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

AFRICAN AMERICANS FOUGHT WITH BRITISH

 In 1775 Lord Dunmore, Royal Governor of Virginia,  offered freedom to slaves who escaped their masters and served with the British against the American rebels. As the war went on, other British generals made the same appeal. As a result, thousands of slaves escaped to the British. Many of the male escapees served in the military, such as the Ethiopian Brigade,  while others, including women and children served in support capacities mainly following the troops and in the civilian sector.

 Many of the former slaves escaped to British protection when British forces were near the plantations where they lived. Many of these people later  moved to cities under British control, such as Savannah, Charlestowne and New York City.

 When the British evacuated the United States they took many of the former slaves with them. They were transported, as were the white loyalists,  to colonies throughout the British colonial empire. They went to the Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, England, Europe and even to Africa.

BLACK LOYALISTS SOCIETY

 The Black Loyalists Society of Nova Scotia maintains a website at http://blackloyalist.com/ The site explains the history of Black loyalists who settled in Nova Scotia at the end of the American Revolution.

SAGHS FIRST FAMILIES PROJECT

 Prior to the 1850 Bexar County included many Texas counties as far west as El Paso. The San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society is offering a First Families of Bexar County certificate to descendants of those who lived in Bexar County prior to August 1, 1850, the date of the 1850 Federal Census.

 Those wishing to receive a Bexar County First Families certificate must apply by documented application. To receive the application and  information packet send a self addressed stamped (55 cent stamp) envelope to the society at: SAGHS P.O. Box 17461, San Antonio, TX 78217-0461.

GENEALOGICAL SEMINAR

 Mic Barnette will address the San Antonio Genealogical and Historical Society at 10 a.m., Saturday February 19, 2000 at the Family History Center on Windcrest at the corner of Crestway and Midcrown. Barnette's topic will be the 1867 Voter's Lists of the South.

 The society meets the third Saturday of each month except July, August, November and December. The society operates an excellent private library on Isom Road in North San Antonio. For more information, contact the society at 210-342-5242 or by email at saghs@texas.net

CALL FOR LECTURES

 GenTech has issued a call for lectures for the 2001 conference which will be held in Mesquite, Texas February 2-3, 2001. The theme of the  conference is Union and Reunion. In essence, the conference theme signifies the union of technology with family history and families. The deadline for proposals is February 22.

 Submit proposals by email to program01@gentech.org. For more information on the conference and  lecture proposals, visit the GenTech website at http://gentech.org/.

FILBY OUTSTANDING LIBRARIAN

 The National Genealogical Society and Scholarly Resources Publishing Company annually present a $1,000 award to an outstanding genealogical librarian. The deadline for this year is March 1, 2000.

 For more information on the contest and how to nominate a deserving librarian, visit the NGS website at; http://www.ngsgenealogy.org or write the National Genealogical Society, 4527 Seventeenth Street North, Arlington, VA 22207-2399.

NEWS FROM THE BOOK SHELF

 Graham Russell Hodges has published an important contribution to African American research.  THE BLACK LOYALIST DIRECTORY: African Americans in Exile After the American Revolution is the name list of 3,000 Black Americans who joined with the British during the Revolutionary War and went to Nova Scotia to make a new life after the war. While the blacks who went to Nova Scotia departed from New York, they were from every North American colony, particularly, those of the South.

 The directory has been published and is available for $37, plus shipping, from The New England Genealogical and Historical Society, 101 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116-3007.

 The book includes an in-depth historical introduction explaining how and from where in the United States the Black Loyalists were recruited. The list includes the name of each Black Loyalist, their age, sex, master's name, town of origin and general physical description. It, also, lists the name and destination of the ship on which they sailed.