Genealogy Learning Lock-In

March 2, 2012, GLHTA will sponsor a Lock-in from 6-11pm.  Genealogists will have the library to themselves for the evening.  We will begin the evening with a Welcome at 6pm.  Then you can head off to 4 different classes, meet differrent heritage groups or the librarian from McKinney Public Library, have one-on-one assistance, use the computers, use the microfilm, or wonder around in the genealogy books from 6:30-8 pm.

At 8 pm, we will provide snacks at a break or you can continue to research or meet with the different groups.  Then at 9 pm, we will provide 3 more classes.  You can choose to attend them or continue with your research.

The classes will include FamilySearch.org, Legacy software, Immigration Research, Collin County Genealogy Corner, DNA and genealogy, Newspaper Research, and National Archives.  We will also have demonstrations of the Civil War Database.  The heritage groups that will be represented include DAR-Daughters of American Revolution, SAR-Sons of American Revolution, DRT-Daughters of Republic of Texas, War of 1812 Society, Mayflower Society, Scots of America, SUVCW-Sons of Union Veterans of Civil War, Collin County Genealogical Society, and Genealogy Friends of Plano Libraries Inc.  The genealogy librarian from McKinney Public Library will also be here to tell you what she offers.

We will also have a few door prizes.  Registration will be required.  We only have room for 50 people.  Registration will begin February 2nd on the library webpage, www.planolibrary.gov.  Watch for the banner advertising the program.  It will send you to the link.

Genealogy Classes

GLHTA has a nice line up of classes for January through May.

Jan. 11–Genealogy 101-How to begin your family research

Feb. 16–Genealogy 201-How to locate Vital Records

Mar. 7–Genealogy Databases-How to search in Ancestry Library Edition

Apr. 11–Immigration-How to get started in the research

May 5–Civil and Criminal Court Cases-Using Court cases to find out more about your ancestors. Special speaker Gwen Neumann

May 10–Preservation-How to take care of your photographs and documents

These classes will be from 10:30-noon in the lower level of Haggard Library in the Jeannette Bland meeting room.  No reservation necessary for the classes.

Coming soon, I will have information about the lock-in on March 2 from 6-11pm.

Researching in the Plano Star Courier

Doug and I have been reading the headlines in the Plano Star Courier from 1914-1930 and August 1973.  We are gathering information about the beginning of the City Park/Haggard Park.  It is very interesting to see how everyone contributed to this park.  It was a very important venture for the City.  We are researching the Park to help Parks and Rec apply for a special recognition of the Park.  The Thursday Study Club, Lion’s Club, Chamber of Commerce, City Council and many other clubs were involved.  Stay tuned for more on the Park when we complete the research.

As we looked through the newspaper, we have discovered many other tidbits of information.  The Plano Chamber of Commerce of today may have begun in 1946 but there was a Plano Chamber of Commerce that began in January 1923 — The Lion’s Club was organized in October 1923 – At least one telephone directory was printed in May 1923 — Bonds and plans were made for the Plano High School in 1923-1924 — In November 1922 the Mayor was able to broadcast about Plano on the WFAA radio.  Later the Chamber of Commerce Band also plays for WFAA — And one of my favorite articles was the City Council minutes for November 1920–The City Marshal is allowed to arrest boys for having their toy 22 caliber guns with or without bullets. 

The newspaper has many bits of information that I finding interesting and fun.  I will try this next year to pass along some of those findings to you.

More New Books in December

The new books keep coming.  We have ordered over 100 titles.  They seem to arrive in batches.  Here’s this weeks additions:

• German Immigrants, vol. 7 Iowa West Protestant; vol. 8 Iowa Northeast Protestant; and vol. 9 Iowa Southeast Protestant
• Dodge County, Georgia Newspaper Clippings, vol. 6-vol. 21, 1936-2005
• News from Chauncy (Dodge Co., Georgia), vol. 2-vol. 6, 1919-1969
• News from Milan, Rhine and Old Telfair (Dodge Co., Georgia), vol. 2-vol. 6, 1920-1951
• Wilcox County, Georgia Newspaper Clippings, vol. 4, 1912-1916
• Newspaper abstracts from the ‘Ho0sier State’ Newport, Vermillion Co., Indiana, vol. 1-vol. 10, 1868-1893
• Maine Families in 1790, vol. 10
• British Roots of Maryland Families
• Royal Families, vol. II-Rev. Francis Marbury and vol. III-Samuel Appleton

 

New Books for December

GLHTA is adding some new books to the collection.  There are many more to come.  Here’s the first list for December:

Dictionary of South Carolina Biography, vol. 1

Probate and Orphans Court Records of Snyder County, PA 1772-1855

Index to the Devil’s Lake Sioux Indian Census Rolls Fort Totten, ND 1898-1902

Marriage records Brunswick County, NC 1804-1867

Genealogical notes from the “Liberty Tribune” 1858-1868 (Clay County, MO), vol. 2

Cemetery records of Chariton County, MO, vol. 4

Chariton County, MO wills and administrations 1861-1875

Cemetery records of Bates County, MO, vol. 8

Abstracts of the inventories and accounts of the Prerogative Court of Maryland, 1685-1701

Abstracts of the inventories and accounts of the Prerogative Court of Maryland, 1679-1686

Scalawags, Six-shooters and Shenanigans from the Fort Griffin Echo, 1879-1880

The Realm of Rusk County (Texas)

A history of Rusk County, Texas

Parker County, Texas, District Court, Civil Minutes, vol. 5, pt. 3

Existing post returns for Nacogdoches, varied dates between 1836-1870

Talk of the town–news & gossip from the “Jacksboro Frontier Echo”, 1875-1878

Abstracts of Post returns for Fort Graham, Texas, 1849-1853

From Blackland Prairie to Blacktop, a history of Collin County

Marriage records from sixteen Texas counties

Ghost Towns of Texas

Sumner  County, Tennessee, abstracts of will books 1 and 2 (1788-1842)

Miscellaneous Tennessee Records

History of Monongalia County, WV

Pittsylvania County, VA deed book 4 (1774-1778)

Pittsylvania County, VA deeds 1791-1794

Pittsylvania County, VA deeds 1778-1780

Powhatan County, VA wills 1777-1795

Marriage bonds and ministers’ returns of Powhatan County, VA 1777-1830

Marriage bonds and ministers’ returns of Halifax County, VA 1753-1800

Halifax County, VA wills 1792-1797

List of voters for elections of Burgesses 1764-1769, Halifax County, VA

Abstracts of wills from Goochland County, VA 1727-1777

Charlotte County, VA 1765-177 deed books 1 and 2

Charlotte County, VA deeds 1771-1777

Charlotte County, VA wills 1765-1791

New Hope Christian Church at Danieltown in Brunswick County, VA 1893-1968

Membership of New Hope Christian Church, 1893-1968: a genealogical record

Amelia County, VA tax lists 17361-1764: an every name index

Past Collin County Officials

The Collin County Clerks Office wants to add to their Genealogy Corner webpage, http://www.co.collin.tx.us/county_clerk/genealogy/genealogy.jsp.  A new topic they are developing is a list of the past Collin County Officials.  They would like to add photographs of the officials with the names.  Mary Collins and Tonya Kellogg are working on the project.  They would be greatly appreciative of any photographs you could send them.  You can contact Mary at mcollins@collincountytexas.gov. 

If you have not looked at the Genealogy Corner lately, you may need to have a look.  They have indexes on birth, marriage, and deaths.  They also have an index and views to the School Census.  GLHTA has the School census on microfilm but it is not indexed.  The index will make the census much easier to use.  It lists the children, their age, grade, parent’s names, and address where they live.  The time period varies from the 30′s and 40′s.

Records for Texas Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands

GLHTA has added 78 reels of microfilm on the Records for Texas Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1870.  The titles are “Records of the Assistant Commissioner for the State of Texas, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1869″, www.archives.gov/research/microfilm/m821.pdf; “Records of the Field Offices for the State of Texas, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1870″, www.archives.gov/research/microfilm/m1912.pdf; and “Records of the Superintendent of Education for the State of Texas, Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, 1865-1870″, www.archives.gov/research/microfilm/m822.pdf.  The Internet links lead to PDF’s about the microfilm available. 

“In the years following the Civil War, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (the Freedmen’s Bureau) provided assistance to tens of thousands of former slaves and impoverished whites in the Southern States and the District of Columbia….The Bureau was established in the War Department in 1865 to undertake the relief effort and the unprecedented social reconstruction that would bring freedpeople to full citizenship. It issued food and clothing, operated hospitals and temporary camps, helped locate family members, promoted education, helped freedmen legalize marriages, provided employment, supervised labor contracts, provided legal representation, investigated racial confrontations, settled freedmen on abandoned or confiscated lands, and worked with African American soldiers and sailors and their heirs to secure back pay, bounty payments, and pensions….The records left by the Freedmen’s Bureau through its work between 1865 and 1872 constitute the richest and most extensive documentary source available for investigating the African American experience in the post-Civil War and Reconstruction eras….Documents such as local censuses, marriage records, and medical records provide freedpeople’s full names and former masters; Federal censuses through 1860 listed slaves only statistically under the master’s household. No name indexes are available at this time, but the documents can be rewarding, particularly since they provide full names, residences, and, often, the names of former masters and plantations.”  You can learn more by reading about the Freedmen’s Bureau, 1865-1872 at www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/freedmens-bureau/#state. 

This information is not available online at this time.  Other states Bureau are available.  Go to the link to see what and where the information will be available.  Come see us for the Texas records.

Henry Cook

The General Society of the War of 1812 is planning to place a bronze marker on the grave of Henry Cook in the Baccus Cemetery in a month.  They are looking for any descendants of Henry Cook.  See http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9544491for more info. He was in the Illinois Militia.   Please pass the word.

The contact person is Secretary-Treasurer-Webmaster–Cecil R. Coale, Ph.D, McKinney, Texas, 972-542-1947, crcoale@texoma.net.

Portal to Texas History and the Collin County newspapers

The Collin County Genealogical Society and the group at Portal to Texas History have a partnership in digitizing the older newspapers from Collin County.  The images are beginning to show up on the Portal.  The twelve titles include McKinney Democrat, McKinney Gazette, McKinney Examiner, McKinney Daily Courier, McKinney Daily Gazette, Collin County Mercury, Lion Roar, Semi Weekly Courier, McKinney Weekly Democrat Gazette, McKinney Advocate, Southern Jerseyite, and Weekly Democrat-Gazette.  The years range from 1880-1939 at this time. 

Start at the webpage, http://texashistory.unt.edu/.  In the Search box click on the “Advanced Search”, under “Limit By” choose the Partner to be Collin County Genealogical Society and the Collection to be McKinney Democrat-Gazette.  This will allow you to see all the images available.  On the left side you will have choices for limitations of dates or titles of newspapers.  The titles and dates have the number of images available listed.  You can browse through the newspapers by title, date or narrow it further by a specific name or subject.  These early newspapers not only included local events, people, and places, they also included state and world news. 

CCGS received a grant from the Collin County Historical Commission to help fund this project.  See this link for more information on their project– http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txcolcgs/DigitalProjects.htm

Plano, the First One Hundred Years

Next class is on the history of Plano.  It will be on November 16th at 10:30-noon in the Jeanette Bland Meeting Room in GLHTA at Haggard Library.  I have had the chance to research the Plano and Collin County history for many years.  I get very excited when someone comes into the library wanting to locate their family who were early settlers of Plano, Collin County, and Peters Colony.  My 9th grade history teacher would be so surprised to hear about me “getting into history” today.  (My grades were not very good in high school or college.)  Now, I cannot get enough of the history around here.  I hope you come to the class and learn something new about Plano. 

Plano is incorporated June 2, 1873 and the population in 1874 is 500.  By the year 2000 the population is over 222,000.  I’ll tell you what caused Plano to grow.