California Genealogical Society, Oakland, CA Videos

Videos by California Genealogical Society in Oakland. Connecting People to Their Diverse Family Heritage. https://www.californiaancestors.org/welcome/

This free presentation is coming up at the end of September! Check the comments below for the registration link.

Other California Genealogical Society videos

This free presentation is coming up at the end of September! Check the comments below for the registration link.

Zoom webinar Oct. 10. https://tinyurl.com/cnetyr6v

CGS 125th October 8
Have you got your tickets yet? https://tinyurl.com/mrxds52x

Not everyone who came for the Gold Rush stayed in California to raise families of new Californians, but even those who came and left were likely changed by the experience. Do you have a hopeful ‘49er somewhere in your family tree? If your ancestor was one of the 300,000 who went West to seek their fortune, be sure to dig into that story. You might be surprised at the treasures you find!

We can’t wait to celebrate with you! 🎉♥️🌳 Seats are limited. Check the Events and Education page on our website to grab your tickets before they sell out.

“A coroner (often called a medical examiner) is a county or town government official responsible for confirming and certifying a death. This includes overseeing the examination of a corpse or ordering an inquest into a person’s death. Not all deaths are subject to a coroner’s examination. Only those of an accidental, unusual, questionable or suspicious nature are usually investigated.” Source: Family Tree Magazine

Old terms can throw you for a loop if you don’t understand them! Don’t forget to take the age of the document into consideration. Sometimes words land differently if they were written hundreds of years ago. 🌳♥️🪦📜📃(ANSWER: a feme covert is a married woman.)

The CGS Manuscript Collection is essentially a collection of collections. Each individual collection is made up of papers of a genealogist, whether amateur or professional. Many of these collections include ancestry charts, family histories, letters, family group sheets, newspaper articles, certificates, compiled genealogies, vital and military records, deeds, probate records, society applications, photographs, and even some tintypes.

Military pension records can tell you a lot about women who survived during years of war. Widows are not the only women who may have military pension records. A woman could also file if her unmarried son died from injuries related to the war.

Special Interest Groups are a wonderful FREE resource for CGS members. They give us a place to gather, share, and learn as a community. If you’d like to be a member of the DNA Skills SIG or any of our other great groups, check out the Special Interest Groups page on our website. ♥️🌳

When researching your family tree, do you focus on biological relatives only or do you include people who are in your family through marriage, adoption, or other bonds? Most of have a much larger idea of family than that which is defined by genetics and we’re excited to dig into the history of all of those branches. 🌳 (ANSWER: Biologically, you have 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great-grandparents, 16 2nd great-grandparents, 32 3rd great-grandparents, 64 4th great-grandparents, and 128 5th great-grandparents.)

If you have an ancestor who died in California, will you be able to find a death record for them? Although California became a state in 1850, death records were not created by the California Department of Public Health until 1905. Before then, they were kept at the county level and many deaths (especially for minority residents) went unrecorded. 🪦