WELCOME NEW GENEALOGISTS
(Please be aware this post was written in 2004 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)
Many persons who received a computer for Christmas or purchased one during the after Christmas sales will join the millions of online genealogical researchers already researching their family trees.
Researching online can be interesting, informative, fun and very self rewarding. One should realize however that most of what is online is not new information and has been available for a number of years. What is new is the Internet has made the information available to the masses rather than being sequestered in a location accessible only to those who could travel to the records.
While there is a lot of true information on the Internet one should also be aware there is a lot of misinformation. The difficulty comes in being able to tell the good information from the bad .
Readers regularly write saying they have thousands of names in their personal databases but are unsure what information is correct or incorrect or they have so many people of the same name they are perplexed trying to figure which person of a given name is their ancestor.
So, when beginning genealogical research one should begin with one’s self and work their way back generation by generation. Never jump back several generations. It is highly likely the unlinked person several generations in the past may not be the correct ancestor. If that distant person is researched without knowing he or she is related a lot of effort and research time may be wasted if the person turns out to be someone else’s ancestor not one’s own.
Houston is a wonderful city in which to conduct genealogical research. We have one of the top five genealogical libraries in the United States, the Clayton Library, which is located at 5300 Caroline Street in the Museum District. The library is open Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The library has genealogical information on all states and most countries.
Another fallacy about research on the Internet is that affiliation with genealogical societies is unnecessary. On the contrary, Houston area genealogical societies are made up of people from everywhere and are excellent places to attend how-to workshops and lectures and find research buddies where one may network and learn about the intricacies of the science of genealogical research.
Houston has dozens of genealogical societies. A list of area societies is posted at http://micbarnette.bravepages.com . Just click on the societies link.
START THE YEAR WITH A CLASS
Well known genealogical instructor, lecturer and author Trevia Wooster Beverly will present a two Saturday class through Leisure Learning. This hands-on class is designed for the beginner, one who has been doing genealogy with no formal training or for one who simply needs a refresher course on the basics of genealogical research.
Genealogy: It Really Is A Family Affair will be held on Saturday January 24 and Saturday January 31 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Leisure Learning’s 2990 Richmond Avenue campus. Registration is $75 plus $15 for a class workbook. Pre-registration is required. For more information and to register contact Leisure Learning at 713-523-4414.
GEORGIA GOVERNORS GRAVESITE GUIDE ONLINE
Ken Thomas, genealogical columnist for the Atlanta Journal and Constitution in Atlanta, Georgia and historian for the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources informed me about a book many readers of this column will appreciate. Georgia Governors Gravesites Field Guide, 1776-2003 is published as an online PDF book and is available on the Georgia State Historic Preservation Office website at http://www.gashpo.org .
The 160 page book loads in seconds with the free Adobe Reader 5.0 which is available through a link on the website. The book contains a history of the Governorship of Georgia plus a listing of each governor of the state from 1776 through 2003. It is arranged chronologically by gubernatorial term.
The biographical profile for each governor includes his portrait, date of birth, birthplace, term dates, highlights of his term. It also gives name, location and directions to the cemetery where the governor is buried. In addition directions within the cemetery to the location of the actual grave are given.
