Award Winning Writer-Genealogist to Speak at Tyler, Texas
The East Texas Genealogical Society will hold its regular monthly meeting on Saturday, January 9, at 2:00 p.m. in the Taylor Auditorium at the Tyler Public Library, 201 S. College, Tyler, TX. The featured speaker will be Don Raney,
author of “Martin Varner, Texas Pioneer: 1785-1844.” Mr. Raney won first place at the Texas State Genealogical Society’s meeting in November 2009 for this history that he wrote about his ancestor, Martin Varner.
The lecture will cover Mr. Raney’s research and writing of the travels of Martin Varner down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to Arkansas in 1815. After the soldiers burned their home and evicted them from Oklahoma Territory in 1819, the Varner family joined Stephen F. Austin at Washington-on-the-Brazos where he received a labor and a league of land. Martin Varner participated in the Battle of San Jacinto and other battles during the war for Texas Independence. After Texas received her independence, he settled in Lamar County, and in 1840 Martin Varner cleared the first road into present Wood County where his family would remain for several generations.
Don Raney is a sixth generation Texan and has been an active genealogist for over 30 years. He has presented sessions at Angelina College Genealogy Conferences, The Genealogical Institute of Texas, and many more state and national events. He is a graduate of SMU’s Engineering School and in 1997 he retired from Lone Star Gas Company as Chief Engineer. Mr. Raney currently teaches Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Genealogy courses at Richland College in Dallas.
Mr. Raney’s book will be on display before and after the meeting, and he will be available to discuss his work and answer questions.
ETGS meetings are free and open to the public. For more information about ETGS go to our web-site: www.etgs.org or contact June Everheart, Publicity Director at 1stvp@etgs.org or (903) 877-4501.
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