General Meeting -- Jun 9, 2011 -- Richard Finn on Tri-Valley Civil War Veterans

23 members in were in attendance to hear Richarad Finn speak about Civil War Veterans who lived in the greater Tri-Valley area (from Alamo down to Sunol and from Dublin/Pleasanton to Altamont).  He is very active with genealogical and historical societies in the Tri-Valley area.  One fact he mentioned was that Danville was a hotbed of the Confederacy. He recommended using “Footnote.com”. Other sites recommended were “Find a Grave”, “Interment.net”, ”CA Pre-1905 Records at http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cabf1905/, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War at  http://suvcw.org/,  National Park Service website on the Civil War at http://witd.nps.gov/cwss/index.html, Alexander Street Press at http://alexanderstreet.com/, and Cyndi's List http://www.cyndislist.com/. This was also our first meeting with a new time and format.  We began the general meeting promply at 7 PM with some announcements: The society is soliciting old family photos (copies) to be used for display purposes, including the PH Library display case. FHC wants to start the Christmas party at 6:00 or 6:30, as they feel eating at 7:30 is too late. Feedback was not too positive. Members were asked to think about this suggestion for later decision. The Fall FGS Conference will be Septermber 10-11 in Springfield, Illinois. Brochures are available. Tech-Talk, a previous newsletter column, has been superseded by Tech-Tips, appearing on Family Search. Susan Swindell emailed information on this from Eastman’s newsletter. A clipboard was passed seeking information about members areas of expertise. An attempt is being made to gather a resource/area of interest pool of information to help new members and outsiders with questions. Three members responded. Jackie Hein, FHC Liason, announced a FHC Concord Open House in October, but at the Denkinger location. 5) Research Trips - Lynne Gould announced a trip to CGS, Oakland, 18th June, car pool PH Library. $5 for non members Following the announcements was the new "Teaching Moment."   An example was shown of the improper way to take a photo of your document at a library by not including the book cover and frontispiece. Also the difficulty which would arise locating a name whose obituary mentioned that the individual’s name had been changed entirely. Susan Swindell requested assistance with Arizona records.  Discussed was where to find information on the seemingly never ending French/Indian Wars. Sven-Ove shared printouts showing how Google Books could be used for the earliest naturalized citizen’s papers. Refreshments served - general genealogy chat ensued, followed by the speaker.