East Texas Genealogical Society
By Scott Fitzgerald

The 7th Annual Family History Fair is set for Saturday, March 10, 2007 in Tyler, Texas. This seminar is open to the public at no charge.

The Tyler Family History Center, the East Texas Genealogical Society and the Longview Family History Center will hold a free family history seminar at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints building, 1617 Shiloh Road, in Tyler. Registration starts at 8:30am. You do not have to be pre-registered to attend. The sessions will begin at 9:00am and end at 3:00pm. A light lunch will be served at no charge.

John Sellers of Sulphur Springs will be the keynote speaker during the morning sessions. His first topic will be "Making Sense of Internet Census Searching," which examines the available census schedules and indexes on the internet. Paid and free sites will be discussed. Unique search features and their advantages to researchers will be reviewed. The value of census research will also be covered.

John's other topic will be "Dusty Books and Musty Rooms." This session will be a general overview of courthouse research, etiquette and procedures. The lecture addresses all types of courthouse records and how to access them. Probate and deed records are emphasized.

Other topics covered during the afternoon sessions will include Beginning Research track with topics: Personal Ancestor File (PAF) Genealogy Program version 5 - Getting Started; Tombstone Photo Preparation and Introduction to Genealogy; Internet Research and PAF 5 - Intermediate: Sourcing Your Data. The Advanced and General Interest track will include: Civil War Records and PAF 5 - Multimedia.

The afternoon sessions will be conducted by members and volunteers of The Family History Centers of Tyler and Longview and the East Texas Genealogical Society. The presenters are Neva Spencer, Beverly Odom, Frances Grochowski, Mike Everheart, June Everheart, Scott Fitzgerald, Larry Oliver, John Evans, Randy Gilbert, Rochell McWhorter, Nannette Stanion and Debbie Parker Wayne.

A CD of the handout materials can be pre-ordered from Beverly Odom for $2.00 at the contact numbers below.

For more information, contact: Tyler Family History Center, 903-509-8322, Beverly Odom, 903-825- 6896 or Email: TylerFamHist@aol.com or go to the ETGS website: www.rootsweb.com/~txetgs.