TROY IRISH GENEALOGY SOCIETY
Troy, New York

Minutes of the Troy Irish Genealogy Society Meeting
November 17, 2011

Timothy Stone called the meeting to order. TIGS welcomed two new members: Barry Consindine?? of Troy and Chris Connell of Waterford. Chris is affiliated with the Watervliet and Waterford Historical Societies. She distributed a free card for free admission to the Waterford Museum.

Kelly Grimaldi agreed to record the meeting minutes. They are as follows:

The Treasurer’s report was presented by Lizette Strait as follows: There are 85 paid members. Previous cash balance (October 2011) totaled $3,833.42. Expenses for this period totaled $1062.39 for a computer and the adoption of four Civil War Veteran Gravesites for restoration. A deposit of $30 was made for three new members. The case balance for November is $2,801.03. Petty cash on hand - $21.63. Total assets: $2,822.66.

The new computer purchased for TIGS will allow the website administrator to manage the site from home. The 17 inch screen provides room for viewing 2 Excel sheets side by side. The computer is fully loaded with CS-5, Photoshop, DreamWeaver and Word.

All TIGS archives are now on-line.

List Administrator’s Report: List members total 247 to date. 210 Facebook likes are noted.

Ongoing Business: The TIGS booth for the Victorian Stroll will be set up again this year at the Rensselaer County Historical Society. Kris is still looking into wireless capabilities for website display. Bill McGrath offered to assist with the setup of the computer.

Project updates were presented by Bill McGrath. The Troy Newspaper Project notification was sent to 50 genealogy sites in the United States and Canada. The years spanning 1859 – 1868 are complete and include 1,600 marriage records and 6,747 death records. The years spanning 1869 – 1878 have been transcribed and proofread. They will be sent to Jeanne Keefe in approximately one month.

The Nail Factory Cemetery records are being transcribed. They include 10 pages with approximately 1,000 names. Most of the deceased are young children and babies.
St. Mary’s Cemetery interment records in book 3 are finished. Bill needs to assemble the file into 250 cases and send to Jeanne. Book three includes 5,142 death records from January 1919 – April 1935. Many of the dead are WWI soldiers. Book 2 is expected to be downloaded. Bill received the flash-drive from Jeanne.

The West Troy Advocate Newspaper is comprised of 500 pages. Work on this project is in progress. The TIGS website will post 30 interesting biographies from Troy newspapers including a picture of the person featured (or an ink illustration) and links to information on their homestead. All persons featured are prominent figures in politics, the Clergy or in business.

New Projects: The Kate Mullany House has been added to the National Historic Register. Pictures of the house and the Mullany gravesite will be at the Burden Iron Museum.

Bill is in receipt of the State Street Burial Ground records and the Removals from St. Mary’s Cemetery, Albany provided by Kelly Grimaldi. The records will be transferred to a format that can be posted on the TIGS website.

Mary Lee Dunn, a TIGS member from Maine asks if there is any interest in sponsoring a speaking engagement for Irish Poet Kieran Furey. Members were polled and it was suggested that the Waterford Museum serve as a potential host site.

The Waterford Museum is currently featuring “Irish in Waterford” exhibit going on until February. Members present expressed an interest in a tour. A motion was made, seconded and carried to schedule a tour on February 16, 2012 with dinner afterward. Tim Stone and Chris Connell will firm up the plans for a tour.

Miscellaneous Business: The suggestion was made to post significant purchases made from the TIGS account to the mail list to allow members access to information on how their dues money is utilized. Members should know how their $10 annual dues are used. For example, this month’s purchases included a computer that will allow enhancements to the website to be made faster and more efficiently. Also, the sponsorship of Civil War soldier’s gravesites is a wonderful contribution to Historic St. Agnes Cemetery.

In addition, it was suggested that a list of all projects completed or in process this year be posted on the mailing list. We should highlight the fact that TIGS is “investing in our future from our past.”

Presentations for 2012: Lizette will give a presentation in March. Subject to be announced. Donna Vaugh plans a presentation towards the end of 2012.
Any member who wishes to schedule a presentation should contact Tim Stone.

Locations for Next Meeting:
The next meeting will be held on January 19, 2011 at Moscatiello's.
Future meeting locations will be discussed and decided upon in January. St. Agnes Cemetery offered to host a catered meeting in its Map Room in May or June. This idea will be expanded upon at a later date.

With no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.

Respectfully submitted on this day, November 18, 2011 to Tim Stone for review.

Kelly Grimaldi