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

PRESIDENTS' DAY CELEBRATED

  Until 1971 both February 12 and February 22 were observed as federal public holidays. February 12 honored the birthday of Abraham Lincoln and February 22 honored the birthday of George Washington.

 In 1971 President Richard Nixon proclaimed one single federal public holiday, the third Monday in February, to honor all presidents of the United States.

WASHINGTON FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT?

 During the fifteen years the Continental Congress and the Confederation Congress operated there was a duly elected president who was considered the chief executive officer and the head of state. The United States had functioning governments as early as September 5, 1774 and as a confederated nation as early as July 4, 1776. George Washington, therefore,  was the fifteenth US President, not the first, as we were taught in school.

 Some of the Presidents who preceded George Washington are well known to Americans today. The names of others are hardy recognizable. Peyton Randolph of Virginia (1723-1775) served as Continental Congress President twice. He served from September 5 to October 21, 1774 and from May 10 to May 23, 1775.

 Henry Middleton (1717-1784) of South Carolina served as President of the Continental Congress from October 22, 1774 until Randolph resumed his Presidency on May 10, 1775.

 John Hancock (1737-1793) of Massachusetts served as President of the Continental Congress from May 24, 1775 to October 30, 1777 and from November 23, 1785 to June 5, 1786. As President of the Continental Congress, Hancock was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence. He is known for his flamboyant signature on the Declaration of Independence.

 Henry Laurens of South Carolina (1724-1792) served from November 1, 1777 until December 9, 1778. After his presidency, on his way to the Netherlands as Ambassador he was captured by the British and held in the Tower of London. He, thus was the only President held as a prisoner of War.

 John Jay (1745-1829) of New York served as President of the Continental Congress from December 10, 1778 to September 27, 1779.

   The remaining Presidents were Samuel Huntington (1732-1796) of Connecticut; Thomas McKean (1734-1817) of Delaware; John Hanson (1715-1783) of  Maryland; Elias Boudinot (1741-1802) of New Jersey; Thomas Mifflin (1744-1800) of Pennsylvania; Richard Henry Lee (1732-1794) of Virginia; Nathaniel Gorham (1738-1796) of Massachusetts; Arthur St. Clair (1734-1818) who was born in Scotland and the only foreign born President; and Cyrus Griffin (1736-1796) of Virginia.

 GENEALOGICAL CLASSES

 Mic Barnette will offer a course on conducting genealogical research on the Internet. Surfing The Internet-For Genealogy will look at some of the many fantastic websites on the Internet where genealogical information can be found. The class will be held from 1 p.m. to 4pm on Wednesday February 23 in the computer lab at the Houston Community College's campus at 1681 Cartwright in Missouri City. For more information and to register, contact HCC at 281-835-5539.

 Offered by Leisure Learning, Mic Barnette will teach an introductory course in family history. Roots of Genealogy-How To Research Your Family Tree will be held from 7pm to 10pm on Wednesday March 1 at Leisure Learning's 2990 Richmond Ave campus. The following week the class will tour Clayton Genealogical Library and conduct on site research. For more information and to register, contact Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414.

GENEALOGICAL SEMINAR

 Richard Hooverson will be the featured speaker at the Hays County Genealogical Society's Spring Seminar in San Marcos. The seminar will be held on Saturday March 4 at the First Lutheran Church from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, contact Pay Young at 512-353-5823 or by email at spyoung@thrifty.net.

NEWS FROM THE BOOKSHELF

 Published by Millisecond Publishing Company, PRESIDENTIAL FAMILY FOREST CD is an extremely interconnected database to the family ties of the Presidents of the United States and their wives. The CD uses Progeny's Family Explorer software as a search engine.

 When designing this software, the publishers began inputting genealogical information on each of the American Presidents, Vice Presidents and each of their wives. They then added ancestors and descendants of each. They continued by adding thousands of additional records for persons who were related to the others by either birth or marriage.

 The end result is a database with source cited information on thousands of persons who were interrelated in some manner to a US President or Vice President or one of their wives. Many of the lineages link to European royal families, some of whom extend back to the Middle Ages. It is likely most Americans somehow interrelate to one or many of the Presidents and early European royals.

  The CD will print genealogical reports in register and other report formats. It will, also, print fan charts, pedigree charts and family group sheets. It requires a 486CPU with 8 MB hard drive space and Windows 95, 98, or NT. It is available for $36.95, postpaid, from the Millisecond Publishing Co website at http://www.familyforest.com or by calling 1-888-638-0333.