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

ROOTSWEB.COM PURCHASED

  Rootsweb.com, home of several important databases featured in this column in the past several weeks, has been purchased by MyFamily.com for an undisclosed amount.

 Rootsweb.com, the oldest and largest free community website on the Internet began in 1993 as the  Rootsweb Surname List. While remaining free to her users, Rootsweb had reported poor finances and had begun to seek financial aid from advertising and contributors.

 MyFamily.com, a part of the Ancestry.Com family has been a part of the genealogical community for over 17 years. It has published books, CD-ROMS and currently offers over 600 million records in 2,500 online databases.

 MyFamily.com has vowed to support the major projects now sponsored by Rootsweb.com including the US GENEWB Project , the Obituary Project, the Immigrant Ship Transcribers Guild, the Free Birth, Death, Marriage Projects , the California and Texas Vital Records Indexes and over 19,000 surname mailing lists . To read the complete press release go to http://rootsweb.com/rootsweb/merge.html

FHL REORGANIZED

 On June 1 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints reorganized their administrative structure. The Family History Library and all its branch Family History Centers have merged with the Church Historical Department. No immediate changes in the operation of the FHL or FHCs have been stated.

 MILITARY RECORDS SYMPOSIUM

 The Dallas Genealogical Society Summer Institute will be held at the Ramada Plaza Hotel 1011 South Akard Street in Dallas Thursday through Sunday, July 20-July 23. The featured presenters,  Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck and Dr. George K. Schweitzer,  will speak about all aspects of Military records from the Colonial wars through the 20th Century.

 For a registration form call 214-324-2928 or visit the DGS website at http://www.dallasgenealogy.org

GENEALOGY CONFERENCE

 Angelina College will host their fourth Angelina College Genealogy Conference July 27-29. The conference will feature three tracks of instruction;  Internet and Computer Research, General Research Problems and Civil War Research.

 Instructors will include Houstonians, Trevia Wooster Beverly and Emily Croom, plus Marynell Anderson Bryant, Dick Dixon, Peggy Barnes Fox, Kenneth W. Jones, Donald R. Raney, Allen Richman, John A. Sellers, Michael John Neill and Grace Ann Wilson. 

 For more information, call 409-633-5206, email fkanke@angelina.cc.tx.us or visit the Angelina College website at http://www.angelina.cc.tx.us

GENEALOGICAL CLASSES

 On Wednesday July 12 Houston Community College's 1681 Cartwright campus in Missouri City will host Mic Barnette for a class on Surfing The Internet- For Genealogy. The class consists of a live tour of some of the best genealogical websites on the Internet. The class will be held from 1 P.M. to 4 P.M. For more information and to enroll contact HCC at 281-835-5539.

 Mic Barnette will offer a new class through Leisure Learning. American Military Records for Historians and Genealogists will be held at Leisure Learning's 2990 Richmond Avenue campus from 7 to 9 P.M. Wednesday July 12.

 This exciting class will examine the availability and information contained in military service records, pension applications and bounty land records for all American wars since the colonial era. A discussion on the types of information and proof required by lineage and hereditary societies, such as the DAR and SAR, will be included in the dialogue.

 For more information and to register, contact Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414

NEWS FROM THE BOOKSHELF

 Members or those interested in joining the Sons of the American Revolution or the Daughters of the American Revolution will be interested in two CD-ROMS published for the SAR.

 The SAR Patriot Index ($39.95) and the SAR Revolutionary War Graves Register ($29.95) may be ordered from Progeny Publishing, Olympic Tower, Suite 200, 300 Pearl Street, Buffalo, NY 14202. Please include postage of $5.

 The lineage linked database of Patriots and their descendants contains over 470,000 records of patriots who served the American cause during the American Revolution. Information for this database is ongoing. The present CD-ROM includes information from applications dating from 1880 to 1973 and from March 1997 to December 1997. Information from 1974 to 1997 will be included in future releases.

 The Graves Register contains the burial locations of many soldiers and patriots who served the United States during the American Revolutionary War. Included are many Lady Patriots, Black, Jewish, German, Polish and French patriots and soldiers. Of special note are more than one thousand soldiers who died in Valley Forge during the winter of 1777-1778 and numerous American and French navy personnel who perished at sea.