Meeting of East Texas Genealogical Society, Tyler, TX Saturday, October 12, 2002 Tyler Public Library - Taylor Auditorium 2:00 p.m. Speaker: Janice Cox Brown Program: "The Southern Claims Commission - Researching Your Ancestor's Civil War Damage Claims" Not all southerners supported the ideals of the Confederacy or swore their allegiance to it. Come learn about areas in the South where many sections were "loyal to the Union". Discover why they opposed the Confederacy. Was your ancestor one of the 23,000 who filed a claim with the Southern Claims Commission between 1865 and 1880? Perhaps he gave an affidavit to the Commission for a neighbor. Over 90 questions had to be answered by the claimant and the records are often filled with genealogical information. Janice Brown, co-founder and charter president of the East Texas Genealogical Society in 1977, has been a speaker on several occasions for ETGS. Janice served as president again in 1986 and has held almost every office in the organization. She researched and compiled the material for two of the Society's books - 1890 Records of Anderson County, Texas and 1890 Records of Rusk County, Texas, which include tax, marriage and other court records. Janice has also conducted a workshop on "How to Research Your Civil War Ancestor" and is currently writing books on her Kentucky, Georgia and Florida grandparents. She was employed as a secretary for 30 years in a firm of petroleum geologists, and for the past 11 years by the Southside Bank in the oil and gas section of the Trust Department. Following a short refreshment period, at approximately 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., the Computer Interest Group of the East Texas Genealogical Society will meet. Melanie Alexander will present a program on "PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) - handheld computers". East Texas Genealogical Society represent six counties which are Anderson, Gregg, Henderson, Panola, Rusk and Smith counties. ETGS publishes the East Texas Family Records four times a year and a monthly newsletter The Bulletin. For more information, you may contact me at [email protected] or go to: http://www.rootsweb.com/~txetgs/ Submitted by Scott Fitzgerald, President.