Van Zandt County Genealogical Society has won many awards during the past few years for its publications as well as for other efforts.
For 2016, "Our Heritage", the Society Quarterly, won Third Place among State quarterlies.
For 2015, "Our Heritage", the Society Quarterly, won First Place among State quarterlies submitted to the State contest by a Partner Society.
Lawrence O Greer was the State Volunteer of the Year for 2013.
For 2013, the First Place Book Award was our "Early Obituaries and Death Notices of Van Zandt County, 1923-1926," compiled by Sibyl Creasey.
For 2012, member Lisa McKinney received the First Place Book Award submitted by a professional: "Fort Worth Real Estate: Ben F Allen & Sons Business Records City Property 1914-1916, Vol I."
Our 2012 TSGS Winners!! Elvis Allen & Linda Mays, both active Van Zandt County Genealogical Society members, won First Place for excellence for their "Commissioners Court Minutes, Vol. C, 1872-1881," during the TSGS convention in Fort Worth in 2012. See Publication Page for details on this volumn.
Our 2010 TSGS Winner!! Van Zandt County Genealogical Society member Sibyl Creasey, of Ben Wheeler, won a top award for the society during the Texas State Genealogical Society (TSGS) annual conference held this year in November. "Early Obituaries and Death Notices of Van Zandt County, Vol. III," compiled by Sibyl with the assistance of many other society members, won third place for excellence in the TSGS writing competion. See Publication Page for details of this book.
Our 2009 TSGS Winners!! Linda Mays and Sibyl Creasey Van Zandt County Genealogical Society members Linda Lantrip Mays, of Van, and Sibyl Creasey, of Ben Wheeler, won top awards for the society during the Texas State Genealogical Society (TSGS) annual conference held this year in November.
Linda Mays was named Volunteer of the Year, a top state award. Sibyl Creasey won 3rd place for excellence for her weekly column, "This Week in Canton History" and another 3rd place award for "Early Obituaries and Death Notices of Van Zandt County, Vol. II." See details of this volumn on the publication page.
Our 2008 TSGS Winners!! Linda Mays and Sibyl Creasey Van Zandt County Genealogical Society members Linda Lantrip Mays, of Van, and Sibyl Creasey, of Ben Wheeler, won top awards for the society during the Texas State Genealogical Society (TSGS) annual conference held in Abilene in October.
"Reconstruction Records of Van Zandt County," transcribed and compiled by Mays won a first place award for excellence in the TSGS annual writing awards competition. Consisting of voter registrations for 1867 through 1869; occupational tax records for 1869 through 1874; and poll tax records for 1872, this book is filled with valuable information on the citizens of the area during a very difficult time from which few records have survived. For more details on this, see Publication Page
With the assistance of several society members, Creasey transcribed and compiled "Early Obituaries and Death Records of Van Zandt County" which won a third place award for excellence from TSGS. This volume contains all the 1884 to 1900 obituaries and death notices found in the collection of old newspapers on microfilm at the Library of Genealogy and Local History. See Publication Page for more details
Our 2007 TSGS Winners!! Sibyl Creasey, Elvis Allen and Shirley Ann Fuller Van Zandt County Genealogical Society members Sibyl Creasey, Elvis Allen and Shirley Ann Fuller, won top awards during the Texas State Genealogical Society (TSGS) conference in Tyler, Texas in November, 2007.
The society's website with webmaster Sibyl Creasey won First Place for excellence in the TSGS annual website competition for 2007.
Elvis Allen is a well known county historian and member of the society. His book "Building of a County," a history of Van Zandt County from the perspective of commissioners court minutes, won second place for excellence. Details on this book may be found on the Local Author's Page.
Shirley Ann Fuller is an active and long time member of the Van Zandt County Genealogical Society. She extracts Wills Point Chronicle articles from over 50 years ago from original copies of the newspapers on microfilm and compiles them into a weekly column entitled "This Week in Wills Point History," published by the Wills Point Chronicle. She won First Place for excellence in the columnist catagory in the TSGS annual competition.
Our 2006 TSGS Winner!! Sue Wilkinson Van Zandt County Genealogical Society member and editor of the society's quarterly publication, Sue Wilkinson, won top honors for excellence for her work on "Our Heritage" at the 2006 Texas State Genealogical Society's annual conference in November. She was also named Volunteer of the Year by the society in January, 2007. Congratulations, Sue!
Volunteers Are Honored! On Saturday May 14, 2005, the Van Zandt County Library Advisory Board gave a reception to honor the volunteers of the Van Zandt County Library of Genealogy and Local History and to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Van Zandt County Genealogical Society. State Representative Dan Flynn presented society president Mable Cook with a House of Representative resolution that had been passed honoring the local volunteers. County Judge Rhita Koches presented a special proclamation to Mable Cook as well. Library Director Judy Morris read a brief history of the society and the genealogical library which is an off-site department of the main county library. Everyone is very proud of the library and the society volunteers who man and support it.
Mable Cook, president of the Van Zandt County Genealogical Society being presented with a state proclamation from House of Representatives Dan Flynn Our 2004 TSGS Winners! Van Zandt County Genealogical Society members Cheryl Vaughn and Sibyl Creasey won top awards at the 2004 Texas State Genealogical Society's writing competition!!!!
Cheryl Vaughn won First Place Award for Excellence for her "Desperate Characters of Van Zandt County," plus she won the Grand Overall Award!! For more on this book and how to obtain a copy, see Local Authors Page.
Sibyl Creasey compiled "School Days in Van Zandt County, Vol. III," published by the Van Zandt County Genealogical Society. The book won the Third Place Outstanding Award. The school records are for the years 1921-22 for some schools, and 1923-24 for all county school. Brief histories and descriptions of most schools and photos of some are included in this book. For a full description and details on how to obtain the book, see the Publication Page.
Our Winners for 2003! Ruth Abbot, Volunteer of the Year, and Quana Barber and Ruth Johnson who worked on the Divorce Records of Van Zandt County which won First Place for excellence! Van Zandt County Genealogical Society member Ruth Abbott of Canton was named Volunteer of the Year at the Texas State Genealogical Society (TSGS) conference held in Austin recently.
The local genealogical society also won the first place writing award for excellence for the just published "Divorce Records of Van Zandt County," compiled by members Quana Barber, Millie Shaw and Ruth Johnson, all of Canton. This book of divorce record abstracts is available for purchase for $20 and may be obtained at the Library of Genealogy and Local History located in the courthouse annex in Canton. The records cover the period from 1848 to 1920. The local members spent years compiling the book which was especially difficult because the records are not all in one place.
The society has been a partner society with TSGS for more than ten years and has entered all its published genealogical resource books in the annual state writing competition. All the books entered have won top awards. Proceeds from the sale of the books help support the Library of Genealogy and Local History which Ruth Abbott helped to establish in 1989. The publishing of these books is also a method of preserving county records.
Named the local society's Volunteer of the Year in August, Abbott has been a very active member since 1987. Among her many accomplishments, she has been co-chairman of the finance committee for more than ten years, working each month during First Monday Trade Days parking cars to raise funds to support and maintain the library which is self-supporting and receives no monetary assistance from the county. The library is an off-site department of the main county library.
Ruth Abbott is the second local society member to be named TSGS Volunteer of the Year. Mable Cook of Van received that honor from the state society several years ago. Both members have given an extraordinary amount of time and energy for the benefit of the society and the Library of Genealogy and Local History from many years.
The Van Zandt County Genealogical Society is well-known throughout the state for having an active membership and is the one of the largest societies of its kind in the state, second only to the Dallas society. Membership is open to anyone with a desire to research family history and to serve the community. Meetings are held the fourth Saturday of every month except December at the main county library.
For information on society activities, call or visit the Library of Genealogy and Local History at 903-567-5012, located in the courthouse annex in Canton.
The Winners for 2002! Society Members Sue Wilkinson and Quana Barber Awards presented by the Texas State Genealogical Society in the year 2002 included the following:
2nd Place for "Marriage Records of Van Zandt Co., TX, III" covering the years 1932-1950, compiled by Quana Barber and Millie Shaw. See Publication Page for details.
Honorable Mention: "School Days in Van Zandt Co., TX. Vol. II, containing the county school records for 1893-94 and 1895-96, compiled by Sibyl Creasey. See Publication Page for details.
Second Place: The Van Zandt County Genealogical Society's quarterly publication "Our Heritage," editor Sue Wilkinson, won a second place award for excellence. See "Our Heritage" page for details on how to become a member and receive this publications which has also won many awards in the past.
Member Sue Wilkinson also received a Third Place award for her own publication, "A Call To Arms, Van Zandt Co., TX, World War I." See Local Authors Page for details.
Awards presented by the Texas State Genealogical Society in the year 2001 included the following:
2nd place for "School Days In Van Zandt County, Vol. I," compiled by Sibyl Creasey. See Publication Page for details.
Honorable Mention for "Graveyards of Van Zandt Co., TX, Vol. E," compiled by Cheryl Vaughn. See Publication Page for details.
1st Place for the society's Website, coordinators, Sibyl Creasey and Betty Miller, with committee members Patsy Vinson and Betty Phillips
TSGS Presidents Award to society member and TSGS District representative Sue Wilkinson for her work with organizing vendors for the conference and other work throughout the past year.
2001 Award Winning Society Members Left to right: Sibyl Creasey, Cheryl Vaughn, Sue Wilkinson, and Betty Miller We are very proud of our society and its members. In the past we had grown to an annual membership of over 500 though our current membership is not that large. Our society was the second largest in the state of Texas in 2001, second only to the Dallas Genealogical Society. We thank not only our local members but our faithful members scattered throughout the United States for their loyalty and their continued support.
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This page last updated 26 October 2017
