GENEALOGY FACULTY

TREVIA WOOSTER BEVERLY (treviawbeverlycomcast.net) has served as a member of the Angelina College genealogy faculty sine 1998, as well as assistant coordinator and program chairman. A native Texan, her interest in genealogy began with a ninth-grade English project. A member of the Association of Professional Genealogists she also maintains active membership in a number of archival, cemetery, historical, genealogical, library, lineage, and preservation organizations.

Currently a member of the annual Battle of San Jacinto Symposium, she is also serving her 15th year on the Harris County Historical Commission. Mrs. Beverly holds membership in the Country School Association of America, and is currently working with the Baytown Historical Preservation Association’s project of restoration and preservation of Harris County’s oldest known (1893), still existing one-room schoolhouse. 
 

Mrs. Beverly has conducted seminars and workshops throughout Texas and teaches genealogy classes in Houston. She is listed in several biographical publications, including Who's Who In Genealogy & Heraldry. Past president of the Texas State Genealogical Society (1984-1987), she co-founded the Houston Genealogical Institute (1979-1981) and served as host chairman for Clayton Library Friends for the 1994 National Genealogical Society Conference held in Houston.

Published in The French Genealogist, the CLF Newsletter, and other periodicals, Mrs. Beverly has also compiled a series of Texas cemetery directories, and published Suffer the Children: A History of the Confederate Orphanage at Baylands, Texas

VISITING FACULTY

BARBARA BRIXEY WYLIE (barbjohnwylie.com)is completing a term on the Association of Professional Genealogists’ Board of Directors and currently serves on its Chapter Review Committee as well as being Secretary of APG’s Lone Star Chapter. She also serves on the Speaker’s Bureau Committee of the Texas State Genealogical Society and as President of the Grand Prairie, Texas, Genealogical Society. Her speaking experience includes nearly 200 genealogical and historical organizations across the United States. Her audiences have been as varied as national, state, and regional conferences, programs for libraries, community college classes, local genealogical societies, and Boy Scouts earning the genealogy merit badge. The recipient of four Texas State Genealogical Society Writing Awards, her articles have been published in eight genealogical magazines, the Family Tree Maker website, numerous genealogical journals and for six years she and her husband, John, were Queries Consultants for Everton’s On-Line Service. In addition to researching clients’ ancestors, Barb does manuscript preparation, indexing and proofreading for colleagues and clients. Her special interest is gathering the details that turn ancestors into more than a mere name with birth and death dates.

JOHN VINCENT WYLIE (johnjohnwylie.com) a professional genealogist for nineteen years, is in his second term as national secretary of the Association of Professional Genealogists. He is past-president and current library liaison of the Grand Prairie Genealogical Society and has served the National Genealogical Society as a member of the GENTECH Advisory Committee since 2002. A founder of GENTECH, he served on the team that developed the Genealogical Data Model. He has authored articles in numerous publications including the Digital Genealogist, the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and Genealogical Computing. John has lectured at over a dozen national conferences and at a wide variety of local and regional seminars in 29 states. With Patricia Law Hatcher, he co-authored the NGS special publication, Indexing Family Histories. He also wrote the How to Cite Sources tutorial used on Ancestry.com for the past ten years. He was the 2004 recipient of the Lloyd Bockstruck Distinguished Service Award.

His published works include an article, “Trinity Methodist Church Records,” published in the October 2007 The Dallas Journal, and several books under the titles of Early Records of Crosby Land District, West Texas 1880–1915, Crosby County, Texas Deed Books I and II & Transcribed Deeds Crosby County, and Texas Probate Abstracts 1887–1910.

CORE FACULTY

TREVIA WOOSTER BEVERLY   See Genealogy Faculty, above.

EMILY CROOM, (unpuzzlingatt.net) a fifth-generation Texan, has been active in genealogy research since 1969. However, her interest in genealogy was first sparked by a seventh-grade field trip. She is a frequent lecturer for society meetings and seminars, has been on the Angelina College genealogy conference faculty since 1999, and spoke at the 2004 FGS national conference in Austin. A former public school teacher, Ms. Croom has taught genealogy for several continuing education facilities and conducted an online genealogy class for Barnes and Noble University, 2001-2006. She has two BA degrees (history and music) and an MA in history.

Ms. Croom is a member of several local, state, and national genealogical societies, including APG. Besides numerous published articles and several family histories, she is the author of 5 well-known books on genealogy: Unpuzzling Your Past (4th ed., 2001), widely used as a genealogy textbook; The Unpuzzling Your Past Workbook; The Sleuth Book for Genealogists (2000), focusing on problem-solving strategies; A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your African-American Ancestors, with co-author Franklin Smith (2002); and the enlarged edition of The Genealogist's Companion and Sourcebook (2nd ed., 2003). She is also a contributing author to The Desperate Genealogist’s Idea Book published to help support the www.Deadfred.com free on-line Genealogy Photo Archive. Ms. Croom is the wife of Robert T. Shelby. Visit her web site at Unpuzzling.com.

CHARLIE GARDES  (cgardesgmail.com) was born in New Orleans and reared in Houston, attending the St. John's School, The University of Texas, and The University of Houston. He began actively researching his family history in 1992, was an LDS Family History Center volunteer from 1994 through 2004, and has been an avid Internet user since 1995. As a member of the Houston Genealogical Forum from 1994 through 2003, he served on a variety of committees and in leadership positions and was the founding webmaster for the society. He is a past board member of the Clayton Library Friends in Houston as well as the United States Internet Genealogical Society.
     He has lectured to genealogy and lineage organizations in the Houston area, regionally, and at state conferences since 1998. Mr. Gardes has been a faculty member of the Angelina College Genealogy Conference since 2005 and has also served on various Internet-based mailing lists on the Roots-Web system in a mentoring capacity.

He is a contributing author to The Desperate Genealogist’s Idea Book published to help support the www.Deadfred.com free on-line Genealogy Photo Archive. Charlie's three-year search in finding and proving his German roots has been detailed as an immigration case study in Emily Croom's The Genealogist's Companion and Sourcebook (Betterway Books, 2nd ed., 2003). He has been a self-employed construction consultant and project manager in Houston since 1983 and was the project manager for the recently completed seven and one half million dollar Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research renovation begun in June 2007.

PAT GORDON (patgflash.net) holds a master's degree in journalism from Texas Christian University and is a former newspaper reporter who now teaches journalism at a Fort Worth area university.
      Grounded in a variety of family research techniques, she has developed an unrivalled skill in presenting the in's and out's, why's and how's of preparing, printing and publishing the dedicated researcher's family history. She is a freelance writer who is involved in working on her family history as well as a county history.
      As a fifth-generation Texan, she likes to place her ancestors in the social setting in which they lived. This often leads her research away from courthouses to newspapers and university archives. She served two terms as president of the Fort Worth Genealogical Society and one term as vice president and editor of the monthly newsletter. She has conducted numerous classes and sessions in various areas of family history and research and joined the Angelina College genealogy lecture staff in 2002.

KELVIN MEYERS (KLM4343yahoo.com) is a Contract Forensic Genealogist who, since 1996, works with attorneys, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services, and heir searching companies, locating unknown heirs to estates and oil and gas leases. Mr. Meyers was previously on staff with the Genealogy Department, History & Social Science Division, of the Dallas Public Library.

Graduated from Texas Tech University in 1984 with a BA in history, he has continued his studies at the Samford IGHR. In 1989 he completed the Advanced Methodology course and in 1990, the Advanced Library Research course.

He holds membership in several organizations, including the Association of Professional Genealogists, and is President of the Lone Star Chapter, APG; he is a Past President of the Dallas Genealogical Society.

His published works include an article, “Trinity Methodist Church Records,” published in the October 2007 The Dallas Journal, and several books under the titles of Early Records of Crosby Land District, West Texas 1880–1915, Crosby County, Texas Deed Books I and II & Transcribed Deeds Crosby County, and Texas Probate Abstracts 1887–1910.

DONALD RANEY (donraneytx.rr.com) is a sixth-generation Texan who has been an active genealogist for over 25 years. He has been a frequent speaker at many genealogical society meetings in East Texas, Houston and the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

On the national level, Mr. Raney has presented sessions at GENTECH, Federation of Genealogical Societies, and The Genealogical Institute of Texas. He is a life member of the San Jacinto Descendants and past director of GENTECH and the Dallas Genealogical Society's Computer Interest Group.

A registered professional engineer, Mr. Raney graduated from SMU with a BS in civil engineering and completed a long professional career with Lone Star Gas Company before retiring in 1997 as Chief Engineer. He is currently teaching beginning, intermediate and advanced genealogy courses at Richland College. Mr. Raney joined the Angelina College genealogy faculty in 2000.

JOHN A. SELLERS (sellersj1verizon.net) - Sabbatical Year - is a fifth-generation native to Hopkins County, Texas. He graduated from Texas Tech University, with a degree in advertising/public relations and received his teaching certificate in history from Texas A & M, University - Commerce. Mr. Sellers has been doing genealogical research since 1985. His favorite area of research is in the courthouse, and he has visited courthouses in several southern states, conducting extensive research in Texas and Louisiana. He was a speaker at the National Genealogical Society Conference in Houston in 1994 and Federation of Genealogical Society's National Conferences in 1997and 2004. He has been the featured speaker for over 40 all-day seminars in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Louisiana. He completed Samford University's Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research course on Advanced Methodology in 1995 and lectured there in 2009. John compiled an addendum to the 1850 Census of Hopkins County and is the author of a historical newspaper article called, "Hopkins County Remembered." John has been a faculty member for Angelina College Genealogy Conference since 1999. John is a loan officer with City National Bank of Sulphur Springs.

SCHEDULE

Thursday – Saturday, June 15-17, 2010

7:30 am – 8:30 am. Community Services Office

(see CS on the Angelina College Campus Map)

Pre-registered attendees who are attending a Thursday workshop
will also receive the syllabus notebook for Friday & Saturday.

OPTIONAL WORKSHOPS

FRIDAY & SATURDAY PRESENTATIONS

Trevia Wooster Beverly

F9: White Gold: Civil War Bread and Salt Lists. Prior to the war, significant amounts of salt were imported from Europe, but when the war started, the Union blockaded delivery of salt to the Confederate states, who were forced to seek alternate sources, including salt springs and mines of rock salt. Rationing of salt and other staples was to ensure fair distribution. These lists, created by the courts, are an excellent source of genealogical information.

S5: An Ounce of Preservation. We all have books, and do we ever have papers! Therefore we’re bound to have some problems. From photographs to old letters to maps to original documents and family heirlooms, we need to know what to do and how and when to prepare them so we can enjoy them for many years before they go to their final destination. You’ll learn about some unique products and sources to help you preserve your research and all those precious treasures – and where to find help when you need advice.

Emily Croom

F2: Splitting the Blanket: Divorce in America. For generations, couples in America have gone their separate ways, sometimes creating problems for their genealogists. Since no national law governs divorce, researchers are faced with the laws of each state and changes in the laws over time, from no divorce but legal separation to legislative divorce and ultimately to the broader laws and judicial process of today. This session illustrates changes in the laws and the process over time and will demonstrate the use of these records in genealogy.

F8: Don't Break a Leg Jumping to Conclusions. Genealogists sometimes research with pre-conceived ideas of what they expect to find or uncertain thoughts about what they have discovered. Some stop research before understanding what they have found and thus draw erroneous conclusions. How can we protect our research from ourselves and prevent inaccurate assumptions and premature conclusions?

F11: Picking the Lock: Opening Up Genealogical Possibilities. Rather than declare yourself facing a solid brick wall, think of your research dilemma as a locked door in the wall for which you need to find a way inside. This session will consider ways you might open the lock on the door in order to move your research forward.

S2: The Last Word, or Uncle Harry Made the Newspaper. Finally! Obituaries and brief newspaper death notices date back several centuries in America. Some provide more personal and genealogical information than others, but all can be useful. Whether on microfilm, in a family Bible or scrapbook, in a newspaper archive or online, these notices are valuable resources in genealogy. This session will consider how to locate and evaluate these notices.

Charlie Gardes

F3: Made in the USA - Beginning German Genealogy. Genealogists who discover they have German ancestors often try to “jump the pond” into foreign records far too quickly, and with not nearly enough information to perform a successful search. What those researchers neglect is that German research begins right here in American records. A researcher needs more than just a name and possible locality before delving into German records and this first of a two part lecture will show how to discover the types of information needed in U.S. records to "get off the beach" and into German records.

F6: From Apfel to Zeitung, Researching in Germany. Congratulations! You've discovered the place of origin of your Deutsch ancestors in American records. You're ready to get off the beach and cross the pond. Now what? This second of a two part lecture will show what types of records can be found in German archives, their availability, and what procedures need to be followed in order to access them. Contrary to some schools of thought, fluency in German is NOT required!

S9: When Johnny Came Marching Home. A follow-up lecture to "What Did You Do in the War, Great-Grandpa?," presented in previous years, this lecture continues that theme of tracing civilian ancestors in the Civil War South by focusing on records at the local level. Every state had similar records, and very different records. What had "Johnny's" family endured during the war? What happened to them? In some instances, where did they go?

S12: It's A Gusher!!  Black Gold, Texas Tea, Bubbling Crude are all monikers given to oil. This may not be "The Beverly Hillbillies," or "Spindletop," but  find out what happens to a deceased farmer's estate when oil is discovered before the estate is settled. Follow an actual probate case of heir verification requiring research back to reconstruction era complete with multiple wives, numerous children, some legitimate and some not, all with a common surname.

Kelvin Meyers
(also note Thursday all day class, above)

F12: Researching the Territorial Papers of the United States. The period following the war for independence witnessed one of history’s greatest periods of migration as a large percentage of both U. S. Citizens and foreign immigrants moved from the eastern seaboard to the territories beyond the mountains. One of the best resources for this period is The Territorial Papers of the United States, which provides extensive documentation of the territorial experience, as well as leads to additional records to be explored. This lecture will teach you how to find things in the papers themselves and how to investigate new avenues of research.

S11: A Dillar A Dollar A Ten O’clock Scholar, How To Use School Records To Find Ancestors and Lost Friends. This lecture looks at the records of public and private schools to give ideas and methodology to find ancestors, prove births and parents and to locate those lost friends and schoolmates.

Don Raney

F5: Writing Your Family History With Historical Context offers reasons for recording your family history and ways to start writing while you are researching. It is important to research the local and national history that your ancestors may have experienced so you can include historical context in your family history. To make your project appealing to readers, try to show that your ancestors were real people who faced real problems in their lives. The session includes questions you could address about the ancestral home environment, housing, occupation, geography, migration routes, military service, and religion. Answers to these questions might be found in records your ancestors created and in libraries, county histories, family histories, PERSI, and the Internet. Examples will demonstrate how the answers to these questions can make your family history more interesting.

S3: The Miller Family of Claiborne Parish, LA: How to Research a Common Surname. Miller is the 7th most common surname in the US and thus presents challenges typical of common-surname research. This session illustrates the growth of online resources for genealogy and the research techniques I used to identify the parents of my great-great-grandmother among the 22 Miller families in Claiborne Parish, Louisiana in the 1850 census. Online clues from land and census records, USGenWeb county sites, and advanced Google searches led from Claiborne Parish back to Warren County, Kentucky, to Pendleton District, South Carolina, where the Miller family settled about1780.

S6: Wills and the Probate Process. In Texas and some other states, whether your ancestor died testate (with a will) or intestate (without a will), the probate court assigned an identifying number to the estate and created a probate packet for the court. The probate packet usually contains the will, inventory of the estate, list of beneficiaries, and other documents created in the probate process. Begin your search for probate records in the county where your ancestor died and may have owned property. Older probate records in some counties have been abstracted and published. The best sources for such abstracts are libraries, individual county pages on USGenWeb, the Family History Library online catalog, PERSI (Periodical Source Index), and online card catalogs for the appropriate state libraries.

S8: Martin Varner, Texas Pioneer: 1785-1844. Martin Varner traveled by flatboat down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Arkansas Territory in 1815. He married Elizabeth Inglish in 1818 and settled in what is now Oklahoma near the Kiamichi River. Soldiers from Fort Smith evicted 200 settlers, including the Varners, from Indian Territory in the fall of 1819. In October 1821, Varner and a caravan of settlers from Jonesboro traveled to Washington on the Brazos where they joined Stephen F. Austin to become members of “The Old Three Hundred” in Austin’s Colony. Martin moved to his league at West Columbia, Brazoria County, Texas in 1824. He and Israel Waters established the first distillery in Austin’s colony. They sent a sample bottle of rum to Austin and he thanked them for providing a new source of revenue for the colony. Varner participated in the Battle of Velasco on 26 June 1832. He joined the Texas army at Harrisburg on 19 April 1836 and was assigned to the rear guard during the Battle of San Jacinto. Varner traveled to Lamar County and settled east of Fort Lyday, then moved to Wood County in 1840. Martin and his only son, Stephen Austin Varner, were killed in an altercation with a neighbor in 1844.

Barbara Brixey Wiley

F4: Researching Methodist Records: We're Not Called METHODists for Nothing!  Methodist records are better than those of many mainstream Protestant denominations. Learn what records are kept, where to find them, how to access them, and how to decipher the unique terminology used in these records.

F10: Rats in the Family Tree. Every family has a few shady characters, the kind who get hauled into court, chased out of town, thrown out of church and written about in the newspaper. Use the trail these rats leave to gather information about them and your more respectable ancestors as well.

S1: Ya Gotta Know the Territory! A careful study of our ancestor's geographic surroundings, available travel routes and the issues of his day help us learn what influenced his decisions and where we should look next. New resources (both no-tech and high-tech) become available daily so this presentation is constantly being updated.

S7: Lost in the Census. Learn how to search more effectively using indexes, search engines, and plain old common sense to find that ancestor who is lost in the census.

John Wylie

F1: A Systematic Approach to Evidence. The presentation introduces improved and now widely accepted concepts for analyzing evidence by the serious genealogist. Learn why determining primary and secondary sources isn’t as effective as understanding primary and secondary information. Using “cheat sheets” to help think in terms of direct versus indirect evidence and original versus derivative sources, this talk is based on material in Mill's Evidence Explained and other readings. An extensive handout and worksheets are included.

F7: Texshare--Finding Your People at This Productive Site. Texshare is a wonderful and free tool provided by the Texas State Library to most Texas libraries. While Texshare provides dozens of "pay” databases for free, the one of broadest utility for genealogists is Heritage Quest. This talk demonstrates techniques for using Heritage Quest to solve genealogical problems. The presentation will include a live demonstration of Texshare.

S4: What the Pros Know – Tips from 20 Years Working on Other People’s Lines. This talk is a collection of tips and tricks that the speaker has learned in many years of full-time researching. Some save time while others save frustration. Many relate to finding lost or obscure records, but most show how to glean more from the records we frequently encounter. Most tips include real-world examples. As time allows the Q&A session will provide a few pre-selected attendees a chance to ask for help with their own brick wall.

S10: A Pig In a Poke -- Misleading, Misunderstood and Misused Resources. I found her! ...but is the source correct? Information can be accurate, helpful, misleading, false, or impossible to evaluate, often at the same time. Knowing how to practice healthy skepticism, especially when using the Internet, can save time and trouble. Using examples, we'll learn how to glean the gold from the glitter and why we should use surety descriptors when recording and reporting our conclusions.

Friday & Saturday ‘Regular’ Conference: Full Syllabus, two lunches, and Friday evening dinner. Pre-Registration Advised; $165 by June 10th, $180 June 11th – July 1st, $195 After July 1st.

Sessions & Times

Exhibitors & Vendors

Exhibits and vendors will be available in Hudgins Hall (HH) from Thursday noon, all day Friday and on Saturday until 2 pm. An excellent opportunity to purchase for your personal library or your public library's genealogy collection.

3rd Coast Mercantile - Vintage Post Cards
Houston, Texas

Books & Things
Bob Gordon
Fort Worth, Texas 

Emily Croom
Books for Unpuzzling Family History

Ericson Books
Specializing in East Texas
History and Genealogy
Nacogdoches, Texas

Tejas Publications & Research
Texas Cemetery Directories
Trevia Wooster Beverly
Houston, Texas

PRE OR POST CONFERENCE
EAST TEXAS RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES

Angelina College Library. Click on LIBRARY during the Virtual Tour, or go direct to http://www.angelina.edu/library/index.html for related information. Open Thursday for summer school; unavailable for Friday & Saturday conference. Under Genealogy there are some forty items; under Local History there are thirty-one additional, related titles. Enter specific titles, authors, or topics and you'll come up with many more related items. NOTE: The College Bookstore is in the Student Center and is open on Monday through Thursday, closed Friday and Saturday.

Kurth Memorial Library, John Wilkins Genealogy Collection, Ora McMullen Room, located at 706 South Raguet Street, Lufkin, Texas 75901. Phone: 936-630-0560 http://www.kurthmemoriallibrary.com/

The History Center. A 12,000 square foot history and archives center with books, maps, manuscripts, newspapers, photographs, etc. of East Texas. 102 North Temple Drive, Diboll, Texas 75941. 936-829-3543 (10 minutes; 1.4 miles)  http://www.thehistorycenteronline.com/publications.php

Museum of East Texas. Fine Art, Regional History, Archaeological Artifacts, and Local and Pioneer History Exhibits. 503 North Second, Lufkin, Texas 75901. phone: 936-639-4434  http://metlufkin.org/home.html

Stephen F. Austin State University: East Texas Research Center, 2nd floor Steen Memorial Library, Nacogdoches, Texas 75962. Open Monday-Friday 8 am - 5 pm; Saturday 10am-6pm. Phone: 936-468-4100. http://libweb.sfasu.edu/

Texas Forestry Museum Exhibits: Local and Pioneer History, Natural History, Historic Site and Building, Research Library and Archives. 1905 Atkinson Dr, PO Box 1488, Lufkin, Texas 75002. phone: 936.632-9535 http://www.treetexas.com/

For related information, visit the following East Texas websites:

Angelina County TXGenWeb http://www.angelinacountygenealogy.com/

Angelina County Genealogy Society: http://www.rootsweb.com/~txacgs/

East Texas Genealogical Society: http://www.rootsweb.com/~txetgs/

Kindred Trails: http://www.kindredtrails.com/TX_Angelina.html

Van Zandt County Genealogical Society: http://www.rootsweb.com/~txvzcgs/vzgs.htm

Texas Historical Commission: http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/
(Choose atlas, then select Angelina County and find over 60 Texas historical markers, over 100 cemetery listings, 41 national register sites, 178 sawmills, and 2 museums listed. The same type of information is given for all Texas counties.)

Accommodations and Other Local Information

Lodging nearest the college consists of the Comfort Suites, Hampton Inn, Quality Inn, and Holiday Express complex. For complete listing of area lodging, and contact information here http://visitlufkin.com/Stay/?action=where.

Discounts vary from senior citizens to military - ask! And let them know you are in Lufkin for the conference. Make your reservations early!

For a list of campgrounds and other recreational opportunities in and near Lufkin, please visit http://www.hikercentral.com/metros/31260.html.

Lufkin Chamber of Commerce: http://www.lufkintexas.org/

Lufkin Convention & Visitors Bureau: http://visitlufkin.com/

Angelina County Farmers Market. Hwy 69 & Loop 287 South (2107 South Medford Drive, 75901). Open 8-6, 7 days, March through December. Call 936-634-6655 for more information.

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Lydia Jordan ljordanangelina.edu
Small Business Development Center 936-633-5400
Monday – Thursday

College bookstore & library
College is closed for summer classes on Fridays.

Pre-registration before June 10th ensures your syllabus is ready on arrival.
They are prepared offsite two weeks before the Conference.
Register early and don’t wait. Onsite printing may take up to a full day and carries a $15 surcharge; syllabus for optional sessions will not be available.

For Registration Fees, refer to the Registration Form:

Regular Conference is Friday & Saturday.
Optional workshops offered on Thursday and Saturday
All include specific class syllabus, daily lunch, and Friday evening dinner.
Optional Dutch-treat dinner with the speakers is offered for Thursday workshop attendees. Place to be announced.

All Door Registrations will be $15 extra for onsite last minute syllabus printing.
Not available for Thursday & Saturday optional sessions that require pre-registration.

Join us for our 14th year – meet old friends and make new ones.

Printable Registration Form