FHL CATALOGUE-NEW AND IMPROVED
(Please be aware this post was written in 2003 and published at that time in the Houston Chronicle (Houston, Texas) newspaper. Some of the news in this post, therefore, may not be current. Current and future posts on this blog may revisit and update news on this and other posts on this blog. If you have questions and/or suggestions, please send Mic a note using the comment page -Don’t forget to use the orange “subscribe” button to receive new posts-Thanks, Mic)
The Church of Latter Day Saint’s Online Family History Library Catalogue at http://www.familysearch.org has been upgraded with improved search engines and daily updates of new holdings. Previously the updates were posted daily at the FHL in Salt Lake City but only periodically online.
Those unfamiliar with the Family History Library should know The Church of Latter Day Saints, better known as The Mormons, microfilm governmental, ecclesiastical and family records wherever they can get permission to microfilm them, anywhere in the world.
Once microfilmed the records are housed in Salt Lake City at the Family History Library which is the largest and most complete genealogical library in the world. Copies of the microfilm are made available from the FHL for a nominal fee to researchers, regardless of their religious affiliation, through their worldwide Family History Center distribution system.
Part of the new upgrade of the FHL website includes enhancements to the online catalogue search engines. There are a number of ways to search the catalogue including place name, surname, keyword, title, film/fiche, author, subject and call number.
For those wishing to locate a Family History Center near their home, click on the Family History Centers link on the website or check the local telephone directory under Churches or Church of Latter Day Saints.
LEARN TO PRESERVE YOUR DOCUMENTS
The Archivists of the Houston Area will host a Family Archives Preservation Day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday October 11 at the Julia Ideson Library Building, 500 McKinney in downtown Houston. The event is free and open to the public.
Professional archivists will be on hand to consult and advise how to preserve and care for documents and other family heirlooms, including specific items, over a long term. They will have free literature and examples relating to the care and storage of photographs, scrapbooks, paper and electronic documents, audio recordings, fabrics and more. In addition to the preservation exhibits and discussions there will be information on each of the archives in the Houston area.
SHERRILL IN SAN ANTONIO
The San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society will host Charles Sherrill, a nationally known lecturer and former head librarian at the Tennessee State Library in Nashville, Tennessee at an all day conference on Saturday October 25 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.. The seminar will be held at the John Calvin Presbyterian Church, 8102 Midcrown at the corner of Walzem in Northeast San Antonio.
Sherrill’s topics will include: Finding and Analyzing Lawsuit Case Files, Finding Genealogical Treasures in Manuscripts, Records of the Southern Claims Commission and Research in Tennessee.
Registration for the seminar is $40 for SAGHS members and $45 for non-members. Checks should be made payable to SAGHS and sent to PO Box 790087, San Antonio TX 78279-0087. For more information call 210 342-5242 or visit the SAGHS website at http://saghs.home.texas.net/
CARVER PUBLISHES NEW BOOK ON ALBAMA DEATHS
Larry E. Carver recently published Death, Marriage and Probate Notices >From Montgomery, Alabama Newspapers, Volume II (1866-1875). It is available for $34 postpaid from the author at P.O. Box 680052, Prattville, AL 36068.
This new volume continues where the earlier volume ended. It is soft cover and contains approximately 440 pages including an introduction, list of newspapers included in the book and a detailed index.
The Montgomery newspapers, aside from covering the capitol city of Alabama, carried news of surrounding counties that had no newspaper after the Civil War and news from other states concerning former Alabama residents and items of interest to Alabamans.
Examples of information in the book relating to Texans is a list of deaths from a Yellow Fever epidemic in Hempstead, Texas in 1867 and the death notice and some friendly remarks about the marriage of Mrs. Sam Houston, widow of General Sam Houston and a former resident of Tuscaloosa, who died in Independence, Texas in 1867. There are also references to former Alabama residents who had immigrated to Mexico after the Civil War and died there.
