Troy Irish Genealogy Society - Meeting Minutes-August 2004

Projects

 

TIGS Monthly Meeting Notes
August 2004

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.

 

 

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