> Herschell R. Spears wrote: > > >My Maternal Great Grandfather, James Henry Ray, was shot and killed > >by a neighbor in Blossom, Lamar County, Texas sometime in the year > >1900. The name of the neighbor, according to family history, was > >Gossett (probably John Gossett). > > > >There was a fire in the county seat, Paris, Texas, in the year 1916. > >All records pertinent to this case were destroyed. > > <snip> > > As I mentioned before, I know next to nothing about Texas records, > but I just checked two versions of the Handybook for Genealogists > and Redbook, and none of them mention a significant record loss in > Lamar Co., TX. While there are no death records before 1903, and it > is entirely possible there are no remaining criminal records, these > references indicate that marriage, probate, civil court, and land > records exist from 1843. I'd sure be checking probate, civil court, > and land records for any possible clues. Unless I lived nearby in > Texas, my first step would be to check the online FHLC at > www.familysearch.com to see what might be on microfilm that I could > order for a very small fee at a local Family History Center). > > Often, when there were courthouse fires/floods, many records were > saved. There are persistent rumors, for example, that two court > house fires in Harrison Co., MO destroyed all records, and that > could not be farther from the truth. Though some records were lost, > there are many, many types of records that were saved and still > exist back to the founding of the county in the late 1840s. > > County clerks are not hired to do genealogy, so they may not always > be willing to go dust them off in the basement (or attic) unless > you're there in person to look (or you pay or beg a local person > they know to look at them for you). > > Connie <clsheets1@prodigy.net> Here is a quick and dirty look at the indexes for 1900. Gossett, John Lived in: 4 Justice Precinct District 78, Lamar County, Texas Series: T623 Microfilm: 1652 Book: 2 Page: 10 James Ray found in: Lived in: 3 Precinct District 77, Lamar County, Texas Series: T623 Microfilm: 1652 Book: 1 Page: 297 John Gossett was a chicken peddler. Kevin "Kevin Wornell" <wornell1@attbi.com>