San Mateo County Genealogical Society

Discovering Our Family History Together

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Welcome to SMCGS

News

The Library is Open!

See website for hours and location

Genealogy consultants are available Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

Drop in or contact Library manager (librarian@smcgs.org) to schedule an

appointment

Meet our library volunteers

See events at the San Mateo Public Library here

Find us

General Land Office: Getting the Most Out of the BLM/GLO Website

Speaker: Lisa Gorrell

26 April 2025

10:30am - 12pm via Zoom

10:00am Social half hour

General Land Office: Get the Most Out of the BLM-GLO Website

Did your ancestor obtain land from the Federal Government in the Public Land States? The General Land Office website has the answers but the website can be confusing to use. This presentation will dip deep into the website and offer tips for future research in other records. Even if your ancestor did not get land from the Federal Government, information from the site can be useful for your land-owning ancestors in the Public Land States.

Lisa S. Gorrell is a Certified Genealogist®. She has served on boards of several

genealogical societies and is currently the recording secretary with the Contra Costa County Historical Society, where she volunteers at their archives. She enjoys giving genealogy presentations and writing about her family on two blogs: “Mam-ma’s Southern Family”

http://mam-massouthernfamily.blogspot.com/ and “My Trails into the Past” http://mytrailsintothepast.blogspot.com/ She has written a three-generation family history about her husband’s Swedish ancestors.

Video and handout available on our members' page.

We went to the Rumsey Map Center at Stanford (click to start)

Come visit us!

The SMPL, in conjunction with SMCGS, is now a FamilySearch Affiliate Library. Find out more about the resources at these libraries here.

Upcoming public events

General Land Office: Getting the Most Out of the BLM/GLO Website.

26 Apr 2025 10:30 AM • via Zoom
Navigating DNA Challenges in French-Canadian and Indigenous Ancestry

17 May 2025 10:30 AM •
Plan Ahead: Mining all the Gems for your Research Trips

28 Jun 2025 10:30 AM • San Mateo Public Library Oak Room

For more information about our monthly meetings click here

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About us

The San Mateo County Genealogical Society supports the study of family history in the Bay Area and beyond.

We get together to learn and share information in monthly meetings, seminars with well-known speakers, workshops and special-interest groups.
We support research through our genealogy library located at the San Mateo Public Library, online databases, and research services
We connect with each other through a blog and monthly eNews notices about SMCGS events.