Welcome to Central Texas
Genealogical Society!
Monday, January 5, 2026
Celebrating 250 Years: Recording Your Family’s Place in American History (Brown Bag Programs)
12:00 pm to 1:00 pm
Large Meeting Room at the West Waco Library
5301 Bosque Blvd. # 275, Waco, Texas 76710
In 2026, America celebrates 250 years of independence. There’s no better time to preserve your family’s place in our nation’s story. Genealogy Librarian, Hannah Kubacak, will share how to connect your ancestors to American history and turn your research into shareable stories. Whether you’re new to family history or ready to take your work further, you’ll leave with practical steps to honor your heritage and make 2026 a year of meaningful discoveries.
Monday, January 26, 2026
Ancestors in the Archives: Tools for Efficient Searches (Monthly CTGS Meetings)
6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Large Meeting Room, 5301 Bosque Blvd. # 275, Waco, Texas 76710
So many stories about our ancestors are preserved in archives, libraries, and museums—but finding them can feel overwhelming. Bill Buckner will demonstrate easy-to-use tools that let you search across many collections all at once. In this program, we’ll explore resources like Texas Archival Resources Online (TARO), the Texas Oral History Locator Database (TOLD), ArchiveGrid, and more. You’ll learn how to search these sites step by step and discover letters, photographs, oral histories, and other hidden treasures that can bring your family’s story to life.
KWTX Interview about 2025 Annual Lock-In
News 10's Ke'Sha Lopez speaks with Genealogy Reference Librarian Hannah Kubacak and Chief Genealogist Sherri Ahmadzadeh as they discuss the 24th Annual Genealogy Lock-In. This free, full-day event at the West Waco Library & Genealogy Center (with a virtual option) offers a unique opportunity to explore your family history, connect with experts, and discover new research tools.
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 an individual membership
of $25 to access these extensive online resources:
- CTGS Quarterlies - 1958 to current. Both the issues and a searchable 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 1940's.
- Index to 1870 & 1910 Census for McLennan County – 4 volumes
- Index to Early McLennan County Deaths
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.
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.
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? Please contact 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
Do You Have Ancestor Information To Share?
Heart of Texas Records is the genealogy journal of CTGS, published quarterly. We are interested in publishing your submissions. "Heart of Texas Records Submission Policies & Guidelines" for authors are located on this website under "Publications/Quarterlies." Please contact the Quarterly Editor with any questions at editor@ctgs.org.
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.
