The Texas State Genealogical Society recognizes individuals with the special distinction of Fellow, making the recipient an Honorary Member of the society.
About the Award
To receive the Fellow Award the individual must have made significant contributions either to TxSGS over a period of several years or made significant contributions of state-wide impact on the Texas genealogical community.
More than one individual may be recognized in any year.
Nomination Process
Members of TxSGS should submit letters of nomination, which includes:
- a short biography,
- details of the individual’s genealogical accomplishments,
- contributions to TxSGS,
- contributions to the Texas genealogical community,
- and any other significant details to support the nomination.
Deadline for entries is September 15th.
Send letters of recommendation via email to president@txsgs.org.
Awards Conferred
TxSGS Fellow Awards Conferred, 1964-present, listed in reverse chronological order.
2010s
Scott Fitzgerald (2015): TxSGS Board of Directors for 13 years: as President, Vice-President, Treasurer, District Representative, Speakers Bureau coordinator, writer and editor for Stirpes; authored two TxSGS Award winning reference books; assisted with six East Texas Genealogical Society publications; served as an officer for Van Zandt County Genealogical Society, East Texas Genealogical Society, Lone Star Chapter of Association of Professional Genealogists, Smith County Historical Commission, and the City of Tyler Historical Preservation Board; involved with USGenWeb; TXGenWeb coordinator for five counties.
Teri Flack (2014): Chairs the TXSGS Records Preservation and Access Committee (TRPAC); Texas state liaison to the national RPAC; instrumental in working with the Texas genealogical community in 2013 and 2015 to prevent legislation from passing that would have further restricted access to Texas birth and death records; appointed to the Texas Historical Records Advisory Board; member of the Travis County Historical Commission, and Travis County historical marker chair; served as national co-chair for the 2014 Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS) annual conference; volunteer archivist at the Texas State Archives; member of the Association of Professional Genealogists.
Note: TxSGS did not select Fellows for 2009 – 2013.
2000s
Lloyd Bockstruck (2008): Supervisor of the Genealogy section of the Dallas Public Library from 1973 through 2009; author of Virginia’s Colonial Soldiers, Genealogical Research in Texas, Revolutionary War Bounty Land Grants Awarded by State Governments, and Family Tree: Weekly Newspaper columns from the Dallas Morning News 1991 – 1996; columnist for Eastman’s Online Newsletter after seventeen years of publishing a weekly genealogy column in the Dallas Morning News; senior ranking faculty member of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Samford University, having joined in 1974.
Betty Hendricks Dunquez (2008): Member of the TxSGS Board of Directors from 1992 to 2009 serving in several positions including district representative, vice president, treasurer, and president in 2002-03. In 2004 she served as local co-chairman for the Federation of Genealogical Society’s conference in Austin that was co-hosted by the Austin Genealogical Society and TxSGS. She was instrumental in designing and maintaining the TxSGS website and revising the Index to the Texas First Families Lineage books published by TxSGS and posted it online through the TxSGS website to make it available to researchers in 2008.
Dr. Archie P. McDonald (2008): Executive director of the East Texas Historical Association from 1971 to 2010; president of the Texas State Historical Association 1985-86. He also served as editor of the East Texas Historical Journal and served as an advisory editor for the New Handbook of Texas, published by the Texas State Historical Association. He wrote 13 books on various aspects of Texas history and served as the editor of 18 others. He was widely known for “Make Me a Map of the Valley”. He was a professor of history at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches.
Richard Hooverson (2003): TxSGS vice president, secretary and chairman of the first TxSGS historical records committee who gave leadership at the state level to preservation of historical and genealogical records; TSxGS liaison to Texas Historical Records Advisory Board appointed by the governor.
Doris F. Cozart (2004): TxSGS vice president, secretary, and first archivist who served from 2000 through 2009; assisted with compiling the first two volumes of Texas First Families books; assisted with project to have microfiche and microfilm copies made of Stirpes.
Wanda Lamberth Donaldson (2000): TxSGS president 1996-1999 who developed the Texas First Families certificate program and served as its director from 1995 through 2009; compiled the first two volumes of Texas First Families Lineage books based on applications for the certificates; sales of certificates and books increased TxSGS financial security and provided funds for TxSGS to give significant grants for preservation and digitization of state records.
1990s
Jean Halden Walker (1997): Charter member of TxSGS who attended 37 consecutive annual conferences; served as district representative.
Marynell Anderson Bryant (1996): TxSGS president 1990-1993, who led the society to establish membership category for Partner Societies, encouraged financial responsibility to get the society in the black, worked to improve the quality of Stirpes, and increased membership and attendance at conferences; later served a third term as president 2008-2009 after serving several terms as district representative and treasurer.
Frances Condra Pryor (1996): Editor who improved quality of Stirpes over a ten-year time span by actively soliciting news from partner societies and publishing articles of interest as well as abstracted county records.
1980s
Ruth Murphy Harlow (1985): Active genealogist from the Fort Worth Genealogical Society who served in several offices for TxSGS; personal collection of 21 boxes of genealogical material was donated to Fort Worth Public Library by her family in 1993 after her death.
Mary Smith Fay (1985): Certified genealogist; trustee of the Board for the Certification of Genealogists 1983-1995; authored three books including War of 1812 Veterans in Texas; Texas state president of the United States Daughters of 1812; officer of Clayton Library Friends; upon her death in 2000 she donated her entire personal collection of more than 1500 books and genealogical materials to her hometown White County, Illinois genealogical library and it was renamed in her memory.
Dorothy Dillard Hughes (1985): Author of Dillards in Virginia in 1985 and active in the Dillard Family Association serving as editor of Dillard Annual; from 1989-1993 she authored five more books including the Lubbock County, Texas censuses 1880, 1900, 1910 and 1920 city of Lubbock.
Martin Soward III (1985): Teacher who encouraged his history students to research their families and enter student essay contests; supported the TxSGS student projects competition; also an officer with TxSGS for several years including district representative from San Antonio area.
Richard S. Lackey (1982): President of Mississippi Genealogical Society in1980; author of Cite Your Sources: A Manual for Documenting Family Histories and Genealogical Records in 1980.
Michael J. Dabrishus (1982): Assistant state archivist; later head of special collections at the University of Arkansas and assistant university librarian in charge of historical records at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. David B. Gracy II (1981): Director of Texas State Library and Archives 1977-1986, authored the publication Guide to Genealogical Resources in the Texas State Archives published in 1977; the 1977 award was given and accepted on behalf of the Texas State Archives and the 1981 award was given for his personal contribution to the betterment of genealogical research conditions at the state archives. In 1986 he accepted the position of Governor Bill Daniel Professor in Archival Enterprise in what is now the School of Information at UT-Austin; he currently chairs the Texas State Historical Association’s archives committee; Texas State Historical Association Fellow in 1992.
Mary Neal Speakman (1980): TxSGS president who encouraged staff from Texas State Library and Archives to present regional workshops on preservation of records.
Bill R. Linder (1980): Director of Central Reference Division of National Archives in Washington, D.C. from 1969-1982; author of beginners’ guides to family genealogy and history; led European tours sponsored by the National Archives.
Mary Florence Lewis Ulmer (1980): Head of Clayton Library and TxSGS president 1980-1981.
Jessie Gray Golden (1980): Genealogy instructor at the Lifetime Learning Institute in Austin and did freelance research for writers and others in genealogy and history. She was instrumental in organizing a genealogical section in the Texas State Library, serving as docent from 1953-65. She became the first supervisor of the Genealogy Collection at TSL; charter member of Austin Genealogical Society serving as president 1977-78. She later served as president of TxSGS 1982-83.
Christine Knox Wood (1980): Editor of Stirpes 1979-1981 who redesigned the quarterly from 5.5 x 8.5 to the larger 8.5 x 11 format. She changed the typeface size and design and increased the size of the TxSGS logo on the cover for more prominence.
1970s
Mazie Mayes Bickler (1979): Charter member; TxSGS officer in 1970’s; Central Texas district representative.
Carolyn Reeves Ericson (1979): Author and publisher of numerous books on Texas genealogy and history; recognized as the first winner for published books in TxSGS contest in 1973 for her book Bedwells, Bells and Beaus. She owns Ericson Books, a publishing company in Nacogdoches. She is active in several lineage societies serving as an officer at local chapter and state levels.
William Hunter McLean (1978): Author who gave the original manuscript of the “Every Name Index of 7,000 Entries” from the book Indian Wars and Pioneers of Texas by John Henry Brown for TxSGS to benefit from publication.
Rev. Dr. Albert C. Walling II (1978): Founder and president of San Jacinto Descendants organized 2 Mar 1965; appointed chaplain for TxSGS in the 1970s and served as chairman of the Honors Committee and Publicity Committee and first vice president for TxSGS.
Mary Barnett Curtis (1977): Charter member and first corresponding secretary of TxSGS; editor of Stirpes 1973-75 and again 1978; founder and president of Texas Catholic Historical Society; author of four books and numerous articles; publisher; newspaper columnist; owner of In Print Books and Arrow/Curtis Printing Co.
Dr. James M. Day (1977): Texas state archivist 1960-1967; Texas State Historical Association Fellow in 1965; chair of the Division of Archives and State and Local History of the Texas Library Association in 1962; English professor at the University of Texas at El Paso from 1975-1991; director of the Centennial Museum at UTEP from 1980-1987.
Dr. David B. Gracy II (1977): – 1977 and 1981 – director of Texas State Library and Archives 1977-1986, authored the publication Guide to Genealogical Resources in the Texas State Archives published in 1977; the 1977 award was given and accepted on behalf of the Texas State Archives and the 1981 award was given for his personal contribution to the betterment of genealogical research conditions at the state archives. In 1986 he accepted the position of Governor Bill Daniel Professor in Archival Enterprise in what is now the School of Information at UT-Austin; he currently chairs the Texas State Historical Association’s archives committee; Texas State Historical Association Fellow in 1992.
Truett Latimer (1977): Executive director of Texas State Historical Commission in 1977 serving as executive secretary on the Texas Antiquities Committee created in 1969 by the Texas Legislature. This committee worked from 1972-1976 to locate, identify, excavate and preserve historic shipwrecks on Texas tidelands and published the book Treasure, People, Ships and Dreams in 1977.
Jack Maguire (1977): Executive director Institute of Texan Cultures in 1977 which published the book Treasure, People, Ships and Dreams in conjunction with the Texas Antiquities Committee; newspaper columnist and author of “Talk of Texas” and host of “Eyes of Texas” on television; served for 20 years as executive director of the University of Texas alumni organization from 1976-1996.
Betty Fields Mattoon (1977): TxSGS officer in 1970’s; historian and membership chair; Fort Worth resident more than 50 years.
James Patrick McGuire (1977): Author of several books published by the Institute for Texan Cultures including Economic Aspects of French occupation of the Red River Valley 1700-1731; Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese in Texas; and Iwonski in Texas at the time he was awarded Fellow.
Paul R. Scott (1977): Field archivist for Texas State Library and Archives; duties included identifying genealogically rich county records to be microfilmed in a joint project with the Texas State Archives and the Genealogical Society of Utah and securing permission of the records custodians in the counties to film them; became records management officer, Harris County, in 1988; serves on the Texas State Historical Association’s archives committee.
Dorothy D. Wilkinson (1977): Chairman of Military Records committee for TxSGS and promoted Courts of Honor on Memorial Day and record keeping at the county level to honor veterans.
John Insley Coddington (1976): Honorary president, founder, and Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists. He is former editor of the NGS Quarterly and a contributing editor for The American Genealogist; member of the history faculties of Harvard University, Olivet College, Swarthmore College and Haverford College.
Winston De Ville (1976): Director of Genealogical Publishing Co. and Vice president of Gateway Press; Fellow of American Society of Genealogists, trustee on the Board for Certification of Genealogists; author of twelve books on early American colonial genealogy; executive director of Polyanthos Press in New York.
Dr. Chester V. Kielman (1976): Historian; educator and collector; headed the Barker Texas History Center from 1969-1979 while on the faculty of the Department of History at the University of Texas; Texas State Historical Association Fellow in 1968; authored books The University of Texas Archives; Guide to the Microfilm Edition of the Bexar Archives 1717-1836; and History of Texas and the West.
Christopher LaPlante (1976): Texas state archivist; in his role as Coordinator of the Texas Historical Records Advisory Board (THRAB) he promoted the preservation of state and local government records in Texas; co-authored It’s Your Heritage: The Archives of Texas in 1977; later became the director of the Texas State Library and Archives in 1986.
Dr. Ronald Ely Marcello (1976): Presenter of “Oral History in Texas and the United States” lecture at the 1976 TxSGS conference; lifetime author of more than 800 works, mostly oral history interviews with World War II veterans and Texas politicians through the University of North Texas oral history collection.
Dr. Malcolm D. McLean (1976): Director of the Robertson Colony Collection at University of Texas at Arlington; published numerous volumes of the Papers Concerning Robertson’s Colony; received TxSGS Sesquicentennial Award for outstanding contribution to Texas history and genealogy; Texas State Historical Association Fellow in 1967.
Edna Perry Deckler (1976): Founder, president and editor of TxSGS; awarded title president emeritus; also organized the Fort Worth Genealogical Society in 1957 and fostered its growth. TxSGS established the “Edna Perry Deckler Genealogical Collection” at the Texas State Library. The original collection was composed of quarterlies, manuscript material and books that Mrs. Deckler received over the years as she served TxSGS as president and editor 1960-1972.
Milton Rubincam (1976): Editor of the NGS Quarterly from 1957-1962 and book review editor for another 25 years; Fellow of NGS having served four terms as president; chairman of the Board for Certification of Genealogists 1964-78; president of the American Society of Genealogists 1961-1964.
R.T. Williams (1976): Director of Programs for the Texas Department of Agriculture; established the Family Land Heritage Program.
Dr. Dorman H. Winfrey (1976): Research associate with the Texas State Historical Association 1946-1958; state archivist 1958-1960; director of the Texas State Library and Archives 1962-1986; Texas State Historical Association Fellow in 1961 and president 1971-72; authored The Indian Papers of Texas and the Southwest 1825-1916; The History of Rusk County; and Monte Verde; authored book on Italian conductor Arturo Tuscanini in 1967; personal collection of audio recordings, photos and letters known as the Winfrey Family Texana Collection later given to the Special Collections at Round Top Festival Institute.
George Younkin (1976): Archivist at the National Archives branch in Fort Worth; archive consultant for the Kiowa History and Research Association in Carnegie, Oklahoma; honored for his research contributions on Indians; instrumental in bringing a seminar on Archives to Texas Christian University.
Kelly E. McAdams (between 1971-1975): State chair of the USA Bicentennial Committee; associate organizing regent for the Captain John McAdams chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution at Madisonville in 1971.
Marion Day Mullins (1971): Generous contributor of personally-abstracted records for publication in Stirpes; honored by Howard Payne University with the Douglas MacArthur Freedom Medal in 1970; honored by the Texas Legislature for genealogical and historical research; honored by Texas Christian University during its centennial in 1973 as a distinguished alumna for her work as a historical and genealogical researcher; state DAR chairman for microfilming of genealogical records.
Pauline Shirley Murrie (1970): Organizing officer and charter member serving as district representative from Central Texas; prepared a complete name index and a topical index to volumes II-V of Stirpes.
Mrs. Murray Ezzell (1970): Historic preservationist of Jefferson County serving on the Battleship Texas Commission; recognized for preservation of historical documents placed in the museum on the ship.
Gifford E. White (1970): Frequent contributor to Stirpes; author of 1830 Citizens of The Republic of Texas and three volumes of 1840 Citizens of the Republic of Texas; he copied The Lost Book of Harris County, Texas from the original manuscript in the General Land Office and allowed TxSGS to publish the manuscript.
1960s
Louise Burton Morris (1964): Organizing officer and charter member first serving as historian and then ten years as vice president; recognized as editor of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas Lineage Book; later served as president and editor of the TxSGS book Citizens of the Republic of Texas published in 1976.