Welcome to the Hopkins County, Texas Genealogical Society’s Website

HCGS welcomes you to explore our new website and consider becoming a member of our society. There are several newly added databases consisting of thousands of entries that sometimes take time loading including many NEW databases in our MEMBERS ONLY CONTENT. (New in 2021  to our Members only content are word searchable Probate Book indexes and Divorce records!!)

HCGS Wins at TxSGS!!!

HCGS is a proud member of the Texas State Genealogical Society.  Please check out their website by clicking  here. The Texas State Genealogical Society’s Annual Awards Ceremony was held virtually on Saturday, November 4 – 5, 2022.  This year’s HCGS entries included The Writings of Celia Wright compiled by Earl Pogue;  Hopkins County Heritage (HCGS quarterly), Editor CarolAnn Dixon; and the HCGSTX.org website, webmasters Earl Pogue and Jan Stovall.  HCGS is excited to announce The Writings of Celia Wright won 1st Place in the competition (See below to purchase a copy)! And the HCGS website won 3rd Place behind  the San Angelo and San Antonio genealogical societies. While our Hopkins County Heritage did not place in 2022,  Editor CarolAnn  continues to produce an outstanding publication each quarter. Her hard work  previously won 1st Place in  2021 and 2018, 2nd Place  in 2014, 2015 and 2017, and 3rd Place in 2019 for our quarterly.

Exciting News!!!!

Texas A&M – Commerce Digital Commons (formerly Texas  A&M – Northeast Texas Digital Collections) is back online! HCGS partnered with the university years ago so that our archived photos could be enjoyed anywhere. They have been temporarily offline but are again available. Click here to view.  

New in 2021 & 2022: World War II Soldiers from Hopkins County, Korean War Veterans from Hopkins County, War on Terror Veterans from Hopkins County, Persian Gulf Veterans from Hopkins County,  Vietnam Veterans from Hopkins County, and Other Veterans from Hopkins County (Click Military Records on the menu bar under Online Records to view these free Veterans Databases). Be sure to check it out to see what is now available. The site works best on Google Chrome or the most current version of Internet Explorer. HCGS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping everyone discover their family’s history.

NEW BOOK FOR SALE

Blind Tiger – My Time in Vietnam by Avery W. Smith. Avery is a First Family of Hopkins County Genealogical Society. Avery served in Vietnam as a Special Forces Advisor to the South Vietnamese Army, and finally at the U. S. Army Surveillance School at Ft. Huachuca, Arizona before leaving the service in July 1970. A Son of the Republic of Texas, Avery is a sixth-generation Texan from the Northeast Texas community of Sulphur Springs, Texas.

All proceeds from this book are being donated by Avery Smith to the Hopkins County Genealogical Library. The book can be purchased by contacting  Hopkins County Genealogical Society library located at 611 N. Davis Street, Sulphur Springs, Texas 75482 or by calling 903-885-8523. The cost is $25.00 plus $3.00 for shipping.

NEW BOOK FOR SALE

HCGS is thrilled to announce that the much anticipated The Progressive City – History of Downtown Sulphur Springs 1914 has now been published. It is the culmination of five years of research and was compiled by Shirley Lunceford Patchen. The book contains incredible history about the town and the people that lived in Sulphur Springs during the early part of the twentieth century. The cost is $50 and can be purchased by contacting the HCGS library at 611 N. Davis Street in Sulphur Springs or calling 903-885-8523. The book has a Unibind steel  bound spine with 459 pages, 234 photos of early businesses and business leaders, a full name index, and a removable map  depicting business locations. It is a must have for your home library!

New HCGS Brochure containing lots of information about our research library. To view click here.

New Books for Sale

HCGS is pleased to announce the following two new books for sale. Known Only to God by Rhonda Bechhold is the story of the mystery man who died in a horrific accident on Hwy 19 North on the night of August 10, 1954. His identity and many facts about his life remained hidden. Two years ago author Rhonda Bechhold made it her mission to discover who he was and to tell his family. Her journey includes many days of genealogical perseverance and frustration as well as triumph and joy! For additional information click here.

 

Wandering & Wondering by Larry Harmon is the collected research of this amazing Hopkins County historian. It contains in-depth research on many Hopkins County locations along with  the history and men of the CSA Ninth Texas Cavalry Cavalry. Larry loved history and especially Hopkins County history. To order click here.

 

New for Sale 

We are now offering for sale  ALL of the Hopkins County Heritage back issues on a single flash drive!! (Includes every issue from the beginning in 1984 to June 2017). Each flash drive contains two folders – one folder contains individual issue PDFs and one folder contains a single PDF of the complete set. It is word searchable so that you can easily locate surnames or search terms in any single issue or in the complete set! And travels with you easily to libraries or on research trips!

The cost is $50 (plus $4 for shipping and handling) and can be purchased by contacting  the HCGS library.

Sulphur Springs Montage

The Society was one of four Sulphur Springs locations chosen to sell the amazing new Sulphur Springs montage. It is approximately 17 1/2 inches x 22 1/2 inches.  The montage depicts businesses, events, and many historic buildings along with several early civic leaders. The artist  created it in two versions. The prints sell for $10 and the signed  & numbered Collector’s Edition sells for $100.  Please come by the HCGS library to see this beautiful work of art!

On September 7, 2017 Familysearch.org permanently suspended their microfilm circulation program. Their reason for this is that they began a digitization program and hope to have all their microfilm completely digitized by 2020. They have already digitized 1.5 million rolls of film and currently digitize 1000 rolls per day.

LDS is now allowing these restricted images to be view-able at affiliate libraries. And we are thrilled to announce that HCGS now has these images available on our computers. These images will allow researchers to travel to locations and view many records including court house records such as deeds, land, probate, etc. from the convenience of our HCGS library. The records for the most part cover every county in the United States as well as worldwide.  Use their catalog to discover what records might be of interest. (FamilySearch Help Center topic 55954 helps to explain how to use their catalog)

And if your county/country of interest has not yet been digitized you can contact FamilySearch to request that they digitize specific films. You may request up to 5 rolls of films in one interaction. For specific details on how to do this by phone, chat, or email go to FamilySearch’s Help Center and view help topic 469883.

Hopkins County Texas Research Guide

Professional genealogist and former Hopkins County resident Cyndi Harlin has graciously shared her Hopkins County Texas Research Guide. This expertly created guide gives numerous tips  and areas to explore to help aid your  research in Hopkins County. Check out this useful and  beautiful booklet by clicking here.