Welcome to Central Texas Genealogical Society!
Saturday, August 3
DAR Daughters of the American Revolution Lineage Workshop
10:30 am to 12:00 pm
West Waco Library and Genealogy Center
You are invited to explore your ancestry with the Henry Downs Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution!
Members will present information abut family research and assist attendees in finding information about their own ancestors.
What's Behind the "Members Only" Curtain?
The Members Only portion of this website is home to lots of interesting and helpful data. Join CTGS at a single membership of $25 to access these extensive online resources:
- CTGS Quarterlies and Bulletins- 1958 to current. Both the issues and a topical index are available online.
- Cemetery Records - 26 volumes
- Funeral Home Records -
Boykins Funeral Home – Abstract from 30 volumes from 1920-1991
Fall & Puckett Funeral Home – 34 books from 1892-1912
Fall Funeral Home – 7 books from 1912-1917
Puckett Funeral Home – 25 books from 1912-1931
JC Stephenson Funeral Home – 2 books from 1895-1896
McLennan County Marriage Book 1 - 1850-1870
McLennan County Marriage Book 2 - 1871-1892
(Also includes short bios of many judges and ministers, history of the churches as they were being founded and names of founding members and leaders in those churches)
- Early Waco Obituaries - 1874-1908
- Katy Railroad Cards- This fascinating reference contains the personnel cards of the warden shop of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas (M-K-T or Katy) Railroad in Bellmead, Texas from the 1920's through the 1950's.
- Index to 1870 & 1910 Census for McLennan County – 4 volumes
- Index to Early McLennan County Deaths
- Program handouts from CTGS-hosted programs (with permission) [coming soon]
Officer Candidates Needed for CTGS
Here is your chance to contribute to the future of our great society! The CTGS Nominations Committee is currently seeking candidates for the office of Editor, which is a one year term for 2025. Candidates for office must be members of CTGS. For more information, please contact
Sue Carpenter, Chair of the Nominations Committee, or any officer or member of the Board of Directors.
Looking a little further out, CTGS will need to fill the President and Librarian officer positions for 2026. In order to set the next officers up for continued success in these roles, we plan to have them shadow the current officers sometime during the 2025 year so they will be fully prepared!
The CTGS is currently looking to fill our Bookstore Manager position. The role is responsible for listing books for sale on our website, processing the orders, and mailing the books to the purchaser. If you are interested in helping us with this function, please contact
Ron Barnett.
If you are interested in serving as an Officer, on the Board of Directors, or in any other capacity, please contact
Ron Barnett; he'd be thrilled to talk with you.
Have Ancestor Information To Share?
Heart of Texas Records is a great quarterly publication but do you know what would make it even better? Your submissions!
Do you have something to share discovered during your research? Have you found an online tool or research method that is working well for you? Please let us know by submitting them to the Editor at editor@ctgs.org. Next thing you know, you may be a published author.
Next submission DEADLINE is September 1, 2024 for the Fall Issue.
Helpful tips and policy and guidelines for submission for publication in Heart of Texas Records may be found under Publications/Quarterlies.
Members, can you help with new queries?
Members - If you haven't checked lately we have
NEW QUERIES! You could be someone's genealogical angel.
Visitors- We invite you to email your queries and requests for genealogical help to the
CTGS Webmaster.
Families Wanted for TV Show
Could your family survive life on the frontier?
Ever dreamed of testing yourself against the challenges of the Old West? Or living in a time before tech?
Wall to Wall is looking for fun families to journey back in time for 9 weeks this summer, to experience life on the frontier!
Free Monthly Events at the West Waco Library
Programs begin at noon and last about one hour. Bring a lunch and learn skills, tips, and techniques to help your family history research.
West Waco Library & Genealogy Center 5301 Bosque Blvd.
For questions call 254-750-5945
CTGS Needs You!!!!
Volunteers are the heart of CTGS! Would you consider several of the following ways you can help make CTGS a more effective, vibrant organization? Contact Rebecca Edwards, our
volunteer coordinator, for more information.
- Enter data records into the website
- Write an article for quarterly publication Heart of Texas Records
- Volunteer at the annual Genealogy Lock-in
- Submit articles for the website
- Volunteer at the Genealogy Center
- Lead or start a NEW Special Interest Group
- Do research for others from home or the library
- Monetary donations
- Present a program on a topic you are interested in
Learning to "Read" a Cemetery
Would you like to learn to “read” a cemetery? It’s a genealogical adventure! On many older gravestones, there are pictures and symbols that tell stories about your loved ones and ancestors. If you can’t read “gravestone-language” you are missing part of the story. CTGS has posted this interesting trio of blog entries from the Billion Graves web site that will provide invaluable tools to unlock these symbols. You'll find it on our
"Helpful Facts" Research Aids page.
Search Engine Tips
Have you tried the CTGS Search Engine? It's a great tool to get the most out of your visit to CTGS.ORG, even if you are not a member! The whole web site is searchable by any user. However if you are not a member, the search engine may point to areas that require membership for full access.
Members- If you will log in BEFORE doing your search, then the search will take you straight to the document or resource you need. Once in the document, press Ctrl-F to search for occurences of your information within the document.
The CTGS Search Engine is powered by Google, so all the search techniques (like wild cards) you normally use in Google Searches will work the same way here.
