With this edition this column is now being distributed to the following chapters: San Antonio, #4; Hill Country, #31; Edmund Terrill, #34; Plano, #37; Bryan College Station, #40; East Fork-Trinity - Garland, #47; and Piney Woods, #51.
The newcomers are welcome. TXSSAR Application Guidelines: Each member of the Texas Society will receive in the forthcoming edition of The Texas Compatriot, a two page document entitled TXSSAR Application Guidelines. I urge each compatriot to look at these closely. For new applications it is the duty of the first line sponsor to insure that the application is completed properly; that the proof is documented correctly, and that the correct number of copies of the application are submitted. Implementation will result in a smooth application process. It will also free up my time to help prospects with their proof or assist compatriots with supplemental applications.
Patriotic Service: Did you know that serving on a grand jury or petit jury constitutes good service for your patriot? I just sent one application in for approval where the service submitted was "working on a county road." If this one is approved, many of us can go back and rack up a substantial number of supplemental patriots.
Texas Society Genealogist's Handbook: At the current time I am working on a Handbook, which hopefully can either be printed for each chapter or (preferably) placed on the TXSSAR web site. It will have lots of hints on research. National Archives:
National Archives: If you would like to have copies of any pension records housed at the National Archives, contact Beth Adams For a very reasonable fee she will copy the pension and/or military file for you. She lives just outside of DC.
The benefit to having her copy whatever file you need is that you get the whole file rather than the 10-15 pages the Archive people choose to send you. AND she will get it to you MUCH quicker than writing to the NARA, which has a back log of over six months, and a recent fire.
Recently I received a pension file from her, and in addition to the 10 (selected) pages originally sent me by the Archives, there where 50 more (non selected) pages to the file, one of which listed this particular ancestor's birth place, not included in the pages originally received from NARA.