It is a place where I hope to post some of my older writings as well as anything new I might write now and in the future.

I hope to locate and post as many of the 500+ plus columns I penned and published from 1994 to 2004 while writing for the Houston Chronicle. I also hope to be able to post some of the articles I wrote that were published in society publications over the years.

I also plan to experiment by adding several wikis to the site containing research from some of the projects I have been working on for a number of years and don’t know if they will ever be finished.

By publishing projects as Wikis I hope to share what I know with those that are interested and because I use the wiki format others can share with me what they know.

Please feel free to post comments or contact me whenever you wish.

Thanks, MIC

(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)

Until recent years history books only discussed the Revolutionary War in the original thirteen American colonies. Most Americans today have either never heard of or heard little of the Revolution as it was fought along the Lower Mississippi River Valley. For the most part the battles in that area were small and insignificant. The implications, however, were broad and international.

An online book, Special History Report, The Colbert Raid, Arkansas Post National Memorial, written by Edwin C. Bearss in 1974 and published by the National Park Service can be found at

http://www.nps.gov/arpo/colbert/ . The book offers an excellent historical overview of the international struggle for control of the Mississippi Gulf Coast region.

The book describes how the Spanish after declaring war on Britain in 1779 consummated swift victories over the weakly fortified British forts at Manchac, Baton Rouge, Natchez and later Mobile and Pensacola. Urged on by British agents a group of former British subjects at Natchez staged a rebellion in 1780 which was quickly put down by the Spanish. The fugitive rebels, other British countrymen and their Indian allies continued to harass the Spanish throughout the former British colony of  West Florida for the duration of the war.

Another book, which has recently been republished, begins at the time of the Natchez rebellion and contains a treasure trove of extracts of everyday legal documents as maintained by the Spanish governor in that district. Natchez Court Records, 1767-1805 by May Wilson McBee begins with decrees and records of the confiscation of property belonging to some of the rebels involved in the rebellion of 1780 against Spanish domination. In addition it contains the sureties, bills of sale for land and slaves, as well as, wills and inventories of Natchez District citizens through 1805.

The second part of Natchez Court Records deals with British land grants, land claims from 1767 through 1805 and confirmation of area land ownership by the United States. The Natchez Court Records is available for $52.50 from Clearfield Publishers, 200 E. Eager Street Baltimore, Maryland 21202 or on their website at http://www.genealogical.com/

While the Natchez Court Records contains approximately 10,000 references in it’s name index Richard S. Lackey, a prominent Mississippi genealogist and historian compiled a 42 page list of Corrections and Supplemental Index to McBee’s Natchez Court Records 1767-1805. The latter title has just been released in a limited edition and is available for $17.50, postpaid, from Provincial Press, 1067 Rock Pitt Road, Ville Platte, LA 70586.

While dating several years later than the Revolution Adams County, MS Genealogical and Historical Research  has posted the names of citizens of Natchez as listed in the 1792 Spanish Census of the Natchez District. This census may be viewed online at

http://www.natchezbelle.org/adams-ind/1792cs.htm

SCHWEITZER AND BOCKSTRUCK TEAM UP IN DALLAS

Known for their excellent workshops and seminars the Dallas Genealogical Society will host the 2004 DGS Summer Institute 12-15 August at the J. Erik Jonsson Dallas Public Library in Downtown Dallas. The institute will feature two nationally renown genealogical lecturers Dr. George K. Schweitzer of Knoxville, Tennessee and Lloyd D. Bockstruck of Dallas.

Colonial Research in the Original Colonies will consist of  three and a half  days of comprehensive lectures about colonial records, laws, religion, migration and social life.

The institute is limited to 120 persons and is usually filled to capacity. For information regarding registration, price, hotel, class schedules and bus shuttle visit the DGS website at http://www.dallasgenealogy.org/institute/institute.htm . For other information contact DGS’s voice mail at 469-948-1106 or email them at info@dallasgenealogy.org .

(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)

As everyone has surely heard today is Juneteenth. It was on this day, June 19^th in 1865, when General Gordon Granger of the United States Army arrived in Galveston to take military control of Texas. Upon his arrival he read Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation and pronounced all slaves in Texas free.

Celebrated for years as a local holiday in Texas Juneteenth became a state holiday in 1980 and has been celebrated for numerous years in a number of other states. Promoters say they hope to someday celebrate Juneteenth as a national holiday.

SHANKLEVILLE A SUCCESSFUL BLACK COMMUNITY

Shankleville community near Burkeville in Newton County was created shortly after emancipation by former slaves Jim and Winnie Shankle and their son-in-law Steve McBride. Over the years the community has heralded prosperous farms, churches, schools, a cotton gin, grist mills, saw mills and McBride College which operated from 1883 to 1909.

According to a Newton County historical marker Jim and Winnie Shankle were born into slavery, Jim in 1811 and Winnie in 1814. When Winnie and her three children were sold to a Texan Jim ran away from his owner in Mississippi and followed her to Texas. After slipping food to Jim for several days Winnie told her master and he arranged to purchase Jim from his Mississippi owner.

The Shankles and their neighbor, son-in-law, Steve McBride began purchasing land in Newton County shortly after emancipation. They invited other Black families to purchase or rent their land and conduct business thereon. At one time or other they amassed land holdings amounting to over 4,000 acres.

MCBRIDE FAMILY HISTORY PUBLISHED

Houstonian Joan C. McBride has compiled a family history The McBride Family of Shankleville: Stephen Alexander McBride and Mary M. Graham (Shankle) McBride. The spiral bound 200 plus page book is available for $35, postpaid, from the author at P.O. Box 741094 Houston, TX 77274.

The McBride genealogy traces the family’s lineage through six generations beginning with the former slaves Stephen and Mary Shankle McBride to present. Mary Shankle was the daughter of Jim and Winnie Shankle for whom Shankleville was named.

Included in the book are dozens of photographs of marriage records, census records, wills, deeds, maps, obituaries, vital records and other historical and genealogical documents pertinent to various members of the family.

An interesting chapter in the book deals with the house at 3244 Reeves in the Third Ward of Houston and the lives of family members who lived there. The house was purchased by Cecil McBride in 1939 from former Governor William P. Hobby and moved to Reeves Street. The chapter tells of the personal, educational, financial and occupational successes of the people who lived in the house and the friends and neighbors who gathered there.

In addition to the McBride family history McBride has published another book that may be helpful to others tracing their own African American family histories: How To Search For and Find Your Shankleville, Texas Ancestors (And African American Ancestors In Any Other Community, City or Town).

The latter title is spiral bound and contains about 30 pages. It is available for $14.95, postpaid, from the author at P.O. Box 741094 Houston, TX 77274.

McBride wrote the book to help others be as successful as she was in compiling her family history. She states one should start genealogical research beginning with oneself and go backward one generation at a time. She discusses interviewing older relatives and conducting conventional research in libraries, courthouses, cemeteries and anywhere information might be gleaned.

(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)

This week’s period of national mourning for former President Reagan made me think about some of my own presidential related life experiences.

As a teenager I lived in Virginia across the Potomac River from Washington, DC. In 1961 I witnessed the inauguration of John F. Kennedy. When Kennedy was assassinated I was able to view his flag draped coffin as it lay reposed in state in the Capitol rotunda. When General Douglas MacArthur died a few years later I was fortunate to view his open casket as it laid in state in the Capitol rotunda.

The Kennedy funeral impressed me greatly. Nearly every head of state in the world or their designated representative participated in the funeral procession. Each of these people passed in front of me as I watched from the parade route curb.

When Lyndon Johnson was inaugurated I, again, was present watching from the crowd. Later I attended Southwest Texas, Johnson’s alma mater, and was a student there when he died. I was able to go to the LBJ Ranch and view the funeral.

While speaking of presidential connections a man several years ago asked me to shake his hand. When I complied, he informed me I had just shaken the hand that had shaken the hand of a hand that had shaken Lincoln’s hand. After years of reflecting it is a rather bizarre feeling thinking how I somehow virtually shook Lincoln’s hand.

LAST CIVIL WAR WIDOW DIES

Alberta Stewart Martin, age 97, the last widow of a Civil War soldier died Memorial Day at a nursing home in Enterprise, Alabama. She will be interred today at New Ebenezer Baptist Church six miles west of Elba, Alabama with an 1860′s style funeral.

Martin was born in 1906. At the age of 18 she married Howard Farrow who died in an automobile accident in 1926 leaving her with a young son and no money. In December 1927, at age 21, she met and married her neighbor William Jasper Martin, aged 81. They had a son the following year.

William Jasper Martin received a Confederate pension from the State of Alabama beginning in 1921 for his services in Company K of the 4^th Alabama Infantry. He died in July 1931. Two months later Martin’s widow married his grandson, Charlie Martin. The younger Martin died in 1983.

In 1997 Alberta Martin was granted a Confederate Widow’s pension based on her former husband, William Jasper Martin’s, Confederate military service.

In recent years Martin gained notoriety as one of the oldest living Civil War widows. She was celebrated and treated as a matriarch by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. She was a living link to the past. Her death comes nearly 140 years after the end of the Civil War.

As late as 1997 there were three surviving Civil War widows Daisy Anderson, Gertrude Janeway and Alberta Martin. Daisy Anderson, whose husband was a runaway slave who joined the Union army, died in 1998 at the age of 97. Janeway, the last surviving Union widow, died at her home in Tennessee in January 2003.

PROMINENT GENEALOGIST PASSES

Well known genealogical author, lecturer and video producer, Robert Burns, age 60, was found dead in his home in Seguin Tuesday June 2. Because he was recently diagnosed with terminal cancer and sent farewell notices to his friends, his death is expected to be classified an apparent suicide.

In the 1990′s Burns produced an informative how-to genealogical video hosted by himself. The video, Out of Your Tree! Crazy About Genealogy, was laced throughout with his zaney sense of humor. Students in my classes or local seminars during that time will likely remember the video. In addition Burns penned an article on James Fannin in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly and articles on his families in other genealogical periodicals.

Burns is best known to the general public as the art director of the 70′s horror cult movie Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He maintained a website with many references to his accomplishments at http://Robert-A-Burns.com .

SUMMER CONFERENCE FEATURES SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE

The 8th Annual Angelina College Summer Genealogy Conference will be held at Angelina College in Lufkin on Thursday, Friday and Saturday July 22-24.

The three day conference will feature several well known speakers including Trevia Wooster Beverly, Emily Croom, John Sellers, Pat Gordon, , Halli Wren Johnson, Don Raney, Robert de Bernardinis and Bev Odom

Lecture topics will include becoming a professional genealogist, publishing, research in libraries and Family History Centers; African American, Texas, American, Louisiana and British records and research.

For more information on the speakers, classes and registration fees visit the conference website at http://www.angelina.cc.tx.us/genealogy.htm , email abrowning@angelina.edu or call 936-633-5206.

(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)

In 1923 Congress established the American Battle Monuments Commission. The commission administers, operates and maintains twenty four permanent American burial grounds and twenty seven separate memorials, monuments and markers on foreign soil as well as six memorials in the United States.

Currently there are 124,913 American War Dead interred in ABMC cemeteries including 30,921 from World War I, 93,242 from World War II and 750 from the Mexican War. In addition there are 6,010 American veterans and other personnel interred at the Mexico City National Cemetery and the Corozal American Cemetery in Panama.

Initially WWI and WWII military war casualties who died in foreign theaters were buried on foreign soil. After the war the United States offered the veteran’s next of kin the choice or letting their loved one remain interred in their initial gravesite or be repatriated to a national or private cemetery in the United States.

There are 11 ABMC cemeteries located in France, 3 in Belgium, 2 in England, 1 in Panama, 1 in Mexico City, 1 in Luxembourg, 1 in the Philippines, 1 in the Netherlands, 1 in Tunisia and 2 in Italy. Each of these cemeteries have been granted in perpetuity to the United States by the host country free of charge and taxation. Nearly all of these cemeteries are closed to burials except for remains of American War dead found from time to time in battle areas.

Each grave in ABMC cemeteries is marked by a pristine white marble headstone. Those of the Jewish faith have tapered shafts surmounted with a star of David while all others are marked with Latin crosses.

Graves of WWI unidentified soldiers contain the epitaph HERE REST IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD. Because of the number of allied countries fighting along side one another graves of unidentified WWII soldiers contain the epitaph: HERE REST IN HONORED GLORY A COMRADE IN ARMS KNOWN BUT TO GOD.

CASUALTY DATABASES IN ABMC WEBSITE

The ABMC website at http://www.abmc.gov/abmc4.htm contains links to several searchable American war databases. One database lists the names of 30,921 WWI soldiers interred in ABMC cemeteries plus 4,452 WWI veterans commemorated on cemetery tablets as missing in action, lost or buried at sea. A different database on the same website lists the names of 172,218 WWII veterans buried overseas in ABMC cemeteries but does not list the names of 233,181 Americans whose remains were repatriated to the United States after the war.

Other lists or databases on the same website contain the names of veterans of the Mexican War and Civil War buried in ABMC cemeteries. These cemeteries are mainly in Mexico City and Panama. There is also a link to the Korean War Casualties database maintained at the Korean War Memorial in Washington, DC. While a casualty list exists for the Viet Nam War, there is no link to it from the ABMC website.

According to Department of Defense records there were 54,246 military who died during the Korean conflict. However, due to a fire at the Military Personnel Records Branch in St Louis in 1972 the names of only 38,424 are known and are included on the Korean War Casualty database.

FAMILY HISTORY FAIR IN HUNTSVILLE

The Walker County Genealogical Society will host their 4^th Annual Texas Genealogy & Family History Fair Saturday June 26. The fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the main building of the Walker County Fairgrounds four miles west of Huntsville on Highway 30 (exit 116 on Interstate 45 North).

Admission to the fair is $8 and includes genealogical lectures by speakers Marjie Harris, Johnnie Jo Dickerson, Judy Hunter and Sue Smith. Exhibitors include genealogical vendors, libraries, genealogical, historical and patriotic societies from across Southeast Texas.

To register online, become an exhibitor or learn more about the fair visit the Walker County Genealogical website at http://www.wcgen.com/ or call 936-594-2908.

(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)

After nearly sixty years a national memorial is being dedicated today in Washington, D.C. to the WWII generation. Located between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument the memorial is the only 20^th Century war memorial on the axis of the National Mall. It is dedicated to those who served the nation in a military or civilian capacity between 1941 and 1945 overseas and on the home front.

In addition to information about the memorial the website maintains a Registry of Remembrances. Created from four distinct databases the registry lists the name, rank, military ID, branch of service, hometown and status or activity of the honoree during the war .

The databases from which the registry is created include: those buried in American Battle Monument Commission cemeteries; names memorialized in ABMC Tablets of the Missing; those listed on official War and Navy Department Killed in Service rosters which are held by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and those honored by public enrollment on the Registry of Remembrances.

NATIONAL CEMETERY SYSTEM BEGAN IN 1862

In the summer of 1862 the United States Congress enacted legislation authorizing the President to purchase cemetery grounds to be used as national cemeteries for soldiers who shall have died in the service of their country. Fourteen cemeteries were established that year.

Today there are one hundred thirty six national cemeteries including six in Texas. Of the one hundred thirty six fourteen are administered by the Department of the Interior, two by the Department of the Army and the remaining one hundred twenty by the Veterans Administration through the National Cemetery Administration.

The National Cemetery Administration maintains a genealogical and historically informative website at http://www.cem.va.gov/. The website includes the names of each national cemetery by state and has a hyperlink to most. Each individual cemetery website contains a short history of the cemetery and includes a list of notable burials interred therein.

Other features on the NCA website are links explaining current burial polices, eligibility for burial and obtaining military headstones for eligible veterans of any war. The site also contains a searchable national gravesite locator database. Within this database one may search one or most all NCA national cemeteries. Information in the database includes the name, service, rank and service dates of the deceased, the date of birth, death and internment, plus the cemetery name and burial location. Spouses of servicemen who are interred in the cemeteries are included in the database.

Of the one hundred twenty national cemeteries administered by the NCA the following are not currently a part of the database Long Island, Los Angeles, Fort Rosecrans, National Cemetery of the Pacific and internments prior to 1999 at Arlington National Cemetery.

INVITATION TO DEAR MYRTLE’S OPEN HOUSE

The Dear Myrtle Internet Radio Show broadcasts a new show seven days a week. Replays of those shows and past shows are available to listeners anytime they wish to visit the website seven days a week 24 hours a day.

Normally there is a $5 per month or $25 annual subscription fee. However, Myrt has invited everyone to visit and listen to the shows free of charge at their leisure through midnight Memorial Day, May 31.

Each day of the week Myrt’s show features a theme. On Mondays she discusses research in a state of the US; on Tuesdays she discusses research in a country of the world; on Wednesdays she discusses technology; Thursdays are Beginner’s Corner days; on Fridays she discusses using Family History Centers wisely; Saturdays are Myrt’s MightyMouse Tours; and Sundays feature Robert Ragan’s Pajama Genealogy Show.

Those who would like to learn more about Myrt’s shows or listen to them should 1. Go to http://DearMYRTLE.com 2. Click to take the tour, or simply click to ENTER the site. 3. The radio player will automatically pop up for those with Java and popups enabled. 4. Click the Channel Selector on the radio player, and scroll down to select one of DearMYRTLE’s channels. 5. When prompted listeners who haven’t yet joined DearMYRTLEplus may use the universal user name and password: free and today. Learn and Enjoy!

(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)

Houston’s Clayton Library is one of the best genealogical libraries in the United States. Because of it’s great reputation it has a tendency to overshadow some of the other wonderful libraries in the Houston area.

One library often overlooked by researchers is the Houston Public Library’s Houston Metropolitan Research Center affectionately known as the Texas Room.

The HMRC is located on the second floor of the Julia Ideson Building at 500 McKinney and is next door to the Central Library in Downtown Houston. The HMRC is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. It’s staff may be reached at 832-393-1669.

Through it’s archival and manuscript divisions the HMRC’s mission is to locate, preserve and make available to researchers the documentary history of Houston.

The Texas and Local History Collection of the HMRC consists of a world class Texana book collection, periodicals including newspapers and magazines dating from the 1800′s to present, more than 1,500 maps, a massive Texas government publications collection, an extensive newspaper clipping file plus city directories and telephone books from across the state.

Within the collection there are several specialized and concentrated collections such as the African-American, Mexican-American, Architectural, Photographic, Oral History and Jazz components.

These collections usually contain photographs, records of businesses, community and civic organizations, religious institutions and other public and private groups which have influenced Houston over the years.

In addition the HMRC collects private and personal papers and records of persons who have made a mark on the city’s history. Included would be the papers of civic, business and professional leaders, educators and politicians. The fruits of the collections are made accessible by a series of wonderful finding aids.

A group formed several months ago as a friends organization, the Friends of the Texas Room, was created to promote and protect the historic Ideson building and each of the collections held within her walls. The Friends group may be contacted by writing PO Box 27827 Houston, TX 77227-7827 or by calling Dorothy Johnson at 281-497-2448.

MORE ON TEXSHARE

Russlene Waukechon, Texas State Library coordinator for TexShare, wishes to convey her appreciation to the Houston Public Library and all libraries and societies in the Houston area for their contributions to the Heritage Quest fund drive. The generosity from our area made the pledge drive a success.

To access the Heritage Quest data on Texshare one must obtain a library card from a participating library. The library staff will give guidance on how to access the databases.

BOOK HELPS ONLINE RESEARCHERS

Elizabeth Powell Crowe has published a book computer genealogists will love. Online Genealogy discusses all aspects of being online and doing genealogy.

First there is some basic information on how to get started researching one’s family and how to conduct genealogical research online. Included are discussions on hardware, software, ISPs, SPAM, search engines, directories, chat rooms, mail lists and how to conduct online searches.

The interesting part of the book discusses major and genealogically important websites such as the Library of Congress, the National Archives, Ellis Island, LDS, online library catalogues, international, national, state, local and ethnic websites.

Genealogy Online is available for $24.99 and may be found in most neighborhood bookstores.

(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)

Russlene Waukechon, TexShare Database Coordinator at the Texas State Library and Archives Commission in Austin, was elated this week when she reported the pledge drive to save Heritage Quest for Texas genealogists has been met.

Sponsored by the TSLAC TexShare is a common sharing of databases by libraries throughout Texas. Heritage Quest is just one of many of those databases. When the Texas legislature met last year they cut funds and the TSLAC did not have sufficient funding available for the Heritage Quest databases.

The goal of $243,000 in pledges was exceeded by almost $20,000 totaling $262,690. Now that Heritage Quest has been saved the money will have to be collected and plans are being made on how to meet next year’s assessment without having to wait until the last minute to attain the goal.

Genealogists, historians, students, teachers and anyone interested in what Heritage Quest has to offer should begin contacting their legislators so the funding can be returned to the state budget.

HQ DATABASES OFFER

Heritage Quest, a subsidiary of ProQuest, offers a number of databases in their repertoire. First, they have the United States Census from 1790 through 1930. The 1790 census is the first census ever taken by the United States. The 1930 census is the latest census one may view due to a 72 year privacy act on viewing some federal records. Most of the years are indexed by head of household. Those not indexed are expected to be completed at some time in the near future.

Second, the HQ database has a Genealogy and Local History Collection of over 25,000 family and local history books. Each book is accessible online and is every word searchable .

Third, the TSLAC will include the Sanborn Insurance Maps collection for Texas with the new subscription. These historic maps were created by the Sanborn Map Company for insurance companies in the mid to late 1800s and through the 1900s to assist in underwriting fire and other types of insurance risks. The maps show the location of buildings, describe building construction and materials and show facades of buildings in towns, cities and elsewhere.

Fourth, the subscription includes PERSI, the Periodical Source Index. PERSI is an index to articles written in English or Canadian French periodicals which have been published in over 6500 genealogical and historical journals since about the year 1800. The database is searchable by surname, place, keyword and for methodological articles.

The citation for each article found in a search tells the researcher the name of the publication, the year, issue and where to obtain a copy of the article in person, by snail mail or by e-mail. With the source citation the researcher can check at Clayton or other area libraries to see if a specific issue is available in Houston. If the desired periodical is unavailable in Houston PERSI offers other alternatives as to where to locate the article such as the society or publishing house that initiated the periodical or the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana which created PERSI.

Forthcoming HQ will have full text entries for obituaries published in over 150 newspapers across the United States, the Freedman’s Bank Records and best of all, the Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Warrant Files.

The Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty Land Files contain records of over 80,000 individuals who served in the Revolution. The files contain the raw personal histories and memoirs of men who served our country during the Revolution and were asking for government aid in the twilight years of their lives.

The censuses 1790-1930, PERSI and the Genealogy and Local History Collection is currently online. Just visit your local library to obtain a library card and instructions on how to access the website.

Visit the following website and click on TexShare for the lastest TexShare information http://micbarnette.bravepages.com .

(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)

Over the next several weeks two Celtic Festivals will be held in Texas, one in Houston, the other in Arlington. Both festivals will feature genealogical, history and other educational classes. They both will include world class Scottish Highland athletic, music and dance competitions.

The Houston Highland Games and Celtic Festival will be held during daylight hours at the Houston Farm and Ranch Club on Friday, Saturday and Sunday May 14 through May 16. The HFRC is located at Bear Creek Park on Highway 6 at Patterson Road two miles north of Interstate 10 in West Houston.

Admission to the Houston event is $12 for adults on Saturday, $10 on Sunday and $5 for seniors over age 65 and children accompanied by a parent.

For more information call 281-498-5746 or 713-871-0061 or visit their website at http://houstonhighlandgames.com/ .

The second festival, the Texas Scottish Festival and Highlands Games, will be held Friday June 4 through Sunday June 6 at the University of Texas at Arlington’s Maverick Stadium, in Arlington.

This Highlands games is the largest in Texas and the Southwest. It hosts tents representing nearly seventy different Scottish clan societies and has five large entertainment tents featuring musical entertainers from the United States, Canada and Scotland.

Admission to the Arlington event is $15 for adults on Saturday and $10 on Sunday, $7 on Saturday and $6 on Sunday for teens ages 13-17 and $4 each day for children ages 6-12.

The games and competitions are held during the daylight hours while music and entertainment continue until midnight Friday and Saturday night and until 6 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information visit the festival website at http://www.texasscottishfestival.com/ .

SCOTTISH SYMPOSIUM

A daylong Scottish Family History Symposium is held each year in conjunction with the Texas Scottish Festival and Highlands Games in Arlington. This years’ symposium, Researching Your Scottish Ancestors From A Distance, will feature renowned genealogist and historian David W. Webster FSA(Scot) of Scotland.

In his lectures Webster will describe the availability and some efficient research strategies for accessing the increasing number of computerized indexes and databases normally found on CD-ROMs and online.

New this year is a Scottish History Symposium, which will run concurrent to the Family History Symposium. The theme of the History Seminar is Culloden and the ’45: A Tragedy in Three Acts. The presenter is Elizabeth Chennault a popular lecturer on Scottish history.

Both symposiums will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday June 4 at the LaQuinta Conference Center which is located adjacent Six Flags Amusement Park in Arlington. Registration for each is $45 and includes all seminar costs, a syllabus, buffet lunch and break refreshments.

For more information and to make reservations call 800-363-SCOT (7268) or visit the Festival website at http://www.texasscottishfestival.com/.

SHUFFIELD IN LAKE JACKSON

The Brazosport Genealogical Society will host Lynna Kay Shuffield as their May meeting presenter. The meeting will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday May 11 at the Lake Jackson Library.

A frequent lecturer in the Houston area Shuffield is the US GENWEB coordinator for San Jacinto County. In addition she writes a weekly genealogical column that appears in the Taylor Daily Press in Williamson County and the Cameron Herald in Milam County.

Shuffield’s topic will be Locating 20^th Century Military Records. This informative talk describes all types of military records such as those pertaining to service, burials, units, ship logs, MIA and POWs and how to locate them. The talk addresses each of the major 20^th Century wars including WWI, WWII, Korea and Viet Nam.

Admission to the meeting is free and the public is invited to attend. For further information contact Linda Barney at genealogist@aggies.org or 979-297-9937.