Genealogy members are always ready to help

What is “genealogy? 
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term as “the study of family history” or “the history of a particular family showing how the different members of the family are related to each other”.  
 The Internet has opened a portal to family history for researchers by providing a multitude of websites to assist in their research.  The Mormon Church (LDS or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) provides many sources for research and is one of the free genealogy sites on the internet.  The LDS website “Familysearch.org” and others like “genealogy.com” and “my heritage.com” are popular and provide a great start for your research endeavors.
The Cass County Genealogical Society library, on the second floor of the Atlanta Public Library, is a great source of local, hands-on information.  
Check out the multiple shelves of books containing historical information from all across the country as well as some about specific families that helped settle this area.  
In addition, there are individual files, known as “vertical files” that contain information about individual families that could be helpful in your research.
Are you having difficulty finding information about a specific relative?  “CCGS” invites you to send in your queries.  
Provide us with the relative’s full name, including maiden name, when and where they were born, when and where they were married, when they died and the place they were buried and a short historical background of information.  T
his opens up many avenues to assist you in your research. 
We have several members who have been a part of CCGS since its inception and have years of experience assisting other researchers.  To assist you in your research efforts, we invite you to send us your short articles about relatives, old landmarks, roads, trails, creeks, and places no longer in existence, but history known, just to name a few.  
We also welcome your information regarding unknown cemeteries in Cass County or burials which we have not recorded in our cemetery books as well as bible, church and school records and military information about former wars and those involved.  
Do you have an upcoming family reunion, cemetery association meeting or Civil War dedication at a cemetery?  
We accept your announcements and will assist you in getting the information out to the public.
We currently have a collection of photographs, some of which we are unable to identify.  We are in the process of putting these photographs on our website.  When you get a chance, take a look at our website at casscogensoc.org.
 We would greatly appreciate your assistance in making any identifications.
Periodically, our CCGS member, Traci Jones, holds introductory classes for beginner genealogical researchers.  
The dates and times are advertised in the local newspapers and on our website, so watch for the next class to be held in the not too distant future.  
 Don’t forget, on Friday afternoons, Leah West is available to assist you with your research problems.  Since she is, periodically, out of town on business, be sure to call the library to make sure she is there on a particular Friday.
Cass County Connections, our bi-annual publication, includes articles taken from the annals of our local history as well as those from other states and across the seas.  For example, the Fall 2009 publication focused on the history of the William S Griffin family.  
This history was provided to the society by CCGS member, Beth Griffin.  At the time of that particular publication, Beth was still adding information to the Griffin family, gathering information from relatives as far away as Harpers Ferry, Virginia and as close as our own Atlanta library.  
We are always looking for articles to include in the publication, so, if you feel you have something that would be of interest to our readers, be sure to contact one of our editors, or mail us your article at P O Box 880, Atlanta, TX 75551.  
We look forward to providing new and exciting information that will be of interest to all of our readers. 

Cathie Maley has been a member of the Cass County Genealogical Society since 2007.  She served as President of the society from 2009-2011 and has served  continuously as Treasurer since 2011.