DIGGING FOR LOCAL FAMILY RECORDS
Each spring the Genealogy/Historical Room Library Volunteers
have what we call the The Spring Tune-up.
It is a refresher class to hone our skills in genealogical research so
we can better serve visitors to the library. This year, the volunteers were given an
assignment to test their ability to find information on early Kendall County
residents.
Each drew a family name and were to
find as many different sources in the Library or on the History/Genealogy Room
web site as possible. Each source could only be claimed one time and they had
one week in which to complete the task in order to compete for a prize.
Among the family names drawn were Agold,
Zoeller, Pffeiffer, Lohmann, Flach, Beseler, Biermann, Steves and Vogt. Jack Charles won the prize with 47 different
sources
concerning the Vogt family found just
in our Library. He found many many more when he went to the Internet, but those were
disallowed in the contest. Other
volunteers averaged from 20 to 35 sources each for their names.
Sources ranged from the usual marriage, cemetery, probate, and
census records to county histories. Volunteers also found their family names in
family charts, biographic sketches, poll tax and property tax records,
descriptions of homes they owned, and news stories. Names of family members appeared in several
different Family Files and in the First Family of Kendall County books. The
contestants found copies of marriage licenses, obituaries and photographs. We were
all amazed at just how much information is available on Kendall County
families in the Library.
Search Kendall
County Cemetery Records on Line
So, if your family has lived in Kendall County
for many generations, you will probably find information on them in the Boerne
Library. Stop by and ask one of our
volunteers to help you find it. You can
also access some information on line by going to the Boerne Library home page,
and on the right hand side of page, click on History/Genealogy. This takes you
to the page that links to many Kendall
County sources such as the Kendall County cemetery files, where you can
search for graves of your ancestors.
Another link is to the Building Files which has the names of various old
homes and commercial buildings in the community. Clicking on the name of a building takes you
the page which gives the history of the building and often a picture.
You will find pictures and information in the Building Files
on many of the Boerne Historical Homes that will be open for viewing May 12, as
part of the spring tour
sponsored by the Boerne Area
Historical and Preservation Society and the Visitor Bureau. Plan on visiting the homes
in person on that day.
Another great link is to the award winning Kendall County
GenWeb site, created and maintained by Cathy Schwartz. She has placed all sorts of information about
former Kendall county residents on the site. If
you need help to view the site, stop by the Library and let a volunteer help
you.
Find your Ancestor’s Name in the County Tax Record Book
If your family lived in Kendall
County between 1880 and 1890, you will
want a copy of the extracted tax records of Kendall County. Your ancestors name will surely be in that
book with information about his land.
The book is on sale in the Library for $12.00 plus tax. Just ask at the front desk for it.
Since there is so much information available in our library
it is easy for descendants of early settlers to apply for the coveted First
Family of Kendall County certificates. Mary
Taylor and Regina Adam co-chair the committee that assists applicants seeking
that designation. Applications are
available in the H/G room and, again, the GSKC volunteers are there to help
anyone interested in their family history.
Speaking of local families, our congratulations to Randy Bergmann and family for having served the community with their hardware and lumber company for 50 years on Main Street. Randy descends from one of the early families of the area. His parents were Edgar Bergmann and Ruby Rausch. Edgar, the son of Louis Bergmann and Ida Minnich, was the grandson of Carl Heinrich Bergmann and Pauline Vogt. Carl Heinrich came to Texas in 1854 with his parents, Christian Friedrich Bergmann and Johanna Christiane Luise Dressler. As you may guess by now, there is a lot more information on the Bergmanns in the Library.
Beginning Photo Editing Made Easy
Want to know how to resize photos to send with email, remove red eye, crop pictures, and other simple photo editing tasks? If so, attend the Computer Genie meeting at the Boerne Public Library, Thursday, April 26. The program starts at 6:30 p.m. in the Meeting Room.
Next time, we will tell you about all the information
available in the Library for all of you who do not have roots in Kendall
County. Meanwhile, if you want to discuss your family
genealogy, you will find Harry, my husband, and I in the Library every
Wednesday afternoon. Don’t forget to
vote for the Library bond proposition on May 12th.
Published in the Boerne Star & Recorder April 20,
2007 and reprinted here with their permission.