SIR Group: Genealogy

To forget one’s ancestors is to be a brook without a source, a tree without a root. — Chinese Proverb

Kevin Moran, Chairman

 Due to the COVID crisis, the Genealogy group is teleconferencing using Zoom on the first Tuesday of the month at 10:30 a.m. starting 8/4/2020. Kevin Moran m.kevin.moran@gmail.com should send invitations a day or two before the meeting.

The Genealogy Group meets the first Tuesday of every month at 10:30 A.M. at the Silicon Valley Community Foundation, 1300 South El Camino Real, San Mateo, California. The group discusses various aspects of Genealogy, computer programs for Genealogy, and various sources for obtaining information on one’s ancestors. It also discusses how the computer is useful in storing genealogical information. The group adjourns at about 12:00 noon. The group is open to any other SIR’s groups in the San Francisco Peninsula area. The Group discusses various topics in genealogy and reviews various sources of genealogical material. Help is available from more knowledgeable members for those who are novices. The genealogical program that is primarily used by the group is “The Family Tree Maker”.

  1. Thou shalt find that the human species has been lying, cheating, stealing, and exaggerating for quite some time.
  2. Thou shalt not always believe the printed word. All things written were set down in print by other humans. See Commandment number one.
  3. Thou shalt not always believe family tradition. All things oral were passed down by other humans. See Commandment number one.
  4. Thou shalt not expect to trace thine ancestry back to Adam and Eve in the first ten minutes.
  5. Thou shalt not expect to find royal blood, land barons, ancient planters, patriots, or presidents in thine lineage.
  6. Thou shalt not expect to prove descent from thine “Indian Princess”.
  7. Thou shalt not expect to find the “three brothers that came on the first ship to Jamestown, Virginia”.
  8. Thou shalt expect to find felons, illiterates, illegitimate insolvents, and immorality, in general, in thine lineage. See Commandment number one.
  9. Thou shalt not brag endlessly about thine ancestors to everyone thou canst “collar”. After all, they are dying to brag about their own lineage.
  10. Thou shalt not believe that the library staff has a memory that is better than thine own. The library staff is indeed called “miracle worker”, but shall not remember every book thou hast ever used.

History:

The Genealogy Group was started by Stan Harris in 1998 who served as Chairman of the Group until his death on December 19, 2005. George Henderson succeeded Stan on February 7, 2006. Russ Brabec succeeded George on January 1, 2013. Kevin Moran succeeded Russ on April 2, 2019. The group originally began meeting at the Foster City Recreation Center in Foster City. On July 6, 2004, the group moved to the Peninsula Community Foundation. By January of 2010, the Peninsula Community Foundation had become the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and moved to 1300 South El Camino Real, San Mateo, California.