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

QUERIES BRING REWARDS

 One of the most rewarding methods of receiving information about one's ancestry is writing inquiries to other researchers and leaving queries on websites such as the US GENWEB county websites.

 A great website to locate others interested in a particular family surname or locality is Rootsweb.com which can be found at http://lists.rootsweb.com. Once on this website one may subscribe to one of  20,179  free surname and locality mailing lists. To subscribe, locate a name or place of interest, click on the link and follow the instructions.

 To locate US GENWEB county websites go to http://www.usgenweb.org/. Click on "The Project's State Pages". Use the alphabetical state listing or the graphical US map. Click on the link to the state where an ancestor lived. Then, using the alphabetical county listing or the graphical map, click on the link to the county where an ancestor lived. Follow the link to the queries. Read the existing queries and answer queries when possible. Be sure to leave a query for others to read and answer.

 When answering or submitting a query, be sure to give the complete name, dates and places of an ancestor, the ancestor's spouse or their children.

FREE ACCESS TO ANCESTRY.COM DATABASES

 Ancestry.com is offering a great holiday gift. It is offering free access to all of its databases through December 21. Included in this offer is access to over 3,000 databases which will total over 1 billion records by the end of the year.

 Some of the more important and major databases on the website include "PERiodical Source Index (PERSI)," the Biography and Genealogical Master Index (BGMI), the American Genealogical-Biographical Index (AGBI), the 1890 Census Reconstruction Project, the Civil War Research Database, and Slave Narratives, just to name a few. It, also, includes access to all the United States census images posted to date. Ancestry.com is in the process of uploading all censuses 1790-1920 for all states. These census databases are expected to be completely uploaded by Spring 2001. To gain access to the databases, go to:

http://www.ancestry.com/home/celebrate/free access.htm?sourcecode=674 
CLASSES OFFERED IN HOUSTON

 The holiday season is a time when family members gather and discussions turn to deceased family members and long dead or unknown ancestors. Those who find a newly cultivated or continuing interest in discovering their ancestry should watch this column for information on upcoming classes and seminars sponsored by area colleges and churches.

 Offered by area instructors Trevia Wooster Beverly, Paula Perkins Parke, Emily Ann Croom  and Mic Barnette some of the course topics will include: Beginning and Intermediate classes, Searching Cemeteries and Tombstones, Writing and Publishing A Genealogy Book, Building a Great Home Genealogical Library, Immigration, Naturalization and Passenger Records, Military Records, Surfing the Internet for Genealogy and Organizing Your Research Using Family Tree Maker Software.

HELPER LISTS LIBRARIES

 The annual March-April issue of the Everton's Genealogical Helper contains a 2001 International Directory of Libraries. Librarians and patrons are requested to be sure their favorite library is included in the upcoming issue's data collection by updating or adding their favorite private, public, society or university library.

 A short informational data form is available for completion at Everton's website at http://www.everton.com/library/sub_lib1.htm. In addition to the physical location of the library, the website requests information concerning the type library, whether the collection contains a genealogy, history or special collections area and the size of the collection.

CD-ROM NEWS

 FormalSoft, Inc has released a CD-ROM that will be welcomed by anyone contemplating conducting a family reunion. Family Reunion Organizer is an easy to use program for organizing and managing a family reunion of any size. It includes information on how to get started, what to do during the initial planning stages and following through the post reunion accolades.

 Being very resourceful the program includes an address book, a checkbook program, an expense account manager, mailing list managers, a badge and certificate printing program, project manager and much more. The program is closely tied to the Family Reunion website at http://www.family-reunion.com where one will find a really useful website geared toward those involved in the family reunion process.

 Family Reunion Organizer is available for $32.95, postpaid, from  FormalSoft, Inc, P.O.Box 495, Springville, UT 84663. It is also down-loadable from the Family Reunion website mentioned above.

 Family Reunion Organizer requires a 486 PC, Windows 95, 98 or NT, 8 MB RAM and a 2X CD-ROM drive.%k