Robert M. Tibbetts Finds An Old Stone Mill in Borrego Valley

My 3rd great uncle Robert Nelson Tibbetts (1848-1926), older brother of my 2nd great grandmother Mary Jane (Tibbetts) Hartley, with his third wife Mary Cristina Garcia (1866-1952) and four of their children: Juanita "Jennie" Pauline Tibbetts (1885-1964), Harvey Henry Tibbetts (1887-1970), Robert M. Tibbetts (1889-1938), and Adelia "Dee" Belle Tibbetts (1892-1979). The picture was taken about 1895, very likely in the Otay Mesa area.  I suspect the standing center boy is Robert M. Tibbetts.  Image courtesy of Ancestry user Danielle Hanson.

My 1st 3x removed cousin, Robert M. Tibbetts, was a butcher and oil worker, and apparently a miner as well.  He found an old stone mill (likely of Cahuilla origin?) in the Borrego Springs/Santa Rosa Mountains area and donated it to the Serra Museum when it was at Presidio Park (the museum and the collections are now part of the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park).  As his own maternal grandmother's people were Chumash he was probably interested in keeping the local archaeology local and not dispersed to the highest bidder, as was common then.

I tried to locate the object at the San Diego History Center through their online catalog and website, but their object collections are not searchable or view-able online.  I am curious if it is still in their holdings.

I don't know what the stone mill looked like, but I'm assuming it looked like this:

Image of grindstones from user ddozier at Palomar College.

San Diego Union (San Diego, CA)
Thursday, February 11, 1932
Page: 11, col 1
from GenealogyBank.com 

Museum Library Gets Additions 

Wangenheim Contributes Diary of H.M.T. Powell; Old Stone Mill Put on Display.
...
Robert M. Tibbetts of El Cajon brought in a stone mill, found in six parts in Borego valley while he was prospecting for the Yaqui mine.  The mill has attracted the attention of many antiquaries, and other museums had bid generously for its posession [sic] but Mr. Tibbetts prefers to have it remain in this county where it belongs.

© 2018 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

2017 Genealogy Day at the San Diego History Center

Each audience member was given a packet with their name and schedule for the day (you choose your sessions in advance).

Mom and I attended the 2017 Genealogy Day at the San Diego History Center (SDHC) in Balboa Park today, an event presented by both the SDHC and the San Diego Genealogical Society***.

The keynote speaker was “Breathe Life into Your Ancestors: Turn Your Pedigree Chart into Fascinating Family Stories” by writer Dawn Parrett Thurston (I now own two of her books, The Parrett Migration and Breathe Into Your Life Story, thank you Mom!).  I was really inspired by her particular use of charts to show what was happening where during a particular ancestor's lifetime, similar to the technique historians use in historical atlases I've seen, including location, geography/geology, weather, technology innovation, and larger historical events.  Unfortunately she didn't have the example in a handout for me to show (although maybe I just neglected to find the handout when I was there?).

Next we went downstairs to the Research Library, where family historian and past President of the San Diego Genealogical Society Peter Steelquist gave a lecture on "Researching Local Libraries: Your Guide to Success.  This was a fantastic overview of how to where and how to access local and research research material for genealogy.  I will use the handout from the lecture to update my San Diego Genealogy Sources tab on my blog.

Last we attended Del Ritchart's review of the GenSmarts, a program that interacts with your main genealogy software and helps fill in holes in your research by recommending sources.  I had not even heard of GenSmarts before, but I might consider purchasing it if I find the research suggestions Legacy 9 has already as insufficient--GenSmarts is specifically designed to help generate ready-to-go source lists, complete with call numbers, and you can query the program to recommend research directions, like the descendants or ancestors of a particular person on your tree, which I am not sure Legacy can do in such a brief amount of steps.

We saw Genea-Musings blogger Randy Seaver again and met some new people, including J. Paul Hawthorne (GeneaSpy).  Overall a great way to spend a morning!


***I'm sorry to submit this post so late, being brain-dead-tired and distracted by "So You Think You Can Dance" makes for a slow-going post write-up.


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

Genealogy Day at the San Diego History Center (Saturday, October 21, 2017)

Mom and I will be attending the Genealogy Day on October 21, 2017 (8:00 am - 12:30 pm), at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park.  We chose the “Researching Local Libraries: Your Guide to Success” and “GENSMARTS–Using Artificial Intelligence to Assist with Your Research” workshops:

Unearthing your family’s unique story is like solving a puzzle. Whether you have been researching your family’s history for years or you are just getting ready to start, we have a special program to guide your efforts. 

The San Diego History Center and San Diego Genealogical Society are partnering to present the third-annual Genealogy Day on Saturday, October 21, from 8:00am-12:30pm, at the History Center. Dawn Parrett Thurston, author and family historian, will be the keynote speaker addressing, “Writing My Roots“. 

Participants will have the opportunity to choose breakout sessions for both beginning and advanced researchers. The program will also include a continental breakfast and an exhibit hall full of experts to answer your questions on the process of researching your family tree.

More info here.  I'm looking forward to it!


© 2017 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.

San Diego Genealogy Day

Mom and I attended the San Diego Genealogical Society's first annual Genealogy Day at the San Diego History Center in Balboa Park last Saturday.  It was awesome!

Mom selected Randy Seaver of the Genea-Musings blog and independent professional genetic genealogist and television consultant Ce Ce Moore for our breakout sessions.  Randy discussed using social media from a genealogical perspective, and Ce Ce then discussed DNA, genealogy, and chromosome mapping.

Ce Ce mentioned her upcoming Finding Your Roots episode with LL Cool J, which she touted as one of the most interesting ones she's done yet.***

I can't wait to see the LL one.  He has had quite a career, but I always remember his "I'm Bad" from 1987, a track now seriously stuck in my head again:

***The episodes from this season have not yet been released, apparently possibly due to fallout from the controversy of Ben Affleck trying to hide his slave-owning ancestor.  



© 2015 Copyright, Christine Manczuk, All Rights Reserved.