of England. Thomas immigrated to Canada and lived near Calgary before he died in 1961. Unbeknown to Alan, who also immigrated to Canada from England, they both lived near Calgary for many years. Alan is just discovering the amazing story of this cousin and his wife whose paths he crossed, but never met. See the story below.

At the end of the meeting, pizza was delivered for all those who chose to eat lunch of it, and chat more with fellow genealogists. The 2008 calendar is shaping up, so be sure to attend as many meetings as possible. Next month Alan Toft will be the main speaker, this time about English Research and the story of the Plough Boy Pub. Martha Reamy will present a mini-biography of her grandmother. Refreshments will be provided by Harriet and Louise.

THOMAS BURGESS TOFT - Mini-Biography by Alan Toft

Thomas Burgess Toft was born 3 Jun 1906 at 13 Taylor Street, Walton Inferior (now Lower Walton), Cheshire

England

. He was the son of Henry Toft (born Walton Inferior, Cheshire 1868) and Sarah Ann Hatton (born Broadheath, Altrincham, Cheshire 1876). He was the 6th of 12 siblings born between 1898 and 1916. In the photo, taken in 1907 outside his birthplace, young Thomas is in his mother’s arms.

He emigrated to Canada, from Liverpool on the White Star liner ‘Celtic’, and landed at Pier 21 at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 17 Mar 1928. By 1931 he was a bartender/waiter in Calgary, Alberta and worked at the Queens Hotel, Carlton Hotel, and King Edward Hotel until 1948 when he had a brief spell working at the CN Railway Yards. By this time he had married a lady named Ivy whose maiden name may have been Ederer. We don’t know their marriage date nor whether they had children.

Thomas was admitted to the Alberta Hospital, Ponoka, Alberta, which is, or was, a home for people with mental problems, on 12 Jan 1949 under the Warrant of the Attorney General. He was separated from his wife and he died there 1 Mar 1961 at age 54 and was buried 7 Mar 1961 at Forest Home Cemetery, Ponoka, Alberta. His burial record shows that his wife, Ivy, who had been working at the Mount Royal Hotel in Banff, Alberta, left an in-care-of address of ‘E.N. Ederer, 293 View Royal Ave., Victoria BC.’ We don’t know, at this time, when Ivy Toft passed away or if she remarried.

Mar 8th Meeting

2008-03-08T16:06:00.007-10:00

The March meeting of the Honolulu county Genealogical Society was highlighted by the presentation of Bobby Stevens (photo at right)- His presentation was in two parts. The first was about "Backup Strategies" for genealogical (or other) data on your computer. For immediate backup he recommends use of a thumbdrive or external hard drive. He recommends a weekly back-up to a CD/DVD or online storage, such as at http://www.mozy.com/. Mozy offers 2 GB of free storage, which would probably be enough room for someone's Family Tree data. For archival he recommends the use of gold plated CD/DVD as offered for sale at http://www.blogger.com/www.bhphotovideo.com or http://www.delkin.com/ at a cost of about $2.00 per CD or less, depending on the quantity ordered.

Part two of Bobby's presentation was about "Plea Books" or what you can find by searching books from Court records,Plea Records and Minutes. He systematically uses the microfilms at the local Family History Library to search for records of his ancestors in Halifax County, Virginia. He has found many interesting and surprising findings by using this type of research. Thanks to Bobby for his excellent presentation.

Biography Challenge - Olla L. (Piles) Weaver
This month, Stan Jones (photo at right), answered the mini-biography challenge with a story about his Grandmother, Olla Weaver, maiden name Piles. His story was very heart warming and enjoyed by the membership. Below is the obituary from her unfortunate and untimely death. Her photo is at left.
"Burns Suffered Thursday Fatal To Mrs. Weaver. Funeral services for Mrs. Olla L. Weaver will be at 1 p.m. Thursday in Brintlinger's Funeral Home where friends may call after 2 p.m. Wednesday. Burial will be in Tuscola Cemetery. Mrs. Weaver, 76, of 845 N. Union St., died at 1:55 a.m. yesterday in Decatur and Macon County Hospital. She had been a patient since last Thursday when she was burned when her clothing caught fire while she was preparing a meal on her gas stove. Mrs. Weaver had been a resident of Decatur for 57 years coming her from Atwood. She was born in Pesotum, March 13, 1886, a daughter of Frank and Jennie Coffrin Piles. Mrs. Weaver was a member of the Grace Methodist Church, the Friendly Circle Bible Class and the Quilters Guild of the church. She married Robert McClelland in Tuscola, during 1905. Later, in 1928, she married Otto D. Weaver in Bloomington, Ind. He died in 1936. Surviving are two daughters, Mrs. Mary L. McDaniel and Mrs. Clarence (Doris) Jones, both of Decatur; three grandchildren; 7 great-grandchildren. One daughter preceded her in death."

The meeting concluded with refreshments and a group went to have lunch at the Tree Tops Buffet at the top of the valley.

Changes at Ancestry.com

2008-02-28T10:35:00.002-10:00

Ancestry.com is working on lots of new and refined search methods ... below is a sample of the proposed changes. Take a tour of the two pages at http://search.ancestry.com/search/help/TourNewUI1.aspx?welcome=1
and get an idea of things to come!

Next Meeting Sat. March 8th

2008-02-28T10:14:00.003-10:00

The next HCGS meeting is Saturday March 8th at 9am. As reported at our Honolulu County Genealogical Society web page: "Bobby Stevens will talk about back-up and archival methods and media, as well as types of genealogical data that can be found in court plea and minute books." Also on the agenda, is Stan Jones will answer the "Bio-Challenge" giving us a "mini-biographical report" on one of his favorite relatives. We plan to take lunch at the "Tree Tops" restaurant back in Manoa Valley, after the meeting, for those interested.

Interestingly our Blog here has attracted interest from several in Germany who read the bio of Samuel Stiebel that Harriet Hoffman presented at the January meeting. It is copied here on the blog and the folks in Germany found it and made some comments. See the January 12th blog posting and comments. Thanks!

Google Maps - Street Views

2008-02-13T11:17:00.008-10:00

I have to tell you all about Google.com's new "Street View" feature in Google maps. You can see addresses as they exist today, either for genealogy references or if you are traveling and want to get an idea of how the place will look. An example is to the left - 164 Ludlow St., NYC - home of one of Bob Hoffman's ancestors. I found out the pictures are taken from a camera mounted on a little car that drives along each street to capture the street views.

Below is info about this new "Street View" part of "Google Maps" from 24-7 Family History Circle blog, this is the link: http://blogs.ancestry.com/circle/?p=2248
3 Feb 2008: "Visiting Ancestral Homes and Businesses in Your Jammies" by Paula Stuart-Warren, CG
Google Maps ----- Google provides us with a new tool, Street View for looking at those homes as they are currently. Street View launched last spring and is expanding. Currently, only some major cities have street views, but for some areas, that includes nearby cities. The panoramic and direct views of houses and other buildings were taken recently.

When you open up Google Maps look for the button Street View in the upper-right section of the map, and once you arrive at that U.S. map, click on a city that has the camera icon. Then type in an address.

Or, begin by typing in a street address and city such as “101 Newbury Street Boston,” and then clicking on street view once you see Newbury Street on the map, and in seconds you can view the entrance to the New England Historic Genealogical Society.

What Cities Are Included?
Currently, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, St. Paul and Minneapolis, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland (Oregon), Providence, San Diego, San Francisco, and Tucson are included. " [also now Salt Lake City area]

Social Networking - More Information 11 Feb 2008

2008-02-11T09:39:00.002-10:00

To add information to the last blog, for what Joann Henley brought up about social networking sites, below is a list of sites that The Genealogy Guys had on their podcast show notes http://www.genealogyguys.com/ for Jan 26, 2006:

"Drew and George discuss the explosion of social networking sites for genealogists and some of the issues regarding choosing one or more to use. The list includes: Geni.com (http://www.geni.com/),
Ancestry.com(http://www.ancestry.com/), OneGreatFamily.com(http://www.onegreatfamily.com), FamilyTreeDNA.com(http://www.familytreedna.com/), MyHeritage.com(http://www.myheritage.com/), 23AndMe(https://www.23andme.com/), MyHeritage.com(http://www.myheritage.com/), ItsOurTree.com(http://www.itsourtree.com/ and available in multiple languages), Famillion(http://www.famillion.com), Amiglia.com(http://www.amiglia.com), Kindo.com(http://kindo.com/), TreeX.com(http://treex.com/tree/). Others include KinCafe(http://www.kincafe.com/), FamilyLink(http://www.familylink.com/ - formerly WorldVitalRecords.com), WeRelate(http://www.werelate.org), OurStory.com(http://www.ourstory.com/), and Famiva(http://www.famiva.com/). "

As you can see there are plenty of sites now available online. Some are free and some have a subscription cost. They are different, so if you want to jump in to the "Web 2" or social networking, I'd advise to do a little shopping around to see exactly what you'd like to spend some time with.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Also, I mentioned previously on this blog, about the "African American Lives 2" series. Here is more information about that wonderful genealogical show - Looks like there are only two more episodes:

The information below is from the DearMyrtle.com blog http://blog.DearMYRTLE.com:
"T. Devon Jones sent a message to the members of AfroAmerican Genealogy:
Subject: African American Lives 2, Feb 6th --- AFRICAN AMERICAN LIVES 2, a new four-part PBS series, explores roots, race and identity through the ancestry of remarkable individuals. Premiering February 6th and 13th. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/aalives/aal2
Joining Professor Gates in the new broadcast are poet Maya Angelou, author Bliss Broyard, actor Don Cheadle, actor Morgan Freeman, theologian Peter Gomes, publisher Linda Johnson Rice, athlete Jackie Joyner-Kersee, radio personality Tom Joyner, comedian Chris Rock, rock 'n' roll legend Tina Turner and college administrator Kathleen Henderson, who was selected from more than 2,000 applicants to have her family history researched and DNA tested alongside the series' well-known guests.

The use of DNA research came up with some surprising results. Ol' Myrt here recommends this PBS series, even if you don’t have African American roots. All researchers appreciate the “ah-ha” moments when one discovers source documents proving family relationships. To find evidence an ancestor served in a state legislature, or in the military is thrilling – almost as good as identifying that old photograph in great-grandmother’s trunk. Witness the joy as each participant finds their roots brings hope to those attempting to reach the next limb on the family tree. The 4 minute trailer spotlights reactions from participants such as: Chris Rock, who said “If I’d known this, it would have taken away the inevitability that I was going to be nothing.” and Maya Angelou, who said “Heritage is so complex, that we have to consider ourselves global, and no human being can be more human than another.”

Feb Meeting Sat Feb 9 2008

2008-02-09T14:18:00.000-10:00

We had another terrific meeting this month, thanks to Bryan Quisquirin (photo at right) for his wonderful and professional presentation on Philippine Genealogy Research. Not many of us were aware of the interesting history of the country, or the unique research challenges and accessible records available for Philippines research. Bryan is an expert in this research and we are very happy he is a member of our society.

The slate of officers of the society was presented by President Tom Bopp, and a special thanks for all the work he does as president, including lugging the projector/screen/computer back and forth every meeting. Thanks to Georgia Bopp for coordinating the pizza delivery today. We're becoming so efficient! Jan Everly Williams continues to do a wonderful job putting out our newsletter "Ke Ku'auhau" and maintaining our website www.rootsweb.com/~hihcgs Martha Reamy was back this meeting and brought a trunkload full of books and magazines to sell/give to members at the meeting as a fund raiser (and to lighten her shelves at home!) Joann Henely discussed the new website www.geni.com which is a place to store genealogical data online for free. She gave away three unique geni.com t-shirts. Our next meeting will be March 8th at 9am at the Manoa Gardens Community Center, Bobby Stevens will be the speaker then.

A special note: I hope you have been tuning in to the PBS television show "African American Lives 2" which seems to be on Wednesday nights at 9 pm (Channel 10 on Oceanic Cable). It's a wonderfully done program of African American genealogy. Our friend Megan Smolyenak is one of the professional genealogists that help research the material.

Also thanks to Bobby Stevens for his interesting "mini-biography" presentation of his 5th GGFather who, after tons of trials and tribulations, was able to land in Virginia in the 1738. Bobby certainly has his roots firmly planted in that state as his family has lived there ever since! (See the story below)

Below is the "mini-biography" that Bobby Stevens (photo at left) related to the meeting. I would call this fantastic story the "Journey of an important 14th century, Northern Italy family who settled in Switzerland, then immigrated to America in 1738 via Holland and England, on a disastrous sea journey with Swiss Protestants to make a new home and settle in 'New Found Eden' along the Dan River, Virginia."

The Torian Family

The Toriano/Turriani family was originally known as the Della Torre family of northern Italy. They owned castles overlooking the Veltellino Valley. In the 14th century they controlled passes in the Alps and eventually became "Ducos" of Milan and master of all Lombardy for three generations. They were defeated and had to retreat back to the mountain passes. They settled in the village of Soglio, Switzerland, near Lake Como. The name Turriani de Traila and Traila de Turriani later became Turriani, then Toriano, then Torian in America.

Shertoruis Turriani's family name disappeared from the Soglio church records after February 1738. They left Soglio and moved down the Rhine River to Rotterdam and thence to England in June 1738. They left Plymouth on the sailing ship, Oliver, in September 1738 with over 300 Swiss Protestants aboard. The journey took 5 months. The ship foundered off Lynnhaven Bay, Virginia. Shertorio's wife and other family members either died on the journey over or as the result of the shipwreck. Surviving were Shertorio Toriano, three sons, a daughter, and a kinsman, Carlo Toriano who gave a deposition on the wreck.

Before progressing the genealogy and progeny of Schertorio (Sher) Toriano, let us review the events leading to the tragedy of the shipwreck. This account and Carlo Toriano’s deposition has been taken from Swiss American Newsletter of May 1998. William Byrd II of Westover, Virginia obtained a patent in 1735 for 100,000 acres of land on the Dan River, on the condition that he settle at least one family for every 1,000 acres within two years. Securing 100 families was not easy but Byrd felt that his contacts with John Ochs, a Swiss promoter, would be fruitful. The first attempt to induce settlers to come to Virginia in 1736 was unsuccessful. Then Byrd turned to Samuel Jennerin of the Helvetian Society. To promote the project they published a book in 1737, entitled, New Found Eden, which described the land in Virginia in glowing terms. Promotion and recruiting was successful, and the Society chartered a ship, the Oliver, to bring the colonists to Virginia. It was the only ship in 1738 bringing immigrants from Europe to Virginia.

The Oliver was ready for passengers June 22, 1738 in Rotterdam. The first destination for the Oliver was the port of Cowes on the Isle of Wight. Aboard the Oliver, the start was hampered by the decision of Captain William Walker that the Oliver was overloaded. He returned to Rotterdam and resigned his commission. Captain Wright replaced him and the Oliver left again for Cowes. The Oliver spent almost six weeks in Cowes. Upon departure, the seas were so heavy they took refuge at Plymouth. They did not leave Plymouth until early September. By that time the passengers had been on board two and a half months without getting farther than England.

One passenger left a written account of the voyage in which he said the first six weeks were favorable sailing but during the next ten weeks they were tormented by storms. They lost the mast and the Captain died. Finally the Oliver appeared off the coast of Virginia early in January, fully six months after leaving Rotterdam. The end of their troubles seemed to be near as they were within two hours of Hampton (mouth of James River), but the passengers grew impatient. After their starvation diet, they insisted that the master anchor and obtain provisions. Their demands were backed by pistols and rifles. While the party was ashore, violent winds arose and the ship dragged its anchor until it grounded.

Forty to fifty persons were trapped and drowned between decks. Two ships that lay near the Oliver provided assistance and put many people ashore. The weather was so cold that about seventy of them froze to death. The Virginia Gazette reported there were ninety survivors. Among the survivors were Schertorio (Sher) de Toriano, his sons, Peter, Andrew, Schertorio (Scare) and daughter Mary. On May 4, 1740, he leased 200 acres of land on the north side of the Dan River, Brunswick County, St. Andrews Parish, Virginia. This property later became part of Lunnenburg County (1746) and Halifax County (1752). On September 1, 1746, in Lunnenburg County, Sher and eldest son Peter, who was of age, took their Oath of Allegiance to the King, they not being British subjects. The younger children not being of age, the father took their oath for them.

Captain John Meek in Hawaii lecture

2008-01-17T12:06:00.000-10:00

An interesting item was in the newspaper of an upcoming illustrated lecture at the Hawaiian Historical Society (see their website at http://www.hawaiianhistory.org ) about "Captain John Meek in Hawaii" by Gail Hercher at 7:30 p.m. Jan 24 at the Old Archives Building on the grounds of 'Iolani Palace. Free. See below:

Captain John Meek in Hawai‘i An Illustrated Lecture by Gail Hercher

The Hawaiian Historical Society invites its members and the public to an illustrated lecture, Captain John Meek in Hawai‘i, by Gail Hercher at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 24, 2008, at the Kana‘ina Bulding (Old Archives Building) on the grounds of ‘Iolani Palace. The program is free and open to the public.

In 1824, Captain John Meek of Marblehead, Massachusetts, set what was then the record for the shortest voyage from New York to Honolulu—124 days. Known throughout the Pacific as a master seaman and a capable entrepreneur, Captain Meek was one of the earliest Americans to engage in the China trade.

In Hawai‘i, Meek took on sandalwood, a commodity highly valued by the Chinese. Meek traded directly with King Kamehameha I and other members of Hawaiian royalty. In time, he became a trusted friend and was charged with taking a royal Hawaiian boy to attend school at Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts.

Details of Meek’s life in Hawai‘i can be found in early records, journals, and letters at the Hawaiian Historical Society, the Bishop Museum Library and Archives, the Hawai‘i State Archives, and private sources.

From these records, we know that Captain Meek eventually settled in Hawai‘i, where he became a harbor pilot, rancher, and prominent citizen. He married a Hawaiian woman, with whom he had several children. He died in Honolulu in 1875 at the age of eighty-five and is buried in Oahu Cemetery.

This illustrated lecture will illuminate Meek’s early life in Massachusetts and his subsequent adventures in the Pacific, especially his life in Honolulu after 1830.

Gail Pike Hercher, a longtime resident of Marblehead, Massachusetts, became interested in Captain John Meek when she worked as director of education at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, and served as vice-president of the Marblehead Historical Society. She has lectured and published articles on Marblehead history. Hercher earned B.F.A. and M.F.A. degrees at the University of Hawai‘i. She has completed coursework for a Ph.D. in American studies at Boston University. She now lives in Honolulu and works as an artist, teacher, and writer.

For further information, contact the Hawaiian Historical Society office, 560 Kawaiaha‘o Street, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96813. Telephone 808-537-6271. E-mail: bedunn@lava.net.

Jan Meeting; Biography Challenge

2008-01-13T11:06:00.001-10:00

We had a very interesting (I think) meeting Saturday, Jan 12th. Besides the election of officers I discussed our new Honolulu County Genealogical Society Blog. Using Tom's laptop and projector I explained how I have made reading blogs very easy, free, and timely with the internet. Using a power point presentation I explained downloading a Firefox web browser, opening a Google Account, customizing an iGoogle homepage, and adding the gadget "Google Reader' to the homepage. How to make a comment on any of our Blog postings was also discussed. I hope that our members will find our blog, whether through a blog reader or visiting the site periodically: www.honolulucountygenealogicalsociety.blogspot.com

A brief Biography Challenge has been issued to our society (by me:-)) ... and that is for everyone to compose a biography about their mother or father, a grandparent, or uncle, even themselves, and write it on one page. Then one should volunteer to read it at one of our meetings. I do this in the hopes that we procrastinators will finally get something down on paper besides a date, or place, to describe life in our families, especially those lives that we knew. If you have images or pictures, I can project them when you read your story. I can also put the story on this blog if you agree (see the last blog Jan 12, 2008). Harriet Hoffman read what she'd composed about her great-great grandfather who lived in Germany, his portrait had been hung for many years on her wall at home. I think that by her telling us briefly about her GGGrandfather, we all learned a little bit. The volunteer or the February meeting is Bob Stevens, and Stan Jones volunteered for the March meeting. Such great members we have!

We ended the meeting with "delivery pizza" and other refreshments brought in by members. It was delicious! There was plenty of time to "talk story" with each other at this meeting.

Besides the meeting, I want to mention the excellent new PBS television series (Channel 10 on cable) entitled "The Jewish Americans." It is three parts and last Wednesday I saw "They Came to Stay; A World of Their Own" the first two-hour segment about immigration from about 1650 to about 1900. This Wednesday, Jan. 16th at 9 pm the second segment will be aired "The Best of Times, The Worst of Times." The last segment "Home" should be aired Jan 23rd. Steve Danko describes it in his blog at http://stephendanko.com/?p=2144

Love to hear from any of you reading this. Click on the "Comment" link below. Thanks, Donna Hague Wendt

Biography Challenge: Harriet Hoffman's GG-Grandfather Samuel Stiebel

2008-01-12T17:09:00.000-10:00

Harriet Hoffman is the first member to answer the society challenge to write and read a one-page biography she's written about an ancestor. She chose Samuel Stiebel, her great-great grandfather. I've challenged each of our Honolulu County Genealogical Society members to write a one-page biography about a parent, grandparent, etc. as an incentive for them to complete it and as a way for the rest of us to hear about their family. Thank you Harriet!
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SAMUEL STIEBEL (1804-1878)

+Schanette "Jeanette" Bettmann(abt. 1810-1855)

+Regina Straub (1818-1869)

You, Samuel Stiebel, are my great-great grandfather. I have looked at and cherished your photograph on my family gallery wall for years and years. This is all I knew of you. I never dreamed in my wildest imagination that I would be able to "visit" you. But I am, and soon. I am coming to Langenschwarz, Germany in March of 2008. I have written the remarkable story of our discovery of you in a family history chapter titled, "Stiebel...Langenschwarz,Germany - Just Words On A Tombstone." I have found you...probably with a little help from yourself. I like to think so.
According to the Jewish records archived in "Hessisches Hauptstaatsarchiv Wiesbaden", Germany, where Herr Hans-Joachim Ruppel, the local archivist in Burghaun County, obtained copies, you were born September 16, 1804 and died August 29, 1878. You married Schanette in Langenschwarz, Germany, June 10, 1834. That would have made you 30 years of age when you married Schanette and she 24 years old. I would think you both would have been considered old to be married in those days.

Twenty one years after marriage and after ten children, your wife, Schanette (Jeanette), died. A photo of the stone of your wife, Schanette, is below. It has endured for over 150 years in this place.

Dorothy Ruppel provides a transcription from burial books of the Jewish Cemetery Project in Langenswartz , Germany:

"Jeannette Stiebel, geborene (nee) Bettmann,

Frau des Federhändlers (wife of feather-salesman) Samuel Stiebel,

45 Jahre (years), gestorben(died): 14.08.1855 morgens 5:00 Uhr (o'clock a.m.),

Beerdigt (buried) 15.08.1855"

Notes:" nächste beerdigte Person laut Synagogenregister (next buried person in synagoge-registry) , Tochter des Abraham und der Gütel Bettmann"

(Note: Does this mean that another Bettman was buried next to her?)

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Great-Great Grandfather Samuel you died on August 29, 1878, 23 years after your first wife. I have these names and dates from the Synagogue Records held by Dorothy Ruppel , and your stone is pictured here:

"Samuel Stiebel, born 16.09.1804 in Langenschwarz,
Married to Schanette / Jeanette Bettman on 10.06.1834 (had together 9 children),
After death of Schanette on 14.08.1855, he married again on 16.03.1858 in Langenschwarz,
His second wife: Regine Strauß, born on 15.01.1818 in Rothenkirchen, died on 14.02.1868 in Langenschwarz (no children).
Samuel died on 29.08.1878"

Great-Great Grandfather Samuel, I want to tell you about one of your great-granddaughters, Ruth Ginsberger Bergman, who wrote a most remarkable history* about your son Herz (Henry) Stiebel, his wife, May, and their daughter (your grand daughter), Julia Stiebel. It is a forty plus page, beautifully written novel, displaying great literary talent. It was typed on an old manual typewriter, using carbon paper for copies, way before 'white out' and 'Word' on our computers. Can you imagine the labor of love that went into that endeavor?

In her book, Ruth wrote that you, Samuel, and your wife, Jeanette, had agreed to let your eldest son Herz leave Germany and go to America in 1856 to join your brother, Mendel who had emigrated to Baltimore, Maryland. She believed that you felt that Herz should go because "Germany was the land of conscription, and the United States had proclaimed itself the land of the free." (Authors note: Schanette (Jeanette) died in 1855, however the decision that Herz could go to America may have already been made before Jeanette, died. Ruth actually wrote that Samuel's oldest "child" went to America, she probably meant oldest "son" who was Herz. Herz had two older sisters.)

Great-great grandfather Samuel, the German records indicate that after Schanette (Jeanette) died, you remarried to Regina Straub, from Rothenkirchen, on March 16, 1858. Certainly three years was a most appropriate time for you to mourn. You were 54 years old and Regina was 45 years old when she married you, and you did not have any more children. Perhaps she had an earlier family of her own too. You lived another nine years after Regina's death. How sad to bury two wives.

I am looking forward to "visiting" you and your parents, my great-great-great grandparents Isaac (Yitzchak bar Baruch Stiefel) and Roshen Goldschmidt Stiebel. I understand your homeland, Langenschwarz, where you were born and died, is magnificent. I want to "walk where once you walked", and to feel your presence. You, now, are so much more than just a picture on my wall.

*Complete text is in our family history chapter : "Henry and Jenny Stiebel Story as told by their daughter Julia Stiebel."

Top 500 English Websites and our Blog

2008-01-10T22:44:00.000-10:00

1) I have a power point presentation ready for Saturday's HCGS meeting. It is about Blogs: how to use a Google Reader to receive blog postings automatically, and how to make comments on this blog. There might be a couple surprises in the program.

2) Also, I was reading a post of Dick Eastman that appeared on my iGoogle Homepage "Google Reader." -- His "Eastman Online Genealogy Newsletter" blog. Dick mentions a wonderful site that consolidates the best 500 websites for English research. Here is his story:

"Need help finding your English ancestors online? A group of professional genealogists in Salt Lake City recently released a list of its 500+ favorite English websites used to solve family history riddles titled Expert Links: English Family History and Genealogy. The site is available for free to the public.

Price & Associates, Inc. is a team of professional genealogists. The company has now produced an exhaustive list of web links, divided into categories such as baptism, marriage, and burial indexes, occupations, religious sources, military records, and emigration lists to name a few. Most links lead to databases nationwide or countywide in scope. Sites requiring fees are distinguished by color.

Expert Links has received praise from around the globe for its comprehensiveness and sleek design. Simon Fowler, blogger for The National Archives’ Ancestors Magazine in London, recently named Expert Links his “Website of the Week.” You can view Price & Associates' list of links at http://www.pricegen.com/english_genealogy.html ."

See you Jan 12th at Manoa Gardens for our Genealogy Meeting... bring a brown bag lunch or chip in to order pizza if you desire. Also bring ideas for future presentations that you might like to see or to give yourself.
Aloha, Donna

Just for Laughs with Genealogy

2007-12-16T15:30:00.000-10:00

Harriet saw this on a genealogy site, author unknown. It seems to ring true:

Top Ten Indicators That You've Become a Gene-Aholic
10. You introduce your daughter as your descendent.
9. You've never met any of the people you send e-mail to, even though you're related.
8. You can recite your lineage back 8 generations, but can't remember your nephew's name.
7. You have more photographs of dead people than living ones.
6. You have taken a tape recorder and/or a notebook to a family reunion.
5. You have not only read the latest GEDCOM standards, you understand them.
4. The local genealogy society borrows books from you.
3. The only film you have seen in the last year was the 1880 census index.
2. More than half of your CD collection is made up of back-ups of your genealogy data base.
1. Your elusive ancestors have been spotted in more places than Elvis

Holiday Brunch & Jan Meeting

2007-12-12T18:34:00.000-10:00

I must mention what a fun time we had at the Holiday Brunch at Hickam Officers' Club on Dec 2nd. Twenty-three members of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society and their guests experienced a wonderful buffet in their own party room at the Club. Thanks Jim Deutch for making the arrangements. We finally got a chance to do plenty of talking, and that we did! Besides the delicious food, dessert and Champagne, the highlight was a gift-exchange that lasted quite a while, with some gifts having up to four different owners in the blink of an eye! We missed some familiar faces and hope to see them all at the next meeting on January 12th at Manoa Gardens.

On Saturday, January 12th, at our January HCGS Meeting, there will be a different "After Meeting Lunch" for those who want to participate. You can chip in for delivery pizza, or bring a brown bag lunch. Maybe we can solve some brick walls. Bring your questions.
-----Donna

HCGS Information

2007-11-23T13:44:00.000-10:00

Calling all HCGS Members:

1. On Sunday, December 2nd, 2007 --- Don't forget to attend our Annual Holiday Brunch, 10:00-1:00, Hickam AFB Officers' Club. Pay $18.95 at the door (does not include tip). Remember to bring your pass from Jim Deutch to get onto Hickam AFB if you don't have one on your car. For the Gift Exchange, be sure to bring a wrapped gift (value $5 to $10). The buffet is always terrific so get ready for a fun and delicious time.

2. The annual holiday brunch on Dec 2nd takes the place of our HCGS December meeting which would have been on Saturday Dec 8th. But a bonus experience is offered as an invitation to attend a meeting of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) at our usual time and place i.e. Sat 8 Dec at 9:00 am - 11:00 am Manoa Gardens. You can learn a little more about DNA and genealogy. Contact Georgia Bopp for any details.

3. Our January meeting will be on January 12th with election of new Board Members. Don't worry you won't be coerced from the floor to do anything! However we are formulating the 2008 slate of programs for our HCGS meetings. We need your input for ideas for the meetings. Please come with ideas for interesting topics for 2008. Also if there is anything you would like to present yourself, let Donna know. It could be anything genealogically related. We can combine several short presentation together if potential speakers only want to present for, say, 10 or 15 minutes.

4. Bring your Pedigree Sheets to the next meetings, for collection into a Society binder, as mentioned by Georgia in the Dec 12th Blog below

Websites of Interest

2007-11-21T11:28:00.000-10:00

GENEALOGY READING at Creative Gene
The 36th edition of Genealogy Carnival is a group of articles that have been submitted to one blog. Go to “Creative Gene”s blog and read some of those interesting genealogy related articles that you can peruse and then click on the links there (or here) to get to the original blog article. It’s also interesting to see what others are doing with their blogs. The Future of Genealogy - My Turn ; Technology: Any "Early Adopters" In Your Family Tree? ; Apple's Tree: Uncertain Future ; Our Name in History: A Review ; Loving Genealogy...For Over 30 Years! ; The Oracle of OMcHodoy: The Disappearing Doyles ; Jessica's Genejournal: One Puzzle Piece I Would Like to Solve ; I Am My Own - Well Not Quite .... ; Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan ; The Sturdy Little Red Wagon ; Rooms of My Heart: Family Reunion ; I Think I Might Have Killed My Father ; Hog Killing at Parham ; On the Menu: Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner and others.

http://creativegene.blogspot.com/2007/11/carnival-of-genealogy-36th-edition.html

Here is what Creative Gene has to say as introduction: “Welcome to the November 18, 2007 edition of the Carnival of Genealogy. This is a "carousel" edition which means that there is no specific theme. It's a kaleidoscope of colorful articles that I know you'll enjoy. We have several first-time participants this time around, welcome! If the weather in your neck of the woods is as dreary and raw as it is here in Detroit, pour yourself a steaming cup of coffee, grab a sweet and sticky cinnamon bun, and indulge your senses in good reading, good eating, and a good dose of caffeine to sustain you! Twenty-six authors, thirty-one articles. Come on... let's get on with the ride!

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Online Searchable DEATH INDEXES & Records – A Genealogy Guide

http://www.deathindexes.com

This website is a directory of online death indexes listed by state and county. Included are death records, death certificate indexes, death notices & registers, obituaries, probate indexes, and cemetery & burial records. You can also find information here about searching the Social Security Death Index online. Select a state or big city (Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City:-)

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SNAP GENIE - - narrate or talk about your pictures that are online - free
MyFamily.com’s great free site and tool available at SnapGenie.com is worth a mention here. Especially with the family oriented holidays coming up. I’ve used it and found it amazing for everyone involved in narrating some photos or hearing the narration about the photos. Maureen Taylor wrote about it back in February 2007. Click here for Maureen’s explanation and example = SnapGenie . SnapGenie allows you to create a photo show with narration that you record over the phone.

It's very simple to use, and best of all--free. This is direct to the snapgenie websete: http://www.snapgenie.com/

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Kip's List rivals Cyndi's List

There is a new Portal of Family History Websites –which I’ll call “Kip Sperry’s A to Z Website Lists” Creator, Kip Sperry, said “I have posted a listing of commonly used family history websites alphabetically arranged from A to Z. http://home.byu.net/ks4/?sssdmh=dm13.150380 will be helpful to family history instructors, students, genealogists, and librarians as a quick listing of popular sites. I would call Kips website an alphabetical version of the famous Cyndi’s List which groups genealogy links by category.

Cyndi founded the popular Cyndislist www.cyndislist.com with 268,000 links to genealogy related websites. You can also see the real Cyndi Howells in an interview with Dick Eastman while onboard ship on a recent genealogy cruise. To see this interview go to www.rootstelevision.com - and search for the 8:54 min video title called “Cyndi’s List”

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IRISH RESEARCH

Stan belongs to an Irish research e-mail list, which you can subscribe to at the Irish Family History Foundation website www.irish-roots.net Here is the type of information you can be provided if you subscribe to their e-mail list: www.irish-roots.net

“The Irish Genealogical Online Record Search System (ORS) is a national initiative organized by the Irish Family History Foundation which co-ordinates and represents the county based genealogical centres on the island of Ireland. Over the coming months the records of other centres will become available firstly as individual county databases, and then these will be amalgamated into one Irish records database which will allow searching across all counties and sources. " We are pleased to announce the availability of the records of the Dun Laoghaire all Heritage Centre covering South County Dublin. This adds another 160,000 baptismal, birth, death and marriage records that can be searched and purchased online. Just go to our website at www.irish-roots.net and login using your existing Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF) login details or register as a new user.” At their website you can see an impressive list of links connected to Irish research, and Irish maps -dw
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Any comments or questions to any of the above? Just click on "comments" below.

Genealogy Tips from members

2007-11-16T10:08:00.001-10:00

Stan and Harriet have been busy finding things to mention on this blog. They recommend the following genealogical resources:

1. New England Historic Genealogical Society eNews Letter - a free publication via e-mail to anyone who registers. Or it is available for free viewing from their website: http://www.newenglandancestors.org/ It has tons of wonderful information of importance to the genealogist, and of course, has an emphasis on New England. It is a very excellent weekly newsletter that arrives by e-mail. To subscribe or view back issues of NEHGS eNews, visit http://www.newenglandancestors.org/education/articles/NEXUS_eNews/enews_homepage.asp

2. UpFront with NGS - a free, monthly genealogy newsletter by e-mail, designed for members of the National Genealogical Society( website at http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/ ) and the entire genealogical community. Keep up with the news of the genealogy world, including information on their 2008 NGS Conference & Family History Fair in Kansas City, MO on 14-17 May 2008. To subscribe: Send a NEW e-mail message to: NGS-L-request@rootsweb.com and type only one word in the body of the message: subscribe

3. Genealogy e-mail Digest/List GeneSIG@yahoogroups.com is a free Yahoo! Group that you can subscribe to for delivery to you via e-mail on a daily or weekly basis. It is similar to RootsWeb Lists or Digests, and provides a forum for interesting topics and questions that others in the Yahoo Group might be able to answer. Yahoo Groups is also offering blogs and groups on the web..in Beta. I'm guessing that one can subscribe by sending an e-mail message to GeneSig-L-request@yahoogroups.com and type subscribe in the body of the message as you do for a rootsweb subscription, but I may be wrong.

4. And from Harriet: Harriet subscribes to a newsletter (name & address to follow if she sends it to me) and she passes on this link about military information that was mentioned in the email newsletter:
Military Personnel Files Released by U.S. Government ---- The U.S. National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) for the first time has opened all of the individual Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF) of those who served and were discharged, retired or died while in the service prior to 1946. Collectively, these files comprise more than six million records. These files are open only to the veteran him/herself, if living, or next of kin, which can be father, mother, son, daughter, sister or brother. Interestingly a surviving spouse can gain access only if not remarried. To obtain copies of records, customers may write to NPRC at 9700 Page Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63132, fax a request to 314-801-9195, or submit a request through http://vetrecs.archives.gov or on a Standard Form 180. Information about records available at NPRC is also posted on the National Personnel Records Center Homepage at http://www.archives.gov/st-louis/military-personnel/index.html.

Thanks Stan and Harriet. Anyone, please make a comment or ask a question at the "comment" link below. --- Donna