Happy Holidays

from the San Mateo County Genealogical Society

Are you looking for ways to fill your time during the holidays?  Here are some ideas.....

• Visit the Saratoga History Museum 's " Home for the Holidays", which is open weekends through Jan 31.  The exhibit explores interesting holiday traditions from around the world including Boxer Day, Chinese New year and more.
• Check out holiday offerings from the Library of Congress
• Songs for Christmas and the New Year collected by Alan Lomax
• Rare Book of the Month: “King Winter” – A Book to Bring in the Season
• Read about the Origins of Santa Claus.
• Check out A History of New Years on Simple to Remember - Judaism Online.  You can find the history of a number of Jewish holidays here as well.
• Talk to your relatives!!!!  Collect their stories including holiday memories for future generations.
• Find My Past discussion of  the 1844 plagiarization of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" shows that copyright issues are not new in the world.
• Watch an old silent movie or two.

• A Christmas Carol (1910) [HD] (Silent) Edison Film
• A Trap for Santa Claus (1909) - Henry B. Walthall - D.W. Griffith

•  Read about the copyright suit over this film - A Trap for Santa: The First Santa Claus IP Fight - 

Early Families: Justice and Louise H Christiane Bepler

In the Introduction to this, the first of thirty histories of Early Northern San Mateo County Families, Russell Brabec states.....

"I became interested in the people of the northern San Mateo County who settled there after the gold rush and statehood.  During my 38 years of employment with the City of Daly City, I observed that most of the written history of this era was of those people who settled in the central and southern part of the county.  Thus I began a project of researching many of the settlers of the northern part of the county.......

"The basis of my information came from the records of San Mateo County, the California Digital Newspaper Collection (internet) for nineteenth century and very early twentieth century newspapers, and the main library of San Francisco for city directories and newspaper microfilms.   

"I have referenced Deeds and Official Records in the footnotes on each page.  Footnotes without the note [not transcribed] have been transcribed by me.

"Each family faced different challenges, and it has been interesting discovering these events in their lives." 

Future blogs will list other families in the collection.  You will also find links on the San Mateo County Genealogical Society Website.  From the Research tab, click on First Families and page down to The Pioneers.  Click on a name to access a PDF file that may range from 6 to 80 pages.

But back to the Beplers.....   Russ's history starts with Justus's birth in Germany about 1826 continuing with his purchase of land in San Francisco in 1854.  The 24 page document includes numerous land documents, a timeline of family and area history, and a spectacular collection of maps.

There is documentation of the death of Louise in 1869 at the age of 33, shortly after the birth of twin sons Edward and Louis.  Edward died later that year.  Justice died in 1875  leaving three sons Frederick, David and Louis.  

You will find references to his probate as well as census records for family members.  But rather than spending a lot of time reading this blog ... read the original

JUSTICE and LOUISE H. CHRISTIANE BEPLER

A Chronological Account of Their Lives from

the Records the County of San Mateo,

the California Digital Newspaper Collection

and other sources

Russell Brabec 2015

SMCGS Databases Online: Lis Pendens

Lis Pendens filings for San Mateo County are found in drawers 53-56A in the County Record Repository. There are also eight registers located on shelves along the back wall.   This index to the original filings located in the drawers includes records dating  from the 1850s through the early 1900s. 

You will find records related to right of way such as that of the Ocean Shore Railway Co, foreclosures, and satisfaction of mechanic's liens among others.  Some state that they are an effort to quiet title, which means a suit is being brought to obtain a determination of the title of a certain piece of property.  These suits can involve property lines, probate problems and more.  While these documents can provide great information for your family research, they are also interesting in and of themselves. They come in all colors and on various types of paper including oil cloth.  Some are handwritten.  Some are fill in forms.  Others have been specially printed in their entirety.  

Lis Pendens Index

lis pendens - The People's Law Dictionary

(lease pen-dense) n. Latin for "a suit pending," a written notice that a lawsuit has been filed which concerns the title to real property or some interest in that real property. The lis pendens (or notice of pending action) is filed with the clerk of the court, certified that it has been filed, and then recorded with the County Recorder. This gives notice to the defendant who owns real estate that there is a claim on the property, and the recording informs the general public (and particularly anyone interested in buying or financing the property) that there is this potential claim against it. The lis pendens must include a legal description of the real property, and the lawsuit must involve the property. Otherwise, if there is a petition to remove the lis pendens from real property not involved in the lawsuit, the plaintiff who originally recorded a false lis pendens will be subject to payment of attorney's fees as a penalty. 

Code of Civil Procedure
Lis Pendens - What it is and how it affects title