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

KING OF SPAIN JOINS SAR

 The King of Spain, King Juan Carlos I of Spain, was inducted into the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution in February 2000. The King is a lineal descendant of Carlos III who was King of Spain and a very good friend of the Americans during the time of the American Revolution.

 SAR member Chuck Lampman of California has written an informative article in the Sons of the American Revolution Fall 2000 SAR Magazine. The article discusses the contributions of King Carlos III and his subjects in New Spain. New Spain at the time of the American Revolution included all lands west of the Mississippi River including New Orleans, the portion of Louisiana west of the Mississippi River, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

 The Spanish in the Americas were most helpful to the Americans in their quest to sever ties with Great Britain. They ran British blockades delivering badly needed gunpowder and military supplies to American ports on the Atlantic seaboard and up the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers as far north as Fort Pitt on the Pennsylvania frontier.

 After the Spanish entered the war in 1779 Governor Galvez of Louisiana defeated the British at their Mississippi Valley forts at Manchac, Baton Rouge and Natchez. With Spanish troops from Louisiana and Cuba, he later attacked and defeated the British at Mobile and Pensacola.

 In May 1782 Spanish Field Marshal Cagigal captured New Providence in the Bahamas. New Providence had been used as a base of operations by British privateers who, during the war, had captured 137 American, 1 Dutch, 24 French and 14 Spanish ships. In addition, the Spanish fought or kept the British at bay at Gibraltar, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Minorca and South America.

 Descendants of  King Carlos III's subjects may be eligible to join the Sons of the American Revolution or the National Society, Daughters of the American Revolution if they can prove one their ancestors served in the Spanish military or navy, supplied beef to Spanish troops fighting the British or paid a war tax levied on all  male Spaniards and Indians in New Spain.

FAMILY TREE MAKER SOFTWARE CLASS

 Paula Perkins Parke will teach an Organizing Your Family Research With Family Tree Maker Software class from 1 P.M. to 4 P.M. Wednesday January 24. This one-time class will be held at the Houston Community College campus at 1681 Cartwright in Missouri City.

 Through demonstrations, students will learn step by step instructions to organize and document family information and sources. For more information and to register, contact HCC at 281-835-5539.

LEARN ABOUT IMMIGRATION

 Covering time frames from the colonial era to the present Mic Barnette will lead a class discussing Immigration, Passenger and Naturalization Records for Historians and Genealogists. The class will be held at Leisure Learning's 2990 Richmond Avenue campus from 7 P.M. to 9 P.M. on Tuesday February 6. For more information and to register, contact Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414.

BUILD A HOME GENEALOGY LIBRARY

 Designed for the society librarian, the novice and the long-time genealogist Mic Barnette will discuss Building a Great Home Genealogy Library. The class will be taught at Leisure Learning's 2990 Richmond Avenue campus from 7 P.M. to 9 P.M. on Wednesday February 7. For more information and to register, contact Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414.

INTERMEDIATE GENEALOGY COURSE

 The Sam Houston State University Continuing Education Department will sponsor a six week Intermediate Genealogy course taught by Huntsville genealogical columnist, teacher and lecturer Johnnie Jo Dickenson. The class  will be held at the Huntsville Public Library each Thursday from 6 P.M. to 9 P.M. commencing  February 1. For more information and to register, contact 936-294-3701.

NEW FROM THE BOOKSHELF

 Houstonian Frank E. Chalfant, an avid collector of gaming chips, tokens and other collectibles, has published Galveston: Island of Chance. The book is available for $33.50, postpaid, from the publisher, Treasures of Nostalgia, 10035 Kemp Forrest Drive, Houston TX 77080-2601.

 The first chapter of the 179 page book contains an interesting and well researched history of the gambling industry in Galveston from about 1923 until the casinos were shut down in 1957. There are a number of photographs of many of the owners of the clubs and leading law enforcement officials involved in the closing of the establishments.

 The final two-thirds of the book contains an alphabetical listing, with location, of one hundred eighty three gambling establishments that operated in Galveston County and  thirteen around Houston and the state of Texas. For each establishment there are historical notes and black and white or color photographs of the buildings, the people who ran the clubs, gambling chips, match books, old advertisements, silverware and other gaming memorabilia.

 Readers interested in gaming history, particularly, that of Galveston and gaming memorabilia should place this book high on their wish list.