RGS minutes 2004/2005

June, 2005

Rochester Genealogical Society General Meeting
June 16, 2005
East Ave - Rochester's "Grand Boulevard" & later the Stone-Tolan House

This meeting was the annual outing held each June.

About 26 RGS members enjoyed a walking tour of the historic East Avenue neighborhood conducted by Cynthia Howk, the architectural research coordinator at the Landmark Society. She pointed out aspects of the architecture and talked about the lives of the people who lived in the houses and the society of which they were a part.

After the walking tour and a picnic held in the barn of the Stone Tolan House, the group took a tour of that early Rochester landmark, conducted by Cindy Boyer.

Kathryn Heintz
Recording Secretary

May, 2005

Rochester Genealogical Society
General Meeting
May 12, 2005
Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester, NY

Jim Hutton, VP-Program, announced the June meeting picnic arrangements. He also distributed a program survey to find out the members program preferences.

Mr. Ozzie Salyards presented the short program on “Passenger Lists and Immigration and Naturalization Records”.

President’s Report: The RGS Annual Election.
The nominating committee chair, Mr. Larry Blackman, announced the nominees for each position and made three calls for additonal nominess from the floor. There were no additional nominees and all candidates were elected via unanimous voice vote.
The newly elected officers are:
President: Mr. Jim Swarts
VP-CIG: Mrs. Marlene Bettin
Recording Secretary: Mrs. Kathryn Heintz
Corresponding Secretary: Mr. Robert Coomber

Attendance: 83
First Time Visitors: 5

The open forum for member comments got several responses.

The main program was “Stump the Experts” and consisted of Larry Lavery, Ruth Metzler, Larry Naukam, Roy Thurston and Ozzie Salyards. Additional help from the floor was contributed by Jim Swarts, Michael Meggison, Sharon Burch and Jim Hutton, among others.

The range of questions asked was extensive including Germany Brickwall; Immigration Records on Ancestry.com; Preservation of old paper records; Ancestry.com acquisition of old newspapers; Rhode Island research; Burlington County, NJ; Pre-emption line; Austrian ancestry; Migration in US; Polish ancestors’ immigration; Canadian immigration and colonial census substitutes.

Robert Coomber
Acting Recording Secretary

April, 2005

Rochester Genealogical Society
General Meeting
April 21, 2005
Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester, NY

This meeting is the annual Joint meeting with the Kodak Genealogical Society. RGS President Jim Swarts opened the meeting by welcoming all present. He then introduced Dr. Marian Henry, President of the Kodak Genealogical Society who conducted a short meeting of that group.

Business Meeting
Jim Swarts began the RGS business meeting by introducing Dr. Larry Blackman, chairman of the Nominating Committee who presented a slate of candidates to be voted on at the May meeting.
They are as follows:

President, Jim Swarts
Vice President for the Computer Interest Group, Marlene Bettin
Recording Secretary, Kathryn Heintz
Corresponding Secretary, Bob Coomber

There will be an opportunity to nominate candidates from the floor at the May 12th meeting.

The President then asked for a motion from the floor to suspend the balance of the RGS business meeting and requested the Recording Secretary to cast one vote as the consensus of the meeting. The motion having been made and seconded, the Recording Secretary was asked for her vote. The Recording Secretary cast one vote to suspend the balance of the business meeting.

Attendance: 120

Main program
Jim Hutton, Vice President (Program), pointed out that we are trying to include more information about our programs on the RGS website. The speaker for this evening has provided an outline of her talk which is now on the website. Jim introduced Laura Prescott, Director of Marketing for the New England Historic Genealogical Society, who presented a program entitled “Researching Your Ancestors on the Internet.” Laura began by pointing out that the internet is the greatest disseminator of false and harmful information and warning that anything that you find online has to be checked with original sources. She went on to list 10 of her favorite websites for doing genealogical research and presented a series of slides for each of the websites indicating their unique strengths and value in tracing your family history. Included in Laura’s list were NEHGS, Family Search, Ancestry, RootsWeb, and Heritage Quest. Some of these sites are free and others are not but each has data which the others do not have.

Kathryn Heintz
Recording Secretary

March, 2005

Rochester Genealogical Society
General Meeting
March 17, 2005
Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester, NY

Mini-Workshop
Jim Hutton, Vice President for Program, opened the meeting by introducing Carmen and Peter Bush, long-time members of RGS who gave a presentation entitled “Using Death Records Effectively.” Carmen and Peter discussed many lesser known and less utilized sources of information, among them funeral home records, coroner records and military service records. They suggested asking for the whole probate file, as the probate petition has the most genealogical information. Peter uses a system he calls layering which adds and verifies data from a variety of sources to develop a fuller picture of a person’s life.

Business Meeting

President Jim Swarts opened the business meeting by announcing that the nominating committee will be chaired by Larry Blackman and will include Jim Hall and Pat Southcombe.
The FGS Conference will be held in Salt Lake City in September.
As of the most recent issue, the Hear Ye Hear Ye has become a 12 page newsletter, allowing for the publication of more genealogical data from Rochester and the surrounding area.
The reports of the Corresponding Secretary (queries), the Treasurer, the Other Society Liaison and the Tape Librarian were on the continuously running slide show during the break. Handouts from the continuous loop tape were available and a copy has been attached to these minutes.
The DAR house, located at Troup and Livingston Streets, is open on Fridays from 11 - 3. They will sponsor a workshop on Saturday, April 24 at 10 am.
At the next CIG meeting on April 14, Marian Henry, RGS Historian/Genealogist and NEHGS Ambassador, will review the New England Historic Genealogical Society website.
The next meeting of NYSCOGO will be held on April 30 at the First United Church in East Syracuse.
There were three first time visitors. Attendance: 86
Quality Improvement - Questions, Concerns and Ideas Comments: Jim Swarts explained the docents program at the Rundel Library. There is no research trip to Albany planned at this time. The Case Western Reserve Library in Cleveland is another possible destination for a research trip. Feedback is needed from society members.

Main program
The topic of Lisa Alzo’s presentation was “Eastern European Genealogical Research (esp. Slovak).” Ms. Alzo began her talk with the common myths and roadblocks of Eastern European research, including exotic-sounding surnames, difficulty in finding your own ethnicity, and changes in boundaries and governments. She stressed the importance of personal documents and knowledge of neighbors and other countrymen of your ancestor. She did a country-by-country analysis of the best sources of information and emphasized the value of the Federation of East European Family History Societies (FEEFHS). Slides from Ms. Alzo’s talk are available on this website.

Kathryn Heintz
Recording Secretary

February, 2005

Rochester Genealogical Society
General Meeting
February 17, 2005
Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester, NY

Mini-Workshop
Jim Hutton, Vice President for Program, opened the meeting by introducing Larry Blackman, former RGS President and Associate Professor of Philosophy at State University of New York at Geneseo. Larry’s topic was “Land Records: The Second Best Source for Genealogical Research.” Larry traced his family research in Connecticut land records, discussing different types of deeds, grantor and grantee indexes, the importance of photocopying deeds and the usefulness of creating an abstract of a deed. He also touched on bounty land grants given to Revolutionary War veterans as a source for genealogical information.

Business Meeting

President Jim Swarts opened the business meeting by announcing that the Board of Directors had approved a dues increase to $20/yr. for RGS membership. CIG dues remain at $5 and there is a $5 surcharge on Canadian memberships.
The next Board of Directors meeting will be Thursday, February 24, 2005 at 7:30 at the Family History Center.
There will be a D & C article published soon on the Bush (George W.) family genealogy with a sidebar containing information on RGS.
Rochester Community Television will broadcast a program about genealogy featuring Jim Swarts and Bob Coomber. Broadcast dates and times are not available at this time.
At next month’s meeting a Nominating Committee will be appointed.
Jim announced that the Board of Directors had passed a resolution supporting NYSCOGO in protesting the high cost of genealogical records in New York state.
Jim announced that members of the Board of Directors would henceforth be wearing colored name badges to identify them.
The reports of the Corresponding Secretary (queries), the Treasurer, the Other Society Liaison and the Tape Librarian were on the continuously running slide show during the break. Handouts from the continuous loop tape were available and a copy has been attached to these minutes.
There will be a workshop on Saturday, April 24 at 10 am at the DAR House.
Barb Koehler has taken over the Mt. Hope II project as well as Mt. Hope III.
There were two first time visitors. Attendance: 71
Quality Improvement - Questions, Concerns and Ideas Comments: The screen is hard to read tonight; there is no church phone number at which meeting attendees can be reached; the RGS phone message will contain meeting cancellation information.

Main program
The presentation of Darrell Norris, Professor of Geography at State University of New York at Geneseo, was titled “Grave Consequences” and dealt with various types and configurations of gravestones in the United States and Canada. He discussed differences in materials and iconography and how the stones reflected the popular culture of the time. Early gravestones were carved by itinerant craftsmen, later ones were produced in factories and often are highly individualized. Some gravestones yield valuable genealogical data, e.g., many gravestones of Irish immigrants give the county of origin.

Kathryn Heintz
Recording Secretary

January, 2005

Rochester Genealogical Society
General Meeting
January 20, 2005
Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester, NY

Mini-Workshop
Jim Hutton, Vice President for Program, opened the meeting by introducing Larry Naukam, RGS member and Department Head of the Local History and Genealogy Division, Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County. Larry outlined the holdings of the Local History Dept. and also the Fairport Family History Center. He discussed the online resources of the public library, those accessible from home as well as those available only at the library. Some local church records, photographs, scrapbooks, a newspaper clipping file and the Genealogical Roundtable file are some of the most useful items. Accessible at the Family History Center are the LDS collection of filmed records as well as research guides, letter-writing guides and maps.

Business Meeting

President Jim Swarts opened the business meeting by updating the volunteer program at the Rundel Library?fs Local History Division which now has 17 volunteers with Saturday and Monday evening hours.
The next Board of Directors meeting will be Thursday, January 27, 2005.
At next month?fs meeting a Nominating Committee will be appointed and a dues increase will be announced.
Bob Coomber is soliciting feedback from the participants of last November?fs research trip to Albany to determine if another Albany trip should be planned or perhaps a research trip to another destination.
Jim introduced each of the Officers and Committee Chairs.
The reports of the Corresponding Secretary (queries), the Treasurer, the Other Society Liaison and the Tape Librarian were on the continuously running slide show during the break. Handouts from the continuous loop tape were available and a copy has been attached to these minutes.
The next CIG meeting on February 10 will feature a discussion of Photoshop Elements presented by Chuck Bliley and Larry Lavery.
There will be one more Sunday workshop on February 6 from 1 - 2:30 in the Bausch and Lomb Building auditorium at the Rochester Public Library. Larry Lavery will discuss genealogical software.
There was one first time visitor. Attendance: 75
Bob Coomber is now taking reservations for the Salt Lake City trip in May, 2005.
Jim Swarts introduced a new feature of the meeting, called Quality Improvement - Questions, Concerns and Ideas, a few minutes devoted to getting feedback from the general membership. A suggestion to move meeting times to Saturdays did not get much support.

Main program
Martha Sempowski, Ph.D., Resident Research Fellow in the Collections and Research Dept. at the Rochester Museum and Science Center, spoke on the topic ?gThe Senecas Meet the 1600?fs Dutch.?h She discussed the short-term and long-term effects on native Americans of contact with non-Indians in the period 1550 - 1820. The main contact was for the purpose of trading beaver pelts for European manufactured goods (brass pots, beads, axes), some of which the Senecas used in their funeral customs. A long-term consequence of the contact was the loss of the Seneca?fs independence and self-sufficiency.

Kathryn Heintz
Recording Secretary

November, 2004

Rochester Genealogical Society
General Meeting
November 18, 2004
Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester, NY

Mini-Workshop
Jim Hutton, Vice President for Program, opened the meeting by introducing Roy Thurston, long time member and former President of RGS, whose presentation was entitled "Making Sense of the Census." Roy discussed the information recorded in each Federal census from 1790 to 1930. He described the indexes which are available and the availability of the census online. He then discussed the New York State census, county boundary changes, and the importance of knowing this information when trying to locate an ancestor. Roy's handout is an excellent outline of census information.

Business Meeting

President Jim Swarts opened the business meeting by updating the volunteer program at the Rundel Libraryís Local History Division. The volunteers who have worked so far have been helpful to the patrons of the library and two new volunteers have been recruited. There is still a need for a coordinator to do the scheduling.
The next Board of Directors meeting will be Thursday, January 27, 2005
The research trip to Albany was a great success and Jim would like to hear suggestions for other research trips that members would be interested in.
Jim introduced each of the Officers and Committee Chairs.
The reports of the Corresponding Secretary (queries), the Treasurer, the Other Society Liaison and the Tape Librarian were on the continuously running slide show during the break. Handouts from the continuous loop tape were also available.
A dues increase, approved by the Board of Directors, will soon be announced.
Empty ink jet and toner cartridges which can be recycled will be collected at CIG meetings as a fund-raiser for the organization.
The Educators' Sunday workshops will be held on two Sunday afternoons in December. On December 5, Larry Naukam will speak on special record collections in the Rundel Library, and on December 12, Roy Thurston will present a program about the census. These workshops will be held in the Bausch and Lomb Building auditorium from 1 - 2:30.
There were three first time visitors.
Bob Coomber is now taking reservations for the Salt Lake City trip in May, 2005.

Main program
Hollis Ricci-Canham, President of the Orleans County Genealogical Society, presented a program called "Orphan Trains - The Greatest Migration." Holly told the story of three hundred thousand orphaned children who were taken from appalling living conditions in New York City and relocated to foster homes in western New York and westward across the US. From 1854 to 1929 the Children's Aid Society of New York sent agents ahead to try to find homes for the children, before they arrived by train. Holly showed a videotape of an educational reenactment of an orphan train ride which was sponsored by the Orleans County Genealogical Society.

Kathryn Heintz
Recording Secretary

October, 2004

Rochester Genealogical Society
General Meeting
October 21, 2004
Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester, NY

Mini-Workshop
Jim Hutton, Vice President for Program, opened the meeting by introducing Ruth Metzler, longtime member and former President of RGS, whose presentation was entitled "Family Resources - OralInterviews and Family Documents." Ruth encouraged beginning genealogists to formulate "one goodquestion" to ask older family members and then to take action on the answer. She discussed theimportance of town and county resources, regional libraries and historical societies.

Business Meeting

President Jim Swarts opened the business meeting by reporting on the new RGS/KGS volunteer program at the Rundel Libraryís Local History and Genealogy Division. Twelve volunteers have been trained and a schedule has been set up for the rest of 2004.
The next Board of Directors meeting is Thursday, October 28.
Hear Ye Hear Ye editor Dick Halsey needs material for the next edition.
RGS needs new members and Jim encouraged everyone to bring a neighbor or friend.
Jim introduced each of the Officers and Committee Chairs.
The reports of the Corresponding Secretary (queries), the Treasurer, the Other Society Liaison and the Tape Librarian were on the continuously running slide show during the break. Handouts from the continuous loop tape were also available.
Jim reminded everyone that Ms. Vicki Weis, the main speaker at last monthís meeting, provided RGS with a handout which is posted on the RGS website. It is entitled ìNYS Library Genealogical Resources before 1800.î
The next Computer Interest Group meeting will take place on November 4, a change from the usual meeting time. The subject is Optical Character Recognition.
A DAR workshop will be held on Saturday, November 6, from 10 am - noon.
There were four first time visitors. Total attendance: 85.
There is a change in the schedule for the mini-workshop for November. Roy Thurston will speak on the state and federal census.

Main program
Mr. David Kipp, a member of the Canal Society of New York State, gave an informative presentation on "The History and Significance of the Erie Canal." He discussed the important people in the development of the canal from George Washington who early on had the idea of such a canal to DeWitt Clinton who made it happen. The important forces driving the building of the canal included the prohibitive cost of shipping goods by other routes, and the pressure of westward expansion. Mr. Kipp's talk was illustrated by many slides showing features of the canal during its long history.

Kathryn Heintz
Recording Secretary

September, 2004

Rochester Genealogical Society
General Meeting
September 16, 2004
Asbury First United Methodist Church, Rochester, NY

Mini-Workshop
Roy Thurston, substituting for Vice President for Program, Jim Hutton, opened the meeting by introducing Jim Swarts, President of RGS, who presented an overview of this year's basic genealogy mini-workshops, called Genealogy 101. He outlined the major sources of genealogical information and gave an overview of each of the workshops which will be presented this year. He also discussed one of the guiding principles of genealogical research, the importance of documentation.

Business Meeting
Jim Swarts opened the business meeting by welcoming everyone to a new year.

Jim mentioned the article in the Our Towns section of the Democrat and Chronicle, about cemeteries in Monroe County. A number of RGS members were quoted in the article.
Jim acknowledged the passing of Margaret Dunlay, a long-time RGS member.
Jim announced that he had been approached by Larry Naukam to set up a cadre of RGS volunteers to assist visitors to the Local History and Genealogy Dept. at Rundel Library in doing their genealogical research. Training for the volunteers would be provided. A volunteer coordinator for the project is also needed.
Jim introduced each of the Officers and Committee Chairs.
Ruth Metzler, New York State Council of Genealogical Organizations (NYSCOGO) Liaison, announced the upcoming meeting of NYSCOGO to be held on September 25 in Rensselaer County.
The reports of the Corresponding Secretary (queries), the Treasurer, the Other Society Liaison and the Tape Librarian were on the continuously running slide show during the break. Handouts from the continuous loop tape were also available.
RGS bags, ideal for taking materials on a research trip, are on sale for $20.
There were seven first time visitors. Total attendance: 118

Main program
Ms. Vicki Weis, Senior Librarian, Manuscripts and Special Collections, New York State Library, spoke on the topic, "The Genealogical Resources of the New York State Library." Ms. Weis' presentation was intended to help those RGS members who will be taking the RGS-sponsored research trip to Albany in November and her presentation was a virtual tour of the library. She discussed the location of various materials and how to access them. She mentioned in particular the Revolutionary War Soldiers Index, the DAR records and the collection of city directories. Website: nysl.nysed.gov

Kathryn Heintz
Recording Secretary

Rochester Genealogical Society, Inc.

Minutes of RGS Meetings

2004/2005