TROY IRISH GENEALOGY SOCIETY
Troy, New York
Minutes of the Troy Irish Genealogy Society Meeting
October 19, 2011
Timothy Stone called the meeting to order. No new
guests or members were in attendance, and introductions were not
necessary. Members expressed their deepest sympathies to Geri Sherri
who recently suffered the death of her mother. Ms. Sherri was not
in attendance this evening.
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 82 paid members. Previous cash balance (September 2011)
totaled $4,015.81. Expenses for this period totaled $130.39 for
4 thumb drives and book printing. A deposit of $10 was made for
one renewing member. The case balance for October is $3,833.42.
Petty cash on hand - $21.63. Total assets: $3,855.05
List Administrator’s Report:
List members total 249 to date. 208 Facebook likes are noted.
Ongoing Business:
Project updates were presented by Bill McGrath. There are four projects
in various stages of completion. The Troy Newspaper Project recorded
6,748 death records from 1859 – 1868. Five years of marriage
records have been done thus far and Bill is working on the next
five years. The next years in the works span from 1869 – 1878
and these years will complete the project except for the West Troy
Advocate piece that includes 500 pages from the early 1800s. The
goal is to organize the newspaper project with an index. Peter Reilly
will work with Jeanne to get the newspaper entries on the website
if possible.
The St. Mary’s Cemetery Project is progressing
with book three in the works. It contains 5,100 names on 225 pages.
Book one (1900 – 1910) is posted on the website. Book two
requires some additional transcription. A total of five books will
comprise the St. Mary’s Cemetery project and will list interment
records for the years 1900 – 1935.
Brief discussion ensued on the Nail Factory Cemetery
records. It is unknown where the bodies of the factory workers were
removed to, therefore additional research is needed. Ten pages of
records have been discovered. The burials are of people mostly of
Scottish heritage.
A copy of the book printed for Woodside Church was
available at the meeting. A historic structure report was put together
by RPI. It was agreed that one copy should be donated to the Troy
Library and one to the Rensselaer County Historical Society as well
as one copy to the church.
New Business:
Kris Cooney is looking for volunteers to staff the
TIGS table on December 4th, the date of Troy’s Victorian Stroll.
Volunteers should dress in period garb. Members were invited to
lend items of historical interest to the display table. Chris will
contact Kathy Sheehan of the Rensselaer County Historical Society
to inquire about internet access for the TIGS website display. Anyone
interested in staffing the table should contact Chris.
The issue of continued website management through
RPI was discussed. Jeanne Keefe may at some point decide to retire
her position with RPI making new accommodations for site management
necessary. Members present thought it prudent to purchase a new
laptop and investigate which licenses would best serve TIGS’s
needs. Tim Stone offered to look into purchasing equipment and licenses.
A motion was made by Lizette and seconded by Mike Gilligan to approve
Tim to look at what is needed to update TIGS computer and licensing
needs. The motion was carried with none in opposition.
On January 28, 2012, Donna Vaughn will offer a lecture
in genealogical research in the Map Room of St. Agnes Cemetery at
2 PM. This very popular lecture is part of St. Agnes Cemetery’s
winter lecture series. Donna has new and exciting material to add
to her lecture – think Tiffany!
St. Agnes Cemetery is working with the Albany Hall
of Records to get copies of the Board Superintendent Minutes’
Soldiers Burial Reports. These records are valuable in identifying
soldiers, dates of death and location of burials. The Cemetery’s
historian is looking for advice on what type of format the paper
copies should be entered electronically to best serve researchers.
The database will be provided to TIGS for the website.
Application for Irish Citizenship
Kathy Buckley is in the process of obtaining Irish Citizenship as
the granddaughter of a native of Ireland. She notes there are no
specific benefits in obtaining citizenship in her case. Benefits
are for those who wish to work in Ireland or purchase property in
the European Union. One advantage to travelers is passports are
interchangeable in Europe for citizens. Kathy notes that citizenship
allows one to be entered into the foreign birth registry. The process
is a bit cumbersome but not cost prohibitive. She will update TIGS
on her progress at a later date.
With no further business to discuss, the meeting
was adjourned.
Respectfully submitted on this day, October 24, 2011
to Tim Stone for review.
Kelly Grimaldi