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

RRB HAS RAILROAD WORKER RECORDS

 The Railroad Retirement Board, like the Social Security Administration, was established in the mid 1930's. The records it maintains deal primarily with the administration and payment of benefits to those workers who worked in the rail industry after 1936 and were covered by the Railroad Retirement Act. Since benefits began in 1937 the board does not have records prior to that year.

 The RRB will provide genealogical information from its records on people who are deceased. It will only release information on living persons with the consent of the concerned individual. The current non refundable search fee is $16 for each employee for whom records are requested. This fee will rise to $21 on October 21, 2000.

 To conduct a search the RRB will need the name of the employee, his social security number, date of birth and/or date of death. A check or money order should be included. The request should be sent to the Railroad Retirement Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, IL 60611-2092.

 The RRB only has records on persons who were working for a railroad after 1936. They will not have information on persons who worked on a casual basis or for short durations or who worked for employers who operated street, interurban or suburban railways. These people were not covered under the Railroad Retirement Act.

 The RRB website at http://www.rrb.gov and Cyndi's List of railroad resources at http://CyndisList.com have some excellent links and suggestions where to turn when one is searching for railroad employees who were not covered under the Railroad Retirement Act.

GENEALOGICAL COMPUTER CLASS

 Paula Perkins Parke will conduct two Organizing Your Ancestors with Family Tree Maker Software classes on Wednesday August 30. The first will be taught from 1 to 4 P.M. at Houston Community College's Missouri City campus at 1681 Cartwright. To register for this class, contact HCC at 281-835-5539.

 The second class will be held from 6:30 to 9:30 P.M. at Leisure Learning's 2990 Richmond Avenue campus. To register for this class, contact Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414.

 Using live demonstrations, both classes will give step by step instructions how to organize and document one's family information and sources. Other functions covered include creating charts and reports, use the searchable family surname index, view companion CD-ROMs and produce family books.

DESCENDANTS OF MEXICAN WAR VETERANS MEET

 The Descendants of Mexican War Veterans will hold their Annual Meeting at the University of Texas at Arlington Special Collections Library Parlor (UTA Main Library, 6th Floor) Saturday, September 16, from 9:30 A.M. to Noon.

 After the business meeting and guest lecture meeting attendees will tour the Jenkins Garrett Library. The library houses one of the best collections of  U.S.-Mexican War materials in the United States.

 Readers interested in learning more about the meeting or DMWV should contact the DMWV National Office P.O. Box 830482, Richardson, TX 75083-0482 or contact Virginia Simms Toney, the society's corresponding secretary at 281-493-6993 or by e-mail at GinToney@aol.com. The society maintains a website at http://member.aol.com/dmwv/home.htm

NEWS FROM THE BOOK SHELF

 Holly T. Hansen has published a very informative guide that will interest railroad aficionados. The Directory of North American Railroads, Associations, Societies, Archives, Libraries, Museums and Their Collections will help historians, genealogists and rail enthusiasts locate rail related entities. The directory offers direction in locating all types of records, artifacts and collections about currently operating and defunct railroad companies.

 The directory contains over 1600 listings of places and organizations of interest to rail enthusiasts. For each company or organization the directory includes:  the name and address; telephone and fax;  email and website address; newsletter or journal publication title; dates covered in collections and a brief description of each collection or service offered.

 To complement the directory, Hansen has published a booklet,  Researching Railroad Records: Asking the Right Questions and What to Expect. This small manual explains the nature of records maintained by rail companies and what one might expect to find in them.

 According to Hansen one searching for material on employees might check personnel folders, pension and benevolent funds records, U.S. Railroad Retirement Board records, divisional records, trade and historical journals and books and collections containing biographical information.

 The book and booklet are available for $32.90, postpaid, from HTHolly Research Services 1950 N. 6900 E. Croydon, UT 84018-9707.