Saturday, March 16, 2019

March Genealogical Society General Meeting

The Genealogical Society of Stanislaus County
March General Meeting



The public is welcomed and encouraged to join us!


When: Tuesday, March 19, 2019

Where: Trinity Presbyterian Church's Telle Center 1600 Carver Road Modesto, CA

Time: 7:00P.M. until 9:00P.M.

Speaker: Rabbi Shalom Bochner

Professional in Jewish DNA, Mexican Sephardi Heritage and Ashkenazi Endogamy. 

Topic: Migration of the Jewish people from Spain through Mexico. 



Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Lisa Louise Cooke Genealogy Gems Spring Seminar

Lisa Louise Cooke from Genealogy Gems 

Sacramento Genealogical Society Spring Seminar Speaker

When: Saturday, April 6, 2019

Where: Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church 11427 Fair Oaks BLVD Fair Oaks, CA

Time: Doors open at 8:30A.M. Seminar at 9:00A.M. until 4:30P.M.

See the following website for the flyer and registration.

https://rootcellar.org/cpage.php?pt=42&fbclid=IwAR23myHavoTWkY2GwHBLsNxcmqM_GxyG_jHVvCQPW-r9dPhbUHhRd_vE7i0

Topics of Discussion:

Google Search Strategies for Common Surnames

Time Travel with Google Earth or How to Excite your Non-Genealogist Relatives

Cutting Edge Strategies for Solving that Cold Case! Featuring Family Tree identification for DNA Matches.

How to use Evernote for Genealogy (Aka "Note taking strategies")

Brief bonus "How-To" feature.

Monday, February 11, 2019

Special Collections Room



Special Collections Room-- Jackie Niemeyer

We have some great books in the special collections room at the library. A lot of hard work went into writing and indexing different county and state books in the collection. Our society has done several cemetery books of our local cemeteries such as Acacia, Pioneer, Citizens, Turlock and Ceres among others. GSSC has also done an every name index for a couple of Stanislaus County History Books. They are " The History of Stanislaus County " by George Tinkham and also " Stories of Stanislaus" by Sol P. Elias. They were both published in the 1920s and our society indexed them years later. Tinkham's book has biographical sketches and photos of prominent county men including Sol. P. Elias. Sol was a former mayor of Modesto and he wrote his book about various happenings and history of the county.

Use the indexed books in our collection as a finding aid for your genealogical documentation. One good example are the books done by Virgil D. White. He has abstracted and indexed a lot of the early wars pension and service records from the National Archives. His best-known work is " Genealogical Abstracts of Revolutionary War Pension Files". It is a 4-volume set with an every name index. It gives a good synopsis of the pension information. If you find your person in the book you can find the original papers either on line or you can order from the archives. His other books that we have are indexes for Old War Pension files, Indian Wars and the War of 1812 pensions. Come visit us at the library to use these and all the other great books we have.

I also still need volunteer help at the Special Collections room on the second and fourth Monday's of the month. We are open from 10 am to 3 pm but I would only need a couple hours of help on those Mondays. I want to especially thank Marge Schueber for her help at the library on the other Mondays. It is very much appreciated!

You can reach me at---( jackie.niemeyer@prodigy.net )

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Texas County Courthouse(s) Information

The Arcane Texas Fact of the Day: (If you have Ancestors in Texas, this information will be of assistance to your record searches).

*Submitted by Pam Atherstone.

Many Texas county courthouses have burned down over the years, oftentimes resulting in the destruction of the documents they stored: marriage, wills, probate and land records, among others. Once destroyed they are lost forever. Despite the fact that they have been placed on mircofilm, computers and film burn as well. The most tragic aspect of this is the reason that many of our courthouses are destroyed: by arsonists. Here is a fairly complete list of courthouses that have been destroyed by fire:

Angelina County Courthouse burned on November 19, 1891. Many of the county records – including those in the assessor’s office and the justice of the peace office were destroyed. 

Austin County Courthouse was built in 1888, was destroyed by fire on April 5, 1960. Courthouse records were saved Cass County Courthouse – damaged by fire in August 1933. Courthouse rebuilt and enlarged. Crosby County Courthouse in Estacado caught fire on October 9, 1889 and destroyed the judges’, treasurer’s and county clerk’s offices. 

Delta County Courthouse at Cooper was destroyed by fire on 9 March 1899. Nearly all of the county records were stored in a fireproof vault and were saved. Records in the district clerk’s office, probably records on current cases, were destroyed. 

Denton County Courthouse and almost all county records were destroyed by fire in December 1875. 

Eastland County Courthouse, a three-story stone building, burned on November 29, 1896. The records are believed to have been saved.

Erath County Courthouse and most of the county records were destroyed by fire in the summer of 1866.

Gillespie County Courthouse and many county records were destroyed by fire in July 1850.

Galveston County Courthouse was destroyed by the Galveston Hurricane in September 1900, swept the island clean, therefore, it is likely the record was destroyed in the hurricane. Check in nearby counties for any such replications of any records from the Galveston area prior to 1900.

Goliad County Courthouse and almost all county records were destroyed by fire in June 1870.

Gray County Courthouse Annex destroyed by tornado in 1970.

Grayson County Courthouse was burned by a mob on May 9, 1930. However ALL of the vital records, land records, and most court records were saved from this fire. The courthouse had records in fire proof rooms and storage areas.

Grimes County Courthouse records were destroyed by fire in late 1848.

Hamilton County Courthouse and many county records were destroyed by fires in September 1863, March 1877, and February 1886.

Hardin County Courthouse burned about August 8, 1886. Early county records were destroyed in the conflagration. Some records were destroyed including the assessment rolls of the county, surveyor’s records, and the county judge’s records, including the probate records. The only records that may have been saved were those that were stored in an iron safe.

Hill County Courthouse caught fire on 18 Sept 1872. Many county records were destroyed. Courthouse, built in 1890, caught fire on 1 Jan 1993, destroying most of the building.

Hood County Courthouse and most of the county records, if not all, were destroyed by fire in March 1875.

Hopkins County Courthouse built in 1882, was destroyed on Feb. 11, 1894 by a fire that also burned the jail and several nearby structures. Nearly all of the records were saved. Those destroyed were in the office of Judge Morris. The fire additionally destroyed the jail, part of the Courthouse square and the offices of the Hopkins County Echo newspaper.

Houston County Courthouse , a brick building, which replaced the first courthouse in 1851, was destroyed by a fire of mysterious origin in February 1865 . The third courthouse and jail burned in November 1882 . Most early records were destroyed Hunt County Courthouse , built in 1883, was destroyed by a fire on August 17, 1884 which heavily damaged the town’s commercial district. Some early records destroyed. (more).

Jackson County Courthouse was destroyed by fire on June 15, 1900. Records of the County Judge, Assessor and Justice of the Peace were lost. The Jackson County Progress Newspaper plant and offices (along with part of the Edna business district) were destroyed by fire, 12 November 1906.

Jasper County Courthouse and all county records were destroyed by fire in October 1849.

Karnes County Courthouse and most records of the county clerk were destroyed by fire in July 1865.

King County Courthouse destroyed by a Tornado in 1905, again destroyed by fire in 1914.

Kent County Courthouse in Clairemont, built in 1893, was burned in April 1955. The building was vacant because the county seat moved to Jayton in 1954. No record loss. Lamar County Courthouse was destroyed in a courthouse fire in March 1916, most records of the district clerk were destroyed. Birth, death and marriage records were not lost.

Lee County Courthouse, built in 1878, burned in 1897 Leon County Courthouse fire on the night of November 9, 1885 destroyed the courthouse. Many records were lost. Most of the records for the county were destroyed.

Liberty County Courthouse, built in 1857, was destroyed on December 28, 1872. County records were destroyed Limestone County Courthouse destroyed by fire in October 1873 at Springfield and most county records were destroyed. A fire at Groesbeck on February 1, 1891, records were stored in vaults and were not lost. The Old Courthouse, built in 1891, was destroyed by fire in May 1954.

Llano County Courthouse was destroyed and many county records were destroyed by fire in December 1873. Again courthouse was entirely consumed by fire in Oct of 1880, destroying the office of the district and county clerk, containing all the county records, etc (more). Courthouse, built in 1885, was destroyed by fire on January 23, 1892. Papers and records of the clerks office were the only records saved. The tower and parts of the interior of the Llano County Courthouse, built in 1893, was damaged by fire in Sept 1932. Also fire destroyed the courthouse Dec, 17, 1951, county’s oldest records were destroyed. (more)

Madison County Courthouses and county records were destroyed by fire in June 1865 and January 1873.Courthouse, built 1896, was destroyed by fire on May 14, 1967. Some county records may have been destroyed.

Mason County Courthouse burned on 22 January 1877 during the Mason County HooDoo War.

Milam County Courthouse and all county records were destroyed by fire in April 1874.

Mills County Courthouse, built in 1889, burned on May 5, 1912. No records were lost in the fire.

Montague County Courthouse and many county records were destroyed by fire in February 1873.

Motley County Courthouse, built about 1904, was destroyed by fire Sept 1944. No vital records were lost, but some were damaged by water.

Navarro County Courthouse Records of the district clerk were destroyed by fire in October 1855.

Newton County Courthouse, built in 1902, burned on August 4, 2000. The Courthouse was rebuilt and restored in 2002.

Orange County Courthouse, built in 1884, destroyed by fire, April 14, 1898. All county records were stored in a vault and were not harmed by the fire.

Parker County Courthouse and almost all county records were destroyed by fire in May 1874.

Rains County Courthouse, built in 1871, burned; All county records were destroyed.Courthouse, built in 1884, burned. County records were save in a fireproof vault.

Refugio County Courthouse fire in January 1879, many records were destroyed.

Rockwall County Courthouse and most, if not all, county records were destroyed by fire in March 1875. Courthouse again caught fire on January 27, 1892. All records were saved.

Rusk County Courthouse and many county records were destroyed by fire in March 1878.

Sabine County Courthouse and all county records were destroyed by fire in November 1875.

San Patricio County Courthouse records were destroyed by fires in 1846, 1867 and 1888.

Shelby County Courthouse burned May 31, 1882 destroying all records. Tax lists were forwarded to Austin so still exist. Deed records were “reconstructed” by the county commissioners.

Somervell County Courthouse and many, if not all, court records were destroyed by fire in February 1893.

Stonewall County Courthouse burned on August 9, 1910. Records of the county judge, sheriff, tax collector, and some of the surveyors office were lost in the fire.

Tarrant County Courthouse burned in a fire in 1876 which destroyed all county documents Titus County Courthouse and all county records were destroyed by fire in September 1895.

Tom Green County Courthouse in Ben Flicken, then the county seat, was destroyed by flood in 1882. The second floor of the Tom Green County Courthouse caught fire on June 28, 1886, possibly from mice eating matches. The fire started in the office of the Clerk of District Courts. Many of the records in the clerk’s office were destroyed.

Trinity County Courthouses and most county records were destroyed by fire in December 1872 and February 1876.

Wise County Courthouse and many county records were destroyed by fire.

Wood County Courthouse and all county records were destroyed by fire in December 1878.

Yoakum County Courthouse destroyed by fire in December 1926. All county records were stored in a vault and were saved.

Zapata County Courthouse lost most, if not all, county records were destroyed during military action in 1863.

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

November's General Meeting News

Thank you to our Speakers at last night's meeting. We learned about dolls from the Civil War, a Great Grandmother's writings of memories from her time, an Irish Immigrant Ancestors photos from an Estate Sale, and blankets from a Great Aunt. Installation took place for our 2019 Officers and Board of Directors. No General Meeting in December. Thank you to our 2018 Officers and Board of Directors for your service. Happy Holidays and see you all back at our next General Meeting January 15th at 7:00P.M.

Tuesday, November 6, 2018



POINSETTIA'S FOR SALE!!

The Genealogical Society of Stanislaus County are selling their RED POINSETTIA'S!

Price: $12 each

Please come out and support our Society with this yearly Fundraiser.

All checks should be made out to the Genealogical Society of Stanislaus County 

Due Date: November 20, 2018
(At our Next General Meeting)

The poinsettia's will be delivered December 6, 2018 at 4:00P.M. at the Trinity Presbyterian Church.

If you have any questions, please contact Beverly Graham at baglady@sbcglobal.net