April 2008 NMGS Newsletter

April 2008 Newsletter

Table of Contents


1. President’s Message
2. Upcoming Programs
3. NMGS Launches Blog
4. Write an Article for the New Mexico Genealogist
5. Looking for County Records
6. NMGS Website
7. NMGS Press
8. Subscribe



1. President’s Message

Once again, we have a great program this month. Jan Bennett speaks about her book “The Making of a Family: The Pecos Years 1916-1940.” Please come join us on April 19th at the Special Collections Library to see this program.

Beginning this month, NMGS launches its blog! You may subscribe to the blog to get up to date information about NMGS and other organizations of interest.

For more information about these items and more, please read below.

Sincerely,

Robert Baca, President NMGS

2. Upcoming Program

Saturday April 19, 2008, 10:30 AM, Special Collections Library, 423 Central Ave NE, Albuquerque, NM (NW corner of Edith and Central)

Jan Bennett will give a presentation on her book The Making of a Family: The Pecos Years 1916-1940 (written in collaboration with her cousin Penny Storms.) Jan will talk about her family’s experiences in New Mexico. Her great-uncles, the Grant brothers, were railroad contractors who also owned many Albuquerque businesses such as the water works, the icehouse, the Grant Opera House and the Albuquerque Morning Journal. The city of Grants, NM is named after them. Their nephew, Jan’s grandfather, followed his uncles to New Mexico to help out with their businesses. This is also a story about his family.

Jan will read excerpts from her book, which includes personal reminisces, letters and diaries. Copies of her book will be available for purchase. Come join us on April 19th to listen to this dynamic speaker.

Saturday May 17, 2008, 10:30 AM, Special Collections Library, 423 Central Ave. NE, Albuquerque, NM (NW corner of Edith and Central.)
Workshop program: to be announced.

All programs are open and free to the public. For more information about these programs, please visit our website at http://www.nmgs.org/workshop.htm.

3. NMGS Launches Blog

The New Mexico Genealogical Society joins other genealogical organizations throughout the country by hosting its own blog. You may ask “what is a blog?” “Blog” is short for “web log”. It is a type of website that offers postings in chronological order: the most recent postings can be found on the top of the web page, while older posts are found below. Organizations use blogs to send out announcements to their membership, post links to helpful websites, and to show photographs of past events. NMGS will be using its blog in these ways.

The NMGS Blog will not replace our current website. Our website (www.nmgs.org) will not change. On our website, you will still find announcements, website and e-mail links, and articles that you will not find on the blog. Also on the conventional website, you will find forms, membership information, and listings of our books and journal issues.

Please visit our blog: it can be found at http://nmgsblog.blogspot.com. Notice on the top right hand corner of the page, you will find a box that allows you to subscribe it. If you subscribe, you can have blog postings sent directly to you via e-mail.

4. Write an Article for the New Mexico Genealogist

We all have an interest in genealogy. That is why we are members of a NMGS. We all want to tell stories about our ancestors. We want to make sure that our children and our grandchildren know where their families came from and who they were. Tell your story in our journal; write an article for the New Mexico Genealogist.

We are not necessarily looking for long articles; in fact, short articles are just fine.

Maybe you think that you can’t write your family history right now because you’re not finished. When are genealogists ever finished? There is always more to find out about our ancestors. Oftentimes we write articles just to ask questions: others who read our articles may have the answers that we seek. When we have the answers, then we can write another article describing our findings.

If you have never written an article for our journal, consider writing one now. If you have written many articles, we will happy to accept your next article.

You may submit an article to us by mailing it to:

New Mexico Genealogical Society
Attn: New Mexico Genealogist editor
PO Box 27599
Albuquerque, NM 87125-7559

Or, send an e-mail to our editor, Russ Shaw, at rfshaw@vla.com.

5. Looking for County Records

Do you know where to find hidden records in your county’s archives? We are looking for articles about county records. Share your information with us: write an article and submit it to the New Mexico Genealogist at the mailing or e-mail addresses above.

6. NMGS Website

Here are a few things that you can find on the NMGS website:

Locating Catholic Church Records in New Mexico, http://www.nmgs.org/Chrchs-intro.htm

Valencia County, NM Census Records 1870, 1880, 1885, by David C. Gonzales: http://www.nmgs.org/census-Valencia%20Co.htm

3 Tools for Documenting Your New Mexico Roots (Starter Forms): http://www.nmgs.org/primera.htm.

Check out these online articles and more at the NMGS website: http://www.nmgs.org

7. NMGS Press

Did you know that we have many New Mexican census record books? Here is a listing of just a few:

1850 Territorial Censuses – four volumes $16.00 to 18.00 each, or all four for $60.00.
NM Spanish and Mexican Colonial Censuses, 1790, 1823, 1845 - $24.00.
Spanish and Mexican Censuses of NM, 1750-1830 - $24.00
1890 New Mexico Tax Assessments: A Territorial Census Substitute - $25.00.

You can order these books and many, many more on the NMGS Press webpage at http://www.nmgs.org/books.htm


8. Subscribe

If you are not subscribed to this newsletter and you wish to have it e-mailed to you every month, send us an e-mail to abqbobcat@nmia.com. Type in the subject line “Subscribe: NMGS Newsletter”.