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TEXAS RESEARCH RAMBLERS

GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

Volume XV, No. 5, May 15, 2005 Bryan-College Station, Texas

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Last Meeting
Next Meeting
Officers
Treasurer’s Report
Future Seminars and Trips
Armchair Genealogy
Success Stories
Websites
Historical Moment
GenQuip

LAST MEETING

Dan Louis described the “Tools of the Trade” to take with us to the library, courthouse, and cemetery. After suggesting items to take, he opened up the discussion to the audience who shared their ideas too.

WELCOME to our new members, Gladys and Marvin Dvoracek as well as Wanda Colvin. We are glad to have you in the genealogy family.

NEXT MEETING DATE AND PROGRAM

We will meet at the College Station Utility Service Center, located at 1601 Graham Rd. in College Station, on May 25, 2005, at 9:30 a.m. Program presenter, Rodger Koppa, will discuss the topic, “Federal Land in Private Hands- Homesteading and the Genealogist.”

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 April 27, 2005, was $ 5,454.35.

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 Utility 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. A great way to share your stories.

· Every 4^th Monday, Roots Magic Users will meet at the Bryan Public Library on the second floor from 9:30-11:00 a.m. Contact Sue at bsfoy2@cox.net .

· For a complete listing of events, see the Calendar posted by Barbara Althaus

· For workshops around the state: http://www.rootsweb.com/%7Etxcoke/txsem.html

· For trips to the library in Salt Lake City, Utah, October 23-30, 2005; to the Dallas Public Library, June 19-23, 2005; and the National Genealogical Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, June 1-4, 2005, contact Travel Committee Chairman, Mary Elizabeth Dresser, meatd@cox.net.

· For detailed information about the NGS: www.ngsgenealogy.org

ARMCHAIR GENEALOGY

Do you know the state where your immigrant ancestor landed? If so, you may be able to identify which migration trail he/ she took to get to his/her home place. Then you can follow the trail and understand some of your ancestor’s experiences.

Look through the following websites to find the migration trail your ancestor followed:

http://www.migrations.org is a website that allows you to choose the state of choice.

http://www.gorowan.com/rowanroots includes family surnames and history of The Old Wagon Road from Philadelphia to Georgia.

http://www.tradingpath.org is a site that has early maps of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Very interesting.

http://www.over-land.com/index.html has a number of links available for not only The Oregon Trail, but also South Pass, The Santa Fe Trail, trails to the Gold Rush, Route 66, Ancient Footpaths and Indian Trails, Military Roads of the Old West, and many more.

SUCCESS STORIES

Recently, Hillary Jessup went to the State Archives in Austin and found a book about Terrell County, Texas. In the book she found an article about her husband George’s two uncles, who came to Sanderson, Texas, and met their future wives. One brother wanted to raise mohair sheep, so he bought some at $2.50 apiece.

The day after they sheared the sheep, they had a cold rain. With no way to protect the animals local people took some of them and kept them warm in their chicken coops or some shelter. However, they lost half the sheep. The end result was that the sheep originally costing $2.50 each ultimately cost $5.00 each. The community came together to help out the family that could have lost the entire investment.

What a great story for Hillary to have for her family history. We all can follow Hillary’s procedure by going to the following website.

WEBSITES

http://www.tsl.state.tx.us is the home site of the State Archives. Once there, click on the tab labeled “Catalogs and Searches.” Then click “Online Catalog” in blue print, and then click the yellow tab, labeled “Go to the Catalog.” The Search Page comes up, where you can type in “Terrell County” bringing up 39 book titles. Try this procedure just to see if there are any county books for you.

HISTORICAL MOMENT

Life of Women on the 19th-century Texas Frontier

Because of the circumstances of life on the frontier, the line between the traditional roles of men and women became blurred. In order to survive on the edges of civilization, families had to be self-sufficient. Since the men were often absent rounding up cattle, hunting game or trekking a hundred or more miles to obtain flour or salt, women had to learn to do traditionally male tasks. When necessary, they cleared land, felled trees for cabins, dug wells, fought prairie fires and planted and harvested crops. And the men were called upon to do some of the household jobs usually relegated to the women, especially when their wives were ill. Some of the women settlers had already moved several times as the frontier had moved west, and they had developed the necessary survival skills. Others came from homes with servants and had to learn the basics of cooking and keeping house, as well as mastering skills new to all the settlers, such as gathering and using dried buffalo chips for fuel.

For more information, access http://www.texasalmanac.com/history/highlights/westtexas/

GENQUIP

“Whenever there’s a will, you’ll see an heir loom.”

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