Paula Hasse of Burnet discovered a buried treasure while working on her family tree. Instead of digging in the dirt, she searched the genealogical archives of the Herman Brown Free Library in Burnet.
“I didn’t know that my great-grandfather was a district commissioner here,” said Hasse. “Two of his sons later became district commissioners.”
William Thomas Morris served as a Burnet County Commissioner in the mid-1930s. His two sons, Hasse’s great-uncles, were elected to the Commissioners Court years later.
Hasse found this and more in the Burnet Library’s Elizabeth Van Gorkom Genealogical Research Room, which underwent a $50,000 renovation this year to expand its storage capacity and add several community features.
“There are all kinds of treasures hidden in this library,” said Library Director Florence Reeves. “One of our goals is to take the good foundation given to us by the history keepers before us to the next level, with the intention of making it the best small-town genealogy center possible.”
READ: Meet Burnet Library’s New Genealogy Librarian
Artist Ronda Hostetter turned her attention to the genealogy space when she was commissioned to paint paintings of the Burnet County Courthouse Square as it appeared in the early 1900s for District Court Judge Cody Henson. All but the last of the six paintings in the series hang in the conference room of his law office at 205 S. Pierce St.
“What (the library) had to offer was absolutely phenomenal,” Hostetter said. “I had no reference point, so it was the first place I went. They were so patient with me.”
Requests come in daily, many from out of state via email or phone. Author Caroline Alexander called, asking for help finding a quote in the World War II oral histories collection for her book, “Skies of Thunder: The Deadly World War II Mission Over the Roof of the World.” The book was published May 14 by Penguin Publishing Group.
Chapter 9, “End of the Road,” contains Army Airman Durwood Chester Kincheloe’s recollections of his haunted dreams as an air traffic controller at Chanyi Air Force Base in China’s Yunnan Province. Kincheloe fought in the Sino-Burmese theater of war. The book is now available for loan from the Herman Brown Free Library.
“These are the things we want to add to what we have housed here,” said library director Reeves. “We need the help of the communities to fill in those gaps with local family history because although we have a very large collection, it is not exhaustive.”
Another request came from a researcher from out of state who was collecting information on famous caves in the U.S. Genealogy librarian Heather Bailey scanned the entire Longhorn Cavern file and emailed it to him.
The library’s Texana collection of out-of-print, hard-to-find Depression-era books is housed in the Genealogy Room.
“It’s not just genealogy, it’s local history and history beyond that,” Bailey said. “There’s a lot more going on in this room than just family research. You don’t have to want to learn more about your family to come and read the files.”
Hasse quickly pivoted from her family tree to studying Burnet County history, making her an indispensable helper in the genealogy room. For nearly three years now, she has been volunteering, helping organize and digitize archives.
“I go through files and find this or that information, and that leads me to other things,” she said. “I get to know people, I get to know the history. I’m always happy when I discover something new.”
Hasse is secretary of the Burnet County Genealogical Society, a volunteer group that helps the library with more vague research requests. She has also volunteered at the Fort Croghan Museum and Grounds in Burnet.
Library staff encourages people who collect family histories to donate copies of their final products to the library.
“We’re trying to build the Texas and local history aspect of this collection with the understanding that not everyone who lives in Burnet has their roots in Burnet or in Texas,” Reeves said. “The way I look at it, if you live in Burnet County, your story is now our story.”
Family history collections can now be displayed in a new community heritage display case in the Genealogy Room.
“The purpose of this case is to foster a sense of connection with our past and encourage people to share their story, their knowledge and their little piece of the puzzle,” Reeves said.
In addition to extensive online resources, the library’s website at hermanbrownlibrary.org offers a quick and easy way to reserve the catalog for three months at a time. Library staff will help curate the exhibit and promote it to attract the public. Reservations are free.
“We want this to be an attraction for out-of-town visitors as well,” Reeves continued. “It’s a good opportunity to tie the history of the library into the history on display at the Old Burnet County Jail just down the street and the Fort Croghan Museum a few blocks from here. They’re not three separate things; they’re connected.”
Another new display case currently contains surveying instruments, one of which is on loan from Fort Croghan. It also contains a 1933 booklet of Burnet County warranty deeds dating to the 1840s, and a bond and oath for county surveyors.
“My favorite part is Bond and Oath, where the assessors have to swear they’ve never been involved in a duel,” Reeves said. “It’s really great to have these treasurers.”
The instrument borrowed from Fort Croghan was made in Burnet and Reeves wants to learn more about it.
“So far, we haven’t found anyone who can tell us anything about it,” she said. “One person said, ‘I remember this in high school, but I can’t remember anything else.’ That’s all we have so far.”
If you have information about protractors made in Burnet County around 1916, Reeves wants to talk to you – or anyone who has pieces to the puzzle of the county’s history.
Also on Reeves’s wish list is information about the 1936 Texas Centennial Celebration at Burnet Square. According to a March 1936 newspaper article she read, the city had hired decorators from Dallas to stylishly decorate the downtown area.
“If anyone has a photo of it or a vivid memory of it, please come along and share it with us,” Reeves said. “If people are looking through the estate of a loved one and find that they have multiple copies of research, this is a good place to put it. However, we don’t have to have the originals. We can make copies. What we’re interested in is the information.”
The first Burnet Library opened in 1948 in a corner of the second floor of the Old Burnet County Jail. Back then, a local newspaper printed a list of available books each week. Today, you can find almost anything the library has and, in many cases, read it digitally without having to enter the building.
However, the Herman Brown Free Library is worth a personal visit, especially if you are interested in history.
“I encourage people to write down their memories, especially as we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of opening a library in Burnet County,” Reeves said. “We would love to hear stories from people who remember using the old jail as a library or the old Presbyterian Church fellowship hall. That’s not just part of the library’s history, it’s part of Burnet’s history. It gives us an idea of how much we’ve grown.”
The Herman Brown Free Library is located at 100 E. Washington St. in Burnet. Call 512-715-5228 or visit hermanbrownlibrary.org for more information.
