The Daughters of the Republic of Texas Library will offer its annual family history seminar in San Antonio on Sept. 29.

The featured speaker is Dr. George Schweitzer, who uses historical re-enactment to teach genealogy and assumes a different character and period costume for each presentation.

Dr. Schweitzer, a professor at the University of Tennessee, is a superb lecturer.

His topics will be "Military Genealogical Research," "Tracing Ancestors Back Across the Atlantic to Britain, Germany, Ireland, Etc.," and "Researching in Burned Out Counties: Finding Alternative Records."

The event will be in Alamo Hall on the grounds of the Alamo. The $50 registration fee includes lunch. For details, see www.drtl.org. or call the DRT Library at 210-225-1071.

Mail registration to the DRT Library, P.O. Box 1401, San Antonio, TX 78295. Proceeds benefit the library's Herpich Conservation and Restoration Fund.

The state of Tennessee has released another year of death certificates. These are for 1956, and are contained on 24 rolls of microfilm.

By Tennessee statute, death records become public record after 25 years. The rolls of microfilm were a gift to the Dallas Public Library and join others dating from 1908 (except for the year 1913, when there was no law providing for keeping such records).

In 1889, the first volume of the genealogical handbook of burger families in Germany was published.

The series has grown to become a major resource for German citizens and for Americans of German ancestry.

The 219th volume is available at the Dallas Public Library. It features the Bernstein, Borleff, Buchner, Hoesch, Lampson, Roese, Rholik, Schurhoff and Windau families.

While the volumes are in German, it is relatively easy to interpret the information.

With the exception of the United States, the rest of the world records dates with the day first, the month next and the year last. An asterisk before a date signifies a birth, wavy lines denote a baptismal date, a cross before a date indicates a death and a pair of adjoining circles symbolizes marriage.

This volume has no geographical focus, but earlier volumes covered families from specific states in Germany. Each account begins with the earliest known ancestor, the religious affiliation, ancestral home and coat of arms.

If you know the name of a German ancestor and his or her date and place of birth, the Deutsches Geschlechterbuch is a source worthy of consulting. All of the volumes are in the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, 1515 Young St.

Send questions by e-mail to sundaylife@dallasnews.com, or address to Family Tree, Sunday Life section, The Dallas Morning News, P.O. Box 655237, Dallas, TX 75265.