Beyond the Bytes, October 22, 2014

October 22, 2014

Helping genealogists …

Pull together a family reunion
In the fall of 2012, I discovered the Portal to Texas History at the TSGS state conference. I did a search on my grandmother’s family (Seeberger) and really hit big with the Schulenburg Sticker. I think I’m ultimately related to 30% of the families there at the turn of the 20th century. Over the last 20 years, my cousin Gus Seeberger and I kept thinking it would be nice to have a reunion but we really didn’t know any other Seeberger’s. Once I found so much on the family in the Schulenburg newspaper I had the keys for locating descendants. In about 8 months I had put together a list of over 100 descendants, and in November of 2013 my cousin and I held a reunion of Seeberger descendants with over 70 in attendance. We even had cousins from Alaska! This was a minor miracle as the last reunion of this family anyone could remember was more than 50 years ago.I also discovered that every Seeberger in the city of Houston is related but most didn’t know it. For the reunion I used the many of the newspaper items (social mentions, births, deaths, marriage announcements and family business ads) and some things from city directories and yearbooks in a Power Point presentation that was on a loop people could watch as they were arriving. The ‘clippings’ were a big hit!– Sheri Tiner

Recently added collections …

North Texas History Harvest
The North Texas History Harvest was a collaborative effort between the Denton County Office of History and Culture, the University of North Texas, and the residents of Denton County to build a digital museum of county history. Members of the community were invited to share their family photographs and documents that they felt had historical value. Each item was scanned or photographed by a team of museum officials and volunteers and then returned to its owner. The digitized images were added to the Portal to Texas History to be freely available to everyone. The collection spans a century of history and includes a variety of photographs of groups, residents, and places in Denton County from all walks of life.

The Albany News
The Albany News, located in the small West Texas town of Albany in Shackelford County, was established as the Frontier Echo in Jacksboro (Young County) in 1875 by H.H. McConnell. Captain George W. Robson bought the Echo in 1878 and relocated to Fort Griffin in nearby Shackelford County. Griffin was a rowdy, bustling settlement that grew up around a military fort established in 1867, attracting buffalo hide hunters and cattlemen driving herds up the Western Cattle Trail. Just a few years later, Robson moved again when the more sedate town of Albany became the county seat of Shackelford County, and the Fort Griffin Echo became the Albany Echo. … (more)

The Greensheet
Helen Gordon began publishing the Greensheet in a small office at Kirby and the Southwest Freeway in Houston in 1970. Printing classified and business ads for local buyers, sellers, and businesses, Gordon grew the paper and opened an office in Dallas in 1977 and one in Austin in 1978 in spite of strong resistance from Texas’ male-dominated business networks. The Greensheet is a family-owned business and is known for its non-profit endeavors such as The Greensheet Education Foundation (more)

Dallas County Probate Records
Presented by the Dallas Genealogical Society, the Dallas County Probate Records Collection features records from cases that occurred between 1846 through the early 1900’s. The cases in this collection included both guardianship, involving children or others who were unable to manage their own affairs, and lunacy, involving people who were mentally incompetent due to insanity or senility.

The paper records were transferred to microfilm by a group of volunteers with the Dallas Genealogical Society in 1977. The records contain the names of family members, birth dates, residences, estate inventories, land records, and relationships, information that is essential to genealogists and other researchers.

An investment in The Portal to Texas History is an investment in the future of Texas. Please support the Portal and its 280 partners as we bring Texas history and culture to the world.

from the UNT Digital Library

Save the Date! On November 6, 2014, the UNT Libraries and The Portal to Texas History will be celebrating a major milestone with 2.5 million newspaper pagesavailable online through the Portal. Please plan on joining our celebration in Denton:When: November 6, 2014, 3:00 – 4:30 pm.
Where: The Forum in Willis Library
1506 Highland St, Denton, Texas