Upcoming Webinar—Last Chance to Register!  Boston Research and Records Boston Research and Records  Thursday, January 16, 3:00–4:00 PM EST Presented by David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist Online Presentation Cost: FREE Since its founding in 1630, the City of Boston has kept records pertaining to its citizens, including several unique resources. Join Chief Genealogist David Allen Lambert to learn what records exist for Boston, tips for using them in your research, and where to find them. Special attention will be given to records from the 17th through 19th centuries. Register Here Can't attend the live broadcast? Not a problem! You will be able to watch a recording of the presentation on our website following the broadcast.

Message from the California State Library

A special thanks to all our researchers, transcribers, and photographers who over the years have contributed so much to putting San Mateo County genealogy on the map!

M.

Jan 6, 2020

In the spirit of celebrating a job well done, we have selected San Mateo as the California History Section’s County of the Month, featuring your organization in the accompanying documentation. This distinction highlights organizations involved in local cultural preservation and outreach, as well as the varied local history resources available to researchers at the State Library.

Elena Smith, Librarian

California History Room, California State Library

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First established in 1856 after breaking away from San Francisco, San Mateo County had an estimated population of 769,545 as of 2018. This county, however, has a far older history than these basic statistics might indicate. Several early European explorers, including Portola visited this region, which eventually became home to several Spanish and Mexican ranchos. The county also features a number of historic lighthouses, which prevented any number of shipwrecks, as well as Filoli, a historic home with particularly lavish gardens. Not surprisingly given its wealth of his- toric sites, this region boasts of many history and genealogy organizations. If you are looking for exciting local history resources in the California History Section's rich collections, then check out what we have for this county!
Digitized Resources .........................................................3 
General Research Tips.......................................................5 
Specific Resources in our Catalog ..........................................7 
On-site Research Resources.................................................8 
Other On-site Resources....................................................9 
Other Places to Look.......................................................10 

Digitized Publications
A few years ago we digitized some of our more fragile publications. You can now see documents related to San Mateo County on Internet Archive!
URL: https://archive.org/
Type in Search Box: (San Mateo County) AND
collection:(californiastatelibrary)
Select Option: “Search Full Text of Books” 

Digitized Images
We have scanned and digitized a portion of our extensive photograph collection, including images related to San Mateo County. You can see them on Calisphere!
URL: https://calisphere.org/institution/51/ items/
Type in Search Box: (“San Mateo County”) 

In August of 2017, in an effort to better support the work of local governments and historical societies in promoting and preserving the past, the California History Section started the County of the Month program. This recognition honors the diverse character of California's many counties while providing research tips to individuals interested in finding out more about California local history. If you have any questions about this program, please feel free to contact us.

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See all the resources for San Mateo at https://www.library.ca.gov/Content/pdf/californiaHistory/SanMateoResearch.pdf

Happy New Year!

This is the time we look at making our New Year's resolutions.  Perhaps there's some genealogical  project you've put off?  Here are some ideas to get you started:

For your family:  

• Make an album for your kids (or your parents) showing what life was like back when.
• Interview a relative and capture it on film.
• Write a story about a fascinating ancestor and send out copies

For you:

• Organize (yes) your computer files so that you can finally lay your hands on that missing record
• Take a day - or a week - and visit a family home or other historical site
• Catch up on reading your stack of family history magazines
• Go to Rootstech!  https://www.rootstech.org

For your community:

• Don't forget - we are all part of the genealogical community.  Think about sharing some of your time and expertise.
• Volunteer at a library or FHC.  Offer to bring cookies to your local meeting (hint, hint)
• Mentor a beginning genealogist or a local high school student and help them learn about their heritage.

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Upcoming Events

     Sat, Jan 25,1020 10:30 am–12:00 pm, Free

The Orphan Train Movement
A History and Personal Story

Grace Lutheran Church, 2825 Alameda de las Pulgas, San Mateo, entrance in back. 

 Jeanne MacVicar  

The Orphan Train Movement was the largest mass migration of children in American History.  It lasted from 1854 to 1929 and it is estimated that over 250,000 children were moved from orphanages in New York City to rural areas in the United States.  This presentation is an informative history of the Orphan Train Movement on a personal level.

Jeanne MacVicar is from Clyde, Kansas, where her great aunt Great-Aunt Adeline Trowbridge arrived in 1911 at age 3 on the Orphan Train. Jeanne came to California in 1970, was a school teacher, but now is a real estate agent in Los Altos.

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Workshop with Martha

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     Sat, Feb 22, 2020 10:30 am–12:00 pm, Free

Titanic Connections

 Exploring the Legend & Genealogy

Grace Lutheran Church, 2825 Alameda de las Pulgas, San Mateo, entrance in back. 

 Sheryl Rinkol

Come aboard and discover the history of the Titanic from design through on-board life to disaster. The genealogy of Titanic descendants, both victims and survivors, will be highlighted including the modern-day genealogy center in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Titanic collectibles will be displayed.

Sheryl Rinkol is a 35-year Titanic enthusiast, both a researcher and lecturer on the topic. She is the author of the book Titanic Today which will be available at the meeting.

               Everyone is welcome at SMCGS events.  Meetings are free  

www.smcgs.org 

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Save the Date
Saturday 2 May 2020

Lisa Louise Cooke is a world-class genealogy speaker, and the producer and host of The Genealogy Gems Podcast and the Genealogy Gems app. Stay tuned for upcoming announcements on the topics for the SMCGS Spring Seminar 2020.

Ticket sales open on February 15, 2020
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Other Events

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Sunday, February 9, 2020

SFBAJGS Presentation Free and everyone interested is welcome. Time and NEW Place: Doors open 1pm, Program begins 1:30pm San Francisco Public Library, Main Branch, Latino/Hispanic Room Map 100 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA 94103  Topic: Getting Ready for the 1950 Census: Searching with and without a Name Index Speaker: Dr. Steve Morse When the 1950 census is released in April 2022, it will not have a name index. So finding people in the census will involve searching by location instead. Even when a name index becomes available, there will still be many reasons for doing locational searches. The census is organized by Enumeration Districts (EDs), so the location needs to be converted to an ED before the census can be accessed. The One-Step Website contains numerous tools for obtaining EDs. This talk will present the various tools and show circumstances in which each can be used. Steve Morse is the creator of the One-Step Website, for which he has received both the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Outstanding Contribution Award from IAJGS, the Award of Merit from the National Genealogical Society, the first ever Excellence Award from the Association of Professional Genealogists, and two awards that he cannot pronounce from Polish genealogical societies. In his other life Morse is a computer professional with a doctorate degree in electrical engineering. He has held various research, development, and teaching positions, authored numerous technical papers, and written four textbooks and holds four patents.