Summer of 2010

As the Publicity Coordinator of the CCCGS, I thought it was time to Blog something. So today, my friends, realizing that the public library was closed, I found myself heading to Barnes and Noble to learn about how to write a Blog. Since I like to write and hope one day to write an entertaining book based on my ancestors, I instinctively headed to the writing section of the book store. There were lots of books about style. Books on how to write a book in 30 days and how to write a romance but only one book on blogging. Unsatisfied with the lack of choices, I took a step back to look for more and I noticed that I was standing right next to the Genealogy books. That was a sign! So on this beautiful August evening in sunny California, I begin this adventure.

Here I will share my adventures in Genealogy focusing mainly on the county. Share tips and tricks that I have learned along the way and hopefully you will contact me with your stories, too. If you need any help, just remember that the Society is here to help you with that, too. If you want to write to me, I can be reached at ancestor_hunter@yahoo.com.

Let me think back. Anyone remember Roots airing on multiple nights in 1977? I was in my teens then and cared more about finding a boyfriend than finding dead people. But I thank my lucky stars that my mom caught the fever and that my grandfather wrote long letters about his relatives. For when I finally decided that I wanted to trace my family roots it was 1996. I sure didn't know what I was getting myself into when I started. I can say I have had many hours of fustration, brick walls, and times of pure joy.

As a family, we used to talked about the mystery that surrounded my paternal grandfather. He said that he was an orphan and didn't know who his parents were. My father mentioned that his dad told him he was in a catholic orphanage in Marin county as a boy, worked on a ranch in 1900 in El Sobrante and worked at the Giant Powder Factory (now Point Richmond) for 35 years so I figured that I had enough information to find out the facts.

Solving a mystery, that has to be the definition of genealogy. Only the farther back you go the harder the mystery is to solve! Oh yeah, I have solved that mystery.. I will tell you next time.