I know everybody is currently thinking Christmas and Holidays and busy with the season, but I'm sending an early reminder that the Mississippi Genealogy Seminar and Mississippi Dept of Archives and History is conducting the annual genealogical seminar on Saturday, January 15, 2005, 8 am - 4 pm, at the Clarion Hotel and Convention Center near the Coliseum (400 Graymont Avenue) in Jackson, MS, just off I-55. Book and Genealogy vendors from around the South will be present with books and materials to sell all day. The speaker/lecturer for this year's seminar is ROBERT YOUNG CLAY. Mr. Clay recently retired as Senior Genealogical Reference Archivist at the Library of Virginia. He is a Fellow of the Virginia Genealogical Society, and author of numerous articles on genealogy. Clay's research areas are Virginia, North and South Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, and Great Britain. His lecture topics are "Virginia City Records", "Virginia County Records", "Virginia Colonial and State Records", and "Things They Never Tell You". There will be time for questions and answers during the day. Costs: Seminar, $30.00. Optional Luncheon at the Clarion, $15.00. $2.00 discount to MGS members. No refunds after January 6, 2005. Make checks payable to MGS, and mail with name, address, phone, and e-mail address to MGS, P. O. Box 5301, Jackson MS 39296-5301. Please pass this message on to your friends and colleagues and to other genealogical organizations and groups of which you are a member or subscriber. The Mississippi Genealogical Society over the past 60 years has compiled 24 bound volumes of previously unpublished mostly-private Bible, cemetery, will, and other family records, as well as an index of all 24 volumes. These are NOT on-line nor in electronic form, and the MGS has not made a decision to put these on a CD-ROM due to the large numbers of hard-copy books it has on hand. All of these volumes sell for $25 each, and the index is $35. The entire set is $635, but we are offering a special set price of $495.00 (a savings of $140). In addition to the above, the 1st edition of the lineage charts of MGS members was published in 1991, and is available for $40. Also, Newspaper Notices of Mississippians, 1820-1860, is also available for $20. MGS first published it in 1960, and reprinted it in 1996 due to demand. MGS also has a few books left from the May Scots-Irish Seminar from Ulster, most of which are $25 (ask for titles). All of these books can be ordered from the above address, and they will be available for sale at the January Seminar. If ordered by mail, include $2.50 for the first book, and $1.00 for each additional book for shipping and handling. As best I can due to time limitations, if anybody wants to know if they have surnames in these volumes, please send me the names and I will check and let you know. The Mississippi Archives and a number of libraries in the South have these sets, and if not, you might want to encourage your local library to purchase them while they are still available, or if you are feeling generous and looking for an end of the year charitable donation, you can purchase them for your local library and donate them! Mary Collins Landin, Utica, Hinds County, MS [email protected]