Dear Marinites: I am passing along information that I just received. Marin County Registrar of Voters needs workers for the upcoming recall election on October 7, 2003. They pay for this, it is not a volunteer position. However, they do not pay an exorbitant rate, either. :) Currently they need at least a dozen clerks for Novato. They need clerks for other areas in Marin as well. The November 4th, 2003 regular election also seems to currently have a shortfall of workers to man the polls. If this sounds like an interesting way to spend a long day, contact Tami at 499-6438. She would love to hear from you and your friends that may be interested in working the day with you. You must be a registered voter to work the polling place. Happy Trails, Lauren MarinGenSoc List Admin

forwarding -------- Original Message -------- Subject: [CASonoma] New Cemetery Project: Sonoma Co. Hospital Cemetery, Santa Rosa, CA Resent-Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 11:03:23 -0600 Resent-From: [email protected] Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 10:00:44 -0700 From: "Sue Silver" <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Greetings, The California Saving Graves website has posted information about the start up of a new Cemetery Project in Sonoma County. Today the Sonoma County Hospital Cemetery (aka Old County Cemetery and Chanate Cemetery) appears only to be an overgrown parcel in the City of Santa Rosa. There is a project planned that hopes to bring some respectability back to this last resting place of Sonoma's county hospital residents and others. Under the leadership of Jeremy Nichols, author of Cemeteries of Sonoma County, California, A History and Guide (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 2002), the Sonoma County Historical Society has established a separate Cemetery Fund and volunteers from the Sonoma County Genealogical Society have volunteered to help reconstruct a list of the names of those identified to have been buried in this unmarked cemetery. Please visit the Sonoma County Hospital Cemetery page that we have designed to help assist Mr. Nichols and Sonoma County in their work to restore this long ignored cemetery to a place of peaceful rest. Go to: http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ca/state/Chanate_Cemetery_Project_Report.htm To contact Jeremy Nichols direct, email him at: [email protected] . At least 1200 people are believed to be buried in this cemetery. They must have family descendants out there somewhere. Please help us to get the word out about this work. Thank you! Sue Silver, State Coordinator California Saving Graves http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ca/state/

Dear Listers: Every now and again, I receive a message from one of the listers looking for an article or announcement that they saw on the list, but cannot find now that they want to read it (again). I thought that I should remind everyone that you can browse the archives for the MarinGenSoc list at: http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/index/maringensoc and you can search the archives for the MarinGenSoc list at: http://searches2.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl entering maringensoc in the box that requests the name of the list. A search on the word "cemetery", for example, brought up 18 messages for 2003. "meeting" brought up 49 "cig" brought up 19 As always, I am happy to assist when I can. However if you are up at 3am and want an answer *now* or if I am away, it is better that you know how to use the archives. <g> Don't miss your chance to "pick my brains" on Thursday, September 18 at the Computer SIG meeting. This will be a follow up to my earlier presentation. We can go step by step to learn how to access the archives, should someone request it. :) Happy Trails, Lauren List Admin

Dear Listers and Members of the Marin County Genealogical Society: With our upcoming October special meeting at the Cemetery, I thought this article would be of particular interest. Happy Trails, Lauren MarinGenSoc List Admin ......... The following article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2003 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com. ......... - Gravestone Rubbing Methods Making a "rubbing" of an ancestor's tombstone can produce a family heirloom. However, older tombstones are so fragile that you should never create rubbings. Even newer stones can be easily damaged if the rubbings are not done properly. My preference is to take photographs instead. However, even the simple act of photography creates controversy! Some years ago it was a common practice to fill the depressions on a tombstone with shaving cream to increase contrast and readability in a photograph. Now the experts tell us that some shaving creams contain chemicals that can damage tombstones. Some other "experts" claim that this is nonsense. So who can you believe? I'd vote for the people at the Association for Gravestone Studies. These folks know tombstones! They study the history as well as the chemistry, the environment, and other factors that influence old tombstones. They are also experts in the photography techniques required to capture tombstones on film. You can read a lot of information about preserving old tombstones and more at the Gravestone Studies site at: http://www.gravestonestudies.org/faq.htm

Dear Listers: Rumors have been flying this week. Dick Eastman's article gives the details of what has occurred. The most interesting information is at the bottom of the article which tells of new genealogical resources now available to all of us. Happy Trails, Lauren List Admin ................... The following article is from Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter and is copyright 2003 by Richard W. Eastman. It is re-published here with the permission of the author. Information about the newsletter is available at http://www.eogn.com. ......... - AOL Genealogy Forum Turmoil WARNING: This article contains personal opinions, mine and others. Something strange is going on at AOL. It seems that AOL is booting out the genealogists. But hang on: a phoenix is rising from the ruins to benefit genealogists beyond the boundaries of AOL. For many years, AOL hosted one of the largest and most active online genealogy groups anywhere online. AOL contracted the management of the Genealogy Forum to Golden Gate Services of Franklin, Massachusetts, a small company operated by George Ferguson. Under George's management, the AOL Genealogy Forum attracted thousands of genealogists and contributed significantly to AOL's growth. George recruited a large staff of volunteers who ran chat rooms, answered questions, guided newcomers, taught online classes, and much, much more. AOL later merged with Time-Warner. The new company's financial problems are well-known and are documented extensively on almost all the financial Web sites and in many printed magazines. AOL's meteoric membership growth has now stopped. Membership now has been declining for some months. In addition, AOL's relationship with its many contractors has soured, and many of them have left. In some cases, AOL cancelled the contracts. In other cases, the contract holders "read the handwriting on the wall" and cancelled the contracts themselves. Golden Gate Services parted company with AOL a few weeks ago. Since then, the AOL Genealogy Forum has floundered. Now AOL has all but eliminated this once-popular service. The Genealogy Forum on AOL still exists, although it is now difficult to find. AOL depends heavily on "key words" to navigate around its many services. For more than a decade, ntering a keyword of "roots" immediately took the user to the AOL Genealogy Forum. Now AOL reportedly has removed the keyword of "roots." The only method of finding the remnants of the once-thriving Genealogy Forum is to use the menus, starting inexplicably in the "Parenting" section, and then follow a labyrinth of menus. AOL also fired all the Genealogy Forum volunteers and then invited them to "re-apply" for their old positions. I received e-mails this week from several of the former volunteers, all relating how they had been shoddily treated and quoting some new AOL policies that seem strange, to say the least. In short, AOL has all but killed genealogy on its service. This seems incredible. Various surveys report that genealogy is the second or third or fourth most popular activity on the Web. The exact numbers vary, depending upon whose survey results you read. However, one thing is clear: genealogy is one of the top online interests! Here is AOL/Time-Warner, a company that is hemorrhaging red ink on its balance sheets and losing customers rapidly. The company desperately needs to attract and keep online users. Yet the company deliberately decimated the one topic that is so popular universally: genealogy. Are they nuts? I have to insert a personal comment here: This is déjà vu for me. I ran a competitive genealogy forum for fifteen years on CompuServe, a company that was AOL's biggest competitor for many years. AOL purchased CompuServe in 1997. At a meeting with contract holders held at CompuServe headquarters shortly after the 1997 announcement, AOL's then number two executive, Bob Pittman, promised me and the other contract holders in the room that AOL would pump money into their new division and grow the business. He painted a glowing vision of an AOL and CompuServe partnership that would be good for everyone. He described AOL's "commitment" in detail. All of Bob Pittman's promises were broken soon after he got on the plane to fly home. Pittman's executive team laid off more than half of the CompuServe employees and cancelled many services within weeks of his rallying speech to contract holders. Customer Service was outsourced to a group that knew nothing about CompuServe. A new "CompuServe 2000" service was launched that really is AOL's limited software in a different wrapper. In short, the original CompuServe service was reduced to rubble. CompuServe has since limped along as a separate service under AOL's thumb. Most of CompuServe's contract holders of 1997 are gone. I held out longer than most of them; I cancelled my contract with AOL/CompuServe earlier this year. I was replaced by a new AOL contract holder who literally did not know how to spell "genealogy." (I am not making this up!) The present events on AOL's primary service are repetitive of what I saw earlier on AOL's CompuServe division. Luckily for users, most of AOL's former genealogy volunteers have banded together and moved to the Web. It may take a few weeks to get everything created, but most of the services that were formerly available on AOL's Genealogy Forum are now or soon will soon be available on the Web. GenealogyForum.com (owned by George Ferguson) contains the regular Genealogy Forum material. GenealogyForum.org contains the genealogy chats that users have known and loved on AOL. The following chat rooms are available now -- and on the web, where ALL can attend! BranchesNRoots Skeleton Closet GenRoots Brick Walls Cousin Connections TwigsNTrees Maple Leaf In addition, the following Special Event Rooms are also open for business: Classroom - requires a password for the class you decide to take Auditorium - for BIG special events with guest speakers quirrels' Den - private staff lounge GenealogyForum.org expects to have 100+ chat areas soon. The best part is that anyone with a computer and access to the Internet can now participate in these chat rooms. You no longer need an AOL account. This will be especially attractive to former AOL members who used to participate in the chats but moved off when they found better Internet providers. These new services are now much easier to find than trying to navigate AOL's convoluted menus to locate what’s left of their genealogy service. GenealogyForum’s public chat rooms are free to everyone on the Web. The new site does accept banner ads to help pay for the bandwidth. AOL's loss is your gain and mine. Due to corporate stupidity, more people than ever can now participate in these popular genealogy chat rooms and can do so for free. The new service is now owned by genealogists, operated by genealogists, for the purpose of serving genealogists. For more information, look at http://www.GenealogyForum.com and http://www.GenealogyForum.org.

A lady called me and asked for bus directions to the meeting next week (8/27/03). She lives in downtown Larkspur. If you can help her, call Patricia McCaron 927-1773. thanks, Jerry D. Moore

Dear Kathy: I also have a few books for Irish & Scots Irish (or Ulster Scots) research: Surnames of Ireland by MacLysaght Surnames in Ireland by Matheson Ulster Surnames by Bell The Scotch Irish, Vol. I by Hanna The Scotch Irish, Vol. II by Hanna A Guide to Irish Roots, Including Celts, Vikings, Normans, Kings, Queens and Commoners, by Willam and Mary Durning Irish Records, Sources for Family and Local History, by James G. Ryan, Ph.D. Indexes to Irish Wills, 5 volumes in one, edited by W.P.W. Phllimore and Gertrude Thrift Historical Maps of Ireland, by Michael Swift History of Ireland, by I.J Herring, MA The Story of the Irish Race, by Seumas MacManus How the Irish Saved Civilization, the Untold Story of Ireland's Heroic Role from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe, by Thomas Cahill The Scotch Irish, A Social History, by James C. Leyburn The Isles, A History, by Norman Davies The History of English Speaking Peoples, Volume One, The Birth of Britain, by Winston S. Churchill Many of these will be available through http://www.teandsympathy.com or Amazon or Borders. Some or all may be available through the County Library. You will find descriptions at the Library of Congress: http://www.loc.gov You may also want to be in touch with Marilyn McCarthy. She is not only a member of the Society, but also has the disctinction of being a Regional Chieftan of Clan Cian. She has held this honored position for many years, having been appointed by Eile O'Carrol, Hereditary Chief of Clan Cian. Marilyn has done considerable Irish Genealogical research and has lectured to our Society on several occasions. I don't recall at the moment whether she is currently subscribed to this list or not. You will find contact information for her at Clan Cian's web site, on the officers page http://www.clancian-carroll.com/officers.html Visiting http://www.clancian-carroll.com/ will bring you to the home page for the Clan Cian, which may be of general interest. Slainte! Lauren

Dear Kathy: Try the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), the official place of deposit for public records in Northern Ireland. http://www.proni.gov.uk/ as well as the links at http://www.scotlandsclans.com/ireland.htm and http://www.ancestry.com/search/rectype/inddbs/3876a.htm Have you joined Rootsweb discussion lists for the County in Northern Ireland you are researching? http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/NIR/ Or the rest of Ireland? http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/IRL/ You can search the archives for any list at Rootsweb by visiting the Interactive Search Engine and typing in the name of the list you want to search and then in the next window typing your search criteria. You will have to search each year individually, but it does not take long. http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl To Search the Northern Ireland Mailing List, visit: http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/cgi-bin/listsearch.pl?list=NORTHERN-IRELAND Have you searched the message boards at Ancestry/Rootsweb? http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/board/an/localities.britisles.ireland And if all else fails.... try Cyndi's List! http://www.cyndislist.com/ireland.htm Did you have a more specific question? Slainte! [to your health] Lauren <-- who is, as they say, of Irish extraction ;)

Kathy and all, I am - all I know is that I have REEVES who were supposedly form Ulster..... look here!!! www.websweweave.net/IrishResearch.... Write Nora and tell her you are with MCGS... Nora has said that if she gets enough sign-ups with the interest, she could add a week for Northern Irish Research... Jana -----Original Message----- From: Kathy Devlin [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, August 18, 2003 10:21 PM To: M[email protected] Subject: [MarinGenSoc] Irish Research Dear Listers, Who among us is researching Northern Ireland? I need some guidance for the period late 1700 to 1851, and wonder if I may ask some questions of you? Would love to hear from anyone with some research experience in Ireland. Thanks very much. Kathy ==== MarinGenSoc Mailing List ==== To read about upcoming meetings of the Genealogical Society go here: http://www.maringensoc.org/meetinginfo.htm

Dear Listers, Who among us is researching Northern Ireland? I need some guidance for the period late 1700 to 1851, and wonder if I may ask some questions of you? Would love to hear from anyone with some research experience in Ireland. Thanks very much. Kathy

Thank you all very much for your kind words, but enough already! I'm getting quite embarrassed. I emailed Bernie and she tells me that the *reunion* with the half-sister has gone well. I'm so glad, because these things don't always, even though we want them to. Cathy

Me Too! I been a FAN and Admirer of Cathy's for a long time and want to add my praise. Cathy, you have given more to MCGS in your own time than any other single member I have known. THANKS!!! Esther K ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jana Black" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, August 10, 2003 8:29 PM Subject: RE: [MarinGenSoc] Post re Cathy Gowdy > Hi all, > > Add my appreciation as well! Cathy not only gives countless hours in the > name of Marin County Genealogical Society she is also the primary > contributor to the MarinGenWeb page, contributing literally tens of > thousands of obits, etc. for others to have available 24/7/365 to assist > their Marin County Research efforts! > > One in a million - that is Cathy! > > Jana Black > County Coordinator, MarinGenWeb Project > > -----Original Message----- > From: Lauren Boyd [mailto:[email protected]] > Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2003 7:31 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: [MarinGenSoc] Post re Cathy Gowdy > > > Hi All: > > I just "found" a board at Rootsweb I had not realized existed. > "Volunteer Appreciation" > > And on the board, I found this message about our own Cathy Gowdy: > > http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=message&r=rw&p=topics.rw.admin.vol > unteera&m=72 [2 > line link] > > There may be others, however this one has her name in the subject line. > I thought it should be shared with those that know her. She spends > countless hours helping others. She does not do it to get a pat on the > back. However, I think she well deserves a rather large pat on the > back. > > Thank you, Cathy, for all you do. You are an inspiration to others. > > Happy Trails, > > Lauren > > > ==== MarinGenSoc Mailing List ==== > Meeting address for the Marin County Genealogical Society is 1100 Las > Gallinas Avenue, San Rafael, CA --- in the Terra Linda area. Need > directions or a map? Visit http://maps.yahoo.com/ > > > ==== MarinGenSoc Mailing List ==== > When did you last back up your data? Make sure you back up frequently > in the event you have a difficulty with your computer, you will have > less work to reconstruct. >

Hi all, Add my appreciation as well! Cathy not only gives countless hours in the name of Marin County Genealogical Society she is also the primary contributor to the MarinGenWeb page, contributing literally tens of thousands of obits, etc. for others to have available 24/7/365 to assist their Marin County Research efforts! One in a million - that is Cathy! Jana Black County Coordinator, MarinGenWeb Project -----Original Message----- From: Lauren Boyd [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2003 7:31 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [MarinGenSoc] Post re Cathy Gowdy Hi All: I just "found" a board at Rootsweb I had not realized existed. "Volunteer Appreciation" And on the board, I found this message about our own Cathy Gowdy: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=message&r=rw&p=topics.rw.admin.vol unteera&m=72 [2 line link] There may be others, however this one has her name in the subject line. I thought it should be shared with those that know her. She spends countless hours helping others. She does not do it to get a pat on the back. However, I think she well deserves a rather large pat on the back. Thank you, Cathy, for all you do. You are an inspiration to others. Happy Trails, Lauren ==== MarinGenSoc Mailing List ==== Meeting address for the Marin County Genealogical Society is 1100 Las Gallinas Avenue, San Rafael, CA --- in the Terra Linda area. Need directions or a map? Visit http://maps.yahoo.com/

I would also like to thank Cathy for all she does. Cathy, you are always so willing to help and teach. Thank you. Kathy -----Original Message----- From: Lauren Boyd [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, August 09, 2003 7:31 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [MarinGenSoc] Post re Cathy Gowdy Hi All: I just "found" a board at Rootsweb I had not realized existed. "Volunteer Appreciation" And on the board, I found this message about our own Cathy Gowdy: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=message&r=rw&p=topics.rw.admin.volunte era&m=72 [2 line link] There may be others, however this one has her name in the subject line. I thought it should be shared with those that know her. She spends countless hours helping others. She does not do it to get a pat on the back. However, I think she well deserves a rather large pat on the back. Thank you, Cathy, for all you do. You are an inspiration to others. Happy Trails, Lauren ==== MarinGenSoc Mailing List ==== Meeting address for the Marin County Genealogical Society is 1100 Las Gallinas Avenue, San Rafael, CA --- in the Terra Linda area. Need directions or a map? Visit http://maps.yahoo.com/

Thanks, Lauren, for searching around and finding such a site....I second your applause of Cathy Gowdy and all she does for the good of genealogy, not for herself. May we all be lucky enough to find a Cathy Gowdy when we are researching where our ancestors resided, and since her people aren't from Marin either, I hope she finds someone as helpful when she searches for her family. (Do you ever have time to do that, Cathy?) Susan Trumbull

I had no idea this post existed! Thanks, Lauren, for mentioning it. Letters like the one from Bernadette don't happen really often, but every now and then someone says something special and I feel really good about what I do. Cathy To forget one's ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root. ~Chinese proverb

Hi All: I just "found" a board at Rootsweb I had not realized existed. "Volunteer Appreciation" And on the board, I found this message about our own Cathy Gowdy: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec?htx=message&r=rw&p=topics.rw.admin.volunteera&m=72 [2 line link] There may be others, however this one has her name in the subject line. I thought it should be shared with those that know her. She spends countless hours helping others. She does not do it to get a pat on the back. However, I think she well deserves a rather large pat on the back. Thank you, Cathy, for all you do. You are an inspiration to others. Happy Trails, Lauren

The Marin County Genealogical Society's Computer Interest Group (CIG) will meet Saturday, August 16, 2003 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at Villa Marin, San Rafael. Our topic will be: Genealogy Education Online by Jo Ann Rowley-Minhoto - a) Helpful sites that have lessons - b) Online courses you sign up for - c) Books & catalogs Contact John Deadman ([email protected]) or Gene Pennington ([email protected]) if you need directions to meeting location or need more information. These meetings are free to the public. Visit the MCGS website at http://www.maringensoc.org/sigs.html. Gene Pennington MCGS CIG http://www.maringensoc.org/sigs.html =========================================== Directions: FROM SOUTH of San Rafael: take hwy 101 to the Freitas Parkway exit at Terra Linda. Go over the overpass, head west to Northgate Drive (at the second signal) turn left onto Northgate Drive (you will see a Pier One Imports store on your right.) follow Northgate Drive 0.4 miles south across Las Gallinas Avenue towards Northgate One and past Mervyn's. Turn right onto Thorndale Dr. proceed 0.2 miles to your destination at 100 Thorndale Dr. FROM NORTH of San Rafael: Take Hwy 101 to the Freitas Parkway exit at Terra Linda, get in the right lane and do *not* follow the right turn lane as it would make it necessary for you to immediately cross three lanes of traffic! Continue in the right lane as though you were going to proceed through the intersection and simply turn right onto Freitas Parkway. Immediately get in the left lane and prepare to make a left turn onto Northgate Drive. (you will see a Pier One Imports store on your right.) Follow Northgate Drive 0.4 miles south across Las Gallinas Avenue towards Northgate One and past Mervyn's. Turn right onto Thorndale Dr. proceed 0.2 miles to your destination at 100 Thorndale Dr. It has been requested that we park on the street or in places which are uncovered. The Meeting will be held in the Auditorium, which is to the left and down the hall from the entrance. End

SPECIAL EDITION: Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter The following "Special Edition" is being sent to subscribers to the Plus Edition of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter: I have written a number of times about a genealogy-related scam that operates under a variety of names, including GenSeekers.com, GenealogyGiants.com and more. In the July 7 edition of the newsletter, I identified the owner/operator of this "business" as 21-year-old Elias Abodeely of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Since then, I have had conversations with several people in Iowa about this "business." I can now report that earlier today the Cedar Rapids police department arrested Elias Abodeely for his activities with GenSeekers.com and the other Web sites he operates. KWWL television in Iowa is now reporting that Cedar Rapids Police have made an arrest after a two year Internet crime investigation. The crimes involved genealogy websites. Today police arrested Elias Abodeely II of Cedar Rapids.. He faces four charges: 1st degree theft, identity theft, money laundering, and ongoing criminal conduct. Police say they expect to file charges against more suspects. Details are still developing. Keep an eye on the newsletter Discussion Board at http://www.eogn.com for updates. I will also be writing about this in the next newsletter. You can read my earlier article at http://www.eogn.com/archives/news0327.htm. - Dick Eastman

Kathy: The building on the top of the hill is office space. How many persons do you anticipate will work on Saturday? Is this actually an issue for Saturday meetings? The CIG does not plan to meet at this location during normal M-F work hours. Happy Trails, Lauren