Drilling Deeper with Genealogical Proof Standard

Here is an outline of a presentation that I gave last night at the Humble Area Genealogical Society. I highly recommend that you visit the website of the Board for Certification of Genealogists for more information on this topic: https://bcgcertification.org/ethics-standards/

Additionally, the following BCG website page that shows work samples can be used as a model when developing a genealogical proof: http://www.bcgcertification.org/skillbuilders/worksamples.html

The following text and images are extracted from my presentation entitled: Drilling Deeper with GPS: Case studies demonstrating the Genealogical Proof Standard.  I have added hyperlinks which will lead you to more information on particular aspects of GPS.

The Drilling Deeper Metaphor is appropriate for Texas because our oil industry is going back to these historic oil fields to extract every last drop.  Genealogists also need to "drill deeper" using the Genealogical Proof Standard as a guide.

Genealogical Proof Standard- GPS
• Purpose of GPS: show minimums for work to be credible.
• Five elements to GPS:
1. Reasonably exhaustive research conducted.
2. Each statement of fact has source citation(s).
3. Evidence is reliable & skillfully correlated and interpreted.
4. Contradictory evidence has been resolved.
5. Conclusion soundly reasoned and coherently written.
• Any proof statement is subject to re-evaluation when new evidence arises.

Five Questions regarding the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS)
• Q1:Who? A: Board for Certification of Genealogists & Christine Rose 2005 publication entitled (Genealogical Proof Standard: Building a Solid Case)

• Q2:What? A: Method for Solving Gen. Problems 

• Q3:When? A: Prior to Publishing
• Q4:Where?         A: Gen. Journals, Books and Online
• Q5:Why? A: a) Accepted Standard to Build Solid Case, b) Indirect Evidence                                                          Method, c) Tool to Resolve Conflicts

Reasonably Exhaustive Search: Texas Online Records
• Online Texas vital records
• Portal to Texas History
• Geography and Biography at Handbook of Texas Online
• County records- clerk, district clerk, libraries, GenWeb
• Texas taxation records
• County appraisal district websites
• and many more...

Reasonably Exhausive Search: Texas Archives
• Genealogy & local libraries
• History libraries
• Regional archives
• Courthouses
• College & University Libraries & Archives
• Church Archives
• Fraternal Archives
 
Case Study #1: Buried in Colorado County:  Frank E. Little 1855-1908

Why was Frank Little buried in the Oakes Family Cemetery? What was his connection to the Oakes Family.

 • Historical Context
“ROCK ISLAND, TEXAS (Colorado County). Rock Island, on U.S. Highway 90A fifteen miles west of Eagle Lake and twelve miles southwest of Columbus in southwest Colorado County, was settled in 1896 as part of a land promotion scheme on the Texas and New Orleans Railroad. ..The town's original name was Crasco, after nearby Crasco Creek, but in 1897 the citizens successfully petitioned the post office department to change the name. Charles Petersen, a large landowner, renamed the town for the Rock Island Railroad Company. In August 1897 Petersen was appointed the first postmaster of Rock Island, and the old Crasco post office was closed. From an original core of thirty-nine farming families, the population of Rock Island had grown to 367 by 1904 and had reached an all-time high of 500 by 1925. ..”

Does "conduct a ranch" mean that he was a ranch foreman or did he purchase a piece of land in a land promotion scheme?

 • Reasonably Exhaustive Search: Oakes Family Cemetery
o Nine marked graves most related to John C. Oakes
o      There were no land records involving Frank Little so maybe the ranch foreman was the more reasonable conclusion.

John C. Oakes owned several parcels of land on which he was conducting ranch operations as shown in this tax record.

Current landowners might know more about the cemetery and the Oakes family history. The mapping function of the county appraisal district website offers some great images to help illustrate your family history and put the ancestors in a geographic context.

The is the outline of the original land grant held by John C. Oakes.

All of these images from the county appraisal district website offer interesting geographic details including this satellite view. The ownership information in the appraisal district database allows a genealogical researcher to contact the current owner for more information about the history of the property.

 • Reasonably Exhaustive Search:
o Appraisal District Land Records
 Name of Property Owner
 Mailing Address
 Property Address
 Wrote two letters with SASE & my full contact info
 Asked for info on cemetery & Oakes family history
 Both owners emailed back
 Spoke to both owners on phone

There were no death certificates available for Colorado County in 1908 on Ancestry.com or FamilySearch.org but Colorado County had these images from the original death ledger. A visit to the courthouse is an essential element of a "reasonably exhaustive search."

o Death Certificate
 Earliest year available online for Colorado County death certificates is 1902. Then there is a gap in the records until 1909.
 However, even though the online records show a gap for 1908, it does not mean that records do not exist
 The Family Search Catalog shows microfilms of an index and death records for Colorado County Texas which includes 1908
 Notes on the content of the film state: Microfilm of originals in the Colorado County courthouse in Columbus, Texas. Includes general index with some volumes individually indexed.
 County clerk website offered a search for a fee. Call first!
 County courthouse had a 1908 death ledger entry for Frank Little

For more information on the Frank Little case study, please read the following:

http://www.ancestorpuzzles.com/2016/09/drilling-deeper-in-lonestar-state-frank.html

 Case Study #2:  Buried in the German Society Cemetery, Houston
Fredericka Brenner nee Eggert 1828-1901

The numerous birth dates and locations shown for Fredericka Brenner can be resolved by "drilling deeper" into parish records in Germany.

Grave markers may not always be the most reliable evidence especially if they are placed decades after the events. The German Society Cemetery known now as Washington Cemetery did not exist until the 1880s. Do not misinterpret interment dates as death dates. For example, Mina Brenner died in 1876 and was relocated to the new family plot in 1889. Henry August Brenner is known to have been buried in another cemetery.  The marker was placed recently by a descendant who was attempting to reunite the family after the fact.

The church burial record gives a place of birth for Fredericka Brenner nee Eggert as Steinke in Saxony. The parish records in Germany need to be searched to reveal the precise location and date of the birth.

It is helpful to include the page and column number in a newspaper citation. Unfortunately, this obituary record does not reveal the names of the "several children." Probate records also need to be searched to meet the "reasonably exhaustive search" standard.

For more details on the Fredericka Brenner case study, please go to this blogpost:

http://www.ancestorpuzzles.com/2016/08/it-takes-village-in-german-genealogy_29.html

Case Study #3:  Murder in Stafford:  Rev. Robert S. Sloan 1858-1916

• Obituary - 23 October 1916 Brenham Daily Banner-Press

• Rev. Robt. S. Sloan 1858-1916
o 1858 Born near Washington on Brazos to Maria Jordan
o 1884 Constable Pct. 1 & active Republican
o 1886 accused as Democratic “bulldozer”
o 1892 Black Elephant Saloon
o 1892 son Sam death by train
o 1900 Baptist minister & financial agent for Central Texas College Waco

• 1892 Advertisement Brenham Banner

• 1903 The Democrat (McKinney, Texas)

• Who Shot R.S. Sloan?

• Frank Robinson Indicted 1917

• Was he guilty?
• What was his motive?

• R.S. Sloan, Camptown Cemetery, Brenham, Texas

Robert S. Sloan is one of my favorite case studies and I have written about him in the following blog posts:

http://www.ancestorpuzzles.com/2015/04/the-mysterious-bob-sloan-his-journey.html

http://www.ancestorpuzzles.com/2016/10/historic-adventures-in-brenham-tx.html

http://www.ancestorpuzzles.com/2015/05/assassin-of-bob-sloan-convicted.html



Building a Solid Case with GPS
• The Process by Christine Rose p. 1
o Conduct a reasonably exhaustive search among a variety of records
o Determine the class for each piece of information within the record, i.e. whether it is
 Direct or Indirect Evidence
 Original or Derivative Source
 Primary or Secondary Information
o Weigh each piece of data keeping in mind WHO furnished info & WHY
• The Process by Christine Rose p. 2
o Evidence must all point in same direction. If not that evidence must be negated or refuted.
o If evidence points in same direction, & no other conclusion can be reached then case has passed GPS and is solid
o Write up the conclusion. Include an explanation of any opposing evidence and how it was resolved. Include citations.

Evidence Process Map- Elizabeth Shown Mills

A Metaphor for Genealogical Proof: The Jigsaw Puzzle- T. Jones, 2010
• Do the puzzle pieces belong to your ancestor puzzle?
• Do you have the puzzle pieces in the right place and in the right direction?
• With a sufficient number of pieces, a clear picture or reliable answer may emerge even when pieces are missing.
• Just as a picture emerges from assembled puzzle pieces, genealogical proof rests on the sum of evidence.

Summary Advice by Cimino
• Question every date, place and name on any publication or original record
• Look for the original source of all data
• Look for every possible record source in online sites, microfilm, books, and archival repositories
• Transcribe, analyze and compare every source record for every detail it contains
• Write and re-write the story based on available evidence at every phase

For more information on Genealogical Proof Standard, please visit the following site:

Playing Clue Game with Genealogical Documents

The year end holidays present a perfect opportunity to entertain ourselves with games and puzzles. One of my favorite games is Clue: The Classic Detective Game.  The object of the game is to solve a murder mystery by finding clues about the identity of the murderer, where the crime took place, and which weapon was used. Each player assumes the role of one of the six suspects, and attempts to deduce the correct answer by strategically moving around a game board representing the rooms of a mansion and collecting clues about the circumstances of the murder from the other players.  When you have collected sufficient clues you can announce that it was Professor Plum, in the Hall, with the revolver!

Genealogists are detectives that collect clues from historic documents.  Many of those clues will lead to other documents that help us to deduce the facts about our ancestors.  Who were they?  How did they arm themselves to make a living?  Where did they live, work and socialize?  The clues to answer these questions are found in genealogical and historical documents.  Names, occupations, dates and places are clues that help us identify the most likely suspects of our family history.

Some people get excited about receiving holiday cards in the mail.  I get excited when I receive an envelope with a vital record for an ancestor.  On December 15, I mailed a check for $5.00 to the State of Louisiana, Secretary of State for the Death Certificate of Price Bishop 1890-1955.  On December 17 a staff researcher at the Vital Record office found the death certificate and put it in the mail to me on the same day.  I was really excited about how quick and inexpensive it was to order a death certificate from Louisiana.

The death certificate for Price Bishop contained some amazing clues about his identity and his last days in New Orleans.  These clues lead me to other documents and images which help to illustrate his life.  Let's use this death certificate as an example of how to analyze clues in historic documents.

Death Certificate of Price Bishop 1890-1955

Box 7 on the death certificate contains the date of birth of the deceased: April 17, 1890.  This date matched the date of birth that I had from his World War I draft card so I knew I had the right man.

World War I Draft Card of Price Watson Bishop born April 17, 1890 in Cleburne, Johnson County, Texas.

However there is a slight discrepancy between the two documents.  The death certificate states that Mr. Bishop was born in Dallas, Texas.  The draft card states that he was born in Cleburne, Texas. These two cities are only sixty miles apart.  Mr. Bishop was residing in Dallas in 1918.  Usually the draft card would be considered a more reliable source since the information is a first hand account from the man himself. The informant on the death certificate would be considered a secondary source relying on his memory in a stressful time after the death of a friend or loved one or perhaps the informant knew very little about the person.  To further emphasize this point, the informant did not know the names and places of birth of the parents of Mr. Bishop.

Price Bishop was residing for four months prior to his death at a hospital or institution at  4000 Dumaine Street in New Orleans.  The physician attended Price Bishop from 7 February 1955 to the date of his death which is a four month period.

You can discover a lot more than your ancestor's name and address in city directories.  The clue from the death certificate was that there was a hospital or an institution located at 4000 Dumaine Street in New Orleans.  Instead of using a general search, it is best to search directly within the City Directory database.  The image below shows the City Directory search page which can be accessed from the card catalog at Ancestry.com.

Access the City Directory search page from the card catalog at Ancestry.com to conduct a keyword search.

I used the address "4000 Dumaine" as a keyword search and limited it to the year 1954 which was one year before the death occurred.  Several names came up as matches for this address.

As I scrolled down the list of names at 4000 Dumaine, I found nine people were residing at that address.  I also found a curious name: "Patients Accepted Bedridden."  Clicking on the link led me to a directory listing for the Elysian Convalescent Home as follows:

ELYSIAN CONVALESCENT HOME
  OWNER: MRS ELSIE O'CONNOR
  FOR CONVALESCENT PATIENTS AND AGED PEOPLE
  BEDRIDDEN PATIENTS ACCEPTED
  24 HOUR CARE BY LICENSED NURSES
  4000 DUMAINE
  TELEPHONE GALVEZ 3420
  (See opposite page)

On the opposite page was this advertisement in the City Directory:

Advertisement in the 1954 New Orleans City Directory for the Elysian Convalescent Home at 4000 Dumaine Street.

A search of Google Maps for the address of 4000 Dumaine led to this map and a street image:

4000 Dumaine was located very close to the New Orleans City Park.

This building was certainly large enough to serve as a ten-bed nursing home in 1955.

The death certificate also showed that his burial place is listed as Grand View Cemetery in La Porte, Texas.  His body was removed to the cemetery on the same day that he died: 11 June 1955.   Grand View Cemetery is located very near the borders of La Porte, Deer Park and Pasadena, Texas which are all part of the Houston Metropolitan area.  I found a current listing for the cemetery as follows:

Grand View Memorial Park/Bethany Cemetery
Website http://www.dignitymemorial.com/grand-view-funeral-home/en-us/index.page
Address: 8501 Spencer Hwy, Pasadena, TX 77505
Phone:(281) 479-6076

Unfortunately, the cemetery has been unable to find his burial record to determine the location of his burial.  Apparently, this cemetery files their burial records under the name of the owner of the cemetery lots.  We tried looking under all of the names associated with the four daughters of Price Bishop but the cemetery staff could not find his burial record.  There is no record for him on FindaGrave.com either.  Some clues lead to more questions: why was Price Watson transported from New Orleans to the Houston area for burial?  He did have family in the Houston area but none of them are buried in this cemetery.

All of these clues from the death certificate provide useful information about the circumstances of the death and burial of Price Bishop.  The advertisement from the City Directory gives some reassurance that Mr. Bishop received good care.  Hopefully, the cemetery will be able to find precisely where he is buried.  More mysteries need to be solved as to why and where he was buried in Grand View Memorial Park.

If you would like to learn more about genealogical research techniques, please contact me.

Texas State Genealogical Society 2015 Family History Conference

This week I am excited to be attending the Texas State Genealogical Society (TSGS) 2015 Family History Conference. This premier annual Texas genealogical event will begin this Friday, October 30 and run through Sunday, November 1, 2015 at the Crowne Plaza Austin, 6121 North Interstate Highway 35, in Austin, Texas, and everyone is invited!

We are particularly pleased to welcome, not one, but two keynote speakers this year, J. Mark Lowe and Lisa Louise Cooke. The breadth and depth of knowledge they bring will provide a well rounded experience for every attendee.

In addition to a great lineup of speakers, I am looking forward to networking with other genealogists from throughout Texas.  At the banquet on Saturday night, I will begin my term as District 4 Representative to the TSGS Board.  District 4 is comprised of the counties of Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, and Walker.  I look forward to the opportunity to get to visit with these societies in the coming years of my term.

TSGS has divided the state into 20 districts.  Each of the District Representatives serves on the TSGS Board of Directors.

My plan is to serve as follows: 1) represent TSGS within my geographic district; 2) actively solicit membership in TSGS; 3) contact each society in the district to offer assistance and seek support; 4) serve as a resource for genealogical education programs in the district; 5) offer assistance with policies, procedures and programs to enhance services to the membership of each society.

District 4 of TSGS is comprised of the counties of Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, and Walker. 

If you live in District 4, please contact me and let me know if you are a member of a genealogy or historical society in the district.  I would like your help making arrangements for a visit to your society.  If you are not a member of a society, I can help you find a society that is close to you or that covers your ethnic research interests.

If you are a member of an ethnic, local, state or national genealogical society that is planning events in the district, please contact me and let me know so I can help you promote your events.  If you are going to be in Austin this weekend, please let me know so we can meet up at the TSGS Conference.

Check out the full schedule of sessions, workshops and other events!

Family Reunion Presentation- Life & Times of Silas Snow

Are you planning a family reunion?  Have you thought about having a presentation from a genealogist on one of your ancestors?  Your family will be intrigued to learn of the exploits of their ancestor.  A slide show with photographs, maps and original documents can illustrate the life of an ancestor and bring that person to life for your family to enjoy.

I have done several of these types of presentations recently and they all have been received very well. Here are a few of my slides from a recent presentation on the Life and Times of Silas Snow:

Silas Snow was born near Spay, Choctaw County, Mississippi in 1840 and died in Falls County, Texas in 1905.  He migrated to Texas with his slave owner between 1850 and 1860.  He registered to vote in Hamilton County, Texas in 1867.  He owned 173 acres in Coryell County and some of the land is still in the possession of one of his descendants.

Silas Snow has a substantial headstone in the Oak Grove Cemetery near Gatesville, Texas.  The inscription and the carving on the headstone are reflective of his faith in God and his belief in a family reunion in heaven.  The gravestone gives his exact dates of birth and death.  This gravestone photo was obtained from his FindaGrave Memorial.

Silas Snow married Mary Caroline Lothlen on March 5, 1872, in Coryell County, Texas. They had five children during their marriage: Radford Snow 1868-?; David H. Snow 1872-1945; Ollie Snow Mack Mayberry 1873-1947; Lula Snow Armstrong Comer 1876-1935; Mary E. Snow Wallace 1877-?  His wife Mary Caroline Lothlen passed away on April 8, 1879, in Coryell County, Texas, at the age of 27. They had been married 7 years.  She was buried in the Gatesville City Cemetery in Gatesville, Texas.

The family had oral history that Silas Snow was born in Spay, Mississippi.  I was able to find this 1895 map of Choctaw County, Missipppi that shows Spay located in the southern part of the county.

Silas may be the 10 year old unnamed slave of Eli Snow 1780-1851.  Eli Snow was the father of David Crockett Snow 1817-1877.  D.C. Snow married Nancy Barron 1817-1907.  D.C. and Nancy were married in 1838 in Choctaw County, Mississippi.  Many of the Snow and Barron family members migrated with their slaves from Choctaw County, Mississippi to Hamilton County, Texas in the 1850s.

 Silas Snow registered to vote in Hamilton County, Texas in 1867.  D.C. Snow was the only man named Snow who owned slaves in the 1860 slave schedule of Hamilton County, Texas and is also the only white man named Snow who registered to vote in 1867.  It appears that Silas Snow and Anthony Barron came to register at the same time as they are listed next to each other on the voter register.

The 1870 census neighborhood near the Leonville Post Office in Coryell County, Texas tells a tale of relationship between white and black families.  Jack P. Key was one of the largest property owners. He later becomes a Texas legislator.  The Barns family in the next household headed by Rose Barns and her oldest son, Jacob was one of the keys to unlocking the mystery of this neighborhood.  Jacob Barns is also know as Jake Barrens.  Jake told his life story to the WPA in a "Texas Slave Narrative." At the bottom of the page is John Loflin also known as John Lothlen or Lothlin.  In fact when you look at the page that follows you will see that his children were enumerated with the surname Lothlin.

Silas Snow was residing in the Lothlen household and he is enumerated on line 9 of the above census page.  His future wife, Mary C. Lothlen is on line 2.  We believe that the Lothlen family were the freed slaves of Dr. A.Y. Lothlen.  Silas Snow received 100 acres from Dr. A.Y. Lothlen in 1878.

The former slaves owned by the Snow and Barron families had to leave Hamilton County and search for work in nearby Coryell County.  The leaders of Coryell County followed the example of Judge Mayberry by encouraging the freed slaves to live in a "freedom settlement" called Lincolnville.  Read more about Lincolnville in this online newspaper article.  A Snow descendant owns a substantial portion of the land near the site of Lincolnville.

The white Murrell family have oral history that ties them to the black Snow family which has been documented in Coryell County history books.  The oral history is substantiated by the fact that they are living in close proximity in the 1870 census.  The Coryell county biography for Lemuel Murrell says that some of the Murrell slaves took the name Murrell and gave the slaves land near Ireland. 

While this was written up in a Coryell County History, it appears to be based on undocumented oral history. Silas Snow received 100 acres from Dr. A.Y. Lothlen in 1878 not Lemuel Murrell.  The land of Silas Snow was near the future site of Ireland in the Spencer Rice Survey.  Did the Murrell family help Silas Snow acquire this land from their former neighbor, Dr. A.Y. "Sandy" Lothlen?  Perhaps a copy of the deed from Lothlen to Snow would shed more light on this question.

This story also says that many of Lemuel's slaves stayed with him and took the name Murrell. However, in reviewing the five 1870 census pages which show the community near the Leonville Post Office, there are no black families named Murrell. Thomas Lothlen (Loflin) and Silas Snow are shown near the widow Murrell on page 1 and 2. The oral history leads me to believe that Silas Snow and the Lothlen family were working for the Murrells. Jake Barrens is on page 1 with his mother and siblings. The Barrens appear to be working for Jack Key which is substantiated by Jake Barrens slave narrative. 

On page 2 immediately next to Mary J. Murrell, the widow of Lemuel Murrell, are the black families headed by Daimon Eves and Dan McCowan. These may be the former Murrell slaves but more research is needed to substantiate that relationship. All of the families on page 3, 4 and 5 of the 1870 census for the Leonville Enumeration District are white. Mary J. Murrell is living next door to her brother, Hugh Baty 1824-1871 and they are both substantial land owners.

Another fact that supports a relationship between the Snow and the Murrell families is that one of the Snow descendants had pictures of members of the Murrell family that had been passed down in the family. However, it would appear that more research is needed to prove that Lemuel Murrell gave land to any of his slaves.

The slave narrative of Jake Barrens links him to the 1870 census neighborhood where Jack Keys was living.  The slave narrative of Jake Barrens is also posted to his FindaGrave Memorial which has more pictures and links to his very accomplished children.

The Tax Lists for Coryell county show Silas Snow owning the following lands:

1880- Abstract 865 in the S. Rice Survey containing 100 acres

1892- The land is still described as Abstract 865 in the S. Rice Survey but it is now 173 acres

The following record should be searched for an index book and page of the deed granting land to Silas Snow before 1880 for 100 acres and before 1892 for the 73 acres:

Grantee index v. L-Z 1854-1946

Family History Library United States & Canada Film 984403

By 1883 Silas Snow was one of the trustees of the Lincolnville School.  This document shows that the school trustees hired the brother-in-law of Silas Snow, Thomas J. Lothlen, as a teacher.  The other trustees are James Mayberry and Gus Wetherly.

This image from the Coryell county brand book shows that James "Big Jim" Mayberry recorded his mark and brand on April 13th 1867.  The registration record shows his name as "James Mayberry (Freedman)."  His mark was a swallow in each ear and there is a diagram of his brand which looks like a Y over an upside down T.  

This slideshow is an example of the kind of presentation that I can prepare for your family reunion. Thanks to Geri Hoover of San Antonio, Texas for inspiring and sponsoring this fascinating research project.

UPDATE: JUNE 5, 2016

The estate of Caleb Barron is very relevant to this article because it includes Anthony Barron in the inventory of slaves and is added here:

THE SLAVES OF CALEB BARRON, Smith County, TX

Submitted 15 Jun 2000 by Mary Love Berryman - marylove@tyler.net

***************************************************************** 
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
*****************************************************************

These slaves were listed in the Estate of Caleb Barron, who died 6 or 7 
July 1864, Hamilton Co, TX.  His Estate was in Smith Co., TX.  There 
was no will.  Elizabeth Barron, his wife, petitioned as administrator 
16 Jan 1865.

Caleb owned thirty four slaves, with names and values such as follows: 

Amanda, 11, $375 
Andrew, 6, $250
Anthony, 30, $800
Betsy, 2, $150
Ephraim, 40, $800
George, 32, $400
Jenny and child Calvin, 25, $600
John, (one eyed), 13, $300
Major, 40, $400
Moses, 3, $175
Moses, 25, $600
Patsey, 13, $500
Plum, 17, $600 
Siller & child, 29, $550
Vicey, 15, $600 

The total value of the slaves owned by Caleb, for the purpose of 
valuation of estate in the probation process was $15,550. Caleb 
Barron's total estate valuation of $26,897.78, the slaves' value 
accounted for the majority of his holdings (in excess of 57%).

SOURCES OF INFORMATION:

John Barron's Home Page - http://hometown.aol.com/jbarron933/index.htm
Descendants of CALEB Barron, Sr. - http://members.aol.com/jbarron933/
Pat Childress - patchildress@prodigy.net

Abstracts of the Smith County Probate Records, Smith County, Texas 
1846-1880, abstracted by Andrew L. Leath, published by the Jack T. 
Greer Memorial Trust Fund of The Smith County Historical 
Society/Historical Commission, Tyler, Texas - 1984

Libraries- A Tale of Two Claytons

The Clayton Library in Houston was one of the many reasons why I moved to the Gulf Coast of Texas from Northern California.  The Clayton Library is recognized as one of the nation’s top genealogical research collections.  It received this mark of distinction for its extensive collections covering the entire United States, as well as international sources for Europe, Canada, and Mexico.  In addition, Clayton has 100% of its books in open stacks for public access. The Clayton houses nearly 100,000 research volumes, holds over 3,000 periodical titles, and has an extensive microfilm collection.

The Main Building of the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research at 5300 Caroline Street in Houston, Texas opened to the public in 1988.

The Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research covers a two city block area in the heart of the Houston Museum District at 5300 Caroline Street.  Originally, the genealogy section of the Houston Public Library (HPL) was located in the Julia Ideson Building in downtown Houston.  The genealogy collection was moved to the Clayton House in 1968.  This property was donated to the HPL by William Lockhart Clayton (1880-1966), a prominent statesman and business leader and his wife, Susan Ada Vaughan (1881-1960).

The historic home of William and Susan Clayton became the Clayton Genealogical Library in 1968.

The continued growth of the collection and tremendous increase in use stimulated plans for a larger facility. The property now consists of four buildings: the Main Library Building, the historic Clayton Home, the Clayton Guest House and Clayton Carriage House.  The historic property went through a 7 million dollar renovation that was completed in 2009.

The two story, Main Building built in 1988, contains 23,000 square feet.  The first floor houses the main genealogy book collection, two small conference rooms, seating for 100 customers, work areas, and the unique collection of over 15,000 published and unpublished family histories.  The second floor houses an extensive microprint collection.

Dr. Mayme Agnew Clayton, Ph.D. (1923-2006)

Last week, I discovered another Clayton Library located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area.  The Mayme A. Clayton Library and Museum (MCLM) maintains the world's largest collection of rare books, documents, films, music, photographs and memorabilia on the history and culture of Americans of African descent.  The flagship Literary Collection contains over 30,000 volumes including a rare copy of Phillis Wheatley's poems published in 1773.  The Literary Collection is particularly strong in the arts, pre-Civil War, sports, children's literature and the history of blacks in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and the American West.  The mission of the MCLM is to collect, preserve, exhibit and celebrate the unique history and cultural heritage of Americans of African descent.

Poems by Phillis Wheatley are part of MCLM collection of rare books.

I had the opportunity to tour the museum with the Director, Lloyd Clayton.  He walked me through the galleries, archives, and meeting facilities located at 4130 Overland Avenue in Culver City in the "Heart of Screenland".  The MCLM was originally founded as the Western States Black Research Center in 1975 by his mother, Dr. Mayme Agnew Clayton, Ph.D. (1923-2006).  For more than four decades, Dr. Clayton single-handedly amassed the world's largest independently held collection of African American history materials.  Dr. Clayton spent her time and resources collecting these artifacts "So children will know that black people have done great things."

The MCLM offers vital educational, artistic and cultural programs that include research for scholars, students and genealogists.  The library  partners with the California African American Genealogical Society, Inc (CAAGS) by providing meeting space and access to the library and archives.  For more information on the Mayme Clayton Library and Museum, visit their website and Facebook page.

Both of these institutions are known locally as the "Clayton Library."  Both libraries are filled with unique treasures for historians and genealogists.  I am headed to the Clayton Library in Houston, this week.  I plan to spend much more time at the Clayton Library in Culver City on my next visit to Los Angeles.

Another historic coincidence of the connection between Los Angeles and Houston. Read more about the Los Angeles to Houston Freedom Ride.