Welcome to the Texas - Reference Books

Abstracts of Selected Rains County, Texas, Newspapers, 1890-1939 - Elaine Nall Bay. The surnames listed in this collection represent people from a variety of locations in Rains Co., TX, and the US. Seven different newspapers are abstracted in this work; each newspaper's abstracts are presented in chronological order. These abstracts include births, deaths, crimes, business openings, local elections and more. The anniversary editions include valuable biographical sketches of Rains County citizens who moved to the area during the infancy of the county. 1999, 126 pp., fullname index, $15.50 #B092

Kerrville Mountain Sun and Kerrville Advance Obituary and Death Notice Index, 1898-1965 - Gloria Clifton Dozier. Kerrville, Texas, lies about 60 miles northwest of San Antonio, in Kerr County, which was known as a health resort to which people traveled from all over the country. This book presents in the form of an index obituary information for nearly 10,000 people in the Kerrville area. In each case, the index presents the person's full name, date of death and source reference (typically a page number and a film number). Obituaries for the years 1898-1929 were drawn from the Kerrville Mountain Sun and The Kerrville Advance. The Advance went out of business by 1914, leaving the Mountain Sun as the only local paper for a number of years. The book is organized chronologically by years and alphabetically within years. By presenting the material in index form, rather than including the entire obituary, the book is able to fit the basic information for a large number of names in one handy volume. 1998, 245 pp., paper, $20.50 #ZD593

Kerr County, Texas Birth Records - Gloria Clifton Dozier. This book presents birth records from the area around the city of Kerrville, about sixty miles northwest of San Antonio, Texas, for years between 1903 and 1935. There are also a few "delayed" records from the late 1870s up to 1903.
Kerr County was known to be a health resort and people came from all over the country to try to overcome their illnesses. Texas did not start keeping birth records until 1903, and birth records in the last 50 years could not be copied into this book. The city of Kerrville kept a record of children born in the city from 1917 through 1928. In the early part of this century many births in Texas were not recorded because of few doctors and long distances to the county seat. Families came to town perhaps once a month, and home deliveries were the norm. Many births were not recorded until Social Security came into being; draft registration for World War II also forced many to seek a record of their births. This book lists about 7,500 birth records alphabetically by surname. Each record typically includes a source code for the record, child�s full name, date of birth, race, sex, parents� full names, and birthplace. While there will have been many unrecorded and inaccessible births in the Kerrville area, this impressive compilation will be of great value to anyone with an interest in this area. 1998, 314 pp., 8.5x11, paper, $50.50 #ZD594

Collin County: Pioneering In North Texas - Capt. Roy F. Hall and Helen Gibbard Hall. This excellent and highly sought-after county history and collection of over 200 genealogies has been in constant demand since it was first published in 1975. It is a virtual encyclopedia of information about Collin County, Capt. Hall having used his resources as a local newspaper columnist and historian to gather material from old newspapers, archives, and personal acquaintances with some of the old pioneers. (1975) reprint, 299 pp., 8.5x11, illus., paper, $44.50 #ZH046

Miscellaneous Texas Newspaper Abstracts - Michael Kelsey, Nancy Graff Floyd, Ginny Guinn Parsons. While Texas is the focus of the majority of the death notices, there are numerous references to various other states. The authors have abstracted any mention of a death or implied death.

Deaths, Volume 1 - Contains abstracts from 40 different newspapers. Censuses, mortality schedules and county histories were also consulted as supplemental sources. The glossary defines terms from the past that may be unfamiliar to the reader; it also has information, such as location and origin, on many of the towns and cities mentioned in the abstracts. 1995, 271 pp., glossary, index, paper, $25.00 #ZK148

Deaths, Volume 2 - Contains abstracts from 44 newspapers originally published in Texas between 1839 and 1881. 1997, 455 pp., glossary, bibl., fullname index, paper, $33.50 #ZK152

Texas Masonic Deaths with Selected Biographical Sketches - Michael Kelsey, Nancy Graff-Kelsey and Ginny Guinn Parsons. In 1828, eight years before Texas achieved her independence upon the battlefield of San Jacinto, the first Masonic Convention in Texas was held at San Felipe de Austin on the Brazos river. Attending the convention were Stephen F. Austin, the Father of Texas; Ira Ingram, the first Speaker of the Congress of the Republic of Texas; H. H. Lague; Eli Mitchell; Joseph White; and Thomas M. Duke, each of whom figure prominently in Texas history. Since then, there have been many Texans, from all walks of life, affiliated with the Masons.

Information from Grand Lodge annual reports published for the years 1858 through 1882 is the basis for this book. (Local lodges are responsible for maintaining and submitting records about their members to the Grand Lodge, the administrative body.)

The book is organized in three parts. Part One, Deaths Reported in Lodge Records, lists lodge member deaths year by year. Listings include the name, number and location of the lodge, the county where meetings were held, and the names of lodge members who died during the year prior to submission of the report to the Grand Lodge.

Part Two, Biographical Sketches, covers many of the Masons mentioned in the first part of the book. The biographical sketches were created using information from lodge records, newspaper obituaries, and tombstone inscriptions.

Part Three, Additional Information, presents the articles "Petition for First Lodge in Texas" and "Masonry as Explained in 1853"; how to contact the Masonic Grand Lodge; and a glossary of Masonry terms. A surname index is also included. 1998, 203 pp., surname index, glossary, paper, $21.50 #ZK153

Gone to Texas: Genealogical Abstracts from The Telegraph and Texas Register, 1835-1841 - Compiled by Kevin Ladd. The Telegraph and Texas Register was born at the same time as the Texas Revolution, chronicling the momentous events of that conflict for its "Texian" subscribers. The gleanings document thousands of events that can often be found nowhere else. This information will provide family and local historians with important source material. It will also assist researchers who have been hampered by the loss and destruction of county records, as well as the absence of 1830 and 1840 Texas censuses. Finally, this volume helps to document elusive folks who sought to avoid creditors or the law by "going to Texas." 1994, 322 pp., indexes, paper, $28.00 #L011

Genealogical Abstracts of Wood County, Texas, Newspapers Before 1920 - Wood County Genealogical Society. The society has extracted items of genealogical interest from all available papers published before 1920 plus two later issues of the Wood County Democrat that contained significant genealogical and historical information related to the nineteenth century. The abstracts include, in addition to the usual births, deaths, and marriages, short notices and personal column items when these items included possible clues to family relationships. 1995, 340 pp., index, paper, $29.50 #W551