Be Sure to Visit my new 1900 Galveston Storm Website at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootseb.com/~barnette 

SSDI-NEW GENEALOGICAL TOOL

 The Social Security Death Index is a recent addition to the arsenal of important finding aids for genealogists. It is a computerized database and index to basic information about persons with social security numbers whose deaths were reported to the Social Security Administration.

 The index lists the first and last name of the deceased, the date of their birth and death, their social security number, and the zip code of the last benefit payment. About 98% of the names in the database died after 1962 when the Social Security Administration began using computers to process requests for benefits.

 The index is available on CD-Rom at Houston's Clayton Genealogical Library and on several genealogical websites including Ancestry.com and Everton.com. 

EVERTON'S ROOTS CELLAR AVAILABLE FREE

 Years in the making, Everton's Roots Cellar has been available for
purchase or by subscription for several years.  Everton's announced last week that their massive Roots Cellar online database will be available free of charge to researchers on the Internet between March 27 and April 3.

 The Roots Cellar is a database of  over one million names being researched by genealogists from around the world. Each entry defines a single person and contains the individual's name, an event such as a birth, death or marriage, the date and location of the event. Each entry, also, includes the name and address of the person who submitted the entry to Evertons.

 To view the database, visit http://www.everton.com/roots-cellar

GENEALOGICAL COMPUTER CLASSES

 Sponsored by Houston Community College, Mic Barnette will present a one time three hour course, Surfing the Internet- For Genealogy. The course will be held on Wednesday April 19 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the HCC campus 1681 Cartwright in Missouri City. For more information and to register, contact HCC at 281-835-5539.

 Learn how to use one of the most popular genealogical software programs available today. Paula Perkins Parke will present Organizing Your Ancestors With Family Tree Maker Software. The class will be held Wednesday April 19 from 6:45 p.m. to 9:45 p.m. at Leisure Learning's 2990 Richmond Avenue campus. For more information and to register contact Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414.

NEWS FROM THE BOOK SHELF

 Brent Holcomb, editor of the South Carolina Magazine of Ancestral Research, is professional genealogical researcher, lecturer and prolific writer. Aside from the articles published in SCMAR he is the author of  dozens of books of South Carolina records. Three of his latest titles include the parish register of Prince George Winyah, the deed records of Union County and marriage and death notices from Baptist newspapers. Each title is available from Holcomb at P.O. Box 21766 Columbia, SC 29221.

 One of the seven parishes for which registers are extant from the colonial and early statehood period is Prince George Winyah. The first surviving register of Prince George Winyah begins in 1815 and goes through 1936. It contains baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials. PARISH REGISTERS OF PRINCE GEORGE WINYAH CHURCH, GEORGETOWN, SOUTH CAROLINA 1815-1936, is available for $33, postpaid.

 An important up-country county, Union County was created in 1785 from Ninety Six District. In the earlier colonial period it had been a part of Craven and Berkeley Counties. Prior to the border surveys of 1764 and 1772 the area was included in the North Carolina counties of Anson, Mecklenburg and Tryon.

 Holcomb has published the deeds of Union County from its creation in 1785 to the year 1800. Deeds prior to 1785 were recorded and maintained in Charleston. References to earlier transactions in both South Carolina and in North Carolina are apparent in the many of the deeds of Union County.  UNION COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA DEED ABSTRACTS Volume I  Deed Books A-F 1785-1800 (1752-1800 ), is available for $38, postpaid.

 In post war South Carolina many families were financially unable to mark the grave of a loved one with a tombstone, or if marked, the tombstone may not have survived the ravages of time. Likewise, the state of South Carolina  did not require the recording of marriage licenses until 1911. Newspapers are, therefore, very important to researchers in finding obituaries and marriage notices of the time.

 MARRIAGE AND DEATH NOTICES FROM BAPTIST NEWSPAPERS OF SOUTH CAROLINA Volume 2 1866-1887, is available for $38. Notices were extracted from The South Carolina Baptist (1866-1868), The Working Christian (1869-1878) and the Baptist Courier(1878-1887). The notices contain valuable information from all over South Carolina and from other states where South Carolinian Baptists had moved.