Q. How do I know if I am a descendant of the signers of the Declaration of Independence

Unfortunately, what you've requested is not an easy task to sort out.  There is no database of descendants to consult.  Determining your family tree and relationship to any of the founders would require pretty hefty genealogical research.

All is not lost.  We have a number of resources available to assist you.  First and foremost, we have subscriptions to genealogical research databases that are available for use as long as you are physically present at a library and eligible to use one of our computers.

Check out Heritage Quest and Ancestry.com at your library database page, available on the desktop of any public access computer.

We also have a genealogical collection at the Bluebonnet Library that you may use.  We have a Genealogy Librarian with special training in genealogicla research who may assist you.

Here's a link to their location, contacts, and brief descriptions of the services they provide:

http://www.ebrpl.com/LocationsandHours/bbr.html

For general advice on conducting genealogical searches, and more information on our genealogical collection check out this page:

http://ebrpl.libguides.com/content.php?pid=15255&sid=102155

You may also want to consider contacting local genealogical groups.

You can search for groups via our Community Information Database - hosted on our homepage via our catalog.

To search the Community Information Database, go to our homepage like you were about to search for a book or other items.  Type in "Genealogy" where the word search is in the top right-hand column.  Next, change the adjacent drop down menu from "catalog" to "community information."  Click the "search button."  Voila!  24 groups who have selected genealogy as one of their descriptive terms should appear.  Click on the record names to pull up contact information and brief descriptions of these local genealogical groups.

You may also call the reference desk at 225-231-3750 and have them search the Community Informatio Database for you. 

Good luck!