I give credit to my friend Janice Woods Windle for making me realize the excitement that comes from going through old papers and photos in my possession and recalling the events in my past, especially those events that link my past with other people.

My wife and I were helping Janice with some of the research for her latest book Hill Country (http://www.phenixpub.com/presswin.html ). I realized that, like Janice, I also grew up in Seguin in the late 1940's and early 1950's. People were coming home from World War II and my family (apparently like many others) were moving out of Seguin to other places. It was Janice's two books that told the story of Seguin in such a way that it made me want to dig out all the papers and photographs that my Mom and Dad left behind with me. They both grew up in Seguin. So did their parents, grandparents and great grandparents. I am now trying to link together most of the material I have accumulated.

Most of the events took place in Seguin. Many of my relatives were in Seguin from the beginning. I realize that the only way to "link" in today's digital world is to "hyperlink". I am just starting the adventure and looking for help from anyone that can provide some links. I want to give some of the links that I have found to date.

When I contacted Gloria Rivera about where to start she suggested several links. One of the links was the 1850 Census of Guadalupe County available for download at http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/tx/guadalupe/guadtoc.htm . I downloaded

the file and looked for family names that lived in the County at the time. There were 1189 names in the census. The names were grouped into 216 households. About half of the names listed were less than 21 years old and there were only eight people over 60 years old. Less than 6% of the people over 21 were born in Texas. The most common place of birth was Germany.

My roots go back to the following three households surveyed in the Guadalupe County 1850 Census: Blumberg Household, ID 068, 5 in the house, from Germany. Hollamon Household, ID 182, 5 in the house, from North Carolina and Virginia. Gordon Household, ID 216, 5 in house, from Georgia and Virginia.

There was only one Blumberg Family listed in the1850 Census for Guadalupe County. Carl Blumberg came to Texas from Germany in 1845 with his wife Katherine and six of their seven children. They were my great-great-grandparents and lived in the McQueeney area. By the time of the 1850 census his daughter, Henriette, had married Gustav Elley and had moved from

Guadalupe County. They are my great-grandparents.

Gustav Elley was one of the first Texans to arrive in Texas in 1836. He was a Texas Ranger (http://www.lsjunction.com/facts/rangers.htm) and on September 11, 1842, while protecting the District Court in San Antonio, General Adrian Woll's Mexican armed forces of 1500 men marched into town and captured Elley and all members of the court and carried them back as prisoners in Mexico (http://www.tamu.edu/ccbn/dewitt/woll.htm ). The prisoners remained in the Perote Prison until March 24, 1844. A very good account of the capture, the prison stay and eventual release of the prisoners is found at the following site http://www.smu.edu/~swcenter/tjgreen/tjg_home.htm .

There were five people in the Hollamon household in 1850. Thomas H. Hollamon was 27 and George B. Hollamon was 23 years old. Thomas was also my great-great-grandfather. Both were listed as merchants and they came from North Carolina. The Hollamons lived in Hollamon Oaks on the Hollamon Bend of the Guadalupe River (http://www.seguin.net/truwomen.html#hollamon ). Thomas H. Hollamon was the District Clerk until he appointed John F. Gordon to replace him. Thomas had a son named Thomas, Jr. that married Mina Oury Gordon (the daughter of John F. Gordon). They are my great-grandparents. One can trace the genealogy of the Hollamons in the following link http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~afreeman/tree/dat18.htm#4

There were five people in the Gordon Household. William H. Gordon was a lawyer who came to Seguin in 1848 from Georgia. He was from the same stock as General J. B. Gordon of Confederate fame. He married in Seguin. In 1850 he died suddenly at a hotel in Bastrop. John Fletcher Gordon was William's brother and also came to Seguin with him in 1848. He married Miss Polly Newell Sanders in 1856. He was the District Clerk of Guadalupe County. After the Civil War he was the Sheriff of the County for twelve consecutive years. Their daughter Mina Oury Gordon was born later and married Thomas Hollamon, Jr. One can trace the genealogy of the Gordons in the following link http://homepages.rootsweb.com/~afreeman/tree/dat18.htm#4

Also listed with the 1850 Hollamon household were Mina and Adams Sanders. Mina later married her cousin Granville Henderson Oury. Granville had a brother, William Sanders Oury, who was a personal friend of Stephen F. Austin and who was a courier with Juan Seguin at the Alamo. He was also a Texas Ranger and took part in the Meir Expedition. Adams Sanders served in the Civil War and when he returned to Seguin after the war he found that his sister, Mina, and her husband Granville Oury had left for Arizona by way of Mexico. Adams followed on bareback and caught up with them at Leon Springs and then traveled with them. There are several books about the Oury's travel. One link is http://www.robertwilbanks.com/scv/oury.html . Adams moved back to Seguin and died in 1931. Mina Oury's manuscript diary of the trip through Mexico to Arizona is in our family's possession.

Where do we go from here? Like I said at the start. I am only beginning the journey to make links with others doing the same about the great history of Seguin. I want to work with anyone wishing to knit together the historical documents to make sure they are preserved for future generations. My email address is tomkoch@moment.net.

Tom Koch is a Professional Engineer who does consulting in Blanco, http://www.tomkoch.com . He attended the University of Texas during the 1960's, his father worked for the Texas Highway Department, his family moved from Seguin to Floresville in 1952, and he visits relatives in Seguin at least once a week. His article is posted at http://www.tomkoch.com/hd/Vol_048/048_1261/1261_001.htm .

To contribute to the Internet Beat column, contact the column coordinator Gloria R. Rivera at 303-5526, fax 372-1418, or riverag@connecti.com www.seguin.net .