Special Local Genealogy Meetings
Regularly Scheduled Local Meetings
The SCTX Computer Club Genealogy SIG meets from 10 AM until 12 Noon
on the third Thursday of each month in Meeting Room 3 & 4 located
in the Activities Center. Check the Club Meeting Calendar link on
the Club home page.
Williamson
County Genealogical Society , meets the 2nd Thursday of each
month, 7:30 PM, Round Rock Library, 216 E. Main St. Visitors are
welcome.
Austin Genealogical Society
, meets the 4th Tuesday of each month, 7 PM, Highland Park Baptist
Church, 5206 Balcones Dr., Austin. Visitors are welcome.
Educational Opportunities
Computer Club Genealogy Classes
- Sun City residents Sylvia Nimmo and Joan Keith teach basic genealogy
courses in the CyberCenter Classroom. Check the Training
Program page for details.
RootsWeb's Guide to Tracing
Family Trees - A free on-line series of lessons covering all
aspects of Genealogy. Presented in an easy-to-follow manner with
many links to related sites.
Cyndi's List - Beginners
, How-to , How-to~Tutorials
& Guides , Supplies,
Charts & Forms
Genealogy Resources - Nearby
Georgetown Public Library
, 808 Martin Luther King, Georgetown, Texas - A small Genealogy/Local
History room with a collection of primarily local interest items
Round
Rock Public Library , 216 E Main Street, Round Rock, TX 78664-
The Williamson County Genealogical Society collection is here.
Some good genealogy links on their Web site. Resources
at the Round Rock Library (From May, 2005 presentation. .pdf
format)
Texas
State Library & Archives, 1201 Brazos, Austin, Genealogy
Collection phone: 512-463-5463. Microfilm copies of most U.S.
Federal Census records are available.
Texas Department of
Health Services (Vital Statistics), 1100 W. 49th St., Austin,
512-458-7111, open 8-5 M-F. Birth and death certificates have
names of parents, occupations, addresses, ages, etc. Start by
finding your ancestors in the index at the Genealogy Room of the
Texas State Library (see link above). Write down the certificate
number for the certificate you want to find. Then go to the Bureau
of Vital Statistics, fill out the application form, pay the fee
($11 for a birth certificate copy, $9 for a death certificate
copy), and tell the clerk the certificate number. They do not
allow visitors to browse their records, so the only way to find
out what is on a certificate is to purchase a copy. Copies of
marriage and divorce records also are available (also indexed
at the state library). To get to the BVS, turn west off Lamar
Street, just north of 45th Street--maps are available at the Texas
State Library. Provided by Temple Pouncey
Updated information on obtaining copies of death certificates
The Dallas Public Library has all the Texas death certificates
from the 20th century on microfilm. They have indexes on microfilm
and microfiche starting with 1903. The death certificates are
microfilmed in numerical order statewide (not by counties) for
each year. For example, to find death certificate number 11654
in the year 1911, one gets the 1911 microfilm reel of certificates
from 8401 to 12003 from that year, then scroll through to the
right number. Finding the desired certificate on microfilm is
free (making a photo copy in Dallas for $.25), while getting a
copy from the Bureau of Vital Certificates costs $9. You can find
a great deal of genealogical data in less than an hour. Update
revised by Betty Jean Steinke, 6/2006
University of Texas at Austin
Library, Includes the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection,
many available on-line.
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Library and Museum , 2313 Red River St., Austin, Texas 512-916-5137.
It has a major collection of Texas newspapers. Some are on microfilm,
others are original papers.
LDS Family History Center *, 218 Serenada Lane, Georgetown, 863-8221.
- Hours are limited. No facilities available to make copies from
microfilm.
LDS Family History Center *, 8140 Racine Trail, Round Rock, 512-388-1160
Hours: Tu-Th 10-1 & 6:30-9 PM, Sat 9-12:30
LDS Family History Center *, 1000 Rutherford Lane, Austin, 512-837-3626.
A full service Family History Center just off of IH 35 in North
Austin.
* Note for LDS Family History Centers: Visit the Salt Lake
City LDS Library Catalog at the FamilySearch
Web site before you go. Make a list of the microfilm rolls
and/or the microfiche sheets to order for local viewing.
Resources for a long day trip or more
Houston Public Library,
Clayton Library An outstanding genealogical research location.
Dallas Public Library
- Another outstanding genealogical research resource.
On-line Genealogy Sites
HeritageQuest Online - Provides a unique, continuously
expanding collection of research materials for tracing family
lineage and American culture. 25,000 family and local histories
are already online, and the complete US Federal Census from 1790-1930,
the American Revolutionary War Pension Applications & Bounty
Land Warrant Applications, the complete Freedman's Bank Records,
and ProQuest obituaries from more than 150 newspapers across America
will all be added soon. New enhanced digital images of every page
and new linked indexing provide comprehensive resources for genealogists
and local historians.
Free access to HeritageQuest Online is available from your home
computer through the TexShare program of the Texas State Library.
Get access information and password from the Georgetown Public
Library.
Death Indexes and Records
- Online searchable death indexes and records. Click on specific
state.
Genealogy sites from Mary Von Gerichten
Joan Keith's List of
Genealogy Sites - A list prepared by Joan Keith as a reference
help in her genealogy classes
Joe Pessara's List of Genealogy Sites
Cyndi's List - The most
complete listing of thousands of Genealogy sites, arranged by
categories.
FamilySearch Internet
Genealogy Service - The LDS's main genealogy site. Search
the Ancestry file, the IGI, or the LDS Library Catalog here. Get
the film #'s here for microfilm to be ordered at the LDS Family
History Center.
Brigham Young University
on-line Collections - Free. The Family Archives section has
a fast growing collection of digitized genealogy reference books
that can be searched for any word, name or phrase. Pages selected
are transferred to Adobe Reader for printing.
Castle Garden - Americas first
immigration center. CastleGarden.org
offers free access to an extraordinary database of information
on 10 million immigrants from 1830 through 1892, the year Ellis
Island opened. Over 73 million Americans can trace their ancestors
to this early immigration period.
Ellis Island Records
- The records of passengers who came to America through Ellis
Island between 1892 and 1924 are now searchable on-line. This
has been a busy site since it was introduced in early 2001, but
it is now becoming easier to access the site. Includes passenger
names, ships passenger lists, and pictures of ships.
Note: Using a Web site by Stephen
P. Morse is sometimes an easier way to search Ellis Island
records.
RootsWeb.com - RootsWeb
is now owned by Ancestry.com. Access is still free.
The USGenWeb Project -
The starting point that will lead to the state and county of interest
to you. Some information is available at the state level, but
most is at the county level.
Texas GenWeb site
- For Texas research, the place to find links to Texas counties.
Williamson County GenWeb
site - A good starting point for Williamson County genealogical
research.
RootsWeb's
World Connect Project - Over 420 million names in GEDCOM files
are available for searching and the collection is growing rapidly.
All free.
Ancestry.com -
A large commercial genealogy site with both free and subscription
based data. The Ancestry
World Tree is a free database of contributed files, registration
is required.
Family Tree Maker
- Another commercial site from the makers of the Family Tree Maker
genealogy program. Names in data base may be searched free. Check
the Genealogy Help section.
Genforum - The largest
grouping of genealogy lists containing queries organized by surname
and by region.
User Mailing Lists
Hosted by Rootsweb - The place to subscribe to a mailing list
that focuses on a surname of interest or on a specific geographic
area.
Genealogy Tips
Sun City's more experienced genealogists
share their knowledge.
Computer Club's Genealogy Library
The SCTX Genealogy Library is a part of the Computer Club Library
located in the CyberCenter. The collection includes both books
and Compact Disks (CDs).
Genealogy Software
Although Family Tree Maker appears to be the most popular
genealogy program in Sun City and PAF is the least expensive
(its free) there are many other choices. For an in depth review
and ratings of available genealogy programs visit Cyndi's
List -- Software & Computers.
Information on The Master Genealogist, one of the more advanced
genealogy programs is available
here.
Magazine Subscriptions
Here is a list of some popular genealogy magazines:
