Submitted by Member Christine Dunn:
Two little girls, doing what little girls love to do ... mess around with a baby! The little girl on the left is my grandmother, Bertha Ida Chapman. The baby is her little sister, Ruth Vera Chapman. And the little girl on the far right is their cousin, Edna Pederson. Ruth was born in June 1899. Judging by her size and the fact that she is sitting up, she was probably under a year old in this photo. The picture was taken in the back yard of Chapman house at 1414 First Street in Napa. It looks like they are dressed up for a special occasion ... Easter perhaps? Ruth would die in November 1906 of an unnamed childhood illness. Many years later Bertha would name her little girl (my mother) Ruth. In turn, I used the name Ruth for my daughter’s middle name and she did the same for her daughter. Bertha and Edna would continue to be friends all of their lives, both living in Napa and visiting each other often.
Welcome
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 organizarion 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.
Library 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.
NOTE: 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).
Welcome from the Web-Managers!
Welcome to 2026! It's another year. Another year to find more ancestors. Another year to break down brick walls. Another year to connect with living relatives. Another year to ask yourself questions and search for ancestors. Do you have a plan? Do you schedule time for research? Are you going to visit places your ancestors lived? How about the places they are buried? Are all the graves that are important to you marked or will they fall into obscurity when you are gone? Do you have a plan for your genealogical research when you are gone? You have probably spent years digging deep into your history, gathering photos, documents, news articles, artifacts and you are not going to want all of that tossed out the window. Have you taken a DNA test and have you pursued those leads? Have you written down family stories including your own? Are you really utilizing those genealogical databases you are paying for? Have you gone back and checked them for information that wasn't there the last time you checked (possibly years or even decades ago), but may be there now? You have work to do ... and so do I. Let's go!
