GONZALES ARCHIVES MARVELOUS
(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)
Counties in Texas and other states are beginning to create county archives where older and lesser used county records may be stored, preserved under caring eyes and made available for historical and genealogical research.
Located in the Gonzales County Courthouse Annex on Sarah DeWitt Drive in Gonzales the Gonzales County Records Center and Archives is an excellent example of what such a facility can be. Directors Pat Berger, Bill Hallmark and staff make patrons feel welcome and are helpful in every possible way.
The facility has custody of most extant old county records which begin as early as 1825 when the county was created as an original Mexican municipality. Their collections include marriage records, land records, cattle marks and brands, records of cattle drives outward from Gonzales County, naturalization records, school records, tax records, diaries, obituaries, church records, Bibles, family histories, photographs and a whole lot more.
The archives is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For directions, more information and an inventory of the holdings of the facility visit their website at ~http://www.rootsweb.com/~txgonzal/recrdctr.htm or call 830-672-7970.
CHEROKEE RESEARCH
Three noted instructors Marjorie Lowe, Deborah Scott and Steve Triplett will lead a two session class on Cherokee History and Genealogy. The course will include a history of the Cherokee people, tracing the genealogy of Cherokee descendants and provide information on registering with the Cherokee Nation.
Classes will be held at Leisure Learning’s 2990 Richmond Avenue campus on Tuesday January 21 and Tuesday January 28 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. For more information and to register call Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414.
FAMILY TREE MAKER SOFTWARE CLASS
Paula Perkins Parke will lead an Organizing Your Family Research With Family Tree Maker Software class from 1 to 5 p.m. Wednesday January 22. This one-time four hour class will be held at Houston Community College’s 1681 Cartwright campus in Missouri City.
Through demonstrations, students will learn step by step how to organize, document family information and sources and publish a family book. For more information and to register, contact HCC at 281-835-5539. Please note pre-registration is required.
SURFING THE INTERNET
Mic Barnette will lead a Surfing the Internet for Genealogy class at Houston Community College’s 1681 Cartwright campus in Missouri City. This one session class is a live three hour virtual tour of some of the most helpful and notable genealogical websites on the Internet. The class will be held Thursday January 23 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
For more information and to register, contact HCC at 281-835-5539. Please note, pre-registration is required.
BOOKSHELF NEWS
Broderbund and the Genealogical Publishing Company have digitized eight GPC publications on a CD-ROM titled Genealogical Records: Early Texas Settlers 1700’s-1800’s. Information from these eight books identify nearly 100,000 individuals mostly in the Republic of Texas era. The data ranges from biographies, family histories and genealogical sketches to compilations of passenger lists, military records, vital records, land records and tax lists.
The books included on the CD are: Republic of Texas: Poll Lists for 1846; Austin Colony Pioneers, Including History of Bastrop, Fayette, Grimes, Montgomery, and Washington Counties; Character Certificates in the General Land Office of Texas Stephen F. Austin’s Register of Families; Kentucky Colonization in Texas, A History of the Peters Colony; Ancestor Lineages of Members of the Texas Society, Colonial Dames 17th Century; A New Land Beckoned: German Immigration to Texas, 1844-1847; and New Homes in a New Land: German Immigration to Texas, 1847-1861.
The Early Texas Settlers CD is available for $33.49, postpaid, from GPC at 1001 North Calvert Street, Baltimore, MD 21202.
