Genealogical society publishes fifth volume

DOUBLE SPRINGS - Many long hours have gone into saving the history of Winston County, with as many long hours working to present this information in an easier format to perform research. The Winston County Genealogical Society at the Winston County Archives is the go-to organization for the county’s history. They have recently published the fifth book in their “Winston Roots” series, which began 10 years ago.
Published on Sept. 21, 2020, volume five continues the “early pioneers and settlers” saga from early newspaper accounts, in a similar vein from volumes three and four, published 2015 and 2016 respectively. Beginning with volume three, titled Early Pioneers and Settlers of an Alabama County, the WCGS began combing through the newspaper archives to cull stories of the county’s ancestors and their genealogical and biographical information through the newspaper format. These early newspapers contain so much of the county’s history that to replicate it, the information has had to be spread over several book volumes.
The book is available for purchase at the Winston County Archives Monday through Wednesday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. The price is $20. It is 412 pages long with a full-name index and is resplendent with photographs of the past. The front cover depicts a sketch of the former Looney’s Tavern of the 1860s.
The WCGS members who have been working on this book are Cindy Guthrie, Trevia Hood, Dianne Miller and Patricia Taylor.
“This book has been in the works for about two years,” Hood said. “We’ve been collecting stories on it for several years. Cindy did all the typing for this book. She did all of it. We appreciate her very much. Dianne and I worked for months gathering pictures.”
Hood mentioned this book has more pictures than any other book the society has published. She also added many people included in the book were born near the turn of the 20th Century.
“Most of these people were born before or around 1900, and have lived in Winston County since that time. The stories we find in the newspaper are so interesting. This is the history of our county, and we’re trying to capture it.”
A series of events led members of the WCGS to discover Lulu.com, a way authors can self publish their own works, either in book form or online, or both. Plans were made in early 2010 to begin releasing a series of books of historical nature through the WCGS, and the first volume, Winston Roots, Vol. 1: Stories of an Alabama County, was published March 29, 2010. The second volume, containing a marriage index through 1955 for the county, followed three years later.