Regular Meeting of East Texas Genealogical Society, Tyler, TX Saturday, August 14, 2004 Tyler Public Library - Taylor Auditorium 2:00 p.m. Speaker: John Sellers Program: "Was Grandpa His Brother's Keeper?" During his presentation, John will give an overview of the Masonic fraternity and describe its many records that are of value to genealogists. He will share information about record accessibility and discuss how these records can be used to establish residence and possibly death dates. He will help us learn to decipher the unique terminology and recognize the symbols of the fraternity. He will also discuss ways that county biographies, newspapers and Special Census Schedules, called Social Statistics, can be used to determine which lodges existed near your ancestors' homes. John is a fifth generation native of Hopkins County. He graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in advertising/public relations and received his teaching certificate in history from Texas A&M at Commerce. He is a graduate of the Samford University, Advanced Methodology Course. He compiled an addendum to the 1850 Hopkins County Census and is the author of a historical newspaper article, Hopkins County Remembered. John is a frequent speaker at society meetings across the state. He has a well earned reputation as an outstanding speaker. Make plans to attend; you won't want to miss his presentation! Following a short refreshment period, at approximately 3:30 p.m., the Computer Interest Group of the East Texas Genealogical Society will meet. Beverly Odom will present a program on "Familysearch.org". Information on upcoming programs can be found at: http://www.rootsweb.com/~txetgs/meetings.html 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 which features articles and records concerning our six counties and a monthly newsletter "The Bulletin" which features information about our society, things of interest to our members and information about our six counties. ETGS has began a First Families of East Texas covering our six counties. To find out about this program go to following link: http://www.rootsweb.com/~txetgs/firstfam.html . For more information, you may contact me at scottfitzgerald@tyler.net or go to: http://www.rootsweb.com/~txetgs/ Submitted by Scott Fitzgerald, President.