Lamar County Genealogical Society PJC Box 187 2400 Clarksville St. Paris, TX 75460 Newsletter March 1998 Text Version SOCIETY TO MOVE! SANTE FE DEPOT TO BE NEW HOME OUR DREAM COME TRUE In 1997 the City of Paris applied for and was given a 1 million dollar (plus) grant to restore the old Sante Fe Depot on the west end of town. An architect was hired and plans began to take shape for the project. Very quickly the organizers of the project realized that some civic organization had to become involved for the project to have meaning and purpose as a Historical Transportation Museum. The committee made an announcement inviting all interested parties and organizations to apply. In January, Ron Brothers put a proposal together for the Committee for the Restoration of The Depot on behalf of the Genealogical Society. Being the largest historical interest group in the county we became an interesting entity for future occupation of the depot. The original proposal was as follows: To the Committee For The Restoration of the Depot Paris, Texas January 24, 1998 The Lamar County Genealogical Society would like to propose to this committee that you allow the Society to become the custodian and manager for the Depot after its restoration. We firmly believe that our historical motif and our natural attraction for visitors will work well to help you realize the goals for the future use of the facility. The Society is a non-profit, educational organization. The objectives as stated in the society By Laws are: (a)To promote interest in genealogical and historical research. (b)To collect and preserve genealogical and historical records of Northeast Texas (in particular Lamar County and surrounding counties) and other such genealogical materials as may be of interest to the members. (c)To share information and research expertise and to collaborate in developing efficient methods of genealogical and historical research. (d)To add to the genealogical collections of the Society and to make these records available to all interested persons and to maintain a close working association with the Paris Junior College library and archives. (e)To instill in the youth of the area an awareness of the achievements of the pioneers who settled Northeast Texas and influenced its development. Lamar County was once a gateway to Texas. Many settlers, traders and businessmen passed through Paris using the Central National Road of Texas, which by the way ran very near the depot site. The Society houses the records of those families who transported themselves to Texas. Specifically we would like to propose to supply ample volunteers to keep the facility open during any hours of operation that you may specify at least six days per week and possibly seven. We will maintain a program to train these volunteers in the proper greeting of visitors and touring of the facility. We will also maintain a program of light interior cleaning duties to be specified at a later date. In exchange for these services the society asks: 1. That the two rooms on the south end of the building be provided for the specific use of the society's library which we propose to call "The Gateway To Texas Library of the Lamar County Genealogical Society." 2. That no rent or utility fees be charged to the society. In 1997, the Society library recorded 1615 visitors, 586 of those being from out of Lamar County, to its facility now on the PJC campus. Our current location does not have ample space for the holdings of historic material concerned with our area. The very nature of our organization will guarantee a high attendance and project a community profile for the Depot. If accepted we will advertise the facility on our Web site which is one of the most widely used sites of historical interest on the Internet. The Society wishes to be open minded and very willing to negotiate any terms of occupation that you may wish to discuss. We whole heartedly believe that our organization will be the best organization to serve the needs of this proud attraction to our area and look forward to a wonderful working relationship with you and the community that we serve. I may be reached for comment or suggestion at my home phone number 737-8693 or at work at 784-3381 or via email . Very Truly Yours, Ron Brothers President In the regular meeting of the society on Feb. 19, Ron announced to the membership that the proposal had been made and needed a resolution of acceptance from the membership at large. Twenty six members in attendance voted to accept the proposal and signed a resolution to go forward. Over 25 organizations vied to become a part of the depot. The committee made recommendations to Paris City Counsel on March 23th to allow the Society to place it's library and holdings in the two rooms on the south end of the depot. This represents nearly 1500 square feet of space. Since 1983 the society has grown ever so large. In the last three years our membership has grown from 112 to over 237. Our budget has grown from $2,000 in 1993 to a record $10,000 plus in 1998. In the last few years more and more people are becoming involved in searching their roots and our library has seen visitors from nearly every state in the Union, coming back to Lamar County, where once their ancestors had been. Now our dreams have come true. And now, we need more help than ever before. Current plans are to have the opening in December 1998. That's less than 9 months away. It will take a lot of money for us to move to the depot and no one else can pay for this move but ourselves. Here are a few tentative plans that have been discussed in order for us to make the move. LAMAR COUNTY GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY TENTATIVE MASTER PLAN MOVE TO SANTE FE DEPOT We are moving from a 180 square foot facility into a nearly 1500 square foot facility. Because of our lack of space our collections are disorganized. When the actual move to the depot takes place we will need to be as organized as possible. We cannot wait until the move to begin the task of preparing our materials for public display. There will be very little time after the move before the depot is in full operation. In order to accomplish the goals set forth we will need from every member: 1. A positive "CAN DO" attitude about the move and the expected and necessary changes that will need to take effect as soon as possible. 2. An open minded approach and full cooperation with the Chamber of Commerce and the City of Paris who are our sponsors for this endeavor. CHANGES, ADDITIONS AND POLICIES TO BE MADE 1. GOAL Our goal must be to establish a user friendly library/museum facility for patrons, researchers and citizens of Lamar county. Because the grant for the Depot comes from the Texas Department of Transportation the facility must have a transportation theme. As a Genealogical Society it will be very easy for us to use the transportation theme to our advantage and utilize the theme for the success of our holdings. Therefore we should name our facility "The Gateway to Texas Library of the Lamar County Genealogical Society" or choose another appropriate name for our part of the facility. 2. THEME To facilitate the purpose for the restoration of the Depot it will be necessary that we acquire maps of Texas showing transportation and emigration patterns to our area. The Central National Road passed right through the depot area. We should take ever advantage of this historic entity and display materials and maps of the road. We need also to acquire books and video about transportation such as trains, aircraft, etc. This collection need not drain our resources but we must have some type of display on this subject in order to stay within the theme of the facility. An open book shelve display near the entrance should be sufficient and maps should be framed and displayed prominently on walls and/or other type display racks. We will need to expend funds for enlarging and framing of maps. 3. BOOK ROOM There will be ample book shelving (hopefully provided for in the grant money) in which the architect has already made designs to integrate three computer workstations. The present plan calls for 7 foot high shelving units on 78 linear feet of wall space. With five shelves that is 390 feet of books enough room to hold 4,680 books. A. Unusable or damaged books. We have a small collection of books that will be damaged by continued use. These books should be displayed in a glass case that will need to be purchased and placed near the main librarian desk. A volunteer should be put in charge of photocopying all unusable books and place them in notebooks in the inventory. B. Tables and chairs. It will be necessary that we purchase three 8 or 10 foot folding banquet tables along with 24 folding chairs for the center of the book room. 4. COMPUTERS We must utilize computers to their fullest extent. All our records must be computerized. Use of handwritten paper records are a waste of time. We must make every effort to learn computerized technology to facilitate ease of record keeping. A. There will be three computer stations. 1.) One station for internet and FTM CD research 2.) One station for internet, cemetery and marriage record research 3.) One station for administrative work and PAF files B. We already own one computer. Until such time that others can be purchased or donated, Ron Brothers will provide a 486 computer for station #2 and a 286 computer for station #3. We need a donation of two or more computers from members or raise enough money to purchase more. These computers must be 486 or higher to meet our needs. Long range plans will include a fourth computer for administrative use only on or near the librarian desk. C. We need volunteers to begin computerizing 1.) the cemetery records of Fannin and Red River Counties from books, 2.) the 1860, 1870, from books 3.) and 1880 Census from CD 5. FILES We will need to purchase 10 filing cabinets. Our filing system must be changed. The system can be very useful if papers are filed by the main title or the subject of the paper. Items may be photocopied for cross filing under other titles. A. File materials under the full name in a separate folders. B. File pictures under the name of the subject in a separate folder. C. File family group sheets under the name of the head of household. Mary Lane has several hundred pictures that were given to her. These should be separated into single files. This filing system will eliminate the need to separately catalog items because the files become the catalog themselves. Files for materials that are outside the library now, or are considered non-essential, can be started on in the home of a volunteer right now. When finished they can be stored in plain boxes until move-in. Upon move-in it should be relatively simple to consolidate the files in a few hours. It is estimated that we need to purchase 10,000 file folders. 6. TELEVISION Ron Brothers will donate a television and VCR to begin a video collection. Several videos were made by him during cemetery enumerations that will be donated to the society. Additionally a set of Civil War videos will be donated. A volunteer will need to enter the Videos into the cataloging system. 7. MICROFILM At least two microfilm stations will be set up. We already own cabinets to store microfilm. A volunteer will need to enter the Microfilm into the cataloging system. 8. RETAIL Retail shelves will be set up to properly store and display the retail books and products that we have available. This should be a free standing unit with angled shelving so that several books of the same kind may be stored face out for point of sale advantages. 9. COPY STATION Our present copy machine is in need of a drum head. Plans are in the 1998 budget to purchase one. Future plans need to include the purchase of another copy machine that is more durable and suitable for us to use in preparation of our own retail books. 10. SECURITY Basic electronic security for the doors has been discussed and will be provided by the depot and probably will include an access alarm code system. There will be two doors to the facility. The librarian desk will be situated between the doors. All patrons will be asked to sign in. Patrons will be given color coded cards to put in place of books removed from shelves. Briefcases and other personal items must not be allowed in the research areas and should be stored in legal file cabinets that will be set up as patron lockers/storage. 11. UTILITIES The society will not be responsible for water, electrical or telephone utility. 12. INSURANCE The Depot committee has expressed concern that our holdings are not insured and have asked that we purchase insurance for our materials. A local firm has offered to insure us for about $300 per year but cannot give us a specific quote until construction is completed at the Depot and the building is appraised for risk. 13. FUNDING Funding for the move should come from the Expansion Fund. A. Members will be urged to give to this fund separately in the form of a mail-out. B. Proceeds from the April Workshop will go directly into the Expansion Fund. C. It may be necessary to place a moratorium on book and CD purchases for this year only so that part of general checking fund, if necessary, may be used for move-in. 15. ANTICIPATED EXPENDITURES (WISH LIST) Ten File cabinets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $1,200 Two Legal Size File cabinets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300 Framing, enlargements, and photography . . . . . . . . . .1,000 Retail shelf unit(s) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300 Tables and chairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .700 Glass display case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .600 240 Cardboard Shelf files for periodicals . . . . . . . . .360 100 Book ends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .250 10,000 file folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1900 5000 sheet protectors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .640 Computer #2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,500 Computer #3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1,500 New Copy Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,000 Two Microfilm Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2,400 One Desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .300 One Desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3000 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$25,950 Annual insurance premium $300 16. VOLUNTEERS In order to get the facility, initial promises had to be made as to our hours of operation. The Volunteer System is two fold. One set of volunteers will work the visitor center. We will enlist the help of other organizations to provide this service. We will need one person to be in charge of these volunteers to coordinate the scheduling and training for the Visitor Center. The second set of volunteers, those who will run the library, requires the total involvement of the society. Fifteen volunteers will be needed to run the library 9-5 Monday through Saturday and 1-5 on Sunday. Volunteers will work four hour shifts from 9-1 and 1-5. Anyone may volunteer for more than one day or for a whole day and it is possible for two people to volunteer for the same 4 hour shift. The librarian should not have an assigned shift. Duties of the librarian should include: 1. Recruitment and training of volunteers 2. Scheduling of personnel 3. Filling and mailing book orders 4. Purchase orders of materials for the society 5. Distribution of mail 6. Cataloging and accession of books 7. Cataloging of video 8. Cataloging of microfilm 9. Copying of unusable books 10. Maintaining files 17. SUMMARY We have waited a long time for an opportunity to expand. This plan will bring us to the forefront of historical preservation in our county and our area. We have an opportunity to build a great research facility with a lot of potential for not just our county but for this region. Becoming a part of the Depot restoration is the fulfillment of many of our dreams and will insure us a home for a long time to come. Other entities are planning a historical district to be built and maintained around the depot. Now we are closer to that reality than ever before. Becoming a part of the Depot will be enjoyable and the most successful and fruitful event in the annuls of our society. We can do nothing but become stronger as a result of this move. It is hoped that every member will become more involved in the workings of this society, be it by a large monetary donation or becoming a volunteer in the library or transportation museum. Our success in this endeavor will depend on you the member. We have kicked and screamed for a long time. Now it's time to put our money and time where our mouth was. 1998 ANNUAL Because of the anticipated move to the depot in early winter this year it has become necessary that we move up the deadline for submissions. We must have submissions to the Annual before 1 Jul 1998. It took nearly two months for us to prepare the last one. Please send in your submissions now so we may get an early start on this project. We also need more pictures. Remember pictures must be actual photographs. Please do not send us the new color technology photocopies. These sometimes do not reproduce well on the machine that does our Annual. Here are some basic guidelines. 1. Send information in block paragraphs in a story form. Please do not send family group sheets. 2. Please do not use special formatting, double spacing, bold or capitalized surnames. If possible, save the text in WordPerfect format. 3. Send black and white photographs, no larger than 3X5 size. If possible send two copies. One copy will remain pasted to the printers copy of the Annual forever. The other will go into a file that will be kept at the library. 4. Send the information via email or on disk, if possible. If not, send it typewritten in dark print so it can be scanned. It will save time if you send the information directly to Ron Brothers, 3125 Clarksville St. #127, Paris, TX 75460 or email . 5. Please limit submissions to no more than ten pages per subject. Remember, the success of the annual depends on the submissions of our members. TIDBITS Glenda Subyak new email Gsubyak@aol.com Bob Nance new email bobnance@airmail.net Penney Nowell email pnowell@cls.org Bertie Dancer new email BDANCER@prodigy.net We are very sorry that we left out the surnames in the 1997 Annual for Russ Prichett, 617 Bloomingfield Lane, Las Vegas, NV 89128-6045. He is researching, Blackstone, Boles, Jackson, Pheasant, Prickett, Swanson, Walker. Dorset & The New World Seminar, June 5-7, 1998. Contact Jane Ferentzi-Sheppard, email to <106606.444@compuserve.com> A special thanks to Sue Abruscato for keeping up our research surnames in the web site. Lee Cemetery There will be the Lee Cemetery spring work day on the last Saturday of April (the 25th). We have our first historical medallion to be placed on the grave of James C. McAmis at Lee Cemetery. Floyd McAmis, who was so very interested in the cemetery and one of our best supporters, is now deceased, but his wife is still helping, and plans to be there that day. I'm sending as many notices to other descendants of the McAmis's as I know in hopes that some will be present, but would like for us to have something a little special for this first memorial to be placed in the cemetery. We will start cleaning on Friday afternoon, and usually have it fairly clean by Saturday noon this time of the year - especially when the rains are good, and the wild rye and grass are so pretty, there are few weeds. Contact Jean Caddel, 447 Ridge Creek Rd., Waxahachie, TX 75165, email or Betty Thomas, P.O. Box 75, Roxton, TX 75477 for more information. ARE YOU A MEMBER, HAS YOUR MEMBERSHIP EXPIRED? Because of the move to the Depot we are sending this newsletter to many persons who have been involved in history projects in the past and may not be members of the society. We need everyone to join us. You don't have to be a family historian to join us. We have more historical material than any other organization in Lamar County. Perhaps your membership has expired. Please renew now at the $25.00 level or more. This level allows the society to do more than publish an Annual. Join us and become a part of the Depot project. THIS IS IT! WE WON'T BOTHER YOU ANYMORE! PLEASE JOIN OR RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP NOW OR YOU WILL BE DROPPED FROM OUR LIST MEMBERS WHO DO NOT RENEW AND HAVE SURNAMES POSTED ON OUR INTERNET SITE WILL BE DROPPED FROM THE LIST BECOME A PART OF THE HISTORIC DEPOT IN PARIS