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

HURRICANE DEVESTATES GULF COAST 100 YEARS AGO

 This week marks the 100th sad anniversary of the hurricane that devastated the Texas Gulf Coast and demolished Galveston and a number of smaller neighboring coastal communities. It is said the storm killed 8 to 10,000 people. Of that number, the names of only about 6,000 can be identified.

 The Galveston County News website at http://www.1900storm.com has done a remarkable job honoring the victims of the 1900 storm. Among the many items on the website there is an interesting story about the 10 nuns and 90 orphans who perished in the St Mary's Orphans Asylum. There is, also, a gallery of photographs and film clips from motion pictures taken by one of Thomas Edison's assistants with one of only four newly invented moving picture cameras in existence in 1900.

 The Rosenberg Library's Galveston and Texas History Center is the nation's leading repository for manuscripts, photographs, oral histories and other documents related to the 1900 Galveston Storm. They maintain a website at http://www.rosenberg-library.org.

 The website contains an inventory of the library's  manuscript, oral history and photographic holdings. Included on the website are a number of online digitally reproduced photographs of bodies, churches, orphanages, public buildings, homes and apartments, schools, railroads, the harbors and businesses.

 The website also contains a database of those who perished in the storm. The database was created by Rosenberg Library archivist Shelly Henley Kelly

 On a benevolent note, the Wednesday October 10, 1900 edition of the Galveston Daily News published the names of thousands of people, churches, cities, companies and organizations who contributed over $781,000 to the Relief Fund for the City of Galveston through October 1, 1900.

 GENEALOGICAL CLASSES

 On Wednesday September 27 Houston Community College's 1681 Cartwright campus in Missouri City will feature Mic Barnette with a class, Surfing The Internet- For Genealogy. The class will consist 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.

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

FREE SEMINAR

 The Houston Texas East Stake Family History Center, will offer a free seminar from 8:30 A.M. to 4 P.M. Saturday September 30. Some of the classes being offered include: German Research for Beginners; Internet Research or Intermediates; Personal Ancestral File (PAF 4); How To Get Started for Beginners.

 Attendance is open to the public and pre-registration is required. For more information and to register, contact anitap@caldata.com or call 281-471-4291 or 713-740-9794 or 281-991-8479

SEARCH FOR DEAD IN 1900 STORM CONTINUES

 Mic Barnette and Paula Parke are continuing their quest to document the names and circumstances of those who died in the 1900 Hurricane. Anyone with information concerning those who died during or as a result of the 1900 Hurricane, in Galveston, or elsewhere, are invited to share their information. Contact Barnette and Parke at mic@barnettesbooks.com or at 1001 West Loop North, Houston, TX 77055.

BOCKSTRUCK SPEAKS IN DALLAS

 The Dallas Genealogical Society's 2000 Lecture Series will begin with an all day seminar featuring Lloyd Bockstruck on  Saturday September 30. His topics will include How to Find and Access The Records of Missouri and Arkansas.

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

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.

 Originally published in 1900 shortly after the storm and considered classics, both books are entirely different. They each tell the horror stories of the survivors in morbid detail and discuss the hurricane in it's entirety, from beginning to end. Paramount in each book are the stories of those who survived the storm and the 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.