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

COLUMBUS' BOOK IN LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

 The Manuscript Division of the nation's library, the Library of Congress, holds more than fifty million items in eleven thousand separate collections. Among these collections are some of the greatest treasures of American and world history, including a book compiled by the navigator, Christopher Columbus.

 On January 5, 1502, prior to his fourth and final voyage to the Americas, Columbus gathered several judges and notaries in his home in Sevilla to compile a book of authentic copies of original documents. The documents consisted of  titles, revenues, powers and privileges granted him and his descendants by Ferdinand and Isabella, the King and Queen of Spain.

 There were four copies of Columbus' Book of Privileges . Three copies were written on vellum and one on paper. The copy in the Library of Congress' collection is one of the vellum copies. It contains a unique paper copy of the Papal Bull Dudum siquidem of September 26, 1493 which extended Spain's claim for future exploration.

 The Library of Congress has a website where one may view digital photographs of Columbus' Book of Privileges and many more historical items. The site is located at http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trt029.ht ml

TEXAS NAVY WEBSITE

 Manned by Walter Nass, the Texas Navy maintains a scholarly educational and historically informative website at http://www.hal-pc.org/~longhorn. The site has histories of each of the Texas Navies and their ships, biographies of their Admirals, a comprehensive bibliography, pictures of the uniforms of her sailors and officers and links to  other sites associated with the Texas Navy.

 Texas history buffs who thrive on the important and trivial points of history will want to return to the website each month for a taste of history about the Texas Navy. Website historian Jonathan W. Jordan will be continually posting monthly chronological vignettes of historical events pertinent to the Texas Navies.

GENEALOGICAL CLASS

 Paula Parke will be teaching a Beginning Genealogical Class at Grace Presbyterian Church, 10221 Ella Lee near the Sam Houston Tollway. The three part class will be held on Wednesday, October 25 and Thursday November 2 from 2:30 P.M. to 5 P.M. The last class session will consist of a tour and hands-on census work at Clayton Library on Monday November 6.

 To enroll and to learn more about this class, contact Michelle Shultz at the Grace Presbyterian Education office 713-267-5020.

HGF FEATURES NEILL

 The Houston Genealogical Forum will host their Fall Seminar on Saturday October 28 from 8 A.M. to 4:30 P.M. at the Scottish Rite Temple, 2900 North Braeswood. The featured speaker will be internationally known genealogical instructor, lecturer and columnist Michael John Neill. His articles appear often in Ancestry Daily News, FGS FORUM, Heritage Quest, Family Tree Maker Online, Journal of Online Genealogy and others.

 Neill's topics will include Clues Contained in Probate Records; Post-Death Court Records Other Than Probate; and Searching and Making Effective Use of Probate Records.

 For more information and to register, contact the society at P.O.Box 271466, Houston, TX 77277-1466, call the informational Genealine at 713-827-4440 or email gayle.work@worldnet.att.net.

DGS FALL FESTIVAL

The Dallas Genealogical Society will hold their Annual Fall Festival of Genealogy on Saturday October 28. The festival will be held in the Dallas Convention Center, Bldg C, 650 Griffin Street from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Lectures by Barbara Bayiss, John Wylie, Pat Hatcher, Barbara Wylie, Don Rayney, Diana Pearson White, Patricia Haynes, Alvin E. Harper, Donald Peyton, Shirley Sloat, Kris Richins, Jeri Steele, Barnara Ware and William B Dow, Jr.

Topics will range from beginner to advanced research. Some of the topoics discussed will cover computers, writing, LDS Family Search, designing a webspage, obituaries, and genealogy on the Internet

For more information, contact DGS at P.O.Box 12446, Dallas, TX 75225-0446 or visit their website at http://www.dgsgenealogy.org

ARKANSAS GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY MEETS

 The Arkansas Genealogical Society will hold their Annual Fall Seminar on Friday and Saturday October 20-21 in Little Rock. The featured speaker on Saturday will be Desmond Allen. Speakers on Friday will consist of Russell Baker, David Burdick, Jan Eddleman, Ed Sanders and Linda Suffridge.

 For more information contact the society at P.O. Box 908 Hot Springs, AR 71902-0908, by email at AskAGS@att.net or visit their website at http://www.rootsweb.com/~args.

NEWS FROM THE BOOK SHELF

 In 1854 there were 189 Masonic lodges in Georgia. Mountain Press, P.O. Box 400, Signal Mountain, TN 37377-0400 has published the annual report consisting of a listing of all the masons and Masonic lodges in Georgia for that year. Grand Lodge of Georgia 1854 is available from the publisher for $28.50, postpaid.

 The book is a facsimile reprint of the original 1854 edition. It consists of a list of each lodge in the state including all the members of each lodge. For each lodge information is given on how many men were initiated, passed, raised and resigned. An interesting tidbit of information included is the amount of dues paid and the day of month, time and place where the lodge met.

 In addition to the foregoing, the editors have added an index of lodge names and their locations. They have, also, added an all name index to the Masonic members named in the book.

 Anyone with potential Georgia Masonic ancestry will wish to peruse this book.