Carolyn Feroben's office is lined wall-to-wall with bookcases and dressers containing files of papers and more papers, all packed with genealogical and historical information. Stacks of books about California locales take up space as well. It's a result of more than 15 years of research.
Fingering through files, she said, "I have old trial records, land records, census and mine records, and the first 150 years of church records from St. Joseph's (in Mariposa)."
Somebody nicknamed her "Curious Carolyn."
Born in Palo Alto, her first love and favorite area to research is Santa Clara County. Mariposa County is a close second, as her first husband's last name was Artru, from ancestors who had moved from France to San Francisco, and then to the mountains in search of gold.
While on a research trip to Mariposa years ago with her second husband, they had checked out of the hotel and stopped at the library. They happened to hear of property for sale on land that had once belonged to George McCoy, an early pioneer.
"We were on our way out of town and didn't want to take the time to go look," she said. "But then we did. We saw it and loved it. So we drove back to town, checked in the hotel again, found the Realtor and made an offer."
Skeletons had been found on the McCoy ranch, as well as a ring with the initials S.W., believed to belong to a Samuel Wilson whose disappearance and death were shrouded in mystery. A former occupant of the McCoy property claimed to have been visited by his ghost and refused to live there anymore.
Even if someone isn't interested in genealogy, many of the stories Feroben has recorded are fascinating to read.
For her, there's nothing sweeter than connecting people with long-lost relatives. Or meeting someone connected to local history, such as
Rowena Wilson, a relative of David Clark, whose milled lumber was used to build the Mariposa County Courthouse. Rose bushes in the Clark's front yard were brought in a covered wagon from back east. Now close friends, Wilson and Feroben talk on the phone almost every week.
For the website, www.santaclararesearch.net, Feroben typed 1,700 biographical entries from bits of information she has picked up here and there. Families, individuals and historians pass on to her all sorts of material. Her other website, www.mariposaresearch.net, includes not only biographical info, but also vital statistics (births and deaths), maps, old photos, news clippings, and tons of other information.
"Of course, it takes time to sort through everything," she said. "There's so much, my head swims."
Feroben invites readers to provide any information they might have about people in the photos at her websites.
She became interested in research when she discovered distant relatives who had lived in the South during the Revolutionary War. As battles raged, churches were burned, destroying important documents and records. She began the search that led to other searches. And she's still digging.
Before the Internet, she would look through city directories and census information, Social Security applications, National Archives and military records. The Sutro Library in San Francisco was the best place for genealogy research when she started.
Her efforts and those of others are volunteer. She credits several people for their help: Warren Carah contributed from his wealth of exceptional research; Tom Hilk and Dorothy O'Brien, both certified genealogists; Tom Phillips; Carol Lackey, historian and author; Alma Stone's Merced genealogy website; Janet Chase-Williams and staff at the Mariposa County Library; William Disbro; and most of all, her mentor and a historian in his day, Scott Pinkerton, author of "Shrine to Justice," with whom she would have hourlong conversations.
"Because he so enjoyed sharing history," she said.
Feroben cited Thomas Jefferson's belief that copies of family and official records should be made available to the public free of charge. This is what keeps her motivated in her tireless efforts to preserve the past.
Debbie Croft writes about life in the foothill communities. She can be reached at composed@tds.net.
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