tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571Sat, 21 Mar 2026 23:03:41 +0000FunSamfordCOGSNGFShades the MagazineAPGDARKansasBorgstadterSan FranciscoSkillmanSmile for the CameraAbout MeBerryBessonChristmas family traditionsDelaneyHarrisJibJabRobinsonSan Francisco recordsSutro LibraryWalter familyarchivesclient workdear myrtlemy trip to rhode islandpro gen expprofessional genealogiststocktonstockton current events13th COIHAC4th of july parade6 generation maternal line photoAlabamaAltoona cemeteryArlene EakleBefortBefort familyBlunBorgstadter familyBourbon CountyCalifornia History CenterCalifornia repositoriesCamelCenter for Sacramento HistoryCivil War pensionClient CasesCounty history booksDNADaniel DelaneyDeAnza CollegeDeathEducationalEnemy alien registration filesErnstFamily History ExpoFlyingFred Wilson SkillmanFun StuffGen ChatsGeneabloggersGenealogy GemsGerman JewsGuggenheimHAT Harris familyHalloween videoHarvey GirlHarvey GirlsHillery Harris familyHobrockHobrock familyJudy RussellKemperKentuckyKnights FerryMacy'sMary Ellen HarrisMaryellen HarrisMeierMercy StrattonMining claimsMom on horseMust SeeMy LifeNARANGS conference in slcNorCal APGObermonjouRagan familyResearch CollectionsRichard ThomasSacramento repositoriesSaint of the weekSamford sophomore yearSanta ClaraSeligmanSetting goalsShadesSheernShoestring GenealogySolomonSteckleinStraussTom ThumbTowers of GoldTuolumne County ArchivesUOP libraryWallaceWilsonantique pressing ironsawardsbarbara matthewsbarbara poolebavarian jewsblogoversarybusinesscaliforniacalifornia state archivescgschristmas gift using flip palcommunityconstitution day paradecontest entrycounty clerkdiane boumenotdilksdouglass caseenemy alien registrationfamily biblefleming county kentuckyflip pal contest winnersfun surnamesgenea-blogger gamesgenealogy educationgenealogy societiesgold rusheshOLT-aTHERTON sPECIAL cOLLECTIONSheadstonehellerhumorinternet archivejamboreejames solomon familyjib jabjibjab funmap a listmarian pierre-louismastering genealogical proofmaternal surnamesmaureen taylorme vulconizedmy blog picksmy blog picks of the weeknaturalizationnaturalization recordsnevada city californiaonline study groupornament failureparrotpaternal surnamesphotospodcastsportland oregonrabbit hole searchingradio showsrestore the ancestorsrevolutionary war patriot ancestorssacramentosanta cruz californiascholarshipsshades of the departedsharon sergeantsilver rushessjgssocial mediasomething shinysource citationsource citations for photostitanicturn vereinuopups manvolunteervoter registrationwalterwriting contestsyoutube channelsEducation is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. ~ Yeatshttp://sherifenley.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)Blogger594125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-1283151805192105320Sun, 12 Jun 2022 15:30:00 +00002022-06-12T08:30:45.925-07:00 "Plague at the Golden Gate" and Records at University of the PacificI recently watched a documentary on PBS called "Plague at the Golden Gate."   About halfway through, I realized I knew where records were located that documented the difficulty health inspectors had in tracking the bubonic plague in San Francisco.University of the Pacific Library, Holt Atherton Special http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2022/06/plague-at-golden-gate-and-records-at.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-2292737211733447086Sun, 26 Apr 2020 14:31:00 +00002020-04-26T07:31:12.163-07:00Most of the crimes committed by people in these mug books seem to be Petite Larceny, Grand Larceny, Burglary or Robbery.  These crimes might sound like the same thing, but there is a difference. LARCENY or theft is to take someone else’s property without the owner’s consent and with the intention to permanently deprive the owner of its use or possession.  The difference between petite http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/more-stories-from-sacramento-police-mug.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-8068344018819402433Fri, 24 Apr 2020 16:49:00 +00002020-04-24T09:49:43.425-07:00The Center for Sacramento History uploaded police mugs books dated from 1860 to 1948 to Internet Archive.   I can't tell you how many hours I have spent turning the pages of these books.  For some reason, I have found them absolutely fascinating.  There's even one that contains only Chinese men dated around 1860-1870. Here are a few that I couldn't resist doing a bit of http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/sacramento-police-mug-books-1860-1948.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-3462605809590198813Wed, 22 Apr 2020 04:14:00 +00002020-04-21T21:14:07.420-07:00The newspaper articles and the chapter in the 1861 California State Statutes mention slave children in Missouri. The affidavits from Zachariah Simpson's probate file say that Zachariah was a slave from Kentucky and that his master's name is James Simpson. William Jones testified in the corner's inquest that Zachariah was born in Madison County, Kentucky and he was 42 years old.  Zachariah http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/simpson-swan-part-5.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-8434237105497725858Sat, 18 Apr 2020 10:30:00 +00002020-04-18T03:30:08.515-07:00I was able to follow the history of Senate bill 84 somewhat through the newspapers: Mr. Heacock gave notice that at an early day he would introduce a bill to authorize the administrator of the estates of Nicholas Swan, deceased and of Zachariah Simpson, deceased to apply the money in his hands for certain purposes. Sacramento Daily Union, 6 Feb 1861 Introduction of bill by Mr. Heacock - An Act http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/simpson-swan-part-4.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-4848868184989773246Fri, 17 Apr 2020 17:33:00 +00002020-04-17T10:33:01.171-07:00I found the probate for Nicholas Swan in Sacramento County.  It contained the usual petitions, claims, and receipts.  There is no mention of using money from the estate to buy the freedom of slave children in Missouri. To the Hon. Robert Robinson Judge of the Probate Court for the City and County of Sacramento The petition of the undersigned Public Administrator of said city and http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/simpson-swan-part-3.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-3912131690527909639Wed, 15 Apr 2020 13:00:00 +00002025-02-11T21:33:14.607-08:00I found another newspaper mention for Zachariah Simpson - a tiny little paragraph. Who was Squire Drisdom and why was he opposing the petition of the public administrator to probate the estate? A search of the probate records for Sacramento County was next. The probate file for Zachariah Simpson contains 244 pages.  I read through all 244 pages and there is no mention of slave childrenhttp://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/simpson-swan-part-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-5641323674528106804Tue, 14 Apr 2020 23:22:00 +00002020-04-14T16:22:27.330-07:00 In the 1861 California State Statutes (chapter 76, page 59) there is an act authorizing the public administrator, Jared Irwin, to sell the real and personal property of Zachariah Simpson and Nicholas Swan and that the money from these sales should be used in procuring the manumission of the children of the deceased from slavery in the State of Missouri. I have been extracting genealogical http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/simpson-swan.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-3894429385531200823Sun, 12 Apr 2020 11:00:00 +00002020-04-12T04:00:04.813-07:00 The Journal of the Assembly During the Thirteenth Session of the Legislature of the State of California for 1862 LIST OF PARDONS GRANTED IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA BY GOVERNOR JOHN G. DOWNEY 1861 John Daniels - El Dorado County - burglary - 1 yr Charles C. Glenn - Yuba County - assault to rape - 14 yrs Thomas McCauley - Tuolumne County - manslaughter - 9 yrs Alexander Griffin - Nevada http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/crime-punishment-and-pardons-in.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-3459991440734146924Sat, 11 Apr 2020 12:30:00 +00002020-04-11T23:36:09.848-07:00 A copy of the 1861 California State Statutes can be found HERE NAME CHANGES chapter 11, pg 8 An Act to change the name of Elise Clara Audin, stepdaughter of Pierre G. Venard of the County of San Francisco to Elise Clara Venard and it shall be lawful for her to inherit in the estate of Pierre G. Venard. chapter 18, pg 12 An Act to change the name of Nelly H. Peters to http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/1861-california-state-statutes-name.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-8892199350871104638Fri, 10 Apr 2020 14:30:00 +00002020-04-10T07:30:02.120-07:00 A Copy of the 1863 California State Statutes can be found HERE. NAME CHANGES chapter 20, pg 22 An Act to change the name of John Schlageter to John Slater. chapter 53, pg 52 An Act to change the name of James Gilmore, adopted son of Ellen E. Reese, of San Francisco to Henry James Reese. chapter 96, pg 102 An act to change the name of Anderson Walker, an attorney at law and resident http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/1863-california-state-statutes-name.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-6149751893573223074Thu, 09 Apr 2020 23:11:00 +00002020-04-09T16:11:21.057-07:00 While looking for some historical background material, I came across a website that kept me reading its articles for over 2 hours - Common Place:  The Journal of Early American Life. They describe their website as "A bit less formal than a scholarly journal, a bit more scholarly than a popular magazine,Commonplace speaks—and listens—to scholars, museum curators, teachers, http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/common-place-journal-of-early-american.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-368466406025814179Fri, 03 Apr 2020 14:44:00 +00002020-04-03T07:50:07.542-07:00 A copy of the 1860 California State Statutes is available HERE. To see other years click HERE. NAME CHANGES chapter 44, page 25 The name of Mary Louisa Muller, a minor, stepdaughter of Hubertus Schardin, of the County of Nevada, is hereby changed to Mary Louisa Schardin. chapter 60, pg 34 An Act to change the name of Robert Goodwin to Robert Henry Wright. chapter 68, pg 39 An Acthttp://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/1860-california-state-statutes-name.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-509544677672236672Fri, 03 Apr 2020 01:37:00 +00002020-04-02T18:37:01.359-07:00 The eye miniature was popular for a brief moment in the late 1700s and early 1800s among well-to-do families. These “lover’s eyes”—a term coined by New York–based antique collector Edith Weber—are now archaic reminders of aristocratic England, mentioned fleetingly in old diaries and Charles Dickens’s 1846 novel "Dombey and Son." A “lover’s eye” miniature is a painted miniature of the giver’shttp://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/04/miniature-eye-portraits-gifts-of-secret.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-3184069795554048245Sun, 29 Mar 2020 17:20:00 +00002020-03-29T10:20:31.552-07:00I am a member of the El Toyon Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution.  I currently serve as the registrar - a postion I have held since 2007.  El Toyon is 119 years old, the 3rd oldest active chapter in California.  An ongoing project of mine has been to research the lives of the 25 charter members and their families.  In my effort to collect photos ofhttp://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/03/more-fun-with-photos.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-5109495329965221827Fri, 27 Mar 2020 12:43:00 +00002020-03-27T05:43:02.000-07:00I am a volunteer for the San Joaquin Genealogical Society.  I am in charge of their First Families Program and Research Requests. Recently, I received a request from a gentleman in Germany.  He had an old family photo album that had some photos with the words "Stockton, Calif." written on the back.  He asked if it would be possible to identify what was going on in the photos. http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/03/a-genealogy-society-research-committee.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-8926577183099678152Thu, 26 Mar 2020 03:58:00 +00002020-03-25T20:58:06.690-07:00 In the spring and summer of 1918, Stockton newspapers were reporting on the Spanish Flu in Europe. One or two lines buried in the back pages. The top stories of the day at that time were about allied victories during WWI. Starting in September of 1918, those one or two lines of print grew to one or two paragraphs. As the days went by, front-page articles were printed daily . What follows http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/03/san-joaquin-county-and-spanish.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-5022819262379193639Tue, 21 Jan 2020 16:14:00 +00002020-01-21T08:14:20.704-08:00 Created by the New York Public Library in 2014, the fourth Wednesday in January offers a unique opportunity for book lovers an opportunity to express their reading preferences through a single photograph. Whether they frame their favorite authors, titles, genres or cover art, readers share a bit of their library in creative ways. HOW TO OBSERVE #LibraryShelfieDay On the day, book lovers http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2020/01/national-library-shelfie-day.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-3273850539006316289Fri, 15 Nov 2019 10:37:00 +00002019-11-15T02:37:20.504-08:00 WWI Jewish Servicemen Questionnaires, 1918-1921 At Ancestry.com I came across a new-to-me database about Jewish men who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War I.   Database description from Ancestry.com: "These surveys were sent out by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) Office of Jewish War Records as part of an effort to document the service of Jews in the American armedhttp://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2019/11/wwi-jewish-servicemen-questionnaires.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-5985101668712467268Sat, 06 Oct 2018 18:00:00 +00002019-01-23T21:43:53.474-08:00 Stars of DAR Two Generations of Service I have presented a five part series of famous women who are members of DAR.  I saved the last four ladies for a post (pun intended as you will soon see) of their own.  Marjorie Merriweather Post and her three daughters.  It is difficult for us mere mortals to imagine the unlimited means these women had to create and have http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2018/10/saving-best-for-last.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-745986231400152387Fri, 05 Oct 2018 16:00:00 +00002019-01-23T21:42:42.525-08:00 Stars of DAR - Part 5 GRANDMA MOSES Anna Mary Robertson Moses Hoosac-Walloomsac Chapter, New York She was a renowned American folk artist. A self-taught artist, she didn't begin painting until she was 78 years old.  At first, she charged $3 to $5 for a painting, depending upon its size, and as her fame increased her works were sold for $8,000 to $10,000.  In November 2006,http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2018/10/famous-women-who-are-members-of-dar_5.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-6702496687185155452Thu, 04 Oct 2018 15:30:00 +00002019-01-23T21:41:47.302-08:00 Stars of DAR - Part 4 BO DEREK  California State Member at Large  Bo Derek is an actress and model, perhaps best known for her role in the movie  "10."  SUSAN B. ANTHONY Irondequoit Chapter, New York Susan Brownell Anthony was a social reformer and feminist who played a pivotal role in the women's suffrage movement.  LAURA WELCH BUSH http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2018/10/famous-women-who-are-members-of-dar_4.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-7205393472263016635Wed, 03 Oct 2018 23:00:00 +00002019-01-23T21:40:59.048-08:00 Stars of DAR - Part 3 ABBY ALDRICH ROCKEFELLER Williamsburg Chapter, Virginia Wife of John D. Rockefeller, Abby is referred to as the "woman in the family."  She was known for being the driving force behind the establishment of the Museum of Modern Art. SUZANNE POWELL BISHOPRIC  Walter Hines Page Chapter, London, England From 1999 to 2007, Suzanne was the http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2018/10/famous-women-who-are-members-of-dar_3.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-6860402459998231819Wed, 03 Oct 2018 00:40:00 +00002019-01-23T21:40:06.474-08:00 Stars of DAR - Part 2 PHOEBE APPERSON HEARST San Francisco Chapter, California Phoebe was the mother of William Randolph Hearst.  She founded the University of California Museum of Anthropology. A major benefactor of the University of California, Berkeley and its first woman Regent, serving on the board from 1897 until her death. Phoebe died in 1919, during the worldwide http://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2018/10/famous-women-who-are-members-of-dar_2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8671432547717724571.post-5253951368988902374Mon, 01 Oct 2018 22:32:00 +00002019-01-23T21:39:13.886-08:00 Stars of DAR I've written before about some notable women who are members of Daughters of the American Revolution.  Since then, I've done additional research about many more women who have made a place for themselves in history. Today begins a five part series about these women. JEANNETTE RIDION PICCARD     Nathan Hale Chapter, Minnesota Jeannettehttp://sherifenley.blogspot.com/2018/10/famous-women-who-are-members-of-dar.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Sheri Fenley)25