Walking down the trail in Seneca Park behind Bill Davis was a sight-and-sound experience in local history. As he led us northward from the picnic pavilion where we had gathered, to the path on the east bank of the Genesee River, he commented about the early Seneca presence there. Their imprint had been light - they left only their names on the land.

We paused in a picturesque spot (6 mi. north of the heart of the city of Rochester, 2 mi. south of Lake Ontario) beside a stream which flowed from its underground course beneath suburban Irondequoit to cascade in rippling waterfalls down to the River far below. Bill gently eased our thoughts back to the days of the ubiquitous French who had not only seen this place but left us words on paper. The scout Étienne Brule knew of it in 1610. Champlain mapped the Lake, River and Bay in 1612. In August 1669, LaSalle and his party entered the area in canoes looking for fur trade routes. In May 1721 Pierre de Charlevoix stopped here and wrote a full description of "Casconchiagon," Seneca for "river-of-falls-upon-it." (The rare 73-vol. Jesuit Relations exist today in a Rochester library). Francois Pouchot was here 60 years later and mentioned in his "Memoiries" the River which "has a much longer course into the interior than any other on this coast... which has three falls with banks on the sides almost as fine as those of Niagara." (The excessively rare original of his work (Yverdon, 1781) is also in the library of the Rochester Historical Society).

Capt. Lt. Thomas Davies of the Royal Regiment of Artillery sketched each of the waterfalls on the Genesee, on location, sometime during the French and Indian War period, 1755 - 1763. These earliest pictures of the falls are valuable, as H.L. Fairchild pointed out, for they depict "the normal river flow, 200 years ago, before there had been any human interference with the forest and the river. The falls are now (1926) changed by utilization..." (Yes, the prints came back to Rochester from London).

That human interference followed closely on the heels of the land agents and surveyors of the 1790's. In 1789, Ebenezer Allen had come from New Jersey to build a flour mill, taking advantage of the 14-ft. drop at Middle Falls. By 1796, Oliver Phelps & Nathaniel Gorham were selling land (purchased from Massachusetts) to settlers like Gideon King, Zadock Granger and Elijah Kent, who built their cabins on the west side of the River almost across from where we stood. That early settlement was King's Landing. There on 5 December 1800 was born Arabella Granger to Mr. and Mrs. Eli Granger - the 1^st known recorded white female birth on the Genesee.

Ten years later, on 11 May 1810, Col. Nathaniel Rochester, his wife Sophia (Beatty) and family of 12 children came from Maryland to the Genesee Country. Settlement grew around the Middle Falls area and spread out in all directions. In time, the "flour" city became the "flower" city - and you have read the rest of the story, for Rochester's history has been written by several very able historians.

However, the impact of local history upon genealogy is felt strongest by the family historian who stands on the ground where his family once lived, and listens to a Bill Davis, who knows the story. Then, it is not just Local History, or his-story. It becomes OUR story. Our families settled at the falls of the Genesee... when? why? where did they come from? We walked quietly along the trail back to our parked automobiles, that serene midsummer evening of our annual picnic, laden with new thoughts.

Ruth Metzler

In September, the Rochester Genealogical Society will begin meeting at Asbury First United Methodist Church, 1050 East Avenue. Asbury has ample off-street parking and is more suited to other needs of RGS. Fellowship Hall, the meeting room, will provide more space for the various activities of RGS and it has a hearing loop. There is a handicapped parking area, a ramp to the foyer of the church, two wheel chairs, and an elevator to Fellowship Hall.

The main entrance from the parking area is via the Cloister (see below). Turn right and take the stairs to the lower level. Proceed straight ahead to Fellowship Hall.

Below is a rough drawing that locates the parking, stairs, elevator, and Fellowship Hall.

The Rochester Genealogical Society will meet the third Thursday of each month (except December, July, and August) at Asbury First United Methodist Church, 1050 East Avenue (just west of Granger Place). The mini-workshops start at 7 PM (except as noted for special programs), followed by the business meeting at 7:30 PM and the main program at approximately 8:00 PM. Visitors are very welcome. This year the mini-workshops will focus on Researching in States and Countries.

Thursday, 19 September 1991

Mini-Workshop: Researching along the New York-Vermont Border by Brian Burkhart

Main Program: Rochester Celebrities of Yesterday by Don Shilling

Thursday, 17 October 1991

Mini-Workshop: Researching in Canada (primarily Ontario Province) by Marianne Hesselberth

Main Program: Immigration from Germany by Eugene Camann, Author of the book, "Uprooted from Prussia and Transplanted in America"

Thursday, 21 November 1991

Mini-Workshop: Researching in Ohio by Paul & Mary Valentine

Main Program: A Pilgrimage to World War I Military Cemeteries in Europe by Al Mancini

-- Marianne & Bob Hesselberth

Julie Steitz current hospitality chairperson and member of RGS since 1975 served two terms as president and was concurrently in charge of name tags, refreshments, and the up for grabs table which she initiated. She has served on the nominating committee and Board of Directors for approximately six years and been responsible for the surrounding societies report for about the same length of time. She also served on the program committee for two years and has presented several of the mini workshop programs for the society. She is a regular contributor to the Hear Ye.

Julie is very active as a volunteer in the Penfield Local History Room and is there most Tuesday evenings to assist persons researching their family history. She co-chaired a committee responsible for awarding Pioneer Certificates to descendants of early settlers of Penfield.

She has been vice president of Palatines to America, a national organization, and is currently on the Board of Directors and in charge of their western N.Y. relations. She is also currently treasurer of the Genealogical Round Table of Rochester, the Penfield Heritage Association, and the Dayton's Corners School House Association. She recently was elected to the Board of Directors of the newly formed New York State Council of Genealogical Organizations (NYSCOGO).

She has assisted physically and financially in the renovating of several private ancestral family cemeteries in various places in the Northeastern U.S.

Here is a list of indexes she has compiled for Penfield, Monroe Co. N.Y.:

1. the account book of Michael Jump 1849-1873.
2. early East Penfield news clippings.
3. vital records from various early newspapers.
4. I Remember When... Penfield, by Verna K. Brahler (name & place index).
5. Images of Early Penfield, by Maude E. Frank.
6. Mortgages and encroachments.
7. list of Revolutionary War veterans.
8. Oakwood Cemetery Burial Permits.
9. Methodist Episcopal Church records (late 19th century).
10. trustees & treasurers books of Smith Cemetery.
11. 1855, 1865, 1875, 1880, 1905, 1915, 1925 census records.
12. Rev. J. T. Humphrey's Diary (M. E. Church 1878-1894).
13. Rev. Abel Haskell's Diary (Baptist Church 1860-1865).
14. Women's Missionary Society (M. E. Church 1899-1903).

Milford Spencer has been a member of RGS for 47 years and was treasurer for many years. He is a Life Member of the Spencer Family Assoc. of America which started in 1978 with his Spencer notes. He has assisted with the indexing of a Spencer genealogy and has been active in Spencerport local history projects.

Over the years Milford has collected photos and slides of cemetery stones and has given lectures using these slides. He has given several lectures to RGS.

Julie Steitz and Carter Livermore represented the RGS as voting delegates at the New York State Council of Genealogical Societies' Constitutional Convention of 27 delegates at Johnstown/Fonda, NY, 13-14 April 1991. A seven-member steering committe formed at the December 1990 meeting of delegates in Fulton, presented its drafted Constitution and By-laws which were amended by the delegates.

On the second day of the Convention, the delegates voted unanimously to adopt the amended Constitution and By-laws and to elect the slate of Officers and Trustees nominated, thus "breathing life into" the new organization to be know as The NY State Council of Genealogical Organizations (NYSCOGO).

The newly elected Officers and Trustees held their first meeting directly after adjournment of the Convention. Julie Steitz is one of the new Trustees.

The purpose of NYSCOGO is to promote an interest in genealogy, facilitate communication between researchers and genealogists, provide a forum for local and state-wide concerns of genealogists and to further genealogical knowledge.

Since the September 1990 move of the NYS vital records section from the Empire State Plaza to 733 Broadway in Albany, the vital records index can no longer be searched in person and all requests for records must be made by mail. The processing time has been from six to 14 months.

At the NYSCOGO meeting in April, Roger Ritzmann of the NYS Archives reported that the archives and the Dept. of Health are negotiating the transfer of the vital records index to the Archives. An agreement is expected to be reached soon.

In addition, the vital records section is trying to automate their request procedures and eventually inprove responses to all requests.

In the meantime, if you know the jurisdiction where an event occurred, the best strategy is to request a copy of the record from the local Registrar of Vital Statistics.

The 12 printed one-page guides to the state library will now cost you $1 each or $7 a set if you order them through the mail. These deal with military records, wills, census records, loyalists records, adoptees, tracing your immigrant ancestor, etc. Ask for the Genealogy Fact Sheets and enclose a check made out to the NYS Library, Genealogical Reference Service at the Cultural Education Center, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12230.

These reference sheets are still free when you visit the library.

The summer 1991 issue of Bookmark, a State Education Department quarterly, is devoted to many facets of genealogy and family history in New York. The price is $4 and can be ordered from Documents/Gift and Exchange, New York State Library, Cultural Education Center, Empire State Plaza, Albany, NY 12230. Make checks payable to the NYS Library.

George A. Hood #506, 7032 Darnoch Way, West Hills, CA 91307.

Steve Denney #708, 620 S. Idaho, Butte, Mont. 59701.

Carol W. Cotter, Mrs. Adrian E. Cotter, P.O. Box 56, Skyland, NC 28776.