Submitted by Member Sue Hanson:
James S. Short is the 5th great-uncle to my children, Kristi and David. Abraham Lincoln often helped New Salem friends with chores and sometimes stayed at the Short Farm. In a letter to William Herndon, James commented that Lincoln was the best hand in husking corn on the stalk that he had ever seen. Short made 5 or 6 trips to California during the Gold Rush. He was called "Jim", "Uncle Jimmy" and "California Jim". He married Delilah Potter on August 18th, 1859 in Menard County, Illinois. She reportedly died in California, probably while James was an Indian Agent for the Round Valley Indian Reservation in Mendocino County.
Build your family tree, research ancestral history, learn search skills, share ideas and tips with like-minded Northern California enthusiasts ...
A warm welcome to the Genealogy Society of Vallejo-Benicia (GSVB)! We invite you to be part of our congenial group while we all learn and work together to build our family trees and to remember, research and document our ancestors.
Just as a genealogy research project often starts with a question, so did GSVB start as an organization when the question "Would you teach a genealogy class?" was asked on behalf of the Senior Center in Vallejo. Betty Heryford answered "yes" and began her class in March 1993. From the very beginning, Betty and her 17 students wanted three things: they wanted to have a quiet, set-aside place to meet, to grow into a group that would embrace all level of experience, ages and family backgrounds, and to start a library to support their research goals. Their dreams became the foundation of the Genealogy Society of Vallejo-Benicia. We now hold our monthly meetings in the comfortable, quiet Heritage Chamber of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum which is welcoming and comfortable for General Meetings, Guest Speaker presentations, and teaching lessons using Power Point and Video, or our meetings are held online via the Zoom platform. The Museum also provides GSVB members with a central meeting place to carpool for visits and tours of other museums, libraries and historical sites of interest to genealogists. The original group's informal meetings at the Senior Center have expanded into a 501c Society which brings together people of diverse family backgrounds, ages, and experience levels interested in researching family history, not only in the United States but throughout the world. Because of the wide ranging interest of our membership, we continue to learn about new search opportunities and techniques, how to use on-line resources and new software packages, and how to benefit from the new world of DNA testing. The few books collected by the original group has grown to a dedicated Genealogy Library of 2000 publications located in the Museum -- and a very helpful Genealogy Library Staffer to help with research. The library collection includes general publications on building family trees and on how to research and document family histories. It also contains a wide range of individual publications arranged by state, to help researchers to discover more about their ancestors' histories and "home place". In addition to GSVB's library, the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum maintains a library of California, Solano County, Vallejo, and Benicia military and general histories. Both libraries are very valuable to the family researcher. Beginning Saturday, January 7th, 2023, the Genealogy Society of Vallejo-Benicia Reference Library will be open additional days and hours.
The new days and hours are:
Every Tuesday: 1:00 - 3:30 pm
1st and 3rd Saturdays: Noon - 3:30 pm
2nd Thursday of the month: Noon - 3:30 pm
Our library is located on the 2nd floor of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum at 734 Marin Street in Vallejo, California. Our librarian will be there to help with your research. In addition to numerous genealogical publications, Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com, and Fold3 are available for your use.
We invite you to join with us to search, discover and preserve your family history.
NEW: Some of our meetings are in person and some are on Zoom. Please check listings carefully to determine which is the case for each meeting. In-person meetings will not be zoomed or recorded. All times given for events are Pacific Time (either daylight or standard, depending on the time of year).
