Troy
Irish Genealogy
Society Meeting
Notes
July
15
2004
The
monthly meeting of the Troy Irish Genealogy Society was held
on 7/15/04 at Mahrs Place in South Troy.
Attending
the meeting were;
Lizette Strait, Bill
McGrath, Kristin
Ayotte, Frank Ryan,
Marialice Mangan,
Lynn Grice, Kay Brearton,
Donna Vaughn, Mike
McAlonie and Wendy,
first time attendees
were Ruth O'Connor,
Rick Shea, Eileen
Shea and Carol Waldron.
The
attendees were welcomed
and the meeting was
called to order by
the
Co-Chairs;
Donna Vaughn and Lizette Strait. Donna had prepared and printed
for each attendee an agenda for the meeting.
The
minutes from the
last meeting had
been previously approved
by the June
attendees
and were previously posted to the list.
OLD
BUSINESS
1.
The Burden Iron Works
Transcription Project
(Lynn, Bill, Marialice
and Kay) -Lynn reported
that 18 pages had
been transcribed
as of the meeting.
The books are too
large and fragile
to be copied therefore
the project will
be done at the RCHS.
The pages are being
hand transcribed
onto a spreadsheet,
these hand written
pages are then entered
onto a computer spreadsheet
at the transcribers
home, taken back
for proofreading
and then forwarded
to be compiled and
posted. Lynn reports
that she will have
a better idea of
how the project is
moving along after
roughly 25 pages
are completed and
will report at the
next meeting. For
those of the group
who work during the
day there is the
option of going down
to RCHS on Saturdays
to participate. Bill
did have a sample
spreadsheet with
him and shared it
with the group. The
records contain;
pay date, name, occupation
and a remarks column
(eg. discharged,
work notice, gone
to NYC, dead, etc.).
The project will
be termed a Finding
Aide and researchers
will be referred
to the original document.
2.
St. Peters Church
Records (Jeanne Keefe)
- tabled until next
meeting.
3.
Website Update -
We now have word
from Jeanne Keefe
that she will be
able to manage our
site, so member projects
should be forwarded
to her.
4.
Speakers - Tabled
until the August
meeting
5.
Tours - RCHS (Lynn)
Members agreed the
goal would be to
visit the Library
and explore the holdings.
Since the transcription
project is in process
we will
delay
until further notice. Watervliet Arsenal (Bill) tours are available
Sunday through Thursday from 10am till 3pm for the Museum on the
grounds. There is no heat or airconditioning so it was recommended
that we look towards a Sunday in September.
6.
Chat Room - Pat Connors
has told Donna that
there is a site (bravenet.com)
where arrangements
can be made for a
Chat by the group.
Donna is asking anyone
that would like to
explore it further
to do so and let
the list know. The
list can pick a topic
for discussion outside
of business and anyone
that wants to participate
can do so.
7.
Solicitation of New
Members (Donna, Lizette)
- Notices were posted
on several other
lists and that is
how Carol Waldron
joined us. Hopefully
others will inquire
and attend a future
meeting. Lizette
will prepare a notice
for the Advertiser
(local weekly in
the area). She will
forward to Carol
and Donna to proofread.
8. "History
of Troy Police Benevolent
Society" by
Don Rittner (Marialice)
-
Tabled
until August (Marialice is not in receipt of the book and has
left several messages asking for its whereabouts.
9.
TIGS Constitution
and Mission Statement
- Much conversation
on the list
preceding
the meeting. At the meeting this writer voiced concern that the
potential
number of drafts that could be received and need to be reviewed
could be extremely time consuming and confusing. After much conversation
and a show of hands (8 in favor, 6 abstaining) it was decided
to look at the 2 that had been submitted and using one as a guide
to form a Constitution. The majority of the group agreed that
we will call the finished product a Charter rather than a Constitution.
After
further discussion
the group agreed
that the one previously
submitted by Pat
Connors was the simplier
and more to the point.
We thank Lizette
Strait for the time
she took to draw
up a template and
even she agreed that
hers was more cumbersome.
We will therefore
work from what Pat
submitted. A committee
consisting of Rich
Shea and Lizette
Strait will review
suggestions by attending
members and incorporate
the appropriate suggestions
into Pat's original
draft. The completed
draft will be presented
at a future meeting
for comment. That
document will be
posted to our website
for review and comments
by the list members.
NEW
BUSINESS
1.
The Mission Statement,
election of Officers,
dues, etc., all items
discussed
on
the list recently will be incorporated into the Constitution.
2.
Our new co-chairs
for August and September
are Jeanne Keefe
and Ed Connolly.
3.
Bill McGrath spoke
of one of our goals
that being to automate
local records and
get them on line.
It appears we are
finally headed in
that direction with
our Burden Iron Works
project.
4.
Marialice and Lynn
reminded the group
that the list is
made up of many
different
people with different outlooks. Listers should be sensitive and
thoughtful
with messages posted to the list.
5.
The group agreed
to call for a roll
call to get a better
idea of how many
participating
members we had of the 54 on the list and also to put together
a summary of surnames being researched by the list and the location
of the list members to see how widespread we are. Frank Ryan came
prepared with statistics. He has saved every E-mail to the list
outside of the first few weeks. He informed us that there were
49 people who had posted and out of them 2 had only 1 posting
and 9 had 2-3 postings. The rest were actively participating.
Those are good numbers and show we have strong participation and
interest out
there.
6.
Donna had taken an
informal survey of
postings concerning
the formation of
the Constitution,
role of list members,
election of officers,
dues, chat room and
location of the meeting.
These items have
been addressed in
these minutes except
the location of the
meeting. Obviously
this is an issue
better
addressed
by
those that attend
the meeting. The
majority of the meeting
attendees
felt that we had
progressed with more
formalization of
the meeting so that
a change in location
is not crucial to
the
group right now.
We have access to
a private room at
Mahrs and will verify
that we can reserve
the room for future
meetings. We will
place our food order
and ask not to be
served until 7:15.
That
will give us an hour
to conduct the meeting
and we believe that
is ample time. However
if an attending member
can arrange for a
more formal setting
(library, meeting
hall, etc.) we are
more
than willing to entertain
a change in location.
We are trying to
balance the different
wishes of the attendees,
conduct business
that will move us
forward and still
maintain a friendly "want
to be there" attitude.
7.
Genealogy Table - Donna
Vaughn shared Surrogate
Court Indice's that she
purchased on E-bay. Donna
has posted a description
to the list and has offered
look-ups. This writer
asked Donna to bring the
books again to the next
meeting as time was short
by this time in the evening.
Donna also brought her
mother's 1946 Bridal Book
to share. The book is
obviously a treasured
momento for her but from
a genealogy standpoint
a crucial document listing
wedding attendants and
other vital information
concerning her parents
wedding. Frank Ryan brought
a copy of the "Eastwick
Press Newspaper" that
contains excerpts
from a 1839 diary.
Bill McGrath brought
a notebook containing
his Family Tree
Charts. Bill was
also asked to bring
them to the next
meeting again due
to time constraints.
8.
Open Genealogy Forum
- Lizette Strait gave
a 15 minute presentation.
She introduced herself
as a "Hobbyist
Genealogist" and
the ancestor of an
immigrant. She had
prepared well and
had visuals to go
with her talk. She
described America
as a melting pot
containing many different
make ups. Although
her ancestors were
not from Troy she
notes the similiarities
between Worcester,
MA to Troy. Worcester,
like Troy, was an
industrial city containing
much cheap labor
to keep the factories
running. She has
worked her genealogy
from herself backwards
and gets excited
everytime she finds
a "skeleton".
Her talk was laced
with seriousness
and with humour
and was much enjoyed
by those that heard
it.
9.
Donna and Lizette
both thanked the
group for giving
them the opportunity
to co-chair the last
few months and wished
the incoming co-chairs
luck.
10.
Next Meeting - 8/19/04,
Mahrs Place in South
Troy
11.
We have no volunteer
for next months Open
Genealogy Forum so
anyone planning on
attending has an
opportunity to shine.
Please let Jeanne
or Ed know so that
you can be put on
the agenda.
Kris
Cooney-Ayotte