Genealogy Research in San Augustine, Texas
For early Texas research, the San Augustine, Texas–both city and county–are probably important stops for many genealogists. Depending upon who you talk to, it is the oldest or second oldest European settlement in Texas, and is rich in early Texas history. It sits on the the El Camino Real trail near Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacagdoches, Texas–which is also either the first or second oldest European settlement in Texas. From a historical, but not genealogical perspective, the Caddo Mounds State Historical Site and Mission Tejas State Park are both nearby and provide important historical understanding for early Texas family history research.
For research in this area, plan on at least four stops:
- San Augustine County Clerk’s Office
- San Augustine Library
- Stephen F. Austin State University Library Archive Collection
- Nacogdoches County Clerk’s Office
San Augustine, Texas
The County Clerk’s Office is located in an annex about 1/4 mile north of the County Courthouse, which is the center of a beautiful historic square. The Annex is one of the easiest-to-use clerk’s offices I have seen, with lots of spece and tables. I was able to walk in, find a probate index, find the probate record I was after, take the book to the clerk’s desk for copies and leave in under 20 minutes. The documents in this clerk’s offices, like most if not all in Texas, houses copies of early deeds and land records. I have been told that the originals are housed in the archives at Stephen F. Austin State University, but have not verified this yet.
The San Augustine Library is about 1/4 mile east of the County Courthouse and has a dedicated genealogy section of about 1,000 square feet. The most useful section are vertical files of research done by a local genealogist and donated to the library. While not a primary record, these files can point you to a host of primary records to help you in your research. If you are working in this area, make sure to ask about the vertical files. The library also has film of local newspapers that can be quite helpful.
Map of San Augustine County Family History SitesNacogdoches, Texas
The main stop in Nacogdoches is the archive at Stephen F. Austin State University. It houses many early Texas documents.
Caddo Mounds State Historical Site
The Caddo Mounds are three pre-Columbian ceremonial mounds from a settlement of several hundred inhabitants that dates from 800 to 1300. It is on the trail that was later named the El Camino Royale and clearly traded with other settlements hundreds of miles away, probably including Cahokia in Illinois. If in the area, you should plan to stop at the site for one to two hours.
Mission Tejas State Park
If you are camping, the Mission Tejas State Park is about an hour’s drive from San Augustine and is has very small and heavily forested campground with access to a segment of the El Camino Real trail. It also houses a historic cabin that gives one a good view of early Texas life.
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Kristin's 2019 Genealogical Resolutions (or perhaps Aspirations?)
After a hectic 2018 that involved moving from Texas to Michigan, I *will* spend more time on genealogy in 2019. In fact, I already have been!
One of my bad habits is that I research at repositories or online, but then I don't do anything with that information except store it. There are several resolutions related to this:
- Finish unpacking the box farm in the basement and strive to organize physical papers, letters, and photos related to family history (including scanning to digital)
- Organize digital files and photographs into a single location with naming conventions, tags, and metadata
- Transcribe data from both paper copies and digital images (both scanned and photographed)
- Unpack and organize my books
Each of those bullets is a huge project in and of itself, and it will be a process. A long process...
My next resolution is to *use* the research I've done and make it accessible to others who may be researching the same lines or who are just interested in history. Since we have no children who would be interested in this information, I need to do something with it so it isn't lost.
- Write an article or post on my paternal great-grandfather, William H. Gay. I also want to register him or, more likely, his father, Lusher Gay, as an Illinois Prairie Pioneer. I mentioned this in an earlier post from June 2018. I made a fair amount of progress last year, but need to finish and submit the paperwork.
- Complete my application for the Early Texans DNA Project, which "is a geographically-oriented project focused on analyzing the DNA of those with ancestors who settled in Texas before 31 December 1900." Since my maternal great-great-grandmother, Harriet Ellen (Trotti) CADE was born in east Texas in 1848, this is an easy application. I just need to get it done. In fact, her paternal grandfather, James Francis TROTTI, was in Texas by 1844, and I proved into the Daughters of the Republic of Texas through him.
- Edit my mother's autobiography and share it with relatives. Mom wrote her story out in longhand on a yellow pad when she was about 90 years old. The flow needs some work, and I'd love to add photos as well as some citations and other information. Every time I work on it, I find more questions I wish I could ask her!
Another set of resolutions has to do with tools and applications. Some I need to learn how to use better, some I've bought and never used at all. I do know that I can be more efficient and/or effective once I learn to use them.
- Legacy Family Tree: I know the basics of the software, but need to learn more tricks, especially the process of citing sources. I've also got a long list of their webinars that I want to watch.
- Clooz: I still need to find the moving box with the CD so I can install and begin to learn Clooz. I don't think I'll use it for every source, but that's to be determined. I will start by entering census records for a family through the years and see how that works.
- Evidentia: I will be learning this from scratch as well, but I expect I will use it primarily for analysis of evidence, resolving conflicts and even creating citations that can transfer into Legacy. I also need to understand when to use Clooz and when to use Evidentia.
- Dragon NaturallySpeaking: I plan to use this for transcription of documents, particularly if I'm unable to scan and OCR them.
- Scrivener: I've found this very useful in writing my mother's autobiography, but need to review the tutorial and practice.
- AniMap: County boundaries change, and this software will help track those changes.
- Charting Companion: I've just bought this primarly to take advantage of their charts for DNA, which takes me to my next set of resolutions...
DNA -- I will admit to being quite overwhelmed. I'm a pretty smart person, but it's going to take me some time and dedicated study to get up to speed on DNA. I won't go into a lot of detail here, but I've tested with several companies and have uploaded to GEDmatch. I've used the data from GEDmatch to join a couple of DNA Matchbox sites on Facebook for Scottish and Irish DNA, and I've made some connections that I need to get back in touch with. I've got so much more to learn, and I need to unpack and study those books on DNA that I've bought and moved to Michigan.
And finally (OK, probably not *finally*), I have some interrupted conversations with cousins through Ancestry.com messaging that I need to get back to. Boy, they may be surprised to hear from me after so long!
My plate is full for 2019 and beyond.
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Preparing for Family History Research In Newton County, Texas
In preparing for a family history research trip to Newton County, Texas, the two most important stops are the Newton County Historical Commission and the Newton County Clerk's office. Fortunately, they are within walking distance of one another. The Historical Commission is housed in the same building as the public library and has about 2,000 square feet of artifact displays, and probably 200 linear feet of bookshelf materials. It is staffed with volunteers who are knowledgeable about the collection, but may not be knowledgeable about the records in the County Clerk's office.
The county clerk's office has land and marriage records along with a variety of court records from the 19th and 20th centuries.
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CeCe Moore on DNA at Western Michigan Genealogical Society
We made an early morning trip to Grand Rapids for CeCe Moore’s October 13, 2018 Seminar “So then what did you do? DNA!” hosted by the Western Michigan Genealogical Society of Grand Rapids. The trip was well worth it with a beautiful fall color drive to bookend the day. At FGS, Rootstech, and Dallas Genealogical Society conferences, we have attended perhaps a half dozen sessions on DNA, and have a pretty good understanding of the various tests and how to use them, but we don’t have a great handle on how to really integrate DNA testing into research. This seminar gave some wonderful case studies that help in figuring out how to proceed.
Although she gave a good overview of the DNA tests and basic uses, most of the audience was already quite familiar with the basics–about 90 percent raised their hands for the opening questions on how many have tested. Most of the day focused on how to figure out which matches to pursue and how to pursue them to prove or disprove particular relationships. Because her specialty has been locating parents of adoptees, there was a lot of material on building out trees of living relatives. For several of the DNA-related proofs that we need, we both have to test some living people with specific probable relationships and these case studies were invaluable in figuring out how to approach this problem.
For society presidents who are looking for a full-day DNA seminar, but are concerned about having a speaker who can effectively present to both beginners and those with some experience with DNA testing, CeCe Moore would be a good speaker. Based upon the number of attendees who have already done tests compared to other seminars that we have attended, the problem of vastly different experience levels is probably not as great as it was a few years ago.
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