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About Us
- The Monroe County Historical Society is a nonprofit corporation,
with perpetual duration, founded September 11, 1967. The purposes
of the Society shall be of a nonprofit nature and shall be exclusively
historical, scientific, educational and charitable.
- The leading purposes shall be to record, collect, receive, preserve,
study, exhibit and share things pertaining to county history.
- The Society shall also receive and hold property or real estate
for the purposes of preserving and exhibiting the materials of county
history.
- It shall disseminate and publish knowledge of county historical
things and be empowered to engage in all activities and programs relating
to a historical society.
- The Society shall have the following specific purposes and powers:
to gather and preserve information relative to objects and events
of Monroe County; to assume responsibility for proper recognition
and preservation of various historical landmarks, relics, souvenirs,
antiques, cemeteries, buildings and documents pertaining to county
history and to arrange and promote anniversary celebrations and meetings
and other social functions to promote anniversary celebrations and
meetings and other social functions to honor and preserve the memory
of things and persons of the county's past.
- It shall be concerned to establish and maintain a Monroe
County Museum (currently located in the Monroe
County Court House) and to cooperate or affiliate with other associations
having like interests. The museum is open during regular business
hours of the courthouse. Donations to the museum are considered permanent
gifts. To avoid confusion, loans of articles are not accepted.
- The society's historical, genealogical, and cemetery record collection
is available in the Research Center.
- Meetings are held on the fourth Monday of each month except July,
August and December. For dates please view our Calendar.
- The annual dues, payable in October, are $10.00 for an individual
or $15.00 for a family. To become a member please print and mail the
Membership Form.
- Members will receive the Monroe County
Quarterly by postal mail 4 times per year. One article per issue
is available in our Online Archive.
- President's Letter, Monroe County Quarterly,
Vol. 2, Issue 3, Fall 2005
Dear Members,
This is the first anniversary issue of the Monroe
County Historical Society's newsletter. Thanks to the boundless
energy of our Editor, Rhonda Johnson, and your support, the newsletter
provides a benefit to members across the country that seldom have
an opportunity to attend our meetings. The newsletter is only a beginning.
There is much yet to be done if we are to preserve the memories and
artifacts of 175 years of Monroe County history.
When the Society was chartered September 11, 1967, there was a core
group of charter members who recognized the need to preserve memories
and artifacts that might soon be lost to change. Local residents knew
that Mark Twain
Lake would cover many of our cemeteries and displace pioneer families
from land they had farmed for generations. The Bi-Centennial celebration
of the United States was fast approaching and both events gave a sense
of urgency to the preservation of our history.
The nearly 200 men and women who became members of the Monroe County
Historical Society in the next few years, spent countless hours identifying
and cataloging cemeteries, encouraging families to research and preserve
their family histories, and collecting material that was representative
of our legacy. Today only, our Recording Secretary, Zelma Menefee,
is an active Charter Member. We are indebted to those whose time and
energy formed this organization and are poised to continue their work.
In April 2004, the 28 surviving members of the Monroe County Historical
Society voted to publish an updated countywide history--"Monroe
County…Then and Now 1831-2006." The response to that project opened
our eyes to the number of individuals with strong ties to Monroe County
but with addresses across the United States and Canada. Today we have
over 60 members and are still growing. Our challenge in the years
ahead will be to work together so all can share and preserve the information,
documents and artifacts that tell the story of our collective past
for future generations.
As a compliment to the newsletter, and a necessity in today's world
of electronic communication, Rhonda Johnson also created a Monroe
County Historical Society web site (sites.rootsweb.com/~momchs2/)
that is hosted by RootsWeb.
She also acts as administrator for the Monroe
County Ancestry/RootsWeb message board and Monroe
County RootsWeb mailing list.
Our organization has a good working relationship with two very enthusiastic
ladies, Lisa Perry and MaryLynne Perkins-Ellis, who have made the
Monroe County MOGenWeb
informational site one of the best in the nation. (sites.rootsweb.com/~momonroe/)
Tom Ely hosts the web site for the City of Paris (www.parismo.net)
and has been supportive of the Historical Society. The three sites
link to each other, but are distinct in nature, sponsorship and purpose.
All are free sites and together provide anyone searching the web with
access to Monroe County history. For those members without a home
computer, access is readily available through a nearby library.
As a dues-paying member of the Monroe County Historical Society, you
receive four newsletters annually. Rhonda
and I try to offer you information that is distinct to that publication.
Your $10 individual membership allows us to participate in activities
that further an interest in Monroe County history. Our membership
year is October 1-September 30 and we appreciate your financial support.
Please use the form in this newsletter
to mail your 2005-2006 dues so you will continue to receive the newsletter.
The challenge in the months and years ahead will be to meet the needs
of those members who rely on face-to-face contact as well as those
who participate via email. Some information is only available in Monroe
County. The excitement of walking the land your ancestors trod can
only come from either visiting Monroe County or developing a network
of contacts with similar interests. We hope to help you do both.
The Monroe County Historical Society is a non-profit 503(c) 3 corporation.
That status offers a variety of opportunities for growth. If we are
to properly preserve the material donations in our museum
and research collection (and be able
to accept more), we need your continued financial support and ideas
to achieve those goals and make them sustainable. Your contributions
are tax deductible. You can also help further the interest and support
we have begun this year by encouraging your personal network of genealogy
contacts and Monroe County descendants to join
the Historical Society. There is strength in numbers, particularly
as we investigate the possibility of grants to further our goals.
Some current projects are presented in this newsletter. Others, such
as expanded facilities for our collections, are a frequent topic of
conversation. There are possibilities for workshops, educational seminars,
and preservation that will hopefully involve many of you in the months
ahead. We welcome your suggestions on ways to improve and strengthen
our organization.
Nancy Stone, President
This page last edited
on 11 Sep 2018.
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