Assistance in genealogical searches will increase

Information For information about the library workshops, call 880-7030. For information about the Galveston Immigration Database, visit www.tsm-elissa.org or call (409) 763-1877.

Nancy Cooper is always researching her family tree. But between helping to care for grandchildren and tending to an elderly parent, Cooper has precious little time these days to indulge her passion for genealogy.
   Which is why Cooper, vice president and program chairman of the Coastal Bend Genealogical Society, does a great deal of her sleuthing on the Internet.
   "The more things I can find online, the more time it saves me from making a trip that I really don't have to make," she said.
   One new source about to make valuable genealogy information available on the Web is the Galveston Immigration Database, set to go online any day now. By posting passenger ship manifests of immigrants to Galveston, a port of immigration during the 19th and 20th centuries, the information will allow genealogists all over the world to research the many branches of their Texas family tree.
   Meanwhile, the city's main library also is branching out into a new endeavor.
   Because the interest in family history has grown, the library early next year will begin sponsoring workshops to teach library patrons how to navigate the complicated maze of printed and database genealogy sources.
   "We're sort of a genealogy center for South Texas," said Herb Canales, director of city libraries. "People from all over the country come here to conduct research, which goes to show the depth of our collection. Eventually, our classes will add to our value."
   Laura Garcia, public services manager for the city's main library, conceived of the library workshops as a way to not only demystify the art of genealogy, but to relieve library staffers who are inundated daily with requests for help in the field of genealogy.
   The library's genealogy sources include 11,800 volumes containing marriage, birth and death records.
   Spanish roots
   Volumes pertaining to Hispanic genealogy also include baptismal records as well as documentation of long-ago church investigations involving spouses suspected of being too closely related, Canales said.
   Fifteen years ago, the library began amassing material to help library patrons trace their Mexican and Spanish roots.
   Book donations
   What started out with less than half a dozen books specific to Hispanic genealogy, Canales said, now numbers around 600, many donated by Dr. Clotilde P. Garcia.
   Online project
   Like the library, the Texas Seaport Museum, which has compiled the Galveston Immigration Database, spends much time processing information for those researching their family history. On average, it processes about 100 requests a year, each costing the customer a $10 fee, said Kurt Voss, director of the museum.
   A year ago, the museum began its online project and now has the names of more than 130,000 passengers from 1846 to 1948 entered into the database.
   The free database lists only the names of passengers who first disembarked in Texas.
   Database not complete
   Those who came through the port of Galveston after first disembarking in New York or other East Coast port are not included.
   But the database is not complete, Voss said. Many records dating from 1871 to 1894 are missing, which Voss speculates have long since been destroyed.