Troy
Irish Genealogy Society
Meeting Notes
April
14,
2004
Our
monthly meeting was held
on 4/15/04 at
the Country Grove. Attending
were Kristin Ayotte, Lynn
Grice, Jeanne Keefe, Larry
and Barbara Malone, Bill
McGrath, Frank Ryan, Lizette
Strait and Donna Vaughn.
Lizette
set the tone
with a lively
description
of a book, "Letters From the Attic" by
Gregg Condon. The book describes a collection of letters found that
describe the day to day activity of family members long after they
were gone. Don't ever underestimate the value of your "paper life" to
those that will want to know you and about you in years
to come.
Lynn
brought
up
that
the
group
as
a
whole
has
had
a
great
social
impact
on
one
another,
sharing
information,
sharing
sucesses
with
our
individual
searchs
and
of
course
good
company.
BUT
it
is
time
to
move
on
and
find
a
project
that
will
interest
all
of
us
and
give
us
something
to
work
on
as
a
group.
She
has
suggested
a
transcription
project
(that
has
been
mentioned
on
another
site),
that
being
the
3
microfilms
in
the
Troy
Room
at
the
Troy
Library
called
the"Burials in Mt. Ida Cemetary". The films actually cover
much more than Mt. Ida Cemetary, these are burial records that cover
1832-1891 in Troy. Lynn has spoken with someone at the Libary and they
are in agreement that perhaps they can put a plan in place. Lynn is
following up, we had several volunteers at the meeting and know we
can get more in place to get the job done. I will let Lynn inform the
list of details as she is the "Project Coordinator" and
is much better versed in transcription than I who have never
worked on one of these undertakings.
Jeanne hopes to get with Mike
McAlonie this month and start training him so that the web site can
get up to speed. Old business was not gone over as all of it relates
to and depends on the web site getting running. (Mike are you out there???
We haven't heard from you in a bit and missed you at the meeting).
FIELD
TRIP
Lizette
and Donna
will be
heading
over
to the
Berkshire Athenaeum
better know
as the
Pittsfield Library
on Saturday,
May 1st.
They are asking anyone on
the list who would like to
form a car pool or caravan
to contact Donna Vaughn and
let her know. Donna has sent
the link so that you can check
the site and see their great
array of resources. They will
leave from the Country Grove
parking lot at 8:30 am and
spend the day. Please contact
Donna for further details.
Reminder Oakwood Cemetary has
upcoming events and tours;
*
Sunday 6/6 1-2:30 "More Millionaires at Oakwood" Tom
Carroll, noted historian will lead the tour,
call (518)272-2521 to register, meet at the Earl Chapel
*
Tuesday 8/24 9am-11am "Tiffanys,
100 Mile Views, Uncle Sam,
Waterfalls and
Wealth",
a walking tour
with Terry Page,
Presdent of
Oakwood, call
same number
to register,
meet at the
Earl Chapel
*
There are several other
events listed if you
are interested. I am
listing those that deal
with history and genealogy.
I
mentioned
to
the
group
that
I
was
reading
a
back
issue
of "Adirondack Life" (10/03) and
came across an article on building the railroad in the Adirondacks
in NYS. On the list we often see people asking about occupations that
we find for our ancestors, usually in the steel mills and collar shops.
Many of our ancestors built the railroads and this article gave definition
to their job titles. Of course Frank Ryan piped right up and without
the magazine was able to define a "gandy dancer",
but then Frank is a knowledgable guy. I will post the information
to the list for those who have interest in railroading ancestors
(no pun intended).
Larry
and
Barb
Malone
attended
the
meeting
for
the
first
time
and
enjoyed
the
company
and
banter.
Of
course
I
have
been
hounding
them
for
months
now,
seeing
as
we
are
cousins.
Larry
just
returned
from
a
trip
to
Ireland
with
his
son,
Bob
Malone.
He
broke
more
brick
walls
than
some
of
us
do
in
years
of
research,
having
met "living" relatives and is now corresponding with
them to fill in the blanks. We do hope they come back for more and
that those on the list who can come to a "first" meeting
will do that.
Our discussion on Emly, Tipperary
was postponed until Ed Connolly can attend and share his expertise.
Appears he hopped a plane for Florida to greet his first grandchild,
Brenna Reed born 3/26/04, does he have his priorities straight I wonder.
He and Bill McGrath should have some lively discourse as they appear
to be populating the next Irish generation here in the US.
Of interest to some out there
is that the NYS Libary has Oakwood Avenue Cemetary Records, also the
Renssalaer City Clerks office is now open until 7:00 PM on Thursdays.
We will plan on meeting on
Thursday, April 20th at 6:15 at the Country Grove across from HVCC.
Kristin Cooney-Ayotte
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