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Don't forget Conference registration deadline of 1
August (Monday) for pre-conference registration rates.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26th Annual Texas State Hispanic Genealogical and
Historical Conference
September 2-4, 2005
Holiday Inn / Civic Center / Laredo, Texas
Don Tomas Sanchez / 250th Anniversary Celebration of
Laredo, Texas
Hosted by: Villa San Agustin de Laredo Genealogical
Society
Conference website:
http://www.vsalgs.org/conference.htm
Registration form:
See attachment above
Villa San Agustin de Laredo Genealogical Society
website:
http://www.vsalgs.org
____________________________________________________
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SOURCE: Yolanda Zarate (AmintaZarate(a)aol.com)
Texans seek compensation from Mexico for 12 million
acres lost after 1848 treaty
By Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER [California]
April 16, 2005
EARNIE GRAFTON / Union-Tribune
Aminta Zárate says a 1941 decree by Mexico's president
obligated the country to pay $245.1 million in
compensation. Aminta Zárate steps from a 170-year-old
family cemetery on the south Texas ranch where she
grew up. A descendant of the region's first Spanish
settlers, she wants compensation for lands she says
were unjustly taken from her ancestors.
EDINBURG, Texas She learned the story as a little
girl, growing up amid rattlesnakes and cactus thorns
on a small cattle ranch in south Texas. The land is
ours, they told her, all the way to the horizon and
beyond. It was granted to our ancestors by Spain and
Mexico, they said, then stolen after it became part of
the United States in 1848.
Aminta Zárate wants compensation from Mexico.
She is 86, a widow of prodigious memory and unswerving
will. Over the past 27 years, she has gone to court,
spoken with senators, met with ambassadors, petitioned
presidents. And now the former elementary school
cafeteria manager has joined forces with a San Diego
law professor, demanding more than $2 billion from
Mexico on behalf of her group, the Asociación de
Reclamantes, or Association of Land Claimants.
"It's more than money," Zárate said on a recent
Saturday morning, seated inside a small office
attached to her beige brick house in this quiet town
of 45,000 residents. "I want justice for what they've
done to our ancestors, that's what I want."
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo
Graphic: The Rio Grande Valley
The story is an odd historical footnote, overlooked in
textbooks and unspoken in the classrooms of south
Texas. But it has been passed down, like a burning
torch, from generation to generation among the
descendants of the original European settlers of this
harsh, flat region on the U.S.-Mexico border land
that belonged to Spain, then Mexico, then the United
States. The Cárdenas and the Cantus and the Ballis,
the Longorias and the Cavazos and the Zárates,
families whose ancestors never crossed the border.
Rather, they like to say, the border crossed them, in
1848, after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo.
Their petition boils down to this: In 1941, Mexico
signed a treaty with the United States, agreeing to
compensate 433 south Texas families for the loss of 12
million acres between the Rio Grande and Nueces
rivers. The land once belonged to their ancestors and
was part of Mexico, then became U.S. territory when
the 1848 treaty was signed. But Mexico never did pay
and it shows no signs it will.
"This case has been covered with a veil," said Jorge
A. Vargas, a professor of international law at the
University of San Diego who has taken up the cause of
the Asociación de Reclamantes. "No one knows about
this case in Mexico. If you interview historians,
diplomats, attorneys, no one knows about it."
He has brought the issue before Mexico's National
Commission for Human Rights and is awaiting a reply.
Vargas says the petition is a test of President
Vicente Fox's administration's commitment to human
rights.
It is one of the longest-running land disputes in the
Southwest, and unusual because the claimants, mostly
U.S. citizens, are targeting Mexico for injuries
suffered after the lands were no longer part of
Mexico.
The claims raise some delicate issues, and at first
sight, the group's demands might seem downright
bizarre. Why would Mexico, where many are still
smarting over the loss of vast parts of territory to
the United States, agree to pay such a staggering
amount of money to a group of U.S. citizens?
Jorge A. Vargas, a law professor at the University of
San Diego, is defending the Asociación de Reclamantes.
Some say Zárate is a quixotic figure, waging a
hopeless campaign. But she's won her share of
admirers.
"She's a great lady and I love her. A hero," said Jess
Araujo, a personal injury attorney in Orange County.
"She means well and has tried everything, but there
are a lot of players on the chessboard at this point,
and she's just one small part of it."
Araujo was part of the original team of attorneys who
represented the Asociación de Reclamantes from its
founding in 1978 until the mid-1980s, working on a
contingency basis.
In its heyday, when victory seemed more likely, the
association swelled to more than 7,000 members. Today,
there are fewer than 200. Zárate is
secretary-treasurer, and her eldest daughter, Yolanda,
65, is president.
"My sisters say: 'You're crazy. Mexico will never pay.
Why are you spending your time that way?' My nieces,
they don't think it's possible, it's too much work,"
said Yolanda Zárate, a registered nurse. "We want to
give it one more try, in our lifetime. We want
everybody to know the truth."
Yolanda cries easily as she tells the story, recalling
injustice done to her ancestors. But Aminta Zárate
said she never weeps.
She is a small woman, with a commanding presence and
old-fashioned reserve. Yet her eyes brighten when she
talks about growing up on a ranch, about the trips to
churches and courthouses of northern Mexico and south
Texas with her late husband, Julián, to dig up birth
and death and marriage records.
"Peleen por las tierras, porque van a ganar," Julián
told her, as he lay dying of cancer in 1995. "Fight
for the lands, because you will win."
Aminta Cavazos Zárate traces her ancestry to 16 land
grants, the largest belonging to José Narciso Cavazos,
her great-great-grandfather, who was deeded 600,000
acres in 1792 by the king of Spain. That grant was
known as San Juan de Carricitos.
Sunday morning soccer players from Mexico crossed into
Texas at Los Ebanos on the only hand-pulled ferry on
the Rio Grande. When the border was redrawn in 1848,
Mexican families north of the river suddenly found
themselves on U.S. soil, and descendants say they
suffered many injustices.
Between 1750 and 1848, Spain and Mexico made 365 land
grants in the region defined by the Nueces River and
the Rio Grande. The settlements that sprouted there
were a means of sealing off the wealthy Spanish mining
regions in central Mexico from the French and the
English, said Armando C. Alonzo, a Texas historian
whose book, "Tejano Legacy: Rancheros and Settlers in
South Texas, 1734-1900," looks at land tenure in the
region.
Though claimed by the independent Republic of Texas,
the Nueces region remained part of Mexico until 1848,
when the border was drawn at the Rio Grande and the
lands became part of the United States.
Today, the area is known as the Rio Grande Valley, or
the Trans-Nueces Strip, sometimes the Wild Horse
Desert. Worn gravestones, old wells and the crumbling
foundations of houses hint at the days of rancheros.
The residents are largely Hispanic. Unlike other
regions, families with Spanish surnames here are not
newcomers, but descendants of the oldest settlers.
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which ended two years
of bloody war between the United States and Mexico, is
key to the claims of Zárate and the Asociación de
Reclamantes. Under Article Eight of the treaty, the
United States promised to uphold the private property
rights of Mexicans who ended up on the U.S. side of
the border.
Lawsuits alleging violations of the treaty have arisen
across the former Mexican territories, from California
to New Mexico to Colorado. But in Texas, an
independent republic for nine years before it became
part of the United States in 1845, events unfolded
differently. And today, large numbers of descendants
of the original grantees continue to keep the past
alive.
"The California land grants were adjudicated under
federal law, and settled before the turn of the
century in court," said Richard Griswold del Castillo,
a San Diego State University professor and author of
"The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo." But in Texas,
property claims were reviewed by a state land
commission. And unlike Southern California, large
numbers of Tejano heirs of the original grantees have
remained in the region, passing on stories of past
injustice.
During the turbulent decades that followed the signing
of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, many rancheros and
their descendants lost their properties, piece by
piece, to Anglo settlers imbued with the spirit of
Manifest Destiny. A large part of San Juan Carricitos
became part of the vast King Ranch Zárate says
through deceitful practices, but the King Ranch has
insisted that it got its lands through legitimate
means.
"Since I was a little girl, since my mother was a
little girl, we've always known this history," said
Yolanda Zárate, during a visit to an old family ranch,
La Noria Cardeneña, in south Texas.
Descendants of the land grantees found themselves with
smaller and smaller parcels, they say, and treated as
second-class citizens. Historians have documented
racism, violence and land fraud against Mexican
families. But to this day they debate to what extent
this caused the displacement from their lands.
Alonzo, who is a visiting professor at St. Mary's
University in San Antonio, says the causes of land
loss were complex.
"Did Anglos take advantage of some Mexicans? There is
no question in my mind that this did happen. Did it
happen all the time? No," Alonzo said. Before drawing
conclusions, he advocates careful review of each
grant, some of which go back 250 years.
But this much can be documented: In 1923, the United
States and Mexico established a General Claims
Commission to settle outstanding claims between the
two countries rising from the Treaty of Guadalupe
Hidalgo.
Mexican government officials reached out in south
Texas among the population of Mexican origin,
soliciting claims for loss of property and other
injuries, and presented them as Mexican claims to the
commission. It was a tactic, some say, to offset U.S.
claims.
The United States presented 2,781 claims against
Mexico, worth $513 million, on behalf of its citizens,
many of whom had lost oil wells in Mexico. Mexico
presented 836 claims against the United States, for
$245 million; of those, 433 were in south Texas,
representing 12 million acres valued $193.6 million.
San Juan Carricitos, Zárate's ancestral land, was
among the claims.
For the next 16 years, nothing was done. Then, in
1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, anxious to
prevent Mexico from joining the Axis powers, proposed
an arrangement: The two countries would swap claims,
and each would treat the claims as a domestic issue.
It was a good deal for Mexico, given the difference in
sums. The United States asked for an additional $40
million from Mexico, but agreed to pay all the
outstanding claims lodged by U.S. citizens against
Mexico.
Mexico, in turn, agreed to pay the claims that had
originally been aimed at the United States, including
the Texas land grant claims.
By 1948, the United States had paid off its claims.
Mexican President Manuel Ávila Camacho had signed a
decree in 1941 calling for legislation to provide
compensation for its claimants. But the law was never
passed.
"The decree was enacted, and nothing happened after
that," said Vargas, of the University of San Diego.
"That is certainly a constitutional violation."
The heirs began protesting early on. Doors
occasionally opened, but in the end, they always
closed and the heirs went home to south Texas
empty-handed.
In 1955, a group of 600 descendants traveled to Mexico
City, demanding meetings with the Mexican government
and staging protests, to no avail.
The next big push came with the founding of the
Asociación de Reclamantes in 1978. Mexican government
officials angrily questioned why they should
compensate a group of U.S. citizens.
"They were initially outraged," recalled Araujo, who
was part of a team of young American attorneys working
for the Asociación on a contingency basis. "We said,
'We'd much rather be going against the U.S., but your
government agreed to this treaty.' "
Aminta Zárate says a 1941 decree by Mexico's president
obligated the country to pay $245.1 million in
compensation.
Unsuccessful in Mexico, the association filed suit
against the Mexican government in U.S. federal court,
but Judge Thomas Hogan in Washington, D.C., said the
issue was not within the court's jurisdiction.
Rodolfo de la Garza, a professor of political science
at Columbia University in New York City, says the case
of the Reclamantes shows that the interests of the
Mexican government and U.S. Chicanos don't necessarily
coincide.
"It's a really bizarre case, because Mexico didn't
really do anything," he said. "Why would Mexico owe
them money? Who owes them money is the U.S."
But after meeting with the Reclamantes in the early
1990s, Jorge Montaño, then the Mexican ambassador to
Washington, saw merit to their claim. "From a legal
point of view, Mexico in fact had a commitment to
pay," Montaño wrote in his 2004 memoir, "Misión en
Washington."
"I limited myself to listening to them without
committing myself to anything more than passing on the
information to the appropriate authorities in Mexico
City. That way, we could win some time." Now Vargas is
giving it one more try, representing the association
on a contingency basis.
He has written repeatedly to Mexican treasury and
foreign-ministry officials in Mexico City. The reply
is always the same: "Until the law is passed, this
office is not in the position of examining or
discussing any specific proposal relating to the
claims, because there would be no basis for them."
In 1991, the Reclamantes petitioned Mexico's National
Commission for Human Rights to review their case. It
was quickly rejected on the basis that the alleged
injustice happened too long ago. But Vargas has filed
a new petition claiming a denial of justice under
international law.
Today, with interest, the original $193.6 million debt
has swollen to $2.2 billion, Vargas said.
"If Mexico is truly in favor of human rights, then
Mexico must pay them," he said. Vargas' next step will
be to go to the Mexican courts, and if that doesn't
work, to the Interamerican Court of Justice in Costa
Rica, and if necessary, he says, to the World Court in
The Hague.
Zárate tires easily these days and can't travel as she
used to. She has achieved much in three decades: a
treasure trove of genealogies of south Texas families,
cabinets filled with photographs and historic
documents, and the chance to honor the memory of her
ancestors who settled south Texas so many years ago.
But her job, Zárate says, is not yet done not until
she is compensated for the losses she says her
ancestors suffered.
"They're not going to beat me," she said. "I'm going
to win this case."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandra Dibble: (619) 293-1716;
sandra.dibble(a)uniontrib.com
__________________________________
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Yahoo! Mail - Helps protect you from nasty viruses.
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SSDI UPDATED
RootsWeb now offers the most recent version of the
Social Security Death Index (SSDI), which includes
records through April 2005 This database contains
several important bits of information on the more
75,163,608 persons whose deaths are on file with the
U.S.'s Social Security Administration, including:
social security number, date of issuance, state of
issuance, date of birth, date of death, and last
residence address of record.
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/
____________________________________________________
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MEXICAN PARISH RECORDS, 1751-1880
Source Materials Series%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Again I am just presenting what is on the Web for
informational purpose
only. The information or work can not be verified or
source upon my end.
Please be aware that some sites are under construction
or unable to view.
List Administrator
In my quest to find resources to find family members
on the computer, I
am sharing several great websites, that even myself,
have never heard of
until I became aware of them and I wanted to share
with you all. Please
note that I do not sponsored any of these! I just wish
to share them.
Some of these are paid for fee services.
________________________________________________________
MEXICAN PARISH RECORDS, 1751-1880
This collection of records includes marriage, baptism,
and death
records from nine Mexican parishes: Matamoros,
Agualequas, Mier,
Sabinas Hidalgo, Vallecillo, Cadereyta, Camargo,
Cerralvo, and
Guerrero. The original records were well kept, often
including
information about immediate relatives, spouses,
parents, and even
grandparents, for example. This collection includes
over 100,000
records and over 400,000 names. It includes records
from as early as
1751 and as late as 1880.
Roman Catholic parish records are the very best source
of ancestral
information for researchers seeking family origins in
Mexico. Parish
records generally fall into two categories,
sacramental and non-
sacramental. Sacramental records document the
sacraments of the
Catholic Church including baptisms, marriages, death
or burial
records (final unction), and confirmations.
Non-sacramental records
include fraternal order books, account books,
censuses, individual
documents, and local history materials.
Source Information: Spanish American Genealogical
Association,
"Mexican Parish Records." [database online]. Orem, UT:
Ancestry.com.
Ancestry.com subscribers with access to the U.S.
Records Collection
can access this database at:
http://www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?sourceid=831&dbid=3947
____________________________________________________
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From Jean Heide -
We are the chosen.
In each family there is one who seems called to find
the ancestors. To put
flesh on their bones and make them live again, to tell
the family story and
to feel that somehow they know and approve.
Doing genealogy is not a cold gathering of facts but,
instead, breathing
life into all who have gone before. We are the
storytellers of the tribe.
All tribes have one. We have been called, as it were,
by our genes. Those
who have gone before cry out to us, "Tell our story!"
So, we do.
In finding them, we somehow find ourselves. How many
graves have I stood
before now and cried? I have lost count. How many
times have I told the
ancestors, "You have a wonderful family; you would be
proud of us." How
many times have I walked up to a grave and felt
somehow there was love there
for me? I cannot say.
It goes beyond just documenting facts. It goes to who
am I and why do I do
the things I do. It goes to seeing a cemetery about
to be lost forever to
weeds and indifference and saying, "I can't let this
happen." The bones
here are bones of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It
goes to doing something
about it. It goes to pride in what our ancestors were
able to accomplish,
how they contributed to what we are today. It goes to
respecting their
hardships and losses, their never giving in or giving
up, their resoluteness
to go on and build a life for their family.
It goes to deep pride that the fathers fought and some
died to make and keep
us a Nation. It goes to a deep and immense
understanding that they were
doing it for us. It is of equal pride and love that
our mothers struggled
to give us birth. Without them we could not exist,
and so we love each one,
as far back as we can reach.
That we might be born who we are. That we might
remember them. So.we do.
With love and caring and scribing each fact of their
existence, because we
are they and they are the sum of who we are. So, as a
scribe called, I tell
the story of my family. It is up to that one called
in the next generation
to answer the call and take my place in the long line
of family
storytellers.
That is why I do my family genealogy, and that is what
calls those young and
old to step up and restore the memory or greet those
whom we had never known
before.
-Author Unknown
____________________________________________________
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http://auctions.yahoo.com/
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Subject: [TX-Loose-Ends-Column] Trends in Genealogy - Readers' Opinions
Content-Length: 2335
07/07/2005
-- Trends in Genealogy
Several weeks ago, I asked my readers to share with me their thoughts on recent trends in genealogy. More specifically: Where has everyone gone?
What prompted this discussion was attending the 6th Annual Texas Family History Fair sponsored by the Walker County Genealogy Society on June 25th in Huntsville, Texas. This is a great event every year and I enjoy the speakers and vendors.
In the past years, the conference had an attendance of 400 to 300 family history researchers and this year, fewer than 180 attended. In past years, the fair would have an exhibit hall full of venders and genealogy groups and this year, there were empty tables and wide-open spaces.
Last year, I attended the Federation of Genealogy Societies Conference in Austin. Again, there was no large crowd.
There seems to be a trend in genealogy - fewer researchers in libraries and fewer members of genealogy societies. Genealogy is suppose to be the number 1 or 2 hobby in America. Where has everyone gone?
Here are some of the opinions shared by readers -
Carol Ann Embesi wrote: It is the Internet!! In the past, folks went to County (Genealogy Society) meetings to find contacts and information about the county. Now, it is all on the web. Census records are indexed and on the web . . . you can view them any time you want to for a little over $10 per month. And, don't forget about the message boards . . . cousins are finding cousins every day. The down side of all this is that there is a lot of trash being spread on the Internet. The next generation is going to have to plow through a lot of trash to get to the truth."
Vanessa Burzynski of Katy, Texas wrote: I think that with more and more people owning their own computers they are doing their own research on the Internet. As far as the Family History Fair (in Huntsville), I did not even see it advertised this year.
Randy Billingsley of Maysfield, Texas wrote: I would venture to say . . . the websites that avail information to whoever wishes to visit the sites and the cost of fuel to travel to these events.
John Crosthwait of Arlington, Texas wrote: I think it is the high cost of gas, layoffs, the economy is not doing well now and then there is the heat and weather.
Carolyn Shimek wrote: The answer might be the computer. A lot of people are strictly relying on getting their genealogy from the Internet. I cannot understand it, because there are lots of times when the only way to get correct information is either at the library, courthouse or the family history center. Since I started in 1976 (the old days!) I am used to using these sources and would not ever want to stop. So it is very hard for me to understand people not taking advantage of the great sources (particularly Clayton here in Houston). They do not know what they are missing!
Dan Scott of Natalia, Texas wrote: I would think that a lot of those researching history are senior citizens living on fixed incomes and with gas prices, they cannot afford the travel and other expenses associated with such an outing. I spend all my time doing Internet searches and depend on locals to help rather than actually going to the various distant locations. Finally, I would mention lack of advertisement. So boiling it down, I'd say its expenses and lack of advertisement.
- - - -
In this column, I will be glad to highlight and review any family history, genealogy, county history, or similar book, free of charge, if you donate a copy of the book or item. After it has been highlighted and reviewed, on a space available basis, it will be donated to the genealogy section of a library. You will receive an acknowledgment of the donation from the library. Mail item or book to me at the below address.
To read back issues of this column, go to
< http://www.geocities.com/lks_friday/COLUMN-001.htm >.
Regretfully, I cannot help with individual genealogical research. However, you can submit queries that will be published on a space available basis. If you have any questions, comments, suggestions for column topics, genealogy or historical society announcements, please contact me at: P. O. Box 16604, Houston, Texas 77222-6604 or e-mail: < lksfriday(a)sbcglobal.net >.
Lynna Kay Shuffield - P. O. Box 16604 - Houston, Texas 77222
'Our Loose Ends' Genealogy Column
http://www.geocities.com/lks_friday/COLUMN-001.htm
Milam County TXGenWeb - http://www.geocities.com/milamco/
San Jacinto County TXGenWeb
http://www.geocities.com/lks_friday/SANJAC-01.htm
Lynna Kay Shuffield - P. O. Box 16604 - Houston, Texas 77222
'Our Loose Ends' Genealogy Column
http://www.geocities.com/lks_friday/COLUMN-001.htm
Milam County TXGenWeb - http://www.geocities.com/milamco/
San Jacinto County TXGenWeb
http://www.geocities.com/lks_friday/SANJAC-01.htm
==== TX-LOOSE-ENDS Mailing List ====
"Our Loose Ends" Genealogy Column Website at:
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Hello to All:
I am attempting to add Mimi Lozano's notification
service to the list for the Hispanic online magazine
called "Somos Primos". If it doesn't work, I will
continue to forward the notification to the list
instead. I just thought this would be easier.
Somos Primos can be found at
http://www.somosprimos.com .
Thanks,
Danielle
List Master (List Mistress? Whatever! LOL)
____________________________________________________
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South Texas Researcher
Volume III, Number 7 July
2005
IN THIS ISSUE:
I. Introduction
II. Calendar of Events
III. News & Web Sites
IV. Archives
Introduction
Note: e-mail address: genealogydesk(a)sanantonio.gov.
Note: the South Texas Researcher is also now
available on the San Antonio Public Librarys web site
(www.sanantonio.gov/library/) under News & Events
then News & Newsletters. Backfiles will soon be
added.
Please remember that the purpose of this newsletter
is to keep librarians, historians, archivists,
genealogists, archaeologists, and those in other
allied fields informed of what is going on that may be
helpful in these fields so they may pass this
information on to other interested parties in their
locations.
If you have items you or your organization would like
others to know about, please e-mail the address at the
end of this newsletter.
South Texas is being broadly defined as beginning in
Val Verde County in the west; moving east to Austin
(Travis County); and then southeast through Caldwell,
Lavaca, Jackson, and Calhoun counties to the Gulf of
Mexico. I am willing to include important events or
acquisitions from other areas, in some instances, if
they may be of particular usefulness to those in our
area. News from our neighboring Mexican states of
Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, and Coahuila would also be
welcome.
Feel free to forward this communication to anyone who
might be interested.
Thank you!
Calendar of Events
2005 Texana/Genealogy Class Schedule -- Revised
San Antonio Public Library
This year join us as we present a series of workshops
that will offer an in-depth introduction to basic
methods, tools, and sources for family history
research.
You may join us for the entire series or individual
classes.
All classes are on Saturdays from 2:00 to 4:30 p.m.
Programs are free and held at the San Antonio Central
Library, 600 Soledad, San Antonio, Texas, 78205.
E-mail: genealogydesk(a)sanantonio.gov
To register (so we have enough handouts) or for
information please call the Texana/Genealogy
Department at (210) 207-2500 (ask for Texana)
6 August Female Ancestors
Periodicals, Newspapers, and Indices
10 September LDS Family History Seminar at 8801
Midcrown
1 October Government Documents
All programming is subject to change Please call
ahead to register and verify dates and times.
2005 Texana/Genealogy Department Internet Classes
All classes are on a Monday from 2:00 to 3:30. (Jan.
14 class is on a Friday from 2:00-3:30)
Programs are $2.00 each and held at the San Antonio
Central Library, 600 Soledad, San Antonio, Texas,
78205. E-mail: genealogydesk(a)sanantonio.gov
To register (so we have enough handouts) or for
information please call the Texana/Genealogy
Department at (210) 207-2500 (ask for Texana)
August 8 Basic Genealogy Websites
September 12 Primary Sources Online [new addition]
November 14 Heritage Quest Online
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2005 STAA FIELD SCHOOL
The 2005 STAA Field School is scheduled for July 8th
through July 17th 2005. The field school will provide
an opportunity for members to learn proper
archeological field excavation methods and laboratory
procedures. The site, 41BX708, is located in northwest
Bexar County west of Culebra Creek. The site was
originally recorded by C. K. Chandler. Initial survey
and test excavations have demonstrated occupation from
Paleoindian through the Prehistoric.
The 2005 field school excavation will be in the area
of an Early to Middle Archaic midden overlying a
Paleoindian deposit. Test excavations downslope from
the field school recovered several diagnostic Paleo
points (Golondrina, St. Mary's Hall, Angostura and
possibly Firstview) as well as Early and Middle
Archaic materials. STAA will be focusing on
determining the presence or absence of intact primary
Paleoindian deposits on the site.
The site itself is well covered with shade trees and
within a few minutes drive of 1604. Camping will be
allowed on the site, and it is within and easy commute
of the city and there are other camping venues within
driving distance as well as several hotels.
This is an exciting opportunity to work on a
potentially important Paleoindian site and we
encourage you to participate. We look forward to
seeing you in July.
Details on registration fees, facilities, location
maps, etc., will be provided to registrants.
Fieldschool information and registration is available
on the STAA website at staa.org or you may contact
Cathy McCool, Vice Chair, at cmccool(a)satx.rr.com or at
210-913-9154.
Your Family History: Preserving Its Narrative
The Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library will be
cooperating with the
Texana/Genealogy Department and Friends of
Texana/Genealogy at San Antonio Public Library for our
summer family history seminar, "Your Family History:
Preserving Its Narrative."
When: Friday, August 12
Times: 9:30 a.m. until 3:15 p.m. [Lunch is on your
own]
Where: Central Library Auditorium, 600 Soledad, San
Antonio.
Speakers: Laurie Jasinski, Mary Margaret McAllen
Amberson, and Ed Miller.
Both Laurie and Mary Margaret will be speaking about
viewing your family history in the larger historical
context of their day, while Mr. Miller will focus on
accurate documentation of family history.
The Friends of the Texana/Genealogy Department of the
San Antonio Public Library will provide refreshments.
The program is free and all are welcome.
News & Web Sites
Los Bexarenos Genealogy Society
Next meeting:
9.30 a.m. Saturday, 2 July, in the Central Library
Auditorium (1st floor) of the San Antonio Central
Library.
The Speaker Will Be: Robert Garcia Jr.
Topic: Book review of "Tejano Participants in the
Texas Revolution of
1835-1837".
Biographical information is retired 30 year employee
of San Antonio
Independent School District, last position as Business
Manager, Docent at
Mission Espada for last 6 years, Volunteer at
University Hospital for last 6
months and serve meals twice a month at SAMM Shelter.
Previously authored booklet on "Rock Quarry Road" and
of course the current
publication "Tejano Participants in the Texas
Revolution of 1835-1837" and
currently working on:
Participating on a Steering Committee for "Coy Family
Reunion"
scheduled for this coming October, 2005 at Mission
County Park; Jointly
working with Fred Coy on San Fernando Cemetery #1
Project to identify by
name all buried there and identify Tejano Revolution
participants buried
there; and lastly Jointly working with Sylvia Valero
and Greg & Gloria
Hernandez to complete Graytown baptisms for years
1854-1884.
Los Bexarenos Genealogy Societys offices are open
every Saturday morning (at no charge) from 10:00 a.m.
to 2:00 p.m. to assist those wanting to begin or to
continue their family search. The offices are at
the Navarro House, 228 South Laredo St., San Antonio.
We have an extensive collection of Hispanic baptisms,
marriages, censuses and other research materials for
Bexar County and northern Mexico.
The Societys mailing address is Post Office Box 1935,
San Antonio, Texas 78297.
Note: A Change: Los Bexarenos regular monthly meeting
is at the Central Library, San Antonio Public Library,
on the first Saturday of each month at 9.30 a.m.
For more information contact Los Bexarenos Genealogy
Society at 210-695-9825 or rgarciajr2(a)satx.rr.com
SOURCE: Robert Garcia
New microfilm in the Texana/Genealogy Department
Wilson County, Texas Office of the County Clerk
County Court Civil Minutes, 1895-1915
County Court Criminal Minutes, Index for volumes 2-10
(actual minutes not filmed)
Deed of Trust Record, 1877-1888
Deed Record, 1860-1886
Marriage Record, 1860-1908
Probate Minutes, 1862-1914
Wilson County, Texas - Office of the District Clerk
District Court Civil Minutes, 1896-1908
Divorce Minutes, 1893-1897, 1922-1985
Naturalization Record, 1891-1896, 1903-1924
Naturalization Petitions, 1891-1906
Wilson County, Texas Office of the Tax
Assessor-Collector
Tax Rolls, 1860-1910
New microfiche in the Texana/Genealogy Department
Genealogical Column of the Boston Transcript,1896-1941
This collection of 690 microfiche (Cabinet 15) is
considered the greatest single source for genealogical
data for the New England area for the period 1600-1800
is now available in the Texana/Genealogy Department of
the San Antonio Public Library.
It is indexed in the American Genealogical and
Biographical Index which is available on cd-rom in
the Texana/Genealogy Department.
Come visit us and search for your New England
ancestors in this and other resources.
Texas State Hispanic Genealogical and Historical
Conference
Labor Day weekend --- September 2-4, 2005
Where: Holiday Inn Civic Center, Laredo, Texas
The theme for the conference : "Don Tomas
Sanchez",founder of Laredo, Texas
"Laredo under Seven Flags"
Contact : Alfredo R. Gutierrez, Jr.
treasurer......e-mail - gutierrez0265(a)sbcglobal.net
210 W. Oak Circle, Laredo, Texas 78041
Center for Archaeological Research
Anne Fox and Steve Tomka of the Center for
Archaeological Research (CAR), University of Texas at
San Antonio, have informed us that the dig at Mission
Concepcion has been completed.
Old Spanish Trail
Monthly Old Spanish Trail meetings -- On the Second
Tuesday. Please open www.OLDSPANISHTRAILCENTENNIAL.com
to find the notes of the meetings.
Thanks for your continued interest in OST100,
If anyone is researching El Camino Real, Charlotte
would like to talk to you!!!!!!!
Charlotte Kahl (210)735-3503
Alamo PC
Alamo PC meets in Crossroads Mall on the lower level
from 7.00 to 9.00 on the first Monday of each month.
Web Site of Interest:
http:www.ins.state.il.us/consumer/slaveryreporting.nsf/
Before the Civil War many Southerners who owned slaves
purchased insurance policies that would pay off in
case of death or disability of their slaves. Under
Illinois law insurance companies who issued such
policies, or their descendant companies (over 1,700)
must make this information publicly available. This
site is searchable by name of slave and owner, and has
some interesting information.
Web Site of Interest: http://www.genespy.com
If you are researching in the British Isles, try this
site. Similar to Ancestry, this site does a combined
search on a number of online databases. The amount of
information varies and some require payment to receive
a copy of the actual record.
Web Site of Interest:
http://www.historicaldirectories.org
Another British source, this web-site is produced by
the University of Leicester. Over 600 local and trade
directories from England and Wales have been
digitized showing maps, records, and illustrations. It
can be searched by name, location, occupation,
address, and more.
Archives
[None this month]
_______________________________________________________________________
Published by: Texana/Genealogy Department
San Antonio Public Library
600 Soledad
San Antonio, Texas 78205 210-207-2500
e-mail: genealogydesk(a)sanantonio.gov
Please submit information and articles to the above
e-mail.
For the August 2005 issue by 15 July
September 2005 issue by 15 August
October 2005 issue by 15 September
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