Fires and Genealogy

Just under three years ago, a wind event in Northern California started at least 12 fires. These fires devastated large portions of Sonoma and Napa counties. The Tubbs fire, just to the north of my home, ravaged the city of Santa Rosa in just hours. Everyone knew one or more people who lost their home in the fires.

Just a year later in 2018, the Mendocino Complex Fire became the largest fire in California history with just under a half million acres burned. Sadly, just months later, the Camp Fire claimed the title of most deadly in California when 85 people lost their lives as the towns of Paradise and Concow were destroyed.

Once again a wind event wreaked havoc in October 2019. The Kincade fire was not deadly or quite as destructive as the previous years. The threat was large enough over 180,000 people were evacuated from their homes.

Now in 2020, Northern California is facing fire again. Just over a week ago, we experienced a crazy thunderstorm which saw over 10,000 lightning bolts light up the sky. Unfortunately, this led to many small fires that have merged into several massive fires. Every Bay Area county except San Francisco has a major fire burning in it.

Screenshot from AlertWildfire Black Mountain Marin camera. The 747 Supertanker is getting ready to approach for a fire retardant drop on the Woodward fire in Point Reyes National Seashore.

So what does this have to do with genealogy?

First, those of us in California need to be documenting our history for future generations. How were we impacted, what did we do to help, how did we feel, how has fire changed the way we live? These stories will personalize history for our descendants.

Second, as a genealogist, I want to protect the research I have done. I find there are two components to this plan. A specific evacuation plan including identifying genealogy materials and where on the list they fall for packing the car is super important. Next is digitizing all paper materials to make the evacuation plan more manageable.

My family reviewed our evacuation plan this past weekend. We checked our emergency go boxes for what needed to be updated (first aid, food, toothpaste, etc). We also checked our evacuation go list. The list is in order of importance for packing the car. This is to help determine what gets grabbed depending on the amount of time we have. We also figured out that my genealogy treasures will fit in the car (along with kids, dog, etc.)

Every year as fire season takes it toll, I say I am going to digitize everything. Every year I have made small gains before becoming distracted and not completing the project. I am determined to tackle and FINISH digitizing a couple boxes of paper this year. I have started by reviewing my scan, cite, save process. I have a box out and using a phone scanning app, a few items have already been crossed off the list. Some of these items will start to appear as blog posts.

Have you thought about what will happen to your genealogy treasures in the event of an emergency or natural disaster? What have you done to prepare?

{Treasure Box} Burial Site of Agnes Mattson

Agnes Mattson (1909-1982) is my husband’s great grandmother.  She has an interesting burial story.  You can read about Agnes’ many husbands here.  You can also read a previous blog post about her grave site here.

Agnes was married to her 7th husband, Pat O’Malley, at the time of her death.  Pat was a widow at the time of his marriage to Agnes.  The couple had agreed during their marriage on a burial plan.  Pat would be buried with is deceased wife.  Agnes would be buried with her favorite husband, Donald Frazier.

This past summer the kids and I were driving past Colma, California and decided to make a spur of the moment decision to visit Agnes.  Olivet Memorial Park is another very large cemetery.  Although we have stopped by before, I could not remember where Agnes was buried.  We stopped by the office and received the following maps.  The pink area I have highlighted is where Agnes and Don are together.

Map of Olivet Memorial Park

Map of Section I, Olivet, Memorial Park

Agnes Mattson burial site, Section I, Number 178-3, Olivet Memorial Park, Colma, California.

{Treasure Box} Burial Site of William J Dempsey

William J Dempsey (1923-1998) is the brother of my grandmother, Mary Dempsey.  His remains were interred at the Riverside National Cemetery.

My grandparents, Mary and Jay Capelli, are interred at the same cemetery. After burying my grandmother last year, we stopped at the kiosks at the administration building.  The kiosks are to available to look up and locate the burial site of your family member.  These are extremely helpful as this is a very large cemetery.  The kiosk will print a map and burial site information for you.

Unfortunately, we were unable to visit Uncle Bill.  The columbarium were his ashes are interred was closed to the public as they were doing construction on a new building.

If you are preparing to visit the cemetery (or any military cemetery) the information is also available online at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.

Burial Site of Bill Dempsey

Dempsey, Bill Burial Site, Section AH, Row G, Site 23, Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, California.

{Treasure Box} Burial Site Of My Paternal Grandparents

Last year my grandmother, Mary Dempsey (1921-2017) passed away.  She was buried with my grandfather, Celio “Jay” Capelli (1914-2009) at the Riverside National Cemetery.  While at the cemetery we stopped at the administration building.  Outside of the building, there are kiosks available to look up and locate the burial site of your family member.  These are extremely helpful as this is a very large cemetery.  The kiosk will print a map and burial site information for you.

If you are preparing to visit the cemetery (or any military cemetery) the information is also available online at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website.

Burial Site of Mary and Jay Capelli

Website results for Mary and Jay Capelli

Capelli, Jay and Dempsey, Mary burial site, Section 58A, Site 2692, Riverside National Cemetery, Riverside, California.  U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator website,  https://gravelocator.cem.va.gov/, accessed 22 November 2018.

{Treasure Box} Loretta Palmatier Death Certificate

Loretta Elizabeth Palmatier (January 29, 1887- January 21, 1979) is my husband’s great grandmother.  She was married first to Percy Fuller and then to Alexander Fraser.  Born in Nebraska, she lived there until moving to Chicago, Illinois in her forties.  Her last move was to California to be closer to her children, Marshall and Gwendolyn (June).

I know from talking my mother in law that the family brought Loretta to Novato, California a few weeks before her death because she was sick.  Clearlake is about a two hour drive from Novato.  Loretta’s daughter and granddaughter were both living in Novato at the time of Loretta’s death.

Loretta Fraser Death Certificate

Fraser, Lauretta Death Certificate (1979),  Certificate #79-002411, January 21, 1979, Novato, Marin, California.  Department of Health,  State of California, Sacramento, California.

My First Photo Restoration

Last weekend, while enjoying time in Hopland, California with friends and family, I had an incredible find!  Currently, our family is in the fifth generation of staying and playing on this land.  My husband’s grandmother was the original family historian on that side of the family.  Grandma Shirley left the most incredible treasure trove of documents and photos as part of her legacy.  Most of these documents are now in my possession.  I have been slowly digitizing them to share with family.

To my surprise, on a trip into the barn, my husband found another (previously unknown) 100+ year old photo.  It is a photo of the members of the Star of Finland celebrating 15 years (1896-1911).  There are approximately 140 individual photos included.  Someone (maybe Agnes Mattson) left markings on the photo to identify her parents (Charles Mattson and Wendla Botmaster, and Uncle and his wife, Matts Mattson).  The Star of Finland was a sick benefit society.  The information I have found online includes many names from Malax and Solf where my husband’s ancestors immigrated from.

So why does the photo need some love?  Unfortunately, being left out in the open in the barn means it was covered in dust and mouse poop.  We carefully wrapped the the photo before coming home.

Luckily, my local genealogy society, Marin County Genealogical Society, had Gawain Weaver speak at one of our meetings years ago.  Gawain is a photo conservation expert who owns his own conservation studio here in Marin, California.

Since I know very little about photo conservation and this photo is so old, I made the call to Gawain Weaver Art Conservation .  After a consultation with Gawain, I contracted with him to clean the photo, make a small fix to a corner, and take high resolution scans.

I am so excited to add this photo to my family archive! After the photo gets some love, I will be sharing it!

Gawain Weaver with Star of Finland photo

Agnes Marie Gingg Newspaper Diary #2

Agnes Marie Mattson is my husband’s great-grandmother.  She kept a newspaper clipping diary from 1928-1931. You can read more information about the diary at this link: Diary Prologue.

This clipping, hand dated Feb 1928, refers to Nancy Malone.  Nancy was married to Charles Britton Wells (Frank Gingg’s grandparents).  Agnes’ first husband was Frank Gingg.  I had to check twice to make sure I had the correct person because Charles and Nancy had a daughter named Carrie Bell Wells.

This clipping is full of information to research.  I need to follow-up to identify the grand children.  I also need to check the Santa Rosa Newspapers for 1881-1885 for any references to the Malone and Wells family.

There is also at least one error in this clipping.  The baby was actually a girl.  My husband’s grandmother (Shirley Gingg, 1927-2003) was born six months before the visit.

Mrs. C.B. Wells Here On Visit With Relatives

Mrs. C.B. Wells is here for a visit with relatives and is delighted to make the acquaintance of her youngest great grandchild, the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gingg of Benton street.  Mrs. Wells first came to California shortly after the Civil War and was a resident of Santa Rosa from 1881-1885.  The oldest of her grandchildren is thirty-eight years, and the age of her eldest great grandchild is seventeen years.

Mrs Ellen Wells of this city is a relative also.  The visitor will spend several weeks here and will renew many old acquaintances.

Agnes Marie Gingg Newspaper Diary #1

Agnes Marie Mattson is my husband’s great-grandmother.  She kept a newspaper clipping diary from 1928-1931.

This clipping is about Agnes’ younger brother, Carl (1913-1996). The clipping is hand dated as 1928.

BOY. 15. SAVED FROM DEATH IN RUSSIAN RIVER

Seized with cramps in deep water, Carl Mattson, 15-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. J Long of 2 Wright street, San Francisco, had a narrow escape from drowning yesterday afternoon in the Russian River at Vacation Beach, near Guerneville, when his brother, Albert, 18, and Albert Saaransen, 19, plunged to his rescue.

The boys, who are vacationing on the Russian River, were swimming at the beach.  Mattson swam out into deep water and was seized with cramps before he could return to the beach.

He shouted for help and was able to keep afloat after going down once until the other two boys reached him.

He is a brother of Mrs. Frank Gingg, of this city.

This is a google map of of Vacation Beach, California. Carl and Albert most likely visited their sister in Santa Rosa on the way out to their vacation.

Agnes Marie Gingg Newspaper Diary (Prologue)

My husband’s great-grandmother, Agnes Mattson, married Charles Frank Gingg as a young woman.  After moving to Santa Rosa, California, Agnes kept a newspaper clipping diary.  The diary is a book with lined blank pages.  The newspaper clippings were glued onto each page.  Many clippings have the month and year written next to the item of interest.  The Diary begins in 1928 and ends somewhere about 1931.

From what I can tell, most if not all of the clippings are related to family, friends, or acquaintances of Agnes.  I recognize names in 80 percent of the clippings.

I am going to post photos of the newspaper clippings.  They offer an interesting insight to the world Agnes lived in.

Newpaper Diary Cover

 

First page of diary written by Agnes Mattson Gingg

 

This is a google maps street view of the home the Gingg’s lived in while the diary was created.  The home is just north of Downtown Santa Rosa.  It sits on an east-west street between downtown and the Santa Rosa Junior College campus.

485 Benton Street

There was an envelope of photo negatives in the genealogy papers my husband’s Grandma Shirley collected.  The outside of the envelope was dated 1933.  There were several different types of negatives and based on the age of Grandma Shirley in the photos they were taken anywhere from 1925-1933.  I believe this photo of Shirley and Frank Gingg (ca.1932) was taken in front of the home at 485 Benton Street.  The shape of the front door stairs and wood porch supports match closely.

Frank and Shirley Gingg (about 1932 or 1933)

 

Maybe, No, Maybe

I have identified a passport application for my husband’s great-great-grandfather, John Pope.  The passport identifies the date John Pope was naturalized in San Francisco, California.  I am currently on a quest to see if I can obtain a copy of the original naturalization paperwork or certificate.  You can read about my progress in my last post – Yes, No, Maybe…

Last week, I drove into San Francisco to continue my research at City Hall.  My first stop was actually across the street at the Superior Court of San Francisco. While I know the original was destroyed in the fire following the 1906 Earthquake, I also know that many people refiled their naturalization paperwork as “restored” records.  MAYBE.

A search done by the records clerk showed my John Pope did not file a restored naturalization.  While I was there, I went ahead and ordered copies of his probate packet and one for his son, John Rudolph Pope.  These are kept offsite and will be available for viewing next week.  The clerk in the records room were incredibly helpful and knowledgeable.

Next I walked across the street to City Hall.  My first stop was the Recorder/Assessor’s office.  While they do not hold naturalization paperwork, I have found in the past the clerk’s in this office are the most knowledgeable in the building about who holds what and where.  I also cross checked the book/page number with them for the clue I found from John’s grandma Shirley. Then note indicated a copy of the naturalization had been filed with the Registrar of Voters.  They did not have the said book/[age combination but pointed me downstairs to the Office of Elections.

The person in the office of elections was a more recent addition to the office.  He was kind enough to go ask others in the office to see if the book and page from the clue were kept in their office.  He returned to inform me that those records were old enough that they did not have them anymore.  NO.

I came home with a mixed bag of outcomes.  I am happy to get to see the probate files next week but I was totally bummed my initial MAYBE had not worked out.  I decided to keep at my exhaustive search for available records.  It was time to do some research into where else a copy of the naturalization paperwork or certificate would need to be filed to meet a requirement for something else.

This led me back to the Passport Application I found online.  The application states:

I was naturalized as a citizen of the United States before the Superior Court of the State of Calif at San Francisco on the 30th day of March, 1904, as shown by the accompanying Certificate of Naturalization; that I am the identical person described in the said Certificate….

The digital copy of the Passport Application is just that  – a copy.  It need to get my hands on the original.   I have made inquiries to the National Archives in Washington, DC where the passport applications are held.  They informed me there are passport applications that do have additional paperwork attached. The new plan is to add a research trip to NARA while visiting my parents in Virginia this summer.  So I am back to MAYBE.