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

MEXICAN AND TEXAS INDEPENDENCE DAY

 Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla's Sunday morning service of September 16, 1810 offered a powerful message. It was so powerful it rallied the Indians, peasant farmers and crillos ( people of Spanish descent born in Mexico) of the Mexican village of Dolores to rise up against the governing gachupines (the ruling class born in Spain) and a revolution was born.

 Father Hidalgo's El Grito de Dolores (Cry of Independence), as it is known in Mexico, is considered the beginning of the Revolution that eventually gained Mexico, and incidentally, Texas, her independence from Spain. That independence was not attained until August 1821 when the Treaty of  Cordova was signed by Don Juan O'Donnoju, Lieutenant-General of the Armies of Spain and Don Augustin de Iturbide, First Chief of the Imperial Mexican Army of the Three Guarantees.

 After his Grito, Father Hidalgo lead his followers twenty miles to San Miguel El Grande, now San Miguel de Allende, where they joined the forces of Crillo military General Ignacio Allende. As they marched onward to the city of Guanajuato their forces swelled from 1000 to over 80,000.

 Father Hidalgo never lived to see Independence. He and three other revolutionary leaders were executed in 1811. For ten years their heads hung in public view encased in metal cages intended to discourage others from actions against the Royal Government.

HISPANIC GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY

 Readers interested in their Hispanic ancestry may wish to contact the Hispanic Genealogy Society of Houston. They meet the third Wednesday of each month at Loma Linda Restaurant on Telephone Road at 6:30 P.M.

Their address is P.O.Box 231271, Houston, TX 77223 and maintain an informative website at http://www.hispanicgs.com.

GENEALOGICAL CLASSES

 On Wednesday September 27 Houston Community College's 1681 Cartwright campus in Missouri City will feature Mic Barnette with a Surfing The Internet- For Genealogy class. The class will consist of a live tour of some of the best genealogical research 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.

PROBATE CLASS

 Mic Barnette will offer a new class, Understanding Wills, Probates and Guardianships for Historians and Genealogists. The class will be held at Leisure Learning's 2990 Richmond Avenue campus from 7 to 9 P.M. Thursday September 28.

 This exciting class will examine the intricacies of the American probate system. It will offer ideas how to find out more on the widow, children and possessions of an ancestor whether the ancestor died with or without a Will.

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

GENEALOGICAL COMPUTER CLASS

 Paula Perkins Parke will conduct an Organizing Your Ancestors with Family Tree Maker Software class on Wednesday October 4 from 1 P.M. to 4 P.M. The class will be held at Houston Community College's 1681 Cartwright campus.

 Using live demonstrations, step by step instructions are given to organize and document one's family information and sources. Other functions covered include creating charts and reports, use the searchable family surname index, view companion CD-ROMs and produce family books.

 For more information and to register, contact HCC at 281-835-5539.

CENSUS CLASS

 Mic Barnette will conduct a class on the use and interpretation of the United States censuses, 1790-1920. Census Records for Historians and Genealogists will examine each of the various types of census schedules including: the Free; Slave; Agricultural; Manufacturing; Mortality: Industrial; DDD's; Soundex and others.

 The class will be offered at Leisure Learning's 2990 Richmond campus on Wednesday, October 4 from 7 P.M. to 10 P.M. For more information and to register, contact Leisure Learning at 713-529-4414

BOCKSTRUCK SPEAKS IN DALLAS

 The Dallas Genealogical Society's 2000 Lecture Series will begin with an all day Missouri and Arkansas seminar featuring Lloyd Bockstruck on  Saturday September 30.

 For more information visit the DGS website at write DGS 2000-2001 Lecture Series, P.O. Box 12446 Dallas, TX 75225-0446 or visit their website at http://www.dallasgenealogy.org

  NEWS FROM THE BOOKSHELF

 Pelican Publishing Company has reprinted two important books about the hurricane that demolished Galveston in 1900.  The Story of the 1900 Galveston Hurricane was edited by Nathan C. Green and sells for $22.00. The Great Galveston Disaster by Paul Lester sells for $17.95. Postage for each book is $2.75 and $.60 for each additional copy ordered.

 Originally published in 1900 shortly after the storm and considered classics, both books are entirely different. Each book discusses the hurricane in it's entirety, from beginning to end. Paramount in each book are the horror stories of those who survived the storm and the morbid stories of those who did not. They, also, tell the sad story of the aftermath and clean-up of the city after the storm was over.