05-23-22 to 05-28-22 First Live Genealogy Conference Since Covid - NGS Conference, Sacramento, CA

California Genealogical Society (CGS) was the host society for this year’s National Genealogical Society Conference (NGS) in Sacramento, CA. This year’s conference was live, the first one since the pandemic hit. We had over 100 volunteers from our society including me. My friend Lisa and I drove to Sacramento after our writing class on Monday. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency right across from the SAFE Credit Union Conference center.

Our accommodations at the Hyatt were nice, and the beds comfy. Our room was on the ninth floor, and we had a great view of the IMAX Theatre across the walkway. Parking was expensive at $25 a day. Conference attendees were either staying at the Hyatt or across the walkway at the Sheraton. 

NGS was covid safe in that all attendees had to show proof of vaccinations the first time you enter the conference center and receive a lime green band that was worn all week. In addition, you had to wear a mask at all times when indoors. I didn’t see one person without their masks all week. The rooms were set up so that everyone sat in every other seat when possible. Registration was about half of what it normally is. This was great because the lines at the restrooms were non-existence. All in all, I felt covid safe. Hopefully I haven’t jinxed myself. 

I attended classes and a few events Tuesday through Saturday. Below I’ve listed the sessions I attended and tried to list at least one take away from each session. 

05-22-22 Tuesday

Tuesday was my day of volunteering. I helped in the registration booth from 7:00AM to noon. It was a day of bus tours, special sessions, and a few other topics. Most people registering were either attending one of the bus or walking tours, the BCG track or the Society Day classes. Everyone seemed so happy to be at the conference and actually see people in person and not as a zoom chiclet. Late in the afternoon I was room monitor for one of the Society Day classes, Duty of Care with Booking Speakers Presented by Kathleen Kadis. I thought this would be a session I needed to attend since I’m now booking speakers for CGS. 

Takeaway: Posting a slide before each speaker session stating, no photos, no videos. 

05-23-22 Wednesday

• America’s Westward Expansion: 25 Events in Fifty Minutes 

Presented by Katherine R. Wilson

Takeaway: January 1848 gold discovered in California; this was nine days BEFORE Mexico succeeded land to us. If Mexico knew I’m sure we would not be the California we are today. The other cool thing about this lecture is she used a United States Map and showed the new states or territory boundaries each time an event affected this. 

• Restructuring Communities Using Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, Census Records, and City Directories 

Presented by Ari Wilkins.

Takeaway: Most of the communities Sanborn had mapped by the 1950’s.

• What’s Online at the National Archives 

Presented by Marisa Louie Lee.

Takeaway: NARA has a goal to digitize 500 million pages by 2024. When using Ancestry.com or FamilySearch look for National Archives Identifiers (NAID) and plug them into the National Archives catalog for more descriptive information. 

• Beyond Dry Facts: How to Examine Records for Information That Leads to Great Stories 

Presented by Laura Hedgecock and Cheri Hudson Passay.

Takeaway: Look at pension files with some skepticism. People will put down what they feel is needed to get their pension application approved. 

• Evening Social Event was a wine tasing event down the street. It was in an open area surrounded by a white picket fence. The temperature was in the high nineties and uncomfortable. I ended up in the AIR-CONDITIONED room upstairs.  I think I stayed there for about an hour. I tasted chardonnay and sauvignon blanc. The hors d’oeuvre were tasty, especially the bacon wrapped dates. 

05-24-22 Thursday

• Document Analysis: Digging into the Details 

Presented by Angela Packer McGhie

Takeaway: Information is all about the informant. 

• Your DNA Match list: Overcome the Overwhelm by Organizing Them 

Presented by Diahan Southard

Takeaway: Autosomal DNA will only help locate 3x grandparents or closer.

• From California to Virginia: Confirming the Emigrant Ancestor with a Paper Trail and Y-DNA 

Presented by Diana Elder

Takeaway: When a family has many children, check if the birth states change. If so do research in that state. 

• Organizing and Diagramming your DNA Matches to Solve Research Problems 

Presented by Julie Stoddard

Takeaway: DNA segments >10 may be false matches. 

• Recreating Your Ancestor’s World 

Presented by Mary Kircher Roddy

Takeaway: Research your ancestors world they live in, newspapers, what they can buy, churches they attend, service organizations. This will help us understand their choices. 

05-25-22 Friday

• Trails West: Crossing the Continent 1840-1869

Presented by Mary Kircher Roddy

Takeaway: As Mary was listing all the supplies a person on a wagon train needed, I kept thinking about the TV series 1863. I think they got it historically correct. 

• In Their Own Voices: Nineteenth-Century Women on the American Frontier

Presented by Katherine R. Wilson

Takeaway: 1869 was the start of the transcontinental train routes to the pacific. 

• Seeking Maps for Context and Analysis in Urban Genealogical Research

Presented by Melinda Kashuba

Takeaway: David Rumsey Historical Map Collection contains over 80,000 high-resolution digital maps and features georeferenced for Boston, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. 

• Her Piece of the Prairie: Women Homesteaders of the West

Presented by Rebecca Koford

Takeaway: About 10% of the Homestead Act land went to women. Homestead act ended in 1986.

• Far East Deep South (movie)

Presented by Baldwin Chiu and Larissa Lam

A very moving story. Brought me to tears at times. If you get a chance to see this on PBS, please do so. 

05-26-22 Saturday

• Irish Miners Across America

Presented by David E. Rencher

Takeaway: Different types of mining required certain skills and miners moved around based on their skills. 

• Getting Things Done and Family History: Productivity Tips and Tools

Presented by Diana Elder

Takeaway: Should a project be done now or later. Think about it. 

• Becoming a Genealogical Thinker Instead of a Genealogical Collector

Presented by Michael D. Lacopo

Takeaway: Think logical. After all logical is part of the genea”logical” process. 

• Death or Bigamy? Tracking an Elusive Man Across the United States

Presented by Trich Nicola

Takeaway: No takeaway. I need to review the handout. 

• Linking Generations: Using Court and Land Records

Presented by Judy G. Russell

Takeaway: In her talk, Judy spoke about using jury lists. These my help tell the difference between same name persons in the area. 

Dinner - Lisa, Judy G. Russel, Nikki LaRue, and I went to Maya's Kitchen by Chef Ramiro

for dinner. Lisa had tacos and the rest of us had chicken enchiladas with green sauce. The enchiladas were the best tasting ones I have had. We all loved them and ate everything on our plate.... I can taste them now. Also, the margaritas were lip-smacking. I cannot recommend this place enough. Don’t pass up a chance to eat AND drink her if you’re in Sacramento. We had a great conversation about all sorts of subjects. 

We left on Sunday. A very busy week between attending classes, volunteering and learning a bunch from some incredible genealogist. Thank you NGS for a great conference. 

SOME OF OUR VOLUNTEERS

EXPO HALL

 

                                              PURPLE PALM TREES OUTSIDE THE HYATT

Copyright © 2022 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

May 9, 2022 Weekly Recap

JAUNTS

Reserved the Lake McSwain Pavilion on July 23rd for our family picnic. It's been 2 years due to Covid.  Hopefully we are able to this year. 

Thursday Barry and I had eye appointments and I had a hair cut. In the afternoon I went to Renee's to see Gillan her new bull mastiff puppy. She is adorable and fiesty. I forgot how sharp puppy teeth are and the smell of puppy breath. She got me a few times with her teeth. Later we dropped off the jeep wrangler in Walnut Creek. The back right tire was making this awful noise. 

Friday picked up the jeep. All good with it. 

Saturday morning attended the CGS board meeting in person. I forgot to turn in my report but no one asked me about it. I'll turn it in April and May next month. We tested the hybrid setup for the meeting and it went well. After I went to visit Gillan again. I brought her a toy peacock and some soft treats. Renee feed me a burrito for lunch. 

CLASSES

I attended Acalanes Adult Education Writing class, a four week session taught by my friend Lisa. Great group of people. The students are such excellent writers it can be intimidating but I am learning a lot from each. 

VOLUNTEER WORK

Saturday attended the CGS board meeting. 

WEBINARS

Attended an NGS volunteer training session for the upcoming NGS conference. NGS is the week of May 23rd. I will be attending classes and volunteering for CGS. Looking forward to it. 

I watched Amy Johnson Crow's YouTube video on PERSI. Very informative. 

Lisa and I hosted our monthly CGS Member's Only Round Table Wednesday evening. We had a total of 10 attendees. Most everyone shared some sort of new information they found or what they are working on. We did find out that Susan was a librarian for 20 years. 

CALLS

Amigos call on Wed. with Lisa and Stewart. Lisa is working on a catholic priest ancestor and shared her findings with us. Stewart informed us his family is on Covid lock down. Rosie was exposed at her class prom. He is also adding one more chapter to his biography. 

OTHER STUFF

The genealogy world received sad news on Wednesday, "Cousin Russ" Worthington passed away Wednesday afternoon. Such a shock to us all. I had to read the facebook posting a few times for it to sink in. He was such a treasure to the genealogy world. He often attended the CGS FamilyTree Maker SIG and he will be greatly missed. 

I worked on my backup drives, cleaning them out, renaming, running backups. I feel better about them now. 

Copyright © 2022 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

Week 16 – Theme "Negatives" – 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks – Conversation with My Aunt Ruby (Archer) Threet

My 95-year-old Aunt Ruby is in a rehab center after breaking her hip in the past few months. She then broke her femur not long after that. She also developed a hematoma after a nurse accidently knocked her side against a wheelchair.

On Friday, 22 April 2022 I saw a photo my cousin Lisa (Aunt Ruby’s youngest daughter) posted on Facebook. She was visiting Aunt Ruby in a rehab center. I saw the photo a few minutes after Lisa posted it and immediately texted her. I wanted to see if we could facetime so I could say hello to Aunt Ruby and ask a few questions about the photo. 

The weird thing about this is I was struggling with what to write about this week. The theme, Negatives, was giving me a tough time. I couldn’t come up with anything I wanted to share. This conversation ended up solving my problem. In the genealogy world we call this serendipity. The following reflects the conversation I had with Aunt Ruby.

She was in great spirits and instead of dwelling on the negatives that happened to her we ended up talking about family history and I obtained a horde of new Threet family information. We turned what could have been a negative conversation into a positive one. She was so happy to hear and see me. She said she has been thinking about me a lot lately and this made me rather teary eyed. 

 

Photo from my cousin, Lisa (Threet) Clark

The above photo is what started this conversation. Lisa’s posting stated the woman on the left is her mom, Ruby (Archer) Threet, and on the right is her Aunt Sue. Ruby is my aunt by marriage as she married my dad’s older brother James. Sue is my dad’s older sister and therefore my aunt. 

She is 95 and still has all her wits about her. She is still as beautiful as I always remember her. The following reflects the conversation we had.

In Honey Grove Texas everyone used to go to the town square on Saturday night. The post office was in the middle of the square. My dad’s entire family would go. She became friends with Aunt Sue and the photo above was taken in a photo booth in the town square. Aunt Ruby was about 16 at the time. 

She came to know most of the family at that time. When Uncle Roger (one of my dad’s younger brothers) was born, they would carry him around the square. 

Farming had become difficult in Honey Grove, cotton and corn crops were not performing well. Uncle Floyd Threet (one of dad’s older brothers) was the first to move out to California with his family, Aunt Bonnie, Doug, Don and Doyle. Uncle Floyd bought a house on Julian Street, but she is not sure when. 

Uncle James and Aunt Ruby married in (Year). Uncle James went to California to work. He made boxes at one of the fruit packing sheds. While Uncle James was in California working, Aunt Ruby stayed with her family. He returned to Texas after packing season. The following year, 1952, he and Aunt Ruby went back to California and stayed. They bought their house in 1955 in Turlock on Columbia Street. 

Uncle Willie Threet was also one of the brothers that moved before the rest of the family. He was married to Johnnie.

Bruce Travis Threet (my dad’s father) never drove and depended on his boys to drive him around. After Aunt Ruby and Uncle James married, she would also drive him around. 

Aunt Kate RAYNOR Strickland (Clara Marie RAYNOR Threet’s sister and Clara was married to Bruce Travis Threet) lived in Blythe, California. At some point she came to live with Clara. Kate broke her hip and became ill and died in Turlock, California. She is buried in Blythe by her husband. Kate and Clara also had another sister, Viola, who lived in Kansas. 

I was so happy she gave me all of the above. I will need to go visit her soon. 

Copyright © 2022 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

03-21-22 Cloverdale/Healdsburg to Home

03-21-22 Monday 

Cloverdale/Healdsburg KOA to Castro Valley, California

Jeeps in Parking Lot: 2

Drive Time: 2.25

Miles: 111.1 

Arrived: ~ 2:00 pm

Last travel day for our Oregon trip. Of course, the weather on our last day would be beautiful. We didn’t have much to get ready and we were on our way around 11:00 am. We headed up the hill toward the office to use the air compressor for that darn tire. Barry thinks it’s the tire pressure sensor he installed. He installed one on all the tires. He will check when we get home. 

Ride was fine down 101 through Santa Rosa. We didn’t hit that much traffic going across the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge, but we did hit rough road all the way home. We say this every time we get into the Bay Area back from a trip, the roads are horrible. Potholes, patches, ridges, uneven pavement, and whatever else. Just don’t know why our roads can’t be fixed. 

Made it home and the unpacking process began. Checked all my indoor plants and everyone seemed fine. My orchids and African violets all looked beautiful. I noticed two orchids now have flower shoots. I guess they like being ignored. 

Rowan brought down our mail and packages. Barry had to check out his new compressor and put it to use ASAP. 

In a few weeks we will be travelling to Salida for my 87-year-old uncle’s wedding, hosting Easter, and on May 5th we leave for four days at Coastanoa with the Reynolds. Looking forward to that trip.

We appreciate everyone following us!!! Thank you! Happy Jaunts.

Copyright © 2022 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

03-20-22 Sunday Cloverdale/Healdsburg Francis Ford Coppola Winery

03-20-22 Sunday 

Cloverdale/Healdsburg KOA, Cloverdale, California

Jeeps in Parking Lot: 2

Drive Time: 0

Miles: 0

Arrived: 0

This morning was cold and breezy in the mid 40’s. Both up and showered. Breakfast and planning our day. We decided to start our day at Francis Ford Coppola’s Winery and see what direction we ended up after that. We didn’t make reservations and since there were only two of us, we decided to take our chances. 

We were able to get into the restaurant and thank goodness because I was STARVING and about to get hangry! Lil’ Debbie’s and tea for breakfast was not cutting it. George was our waiter and he never wrote anything down. Wine was fabulous and he brought us a small bag that contained two bread donuts, deep fried and sprinkled with salt. We did our best not to order more, so yummy. 

I ordered the ½ chicken brick baked with veggies and Barry ordered meatballs + penne in tomato sauce. Both meals were excellent and of course the wine was excellent. I couldn’t eat all my chicken so took a leftover box. Ambiance was excellent. The middle of the restaurant had corks hanging from the ceiling. I love it. Trying to figure out how to do this at home. 

          

We walked the movie exhibits after lunch, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Apocalypse Now, Tucker, Marie Antoinette, and the Godfather movies. Costumes, props, and the Tucker car on a rotating floor that turns in a circle. Fun to see. 

“Well, want to taste some wine?" They were booked solid...but wait...literally a moment before Barry asked, there was a cancellation and we could be seated. Three minutes later we were seated at a great table on the patio with the bitchin’ people!!! Our lucky day. We ordered two flights and the afternoon began. Five wines each, 4 bottles bought + fee waived for one guest (me). Keep in mind our tasting were $35 for one type of flight and $30 for another type of flight. 

Our hostess was from the Italy wine country and very knowledgeable of the Coppola wines. I loved her accent. We had a blast blowing off the afternoon and talking about life. Again, we solved the problems of the world. As we walked to the car we decided to go check out downtown Cloverdale. It was about a 15-minute drive back in the direction of the KOA park. In the blink of an eye, we discovered Cloverdale at 3 pm on a Sunday. As Barry said, “Something out of a Hitchcock movie, dead and deserted." But...wait...I see a brewery AND it’s open. Wolf House Brewing Company so of course we have to stop. 

Inside was great. Nothing fancy but right up our alley. Great logo and bar. I decided to order dessert, grasshopper pie and Barry ordered pretzels with cheese and a Therapy Session IPA. The pie was excellent. Barry said the pretzels were great. I ordered a taste of a local seltzer but didn’t like it so I stuck to water. 

We headed back to the KOA but decided to take a few detours to explore the area and housing. So much to see in these hills. When we arrived back at our campsite the kid next door couldn’t wait to tell Barry he caught “Walter” the big bass in the pond. He showed Barry a photo of Walter and he won some sort of prize when he told the KOA office about it. Such a happy camper. 

We decided to go for a walk around the campground as the sun was setting. Our last night on the road and again it seemed a little sad. Barry made one last s’more, but I couldn’t fit anymore in my stomach. 

Tomorrow we are on our way home and this trip will be a memory. A great twenty-one days on the road. I’m finding I love being on the road and not excited about driving home. 

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

03-19-22 Saturday Benbow to Cloverdale/Healdsburg KOA

03-19-22 Saturday 

Cloverdale/Healdsburg KOA, Cloverdale, California

Jeeps in Parking Lot: 2

Drive Time: 2.5 hours

Miles: 122.2 miles

Arrived: 3:30 pm

                                

Raining this morning so getting ready to leave was a bit messy for Barry...poor guy. Fred and Helaine came over and we exchanged contact information. They also wanted to see our RV and check out the ceiling lights we replaced. They are thinking of doing the same thing. 

Barry was still concerned about the front left tire but said he would just keep an eye on it. He thinks the tire sensor may be failing. 

We stopped in a little town past Willets called Hopland for gas. He was able to get into the station but getting out may be another story. If you are not aware, when towing a vehicle we can’t back up. 

This station you have to enter on an upward slope and turning right onto the road is going to be challenging. As it turns out Barry couldn’t turn right, so I get out with my walkie talkie and guided him past the pumps and the concrete posts on the right. We’ve had one too many encounters with a concrete post, like an $8,000 encounter. He ended up turning left, leaving me there, going down the road, making a right turn then a left turn through a parking lot and back onto the highway. Pulled up to the side of the road where I was waiting and picked me up.....LOL! You do what you have to do! Must of looked funny for people passing me by. 

 

We made it to Cloverdale in two and a half hours. Before we came to Cloverdale, I checked out how far the KOA was off the highway. It’s five miles off the highway! I asked Barry if he knew that, and he did not. When he made the reservations, he didn’t check that out. Oh well. We got off the highway and went east per Google. We followed Google’s directions, the road narrowed and at times was somewhat concerning. We finally made a left and proceeded up a windy, steep, one lane, hilly road. At one turn we passed a sign that said, “Don’t worry. You are almost there.” I bloody hope so. 

We made it to the top and the KOA office. It’s surrounded by grape vines and an incredible view. Rain stopped while we checked in. Barry walked down to our campground spot to see which way he felt comfortable parking. I thought about going with him after the gas incident earlier!!
We drove down a hill, winding to the right then to the left and parked in our spot. It started pouring!! We decided to sit in the RV and wait out the downpour. Ten minutes later it stopped, and the sun came out. Barry leveled the coach,  hooked up power, water, and sewer. 

    

        

Our spot was right across from the pond. Active with a family of white American Pekin ducks, two geese, and a few mallard ducks. The red-winged blackbirds serenaded us while swaying on the pussy willows. We took a walk around the pond. One of the signs posted stated the pond is catch and release only. There are a few cabins close to the pond but looked like they were empty. We also walked by the laundry room and restrooms. There is a building next to the laundry room. During the summer it’s filled with games and activities for families, and a snack shack. 

The neighbors next to us pulled in after we were settled, and their oldest son headed to the pond with his fishing pole. They stay at this KOA 4 or 5 times a year. It’s close to their home and their kids love fishing here. Their dad had on the exact Lagunitas shirt Barry did and naturally the two struck up a conversation. The dog’s name is Nova, dad is Brandon and can’t remember any other names. Barry and Brandon chatted up a storm while watching the kids fish. 

For dinner I made a Caesar salad and Barry cooked shrimp and that was our dinner, yummy. After all the dishes were done we made s'mores. It was cold outside but our firepit kept us warm. Turned out to be a great investment. Now we want to rid ourselves of our fire chimney at home and replace with a firepit. We will see how long it takes us to get to that project. We each ate two s'mores, solved the world problems and turned in for the night. Seemed like a long day. Only one more day on the road. I don’t think I’m ready to go home yet. 

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.

03-18-22 Garberville/Benbow California (Day in Camp)

03-18-22 Friday 

Benbow /Garberville KOA, Garberville, California

Jeeps in Parking Lot: 4

Drive Time: 0

Miles: 0

Arrived: 0

I had a call at 8:30 am so we were up at 7:30 am. The meeting was with the directors of the Oakland Family Search Library. Just an informational meeting and the things they have planned for the library. They have been here since November 2021. 

As mentioned in yesterday’s blog the site is nice. We decided to stay in camp today and just enjoy the day. Bacon, eggs, hash browns and biscuits for breakfast....so scrumptious. I spent the day cleaning up my laptop. Cell phone signal was iffy so I couldn’t use my hotspot to update my blog. Barry did chores, cleaning the BBQ, adding water to the coach, clean under storage bins and I’m sure a few other things. 

During the day Barry met a former Harlem Globetrotter player who’s retired and a retired firefighter who had a 7’ tall smoker he welded. He smoked bacon, a pork roast, and a tri-tip and you could smell it all over the campground. The firefighter also had a 100-psi air compressor. He let Barry borrow it. We were still losing air in our front left tire although very, very slowly. Barry loved how the compressor is lightweight. Once he returned it to the firefighter, he immediately ordered one for himself. 

Barry cooked dinner on the BBQ. Dinner was crab cakes and broccoli...very yummy. 

After dinner we visited outside with Fred and Helaine again. She showed me her silicone collapsible water kettle and egg cooker. I loved both and ordered them when we returned to our coach. We wrapped up our conversation and headed back to our coach at 10pm. We put away a few things before we slipped into our bed. We are leaving tomorrow for Cloverdale/Healdsburg KOA for our last 2 nights before heading home. 

Photo from KOA.com as of 04-07-22

Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline Threet Henderson, Jacqueline's Jaunts. All rights reserved.