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William S Dean
  • Male
  • Santa Ana, California
  • United States
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William S Dean's Friends

  • Connie Underwood
  • Eileen Hutzel Johnson
  • Louise Norgaar
  • Spirit Baker
  • Madehlinne
  • Scubie-AR (Beth)
  • lisa_vv_ca
  • Jo Saunders
  • rottenralf
  • Brian Hightower
  • John Howard Fowler
  • Christine Read
  • Cheryl
  • Mary Beth
  • Rosie

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Westward

Did your family emigrate to the East coast and then follow the ever westward expansion into "The West"?
Oct 21, 2020

Profile Information

What surnames are you interested in researching?
Most of the early Spanish/Hispanic families in California, plus many families in England, Ireland, Scotland, and France who immigrated to the United States, from early 1600s to 1870.
What countries and other locations are you interested in researching?
United States, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Catalonia, Spain, Mexico
What is your level of genealogy knowledge?
Advanced Family History Researcher
If you are a genealogy expert, what are your specialties?
Specialize in early California, early eastern US colonies, and the "westward expansion".

A little about me...

As well as being a genealogist (which also implies being an amateur historian), I connect to "the past" through historical re-enacting. Since I am a descendant of many early Californio families (those that came to California before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Tratado de Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848) -- when historically attired and visiting historical sites, it's sometimes an eerie feeling to wonder if I am the ghost of my ancestor or whether they are peering out from the past at me. The experience is unique and actually pleasant, not frightening.

Along with my younger sister, I reenact the periods from the Renaissance to the Victorian.

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William S Dean's Blog

New link - New information access

Posted on September 27, 2010 at 9:48am 0 Comments

Have you heard of issuu.com yet? This is an interesting resource in several ways. For one thing, you can access the latest genealogy magazines at Issuu. As we all know slick magazines abound for all types of subjects, including genealogy and history. But why pay the huge cover prices when you can access them free on-line and (if you register for free) even download the magazines as PDFs. Issuu is what digital publishing is all about. If you register, you can even create and upload your own… Continue

Maybe the Pinta..yes, THAT Pinta...

Posted on September 18, 2010 at 10:55am 3 Comments

It's funny. Sometimes we neglect tracing back one of our ancestors because...well, because there's so much material about other ancestor lines or we think a particular line is so exciting and interesting. Lately, I've been re-tracing my footsteps to my great great grandmother, Maria Josefa Bermudez (1826-1880). She married into the Yorba family in 1842 in San Juan Capistrano. I had done sketchy research into the Bermudez line in California, but wanted to start seeing where and who they were… Continue

Musings Before and After "the facts" Part One - Before...

Posted on September 16, 2010 at 11:24am 1 Comment

All things considered, many genealogists never get to visit significant geological "roots". Imagine going to the place where some of your ancestors first set foot on "the new homeland". That's what awaits me September 20-21 in San Diego, California. In 1769, California was still "terra incognito" to the Spanish who "owned" it. Isolated points along the coastline had been roughly mapped, but nothing was known. There were no settlements, no waiting stockpiles of supplies, no allies. That is the… Continue

History Street Cred

Posted on September 10, 2010 at 2:10pm 0 Comments

My historical "street cred" is strong in California. My ancestors were among the first Spanish/Mexican settlers in my home state of California, so you may be able to understand both my interest and my quest to always "know more" since my "roots" are so deep in California history. Many of the following ancestors' sons also served at California Presidios, gained grants to rancho lands; many of their daughters married into the same or other Spanish/Californio families.



Many of these men… Continue

Generations of "the girls"

Posted on September 9, 2010 at 1:43pm 1 Comment

Sometimes it's interesting to put the photographs together and see the resemblances and differences. These are photos of "the girls" of my family.



Great niece, Victoria (2010):





Her grandmother, my baby sister, Maggie (about 1956):…



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Comment Wall (15 comments)

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At 9:37pm on February 21, 2012, robyn anderson said…

i miss in chat . you were so informative and gave out good info

 

At 8:42pm on July 10, 2011, Leeann Boone said…
Hi William! Are you ok? Just stopping by because I haven't seen you in the chat in a few months and wanted to say hi and make sure everything was ok! I hope I didn't do something to drive you away...sorry if I did.
At 5:58pm on November 26, 2010, Elena Esquivel said…
Hello William,

Sorry I am just answering your message now, I did not realize I had a message because I have not visited this website since probably when I created a profile. In regards to your question, I do not have any significant family history information on Valdez. I know I can probably obtain some but I have not had the opprotunity to do so. My paternal grandmother is Gloria (Valdez) Esquivel. She was born in Mexico in 1930 to Francisco Valdez and Virginia Moreno. She had ten siblings, not sure how many are still living. Anyway if you have anything that might help please send me a message. My email address is eesquivel9@verizon.net.

Sincerely,

Elena.
At 11:36pm on October 11, 2010, Louise Norgaar said…
Hi William -- I miss you in Gen-Chat...come back, we all need your expertise, and it's just not the same without you. Hope you're doing well...and I hope it wasn't someone said that chased you away - that would a darn shame if that's what happened! It wasn't I may have said, even jokingly, was it? Sometimes my humor is not so humerous!
At 7:56pm on September 12, 2010, Jo Saunders said…
good to know you are ok, I don't go there much past 9 or 10 am same reasons. I miss you come in early and sat hi. some people think you are on vacation, I won't tell...
At 7:49pm on September 12, 2010, Jo Saunders said…
Hey William,
Are you OK? Haven't seen you in a long while,,,
At 6:41pm on June 7, 2010, Spirit Baker said…
Hi Cousin,
I will look for that group. Watching Premonition now, good so far, really have to pay attention. Hugz
At 2:06pm on April 19, 2010, Jim Avery said…
Hi William - Hope you know I was just kidding you. After you left for lunch, Lisa found a reference about Germans settling in Potter Co PA in 1855. They called their settlement Germania. Is that the one you were talking about? Like I said I will be glad to talk about anything with a Pennsylvania connection. And I do take suggestions.
At 9:40am on April 13, 2010, Cheryl said…
Thank you for your responce William. I grew up in so.California but my family is from back east. The Deans on my ex-husbands side I beleive were in Ohio at some point and then moved to Oregon. Great to meet you on here.
At 11:08am on August 15, 2009, Tina Micheal Ruse said…
You hit the nail on the head in some of your comments William! I have a cousin who will be 90 next month and she got into a shouting match with her neighbor over "not being Mexican!"He insisted she was and ashamed of it,her comeback was"My husband is Mexican,my children are half Mexican,but MY people have been here since before there was a Mexico!"My own father went through the same thing"you speak Spanish,but your not Mexican".They knew he was somehow different but could not put their finger on it.My generation,none of us speak Spanish,even those with Mexican mothers,because they were told it would make it harder for them to "get ahead" and learn English.Many of the next generation is Bi-lingual though.
When I first started researching my family history I went to the little town were my father was born and bought all the history books I could find on the area since I knew my family had been there for a generation or two at least.I read them and wondered,"where are the Mexican people?"!There was a paragraph saying not much was known about the early Spanish/Mexican family's in the town.When I finally met up with my cousins in the area and asked them about it because they have lived there their whole lives my cousin said"No one ever bothered to ask us."If you speak Spanish or look Mexican you are a immigrant no matter how untrue.
 
 
 

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