The Birmingham Genealogical Society meets the fourth Saturday of each month (ex. Nov. & Dec.) in the Arrington Auditorium at the Downtown Birmingham Public Library. Guests are always welcome!

Next meeting: Saturday, October 24th at 2 p.m.; Refreshments at 1:30 p.m.

Program Topic: The 43rd Annual October Project Fair

Details: www.birminghamgenealogy.org or BPL-Southern History Dept. at (205) 226-3665

It’s time for the 43rd Annual October Project Fair and you are invited! It’s time to plan for your exhibit – some ideas to consider for an exhibit are old family photos, clothing worn by an ancestor, family histories, articles owned by an ancestor or articles made by an ancestor. You may begin setting up your display at 1:00 p.m. You must be a BGS member to enter your project. We will also have a used book and magazine sale! Ribbons will be awarded to the top three entries!

The Birmingham Genealogical Society meets the fourth Saturday of each month (excluding Nov. & Dec.) in the Arrington Auditorium at the Downtown Birmingham Public Library. Guests are encouraged to attend!

Next meeting: Saturday, September 26th at 2 p.m. Refreshments at 1:30 p.m.

Speaker: Mary Taylor, BGS 1st Vice-President

Program Topic: The Family of Thomas T. Hillman

Details: Contact us via email or BPL-Southern History Dept. at (205) 226-3665

Thomas T. Hillman was president of the Tennessee, Coal, Iron & Railroad Company. He  made a donation equivocal to $20,000 in the early years of what later became “Hillman Hospital” (now part of UAB) which allowed the hospital to remain open.  Read more about Hillman Hospital, TCI & see a photo of Thomas T. Hillman in the Encyclopedia of Alabama online.

(From Jason Kirby, BGS Board Member and Southern History Staff Member)

Renovations have been completed and the crosswalk that connects the Birmingham Public Library East Building to the Linn-Henley Research Library is now open.

Hurray!

Mary Cochran, long time member and supporter of BGS, turned 100 last weekend. Many relatives and friends helped Mary celebrate the big day. Locally, she is known as the “Historian of Pinson”.

The front page of the Friday edition of “The Pinson News” carried her photo and an article about her birthday celebration. The article indicates that photos and video from the party with later be placed on the website in the “PinsonTV” section.

Click here to see the front page (subscribers can enlarge the image).

Click here to go to the “PinsonTV” portion of the website.

Happy Birthday, Mary!  All of your friends at BGS wish you many, many more.

The wait is finally over! The Alabama Archives has now added the remaining names (surnames beginning with W, X, Y & Z) to the Civil War Soldier Index.

From the website:

This database was created from an 8 x 5 card file maintained by the Alabama Department of Archives and History from the early 1900s until 1982. As staff came across information related to Alabama individuals during the American Civil War, a card was created. Information on individuals exempted from military service, or who served in the militia or home guard, is included. Soldiers from other states that have some connection to Alabama are also included. If new information was discovered from another source, another card was created. Multiple cards for an individual often exist. Sources include muster rolls, governors’ correspondence, veterans’ censuses, manuscript collections, newspapers, and pension records. Names, places and events are often inconsistently spelled. This card file is in no way inclusive. Not every individual who served from Alabama is present in the card file. Every card contains empty fields. Because much of the documentation relating to the Army of Tennessee was lost, soldiers that served in that army tend to be poorly documented. The cards are arranged alphabetically by last name. Since all of this information is available online, the actual cards are closed.

You can search the complete database here.

Happy searching!

The Birmingham Genealogical Society meets the fourth Saturday of each month (excluding Nov. & Dec.) in the Arrington Auditorium at the Downtown Birmingham Public Library. Guests are encouraged to attend!

Next meeting: Saturday, August 22nd at 2 p.m. Refreshments at 1:30 p.m.

Speaker: Bill Clement

Program Topic: Revolutionary War Battle of King’s Mountain

Details: Contact us via email or BPL-Southern History Dept. at (205) 226-3665

Did you know that nearly half the men who fought at the Battle of King’s Mountain were Tennessee “Overmountain Men?” That the Battle of King’s Mountain is credited with having turned the tide of the Revolution? That without King’s Mountain, America might have had only ten colonies? That the battle was not Americans against the British, but Americans against Americans? That the American Whigs bested the American Tories in only one hour, took over 800 prisoners and then proceded to “lose” them? Or that hundreds of Whigs “deserted” right along with the hundreds of Tories they “lost?” The Battle of King’s Mountain is unique in America’s history: This battle—fought by 1,000 plus militiamen—without orders, formal military training, uniforms or provisions, and with no promise of pay—against the supposedly “superior forces” of noted English Col. Patrick Ferguson—is credited by most early historians with having changed the course of the Revolution in the South, and may have even insured that the original number of colonies in these United States of America would be thirteen, not ten.

Please join us as Bill Clement, a member and Director of the Birmingham Genealogical Society and a member of the Sons of the American Revolution, Birmingham Chapter, answers these questions and discusses this historic event!

Press Release
For Immediate Release – Time Sensitive

1 August 2009

It’s just one month till family historians convene in Little Rock!

The Federation of Genealogical Societies Annual Conference is set to take place this September 2-5 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Based at the Statehouse Convention Center in the exciting Rivermarket District, this event is drawing genealogists, historians, librarians, and archivists from all over the United States and beyond. You can still join them for four full days of learning more about genealogy, finding cousins, seeing how much is online, seeing how much is not online, figuring out how to get the most out of records, determining what archives or libraries have the answers, helping your genealogy society, and spending some money in the large Exhibit Hall. There will be almost 200 educational sessions. Don’t let this event pass you by.

The Arkansas Genealogical Society is the host for this event that has previously been in Boston, Seattle, Phoenix, Fort Wayne, Davenport, Orlando, Philadelphia, Austin, St. Louis, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Rochester, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and places in-between. You will be hearing about this event for years to come and will feel sad if you weren’t a part of it. It’s a place to meet authors, lecturers, librarians, archivists, and bloggers whose names you will recognize.

Registration Deadline
August 26 is the last day to pre-register for the conference online or by mail. It is also the deadline to reserve your spot at the luncheons, gala banquet, or the special Night at the Ballpark. There may be only a few extra tickets available at the conference registration on Tuesday, September 1st for these events.  <http://www.fgsconference.org>

Onsite Registration
Tuesday, September 1st is the first day pre-registrants may visit the FGS/AGS registration booths on the lower level of the Statehouse Convention Center to pick up your name tag, tote bag, CD syllabus of lecture handouts, miscellaneous goodies, 20 door prize tickets, and begin the networking. Not pre-registered? No problem. There will be a line for just that task. You may register for one day or the full conference. Registration opens at 2:00 p.m. and runs until 6:00 p.m. on that day. It reopens at 7:00 a.m. on September 2d.

Exhibit Hall
What will you find in this hall on Thursday-Saturday? Aisle after aisle of booths featuring books old, new, and rare; genealogy software and hardware and demonstrations; preservation supplies; genealogical and historical societies; ethnic organizations; libraries; archives; maps; gifts; genealogy professional organizations; DNA companies; popular magazines; scholarly journals; databases; continuing education opportunities; author book signings; publishers; hotels from Salt Lake City; and places to sit, rest, and network with other registrants. The Hall is also open to non-registrants.

Door prizes
Many of the vendors in the Exhibit Hall will be giving away conference door prizes. Each registrant will receive 20 door prize tickets with your conference name tag and syllabus CD at the registration booth. The ticket will ask for your name, mailing and e-mail addresses and phone number. Bring along some of those address labels you have sitting around or print some up before you leave home to save some writing. Each participating vendor will have a box labeled for door prizes. Each attendee chooses which door prize box to drop their tickets in depending on the door prize being given. Some will have more than one door prize drawing during the three Exhibit Hall days. The names of the winners will be posted on a bulletin board in the Exhibit Hall. If you are a winner, all you need to do to claim your prize is to revisit the specific vendor’s booth.

Conference sessions to be recorded
Many of the conference sessions will be audio recorded and available for purchase on CD. Listings of those sessions being recorded will be available at the conference. Jamb-Inc. will be doing the recording and will have a booth where you can make your on-site purchases. The CDs will also be available after the conference from Jamb-Inc. but mailing fees will be charged.

Last minute Conference Information
Be sure to read the Conference News Blog during August and even during Conference Week to learn last minute details, reminders, suggested things to bring along, types of clothing to wear, and detail on special items.  www.fgsconferenceblog.org 
 Some exciting special announcements will be made in the next couple of weeks on the blog!

See you at the conference,

Paula Stuart-Warren
National Publicity Chair
2009 FGS/AGS Conference

The Birmingham Genealogical Society meets the fourth Saturday of each month (excluding Nov. & Dec.) in the Arrington Auditorium at the Downtown Birmingham Public Library. Guests are encouraged to attend!

Next meeting: Saturday, July 25th at 2 p.m. Refreshments at 1:30 p.m.

Speaker: Kermit Dooley

Program Topic: History of Stouts Road and Early Gardendale Families

Details: Contact us via email or BPL-Southern History Dept. at (205) 226-3665

The early settlers of Gardendale, most of them veterans of the War of 1812, recognized the beautiful woodlands as a productive area. Otis Dyer first homesteaded 80 acres in 1825. By the outbreak of the Civil War, a dozen families had claimed land — buying most of it from the government for twelve-and-a-half cents an acre. After the Civil War, when the surrounding coal mines opened in the 1870s, Gardendale’s population doubled almost overnight. A grist mill was opened in 1873, built by Union soldier William H. Parker. A cooperative community canning plant for fruits and vegetables and a general store, opened by James Kimmons, soon followed. Mr. Kimmons deeded one acre of land for the town’s first church in 1876. Known as Chalybeate Baptist Church, it later became First Baptist Church of Gardendale. The growing settlement was first called Jugtown after a jug and a churn factory operated near where the Village Green shopping center is located today. However, this named proved to be embarrassing to a local school teacher, Hettie Thomason Cargo, and she began a drive to have the town renamed. “Gardendale” was chosen in 1906. John T. Milner, industrialist, developed the nearby New Castle coal mines as one of his pursuits. He donated the lumber for Gardendale’s first grammar school in 1892, called Milner School. Milner School was located on Mount Olive Road near the present elementary school. At the turn of the 20th century, many people who worked in and around Birmingham moved to Gardendale from some of the northern counties of the state. The population continued to increase and the area greatly expanded due partly to both World War I and World War II. Gardendale was incorporated and became a city in 1955. Mr. J.I. Pesnell was elected as the first Mayor. Gardendale now has a land area of 25 square miles and boasts 360 businesses, 4 schools and 24 churches within the city limits. The population is approximately 12,000.

(From Jason Kirby, BGS Board Member and Southern History Staff Member)

The crosswalk that connects the Birmingham Public Library East Building to the Linn-Henley Research Library is currently closed for renovation.  You must enter the Linn-Henley building through the entrance adjacent to Linn Park.