2016 TxSGS Awards: Reference Books by a Professional

The Texas State Genealogical Society (TxSGS) is proud to host a robust awards program each year, with the winners announced at our annual banquet. This year’s awards banquet was held at our 2016 Family History Conference in Dallas on Saturday, October 29, 2016. Bill Buckner, our TxSGS Awards Chair, oversees the annual awards program and emceed the awards ceremony.

About the Award

Category II of the Writing Awards, Books by a Professional includes those written or compiled by someone who derives all or part of their income from a genealogy related business or library. The subset of references includes county or community histories, cemetery or census transcriptions, extracts and abstracts of newspapers or records of local and county agencies and courts, and other references of genealogical value.

Award Recipients

Thank you to all who participated, and congratulations to the following winners!

First Place ($200)

The Texas Frontier and the Butterfield Overland Mail, 1858–1861 (2016), by Glen Sample Ely.

Comments from the judges: “Photographs and maps are excellent”; “Excellent presentation”; “Masterpiece of scholarship”.

Book jacket for The Texas Frontier

Second Place ($100)

Genetic Genealogy In Practice (2016), by Blaine T. Bettinger and Debbie Parker Wayne.

Comments from the judges: “Covers all the DNA applications, useful to the genealogist”; “Needs to be on every library shelf”.

Book jacket for Genetic Genealogy in Practice

Thank you also to our volunteer judges!


Bill Buckner, TxSGS Awards Chair, contributed to this post.

The TxSGS DNA Project