These
notes were taken
and transcribed
by
TIGS
Member Kristin Ayotte
and
originally
distributed thrrough
the TIGS
mailing list
Troy
Irish Genealogy Society Meeting
Notes
August
19, 2004
The monthly meeting of
the Troy Irish Genealogy Society was
held on 8/19/04 at Mahrs Place in South
Troy. Attending the meeting were; Carol
Waldron, Bill McGrath, Lynn Grice,
Kay Brearton, Michael McAlonie, Eileen
Shea, Richard Shea, Frank X Ryan, Jeanne
Keefe, Kris Ayotte, Ruth O'Connor,
Ed Connolly and Donna Vaughn, first
time attendees were Rebecca Rector,
Bill Nealon and Teresa Lewandusky.
The attendees were welcomed
and the meeting was called to order
by Co-Chairs; Jeanne Keefe and Ed Connolly.
Jeanne had prepared and printed for
each attendee an agenda for the meeting.
The minutes from the last
meeting had been previously approved
by the July attendees and were posted
to the list and to the website. Minutes
of all meetings are now posted and
can be viewed on the TIGS website.
OLD BUSINESS
Burden
Iron Works Employee Rosters and Employee
Records Update - Lynn Grice reported
that 151 of 160 pages were completed
(1880-1884) and proofed. Viewers will
be able to sort by surname and there
will be an introduction to the data
base on the site. Bill McGrath, Kay
Brearton, Marialice Mangan and Lynn
Grice have worked tirelessly to make
this happen and the group extended
a sincere thank you to them. The first
volume will be complete soon and work
will begin on the second volume. Lynn
is speaking with RCHS about more efficient
ways to proceed.
St. Peter's Church Records
- Jeanne informed the group that we
will need to send a written proposal
to the secretary at the Rectory. Rebecca
Rector offered that the Amercan Canadian
Genealogy Society may have already
or are in the process of transcribing
these records. Rebecca offered to check
to see if St. Peters is being done.
Jeanne mentioned that Roots Web does
have limitations as to the amount of
space allocated to sites so we may
have to consider other options down
the road.
Member projects for the
Website - Jeanne will be posting her
article on the Alleyways of Troy. Members
should forward to Jeanne the status
of projects that they are working on
for this section of the site.
Website Update - Tremendous
we are now moving right along thanks
to the hard work put in by Jeanne Keefe.
Bill McGrath will forward pictures
for articles that will be scanned by
Jeanne. Donna will be forwarding tour
pictures. The site will eventually
host our Charter and links to other
sites that relate to the TIGS. Suggestions
at the meeting were; Pat Connors, Cliff
LaMeire and Lynn VanBuren as they contain
so much vital information relating
to Troy. We will ask those sites to
put a link to the TIGS site. The website
is being updated by Jeanne as items
are sent to her.
Speakers - Kris Ayotte
suggested that members of the group
volunteer to speak. We have very experienced
members (in genealogy) and those that
are just beginning. The latter of which
could gain from those that have more
experience. Lynn Grice suggested a
question and answer format. Ed Connolly
suggested a structured format with
members speaking of their accomplishments
and how they came about. Jeanne suggested
members request a topic with volunteers
responding to speak on those topics.
This will replace our Open Genealogy
Forum. Jeanne will speak at the September
meeting on her research and paper concerning
Washington Park Residents 1839-1920.
Donna has much experience in Westchester
County and can speak to that as it
is the procedure as much as the location.
Chapter Charter - Lizette
Strait was unable to attend the meeting.
Rick Shea was in receipt, as were several
other members, of a draft produced
by Lizette from several charters including
the one authored by Pat Connors. The
group agreed there was more to be done.
Lynn Grice stressed that the most important
item now is a clear Mission Statement
to express the purpose of the group.
Jeanne will post the outlines that
have been produced to date along with
the suggested Mission Statements to
date. She will post to the list where
they are available to view, the date
they will come down and inform all
list members a date by which they must
respond to Rick Shea. Rick will give
a summary at the September meeting,
we will post comments for the entire
list and a vote will be taken in November.
List members will have full participation.
Tours - Lynn Grice informed
us that a Saturday morning in September
is acceptable to tour RCHS. The tour
will include the Library, Museum and
storage. Lynn will post to the list
further details. Bill McGrath has found
that late September on a Sunday will
be good for the Watervliet Arsenal
Museum and grounds. Members will not
need a security clearance. Bill will
post to the list further details.
Genealogy
Table
-
Donna
Vaughn
brought
a
book
entitled, "Down
From Troy", an auto biography
by Richard Selzer, a surgeon who grew
up in Troy. Donna also brought a family
heirloom, a childs chair from the late
1800's. The seat is done in needlepoint
and depicts her husbands maternal grandfather
and his siblings and bears their surname, "Duvall".
Frank Ryan brought several copies of
CD's that contain approximately 99%
of the e-mails to the list. Carol Waldron
shared a copy of the Saratoga County
Index to Surrogate Records 1791-1900.
Carol also brought a copy of the newsletter
and a Surname Exchange distributed
by the Heritage Hunters, a Saratoga
County genealogy group. Both items
gave the members an insight into what
can be accomplished as a group. Rebecca
Rector had on hand several copies of
her publication, "Rensselaer County
New York Church Records; Updated for
the Millennium". Copies of that
publication are available for purchase
by contacting Rebecca at her website "www.rbinforesearch.com".
Kris Ayotte brought two books, "Irish
Relatives and Friends" and "Irish
Passenger Lists 1847-1871" for
members to do look
ups. Bill McGrath had
photo copies of obituaries
that he has done from
write ups in the papers.
He also had with him
family tree charts that
he created on MS Word
Tables.
NEW BUSINESS
Lynn
Grice suggested a poll of members on
resources they had that could be useful
to all members of TIGS. Suggestions
included access to paid sites, census
records, books and publications, etc.
Donna Vaughn volunteered to gather
member resources. Carol Waldron suggested
an addition to the Projects Page that
would be a volunteer look up from the
individual resources. Jeanne Keefe
has a project she completed some time
ago that is 80 pages of residents on
Washington Park from 1839-1920 that
members could avail themselves to.
Jeanne Keefe offered to
try to arrange a room at RPI where
Bill McGrath could host a class on
basic genealogy for those members who
are just beginning and in need of help.
Bill was very receptive to the idea.
Ed Connolly will supply floppy discs
if needed for instruction and a tool
to refer to.
Suggestions were made
for meeting places inclusive of Daisey
Bakers, Troy Pub and Brewery and HVCC.
Individual members will look into and
report back.
We are still pursuing
new members on the list and at the
local level to attend meetings.
The new co-chairs for
October and November will be Mike McAlonie
and Rick Shea.
The next meeting will
be on Thursday, September 16th, at
6:15 at Mahrs unless announced otherwise
prior to that date.
Meeting was adjourned
and members enjoyed their meals that
were ordered upon arrival and served
at a pre-arranged time.