Gerald Callaway and Peggy Gottschalk were the lucky winners of a drawing held by the Pecan Valley Genealogic Society at the 2013 Brownwood Chamber of Commerce Fall Business Showcase.

Callaway won a genealogy software program, Legacy 7.5, which he stated will be helpful in researching his father’s side of the family. He has been interested in genealogy since he began studying his family’s roots in the mid 1960s while at Texas A&M University.  Recently, Callaway took a trip to North Carolina and Virginia to find documentation of his family’s history.

 

He stated, “It’s a never ending job,” and offered thanks for the prize.  “I want to thank the Pecan Valley Genealogic Society and thank the Brownwood Chamber of Commerce.  I am always able to find out more about our town when I go to the Business Showcase and I appreciate their hosting it.”

Gottschalk won a family tree picture frame.  She is interested in genealogy because of heirloom pieces from her family that she now possesses.  She stated that she knows little about her mother’s side of the family, because of the death of her grandfather when her mother was just 5 years old.  According to Gottschalk, the family had many deaths and that her mother had even changed the spelling of the family name when she was a teenager.

Pictured above are, from left to right, Peggy Gottschalk, Jeannette Buris of the PVGS, and Gerald Callaway at the Brownwood Public Library’s Genealogic library located at 213 S. Broadway.

The Genealogic Library offers a host of genealogic references along with other sources of information to help the public research their family trees.  There are three public computers available for research along with helpful volunteers from PVGS to assist in the process.  The library along with the assistance from volunteers is offered at no charge to the public.  The library has a database of the U.S. Census from 1885-1940 and volunteers can help with research through more information found on trustworthy online sources such as birth and death records, newspapers and in some cases research already done by others.   Email requests are also accepted from those who are outside the commuting distance of the library.

The library is open Tuesday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.  For more information, please call the library at 325-646-6006 or email genealogy@brownwoodpubliclibrary.com.