TEXAS RESEARCH RAMBLERS

GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

           Volume XV, No. 3, March 15, 2005     Bryan-College Station, Texas

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Last Meeting
2. Next Meeting
3. Officers
4. Treasurer’s Report
5. Future Seminars and Trips
6. Armchair Genealogy
7. Success Stories
8. Websites
9. Historical Moment
10. GenQuip

LAST MEETING

Bill Lay called the meeting to order in our “new” location, the College Station Service Center .  Fifty one members were present.  “Information Retrieval” was the program presented by Henry Hanson, Kim Feldman, and Jeanette Hackethorn. 

The presenters pointed out that if we store data in an organized way, instead of being a “stacker,” we can locate it easier. Methods included file tubs with folders, color-coded files, file pockets with manila folders labeled by surname, and family notebooks.

 WELCOME to our two newest members, Mary Hamlin and Lylabeth King.  We are glad to have you aboard. 

Between our last meeting and our next meeting, Ramblers are working on projects, going to workshops, and attending study groups. The Research Committee, composed of Ellen Horner, Bill Page, Barbara Althaus, and Glinn White, has been diligently working on two major projects. 

·        One project is the 1870 Census, where Rambler volunteers are transcribing a certain portion of the census.  Transcribers include Joyce Louis, Sue Foy, Glinn White, Pat Gunter, Barbara Althaus, Bill Page, Georgianne Bigam, Jane Thompson, Charles Horner, and Ellen Horner.

·        Another project is Cemetery Recordings, where Rambler volunteers of no less than two people go to cemeteries to transcribe pertinent information about people buried in area cemeteries.  Volunteers include Jane Horn, Sue Foy, Jeanette Hackethorn, Robert Lyon, Carol Lyon, Bill Braden, Barbara Braden, Margaret Jones, Rod Martin, Frances Martin, Gail Sewell, Lynn Brunson, Bob Cohen, and Jane Cohen.

Many thanks to Barbara Althaus and the Education Committee’s work on local and state workshops and trips, some of which have been held and some are to be held in the future. One such workshop, held on March 14 was about the Family History Library at Salt Lake City .  Mary Elizabeth spoke on trip arrangements, Sue Foy spoke about how to get the information you need, such as Place Search and Surname Search, and Bob Cohen provided the technical expertise to show how to get to the Family History Library on the Internet.

NEXT MEETING DATE AND PROGRAM

We will meet at the College Station Service Center , located at 1601 Graham Rd.. in College Station , on March 30, 2005 , at 9:30 a.m.   Our speaker, Charles Gilliland, will speak on “Public Lands into Private Hands in Texas .”

Officers for 2004-2005

President:  Bill Lay

Vice-President:  Mary Elizabeth Dresser

Secretary:  Georgianne Bigam

Treasurer:  Sue Foy

Corresponding Secretary:  Carol Lyon

TREASURER’S REPORT

Sue Foy reports the ending balance as of 02/23/2005 was $ 5,740.13

NOTE TO COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN:  I will be taking a trip in late April through mid-May, so I would like to plan ahead for those issues of the newsletter.  If you have specific information about a workshop, seminar, or study group, whether it is coming up or already held, that you would like to appear in the newsletter, please send that information to me at hkk@tca.net  Thank you so much.

FUTURE SEMINARS AND TRIPS

·        Every 2^nd Wednesday of the month:  a trip to Clayton Library in Houston .  Meet at Sam’s Club Parking Lot prior to 6:45 a.m. $7.50 to your driver.  Sack lunch.  Contact person:  Bliss Wolfe, 696-0170 or (even better) cell ph# 255-2429.

·        Every 3^rd Wednesday of the month:  Computer Users Group, headed by Bill Adams, will meet at the Exit Teen Center , 1600 Rock Prairie Rd., at 9:30 a.m.   Everyone is invited to eat at a local restaurant after the meeting.

·        Every last Wednesday of the month:  Research Ramblers will meet at College Station Service Center at 9:30 a.m.   Everyone is invited to eat at a local restaurant after the meeting. 

·        Every 3^rd Tuesday, Rambler Writers will meet at the home of Sue Foy, 804 Vine St.., Bryan, at 4 p.m.    All are welcome to join us.

·        March 21, 2005 , a trip to local LDS Library 10-12.  Bliss Wolfe will teach us how to research German ancestors, which will apply to other research also.  Register with Bliss Wolfe at 696-0170 or bawolfe@iolbv.com

·        For workshops around the state, go to http://www.rootsweb.com/~txgskc/seminar.htm

ARMCHAIR GENEALOGY

Do you have an athletic ancestor in your family? Are you the athletic ancestor for the next generation? Some of our Rambler Family members played sports and have ancestors who played a sport.

Bill Adams, pictured above, participated in basketball at A&M, where he won his “Fish Numeral” in 1936-37.  He was a member of the traveling squad in 1938-39 and won his letter in 1939-40.

Roy I. Smith, pictured above, played right tackle at USC from 1952-1955. He was in the Rose Bowl twice, once with Wisconsin and once with Ohio State .

In the photo below, Roy is in action shot with opponent, Paul Hornung.  Maybe some of you remember this game.

Like Bill and Roy, we may have participated in a sport or have a relative who did.  Many of our ancestors, according to Lisa A. Alzo, MFA, in her article, “Learning More about Your Athletic Ancestors” (Ancestry, March/April 2005, pp. 17-23), played organized sports in high school, college, or for a work-based or fraternal organization team.

• The first place to look for information, suggests Lisa Alzo, is at home.  For example, if you find a scrapbook, you can sit down with your ancestor and ask him or her to identify details in the pictures.
• Another place to look is in old high school and college yearbooks, perhaps in libraries or can be found on e-bay. 
• An additional place to look is in current and old newspapers, which often provide details of your ancestor’s affiliation with a particular sport or team.  Newslink at www.newslink.org and News Library at www.newslibrary.com  can provide more information about particular cities and availability. 
• The author also suggests we look for information in local historical societies, where town histories, church booklets, records from school, and other gems have been collected and donated.
• Finally, check into fraternal and social organizations.  When immigrants settled in the New World , they often formed their own fraternal benefit societies and ethnic social clubs.  Collections held at the Immigrant History Research Center at the University of Minnesota at www.ihrc.umn.edu  and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania at www.hsp.org/default.aspx may be of particular interest.  Lisa Alzo also suggests we check the Family History Library Catalog at www.familysearch.org. Additional links to fraternal groups and societies are available on Cyndi’s List under “Societies and Groups” at www.cyndislist.com/soc-frat.htm .

Lisa ends her article by writing, “Perhaps there is someone out there, or some source—like a scrapbook, program, or yearbook—waiting to tell you about one of your family members or ancestors.”

SUCCESS STORIES

Beth Van Cleave in 2002 posted a message searching for information on her great-great-great-grandfather on Genforum (www.genforum.com ) .  She did not go through the family name line but through the man’s sister’s married name.  This year, 2005, she received a reply along with a picture of her g-g-g-grandparents.  A lesson for all of us.  Never give up on getting replies.

WEBSITES

www.linkpendium.com is a  1,583,467 link directory of genealogical resources , which is organized by states and is easy to use.

http://genealogy.about.com/cs/free/genealogy/a/free_sites.htm is a helpful site for many aspects of genealogy.

www.TheSToryofTexas.com is the website of the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum to see and experience numerous exhibits, programs, tours, and movies. Go to this website for specific dates and times. From February 19- June 5, 2005 there is an exhibit on Landmark Maps of Texas, which traces the evolution of the shape of Texas through 500 years of mapmaking.  The museum is a great place for all ages and interests.

www.acpl.lib.in.us is the website for “Ask a Librarian” at Allen County Fort Wayne Library, where you will find a form to fill out for a genealogical question, which the staff may have or know where you may search.

HISTORICAL MOMENT

The Date:  March 2, 1836

The Place:  Washington-on-the Brazos

The Event:  Convention of 1836

The Document: Texas Declaration of Independence

“…We, therefore, the delegates, with plenary powers, of the people of Texas, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do hereby resolve and DECLARE that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended; and that the people of Texas do now constitute a FREE, SOVEREIGN and INDEPENDENT RE-PUBLIC...”  http://www.texasalmanac.com/history/highlights/rangers/

Following the March 2 meeting, events moved fast for the Texians through March and April. 

With the victorious battle at San Jacinto , Texas was guaranteed her independence.

 GENQUIP

If you don’t want to fill 2 bedrooms of your 3 bedroom house with books (plus your living room, closets, dining room, kitchen…) …then you might not want to be a genealogist.

The Research Rambler Newsletter is published by the Texas Research Rambler Genealogical Society, P. O. Box 11195, College Station, Texas 77842-1195. Editor, Helen Kunz, hkk@tca.net