2017 Meeting Minutes
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
January 21, 2017
Carol Jones, President of the Rush County Genealogical Society called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. The meeting having been delayed a week due to the forecast for Icy weather. She asked Katrina Cooper, Secretary to read the minutes of the November 12, 2016 meeting. There was a question from Carol Jones about giving funds to the Beech Settlement. Marilyn Yager, Treasurer said she has written two checks to the Beech Church fund – one at least was last month as the speaker advised she could take no payment for coming as it is part of her job and said we could make a donation to the Beech Church instead if we liked. She will check when the other funds were disbursed and the minutes will be corrected as needed. Katrina also read the minutes of the Nov. 15, 2016 Officer’s Meeting.
Carol Jones asked us all to be thinking of longtime member, Linda Mahan as she has been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. She will be having chemotherapy treatment; however, at this time her white count is very low.
Carol asked Kevin Harr to tell us about the videos being done by Satolli Glassmeyer around the county. He will be here working on other projects and has offered to do one for just $299 since he will already be in the area. We could apply for a grant from the Rush County Community Foundation for funds. The group felt cemeteries would be the subject best suited to our interests. It was decided that Carol should pick up an application to pursue the grant. He is already doing one on the Covered Bridges, the Princess Theater/Masonic Lodge, Memorial Gymnasium and the East Hill Cemetery. Members asked Kevin why Rush County Historical Society was not sponsoring a video(s). It was thought that they are concentrating on putting heating and air conditioning in the carriage house.
Treasurer Marilyn Yager reported that we currently have a balance of $3,596.29. She had went by the Post Office and was able to pay the next year’s fee of $48 before the cost increase to $52.00. She mentioned that she picked up several checks for 2017 membership fees.
Carol will not be able to be at the February meeting and Vice President Bill Baetz will preside over the meeting. She noted that Eleanor Arnold has agree to do a presentation in November.
Bill Baetz brought up a discussion about the Queries showing on our website. Katrina has responded to several with only response back from one person. They all seem to be older and need to be deleted and we need to give instruction to send queries to our e-mail address which Carol, Bill and Katrina all have access to.
Katrina Cooper introduced Marilyn Gray Roberts, the daughter of Donald and Norma Lee Gray who grew up on a farm east of Mays. Her family has deep roots in the community and she was active in Center Christian Church and 4-H. Marilyn gave a very interesting talk about the Mays community sending around a map of the town and shared many photographs with the group. Eleven members and guest enjoyed her presentation.
Sincerely,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
February 11, 2017
Bill Baetz, Vice President, called the RCGS meeting to order at 11:00 with nine in attendance. Katrina Cooper, secretary, read the minutes which were approved. Marilyn Yager, treasurer, reported our balance to be $4134 which includes several dues and a gift to fund one of the Sattoli Glassmeyer videos. She also reported that she had received $15.50 from Amazon Smiles so people making Amazon purchases and listing RCGS does help add to our treasury.
Bill reported that after our October, 2016 meeting when several had difficulty in accessing Wi-Fi in the Library basement. He had offered the Library that RCGS would be willing to purchase an extender. However, the last two meetings, he has been able to get Wi-Fi in the Library’s meeting room.
Bill advised that after discussion with Katrina Cooper, the dated queries on our website have been removed. He saved the files in case they would be needed. He has changed the verbiage for queries to be submitted via our e-mail.
Bill removed the cemetery committee listing as it is no longer active. He did leave the notation that Pam Steed was the founder of RCGS. After what Marilyn said about the Amazon Smile program, he will add instructions on how to use this as a way of donating to the organization. It was noted that the name on our Facebook page is still rushcogs. Can this be changed to rcgsociety.org?
For new business, discussion turned to having a video project for Rush County cemeteries and other topics that fit with our Genealogy interests. It was thought at first that Satolli Glassmeyer would be filming today; however, Shirley Biehl reported after looking through Gary Crull’s book on the Raleigh Zion Cemetery, she felt we should hold off until the scenery would be green again. Satolli is in Rushville today doing videos at the East Hill Cemetery and the Courthouse. He hopes to come by at the end of our meeting to speak with us about his projects of capturing historic sites on video.
Suggestion was made that we apply for a grant to cover 10 videos from the Rush County Community Foundation. Due to the timing of the application process, we would not have an answer until about June. Shirley voiced that she did not think it would be difficult to raise funds through donations as well. Each video costs $299. If we are going to do videos on different cemeteries, we will need to do research on Important people buried in each cemetery – like William S. Hall at the Raleigh Cemetery. It was again suggested to include the Beech Church. It was mentioned that Tracy Porter might be a good resource on the Little Blue Cemetery. Shirley introduced our guest at that time - Joy Hall of the William S. Hall family.
When questions were brought forth about how hard it would be to get a grant, Shirley passed around the application and many agreed that it was felt that people would give donations once they hear of the project. Kevin Harr has gotten a grant from them to publish his book. He is hoping to have it completed by November.
For our March meeting Joan Hostetler will give a presentation on photo preservation. Katrina asked if Larry Stout had agreed to speak at our May meeting and Marilyn Yager advised that he will be speaking about Knowles Shaw, the author and composer who wrote “Bringing in the Sheaves”. He is buried in the East Hill Cemetery.
Satolli Glassmeyer was able to join us at the end of our meeting. He handed out a wish list of sorts - ideas/projects for videos in Rush County. He was interested in the Beech Settlement as well. He has spoken to the president of the Steam Engine show when he did the video on the Rush County Covered Bridges. He stated that the cost is $299 if we do the research and he really just has to interview a knowledgeable person. He would charge $499 if he has to do the research and write out a script. As far as scheduling, he usually sets them up on Saturdays and can do 4-5 per day. It takes about an hour – 15 minutes for the interview and 45 minutes to film the site. It will take him a couple of weeks to edit the video before it is ready. With this cost in mind, Satolli suggested we might apply for $499 x 10 videos. If we can do our own research, we could do more videos, but we would have the funds if we cannot do it ourselves.
How does this benefit us? He would put our name at the end of the video that the video is being sponsored by RCGS with our contact information. We would be given a master copy on a flash drive. Satolli would hold the copyright. He stated that he has done over 200 videos over the last three years. Looking ahead to July, the Saturdays we asked him to pencil in were the 15th and the 29th. Satolli was thanked for coming and the meeting was adjourned.
Sincerely,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
March 11, 2017
President Carol Jones called the RCGS meeting to order Saturday, March 11, 2017. Katrina Cooper read the minutes and they were approved. Treasurer Marilyn Yager reported that we have a $4,029.68 balance. We received a Thank you from the Beech Foundation. Nineteen were in attendance.
Carol reported on Genealogy News. May 17, 2017 the Indiana State Library will be hosting “Genealogy for Night Owls” from 4:30 – 8:30 pm. There will be sessions by various groups and people such as Betty Warren, a professional genealogist and the Central Indiana DNA Interest Group. There is no cost; however, you must register by May 16th.
If you are interested in Civil War information, there is a good site to consult at discover.civilwargovernors.org sponsored by the Civil War Governors of Kentucky.
After hearing our discussion on the video project, Donna Tauber mentioned she has been working with about ten Ball State students who are videotaping sites in the Henry County area. She meets with them about once a month and the interns earn college credit for their work.
Bill Baetz reported he has been contacted by someone who has a chest of Rush County items such as post cards and photos. He will accept the donation on our behalf. He reminded the group that he is still holding the books that we had donated. Carol stated she needs to get with Steve Mahan again about storing items in the Rush Count Historical Society attic. Steve has been doing a lot of work there on the coach house.
Katrina Cooper reported that Bill had been able to post the Mays presentations to our website. He updated our Weebly account from free to the next level and we will pay a small fee in order to post these. She thanked him for all his efforts on the behalf of RCGS.
Carol Jones introduced our guests, Joan Hostetler and John Harris. Joan reported about The Indiana Album project she is working on. She is the owner of Heritage Photo and Research Services as well. She gets requests for photos such as a picture of squirting milk in a cat’s mouth and one of the Saturday wash tub. She has already posted 7200 photographs to the Indiana Album site. She told about types of photos, tips on dating photos and how to store photos. She suggested we should have a Digital Estate plan and to be keep somewhere safe your passwords and where items can be accessed. While she was giving her presentation, John started working on scanning photographs people had brought in to share. Once the meeting was adjourned further scanning of photos was continued.
Respectfully submitted,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
April 8, 2017
Carol Jones, President, call the RCGS meeting to order Saturday, April 8, 2017 with nine in attendance. Katrina Cooper read the minutes of the March 11thmeeting and they were approved. Treasurer’s report was submitted in advance with a balance of $3829.68.
Carol reported that she will not have to have shoulder surgery after all. Longtime member Linda Mahan is still dealing with cancer. She has found out she qualifies for a research program and seems to keep in good spirits. Our thoughts are with her.
Discussion turned to the suggestion that we would offer to speakers to make a $100 donation to the charity of their choice.
Carol reported that as of March 31st Ancestry.com will no longer support Family Tree Maker.
Bill Baetz reported that he had not been able to reach the person who offered the tub of pictures, etc.
Carol Jones gave a presentation on how she organizes her Genealogy research. She brought a binder to show how she begins with the Family Line’s Pedigree Chart, then Family Group Sheets and then the Data/Documentation that are the sources to the information. She types people in Upper Case once she has proven them. She has a different tab for each generation. For brothers and sisters, she alphabetizes these. She inserts her documents/pictures into sheet protectors.
She said as far as current work, she keeps a file in a filing cabinet with information she is still looking for or items she has found and not yet fit it together in her research.
She encouraged everyone to have a Genealogical Will so that your research will go to who or where you wish.
Carol went over items considered to be Primary documentation such as Bibles, Tombstones, Birth Certificates, Death Certificates, Wills, Social Security Applications, and Obituaries. She warned that these are still at times incorrect with wrong dates or parents often listed. They are only as good as the Informant had knowledge on some documentation. Secondary documentation is found in Newspaper articles, Historical Books, City Directories, Deeds, Census, Military records, school records, and Find A Grave.
One of the best things to do is talk to your relatives. Too many times we wait too late or do not write it down. She again reminded everyone to be sure to store photos in Archival safe boxes separated by acid free tissue paper. Too many are stored in plastic tubs and other boxes. It would be good to have an Index of where Items are kept.
Our next topic discussed was the Filming project. We had Satolli Glassmeyer pencil in the second Saturday of July to film cemeteries. The Rush County Foundation grant application will need to be completed and the funds do are not given until June. Several of the county cemeteries were suggested as possible projects: Raleigh/Octagon House, Center, Shiloh, Little Blue Baptist, New Salem/Winship, Lower/Laughlin Cemetery, Richland/Wright Brothers, Arlington East Hill, and Fairview. It was decided to choose six: Raleigh, Center, Shiloh, Little Blue, Richland and Arlington. What is our target audience? We want to preserve history and family information. It was decided to meet again April 22 after each group has a chance to do some research and see if these will be feasible. Katrina will send out a reminder of everyone involved and all officers. We will apply for six grants at $499 each.
Below find the list of projects and those who volunteered to work on them:
Zion/Raleigh Cemetery - Shirley and Don Biehl, Jim Gordon
Mays/Center Cemetery - Shirley Biehl, Marilyn Gray Roberts, Katrina Cooper
Richland Cemetery - where grandparents of Wright Brothers are buried -- Amy Marlatt and Katrina Cooper
Arlington East Hill Cemetery - Carol Jones, Priscilla Winkler
Little Blue Baptist Cemetery - south of Center Christian Church - Carolyn Craig
Shiloh Cemetery - northeast of Mays - Esther Oldham has done history we can use. Marilyn Gray Roberts, Katrina Cooper
Respectfully submitted,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
May 13, 2017
Saturday, May 13th at 11:00 a.m. Carol Jones opened the meeting asking Secretary Katrina Cooper to read the February meeting minutes. Treasurer, Marilyn Yager was unable to attend so she had sent in her report of a balance of $3829.68. Carol mentioned she has a membership fee of $15.00 to deposit in addition to this amount. There were eight in attendance at the meeting.
Carol reported that she had spoken with Priscilla Winkler and was able to get the history of the Arlington East Hill Cemetery along with information on the USAC people who were killed in an airplane crash and then buried there. The cemetery has much information on their website including a listing of burials.
Carol has supplied the Rush County Foundation with 13 copies of the grant application for our videotaping project.
Marilyn Roberts reported that she is acquainted with John David Lutz who is a descendant of the Hudelson family and works at the drama department at Evansville University. She suggested we ask him to do the interview about the Shiloh Cemetery if he would be willing.
We will have another meeting about the Videotaping Project on Thursday, May 25th at Carol Jones’ home at 241 West 12th Street at 6:30 p.m.
Carol introduced our speaker, Larry Stout who gave an interesting presentation about Knowles Shaw. He also brought many books and information he has gathered in his thirty years of research on this Poet and Song Writer. “Bringing in the Sheaves” is the song most would have heard. He is buried in the East Hill Cemetery here in Rush County. Larry Stout has found he is related to him as are others in the Hungerford, Harcourt, and Whitinger families of the area.
Our next meeting will be Saturday, June 10th with Marilyn Yager speaking on how to find genealogy information at cemeteries.
Sincerely,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
June 10, 2017
The June 10, 2017 RCGS Meeting was called to order by Vice President Bill Baetz with ten in attendance. Minutes of the May 13, 2017 meeting were read by Katrina Cooper and Marilyn Yager, Treasurer reported that our balance is $3699.68 with an outstanding $100 check for the Beech Settlement and about $20 to be deposited for membership fee and Amazon Smile proceeds. $65.00 was paid to the accounting firm to file our taxes and for the Bond with the State of Indiana.
We will meet to make final plans for the video project on Thursday, June 15th. It was suggested that we ask on Facebook if anyone has the plot map for the Laughlin Cemetery. City records were destroyed by fire. Kevin Harr reported that the Mayor has stated they would restore the cemetery if the plot map could be found.
Many expressed their concerns with the state of many of the old Rush County cemeteries and it was asked if there are laws which cover the upkeep for these cemeteries and if there is any funding to restore or even to protect what is there at this point. It was stated that the township Trustees are to oversee cemetery upkeep; however, it was unknown what type of budget they have for this. Some of the cemeteries mentioned were the Ormes Cemetery, Hinchman, and Cassady Cemetery.
The meeting was turned over to Marilyn Yager who gave an interesting talk on Genealogy Research done in Cemeteries. She stressed the need to be conscious of “Safety First” and for the sake of the tombstone we would never want to do anything to harm this memorial of our ancestors.
She suggested to be sure to take photos of the Cemetery Sign, front and back of the stones, take close-up ones for details, and Wide shot to show the relative location of the stone and to note the neighboring stones as they will more than like be relatives.
Managing the light is important as well – be mindful of the best time of the day to take photos for less glare and shadowing. Is it too cloudy or too sunny? One can use reflective light to get a better shot by using mirrors, reflectors, or by using a remote flash. Always avail yourself of a photo editing program to get the best record.
Marilyn discussed using Aluminum foil to cover the stone and get an impression of the information on the stone - or could rub snow into the surface, but you do not want to use Shaving Cream as it is hard on the stone – nor would you want to use flour, cocoa, cornmeal, cornstarch, baking powder or powdered sugar to rub into stone to bring out the engraving. Chalk and paint are also no- no’s. Using cleansers, ammonia, peroxide or detergents can harm the stones. Bleach will cause the stone to disintegrate.
Simply wet and soak the stone, wait a few minutes. Might use a wooden spatula or popsicle sticks to clean the stone. Watch the temperature of the water – you would not want to throw cold water on a hot stone or hot water on a cold stone. Make sure you have enough water to finish the job – do not leave a residue on the stone.
If there is plant growth on the stone, do not just pull it off- would want to cut it every six inches and be careful in using any type of poison so it will not do damage to the stone.
Two people in the area who do stone restoration are Brad Manzenberger and John Walters.
It was reported that Gary Crull has many tapes of his father discussing the Raleigh area and he is working on putting them in order and into a usable format.
A suggestion was made that a project we might entertain for the future is to interview older people of the community – people in their 80’s or 90’s have experienced so much in their lives.
One research topic that was requested that we cover in one of our meetings was to learn how to order and use LDS tapes that you can order.
Sincerely,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
September 9, 2017
Carol Jones opened the September 9, 2017 meeting and asked for the reading of the minutes by Katrina Cooper, Secretary. Marilyn Yager, Treasurer, reported that the account balance is $5,182.40 with $1497 outstanding for the first check written for the videos and $297 for the final payment. There is a $22.00 bill outstanding for the Annual Business Report for the State of Indiana.
Carol reported that there will be a Genealogy and Local History Fair at the Indiana State Library on Saturday, October 28, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. This year’s theme will be Examining Military Resources and History with special speakers on the Revolutionary War, Civil War and Military Record Research.
She announced that the Family History Library (LDS) will discontinue their loan of microfilms as of September 1, 2017 due to most records being available on-line.
Carol has spoken with Larry Martin, Treasurer of the Arlington East Hill Cemetery and he was very happy with our video and it is posted as a link on their website along with how to access it on YouTube.
Bill Baetz has created links to the videos on our website as well. See them at www.rcgsociety.org.
Discussion turned to reviewing the good and bad points about doing these videos. It was disappointing that in the Richland video, that Marilyn Yager was in the shade. It was noted by Katrina Cooper that on the second set of videos, Satolliseemed to be in a hurry and would not stop for any re-takes.
Carol Jones reported that Satolli has advised that his cost will be going up $100 per video effective January 1, 2018. We decided to meet Saturday, September 23rd at the Library to look at our ability to possibly videos by November 1st. The following videos were selected as possible ones:
Fairview – Shirley Biehl
Blue River Baptist – Shirley Biehl, Marilyn Roberts
Milroy – Katrina Cooper
Moscow – Carol Jones
Manilla – Katrina Cooper
Barrett – Marilyn Roberts
Bill Baetz reported that through Weebly we have unlimited storage. HD Video and Audio Players and HTML players can view our items. Quality will depend on one’s viewer.
Sharon King Baker had contacted Katrina about Mayhills offering Atlases. What counties are these for? Are they still available?
Katrina reported that for the Tour of Historical Homes in October, she will ask for RSVPs by September 30th so we will know how many will attend and will be sure to have adequate transportation.
Respectfully submitted,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
P.S. There was concern for the cost if we could not finish all the cemetery filming in this short of time period. It was suggested that Carol ask Satolli if we could pre-pay to hold the 2017 price and actually video the cemeteries in the Spring.
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
October 21, 2017
President Carol Jones called the Called Meeting to order with five in attendance. This meeting was set to further discuss the Cemetery project and look at meetings topics for 2018.
Marilyn Yager, Treasurer, reported our account balance is $3986.40.
There was much discussion on how many videos needed to be completed in order to fulfill our obligations. We were given the grant from Rush County Community Foundation that would cover 10 videos, Don and Shirley Biehl gave a donation to cover another video and we received $695 for Memorial gifts for Elizabeth King. The King family has requested we do videos specifically on the Blue River Baptist and Barrett Cemeteries with this money. That will account for a total of 13 videos and we have completed six videos to date, leaving 7 more to film. The following list was considered:
1) Fairview – Shirley Biehl, Marilyn Roberts
2) Blue River Baptist – Shirley Biehl, Marilyn Roberts
3) Milroy – Eastbrook possibly – Katrina Cooper, Marilyn Yager
4) Moscow – Carol Jones
5) Manilla – Katrina Cooper
6) Barrett – Marilyn Roberts, Katrina Cooper(ISSCH)
7) Aldridge or Macklin along with Directional Arrows -Carol Jones
Satolli has agreed for us to pre-pay for the videos at the $299 per video price and we plan to video five on May 12 and 19th and September 8th – two King videos
Discussion turned to 2018 Meeting Topics. The following meeting topics were suggested:
January: How to Source your Research – Katrina Cooper
February: Cemetery Organizations in other Counties – Carol Jones-contact
(Fayette County – Pat Cudworth and Henry County – Donna Tauber)
March: Working Meeting
April: Emmett Newkirk – Manilla – Shirley Biehl will contact him
May: Filming
June: Wilbur Wright Museum, near Hagerstown – Bill Baetz to organize
July – Working Meeting
August – Larry Stout – Boxer presentation – Marilyn Yager, contact person
September – 2nd week – filming King videos – Blue River Baptist/Barrett
September – 3rd week - Meeting – Oral Histories with people in their 80’s and 90’s – Marilyn Yager
October – Historical Home Tour – Katrina Cooper
November – Circuit Riders – Katrina Cooper, Election of Officers, Time for Dues
December – No Meeting
Suggestion was made that we should come at 10:30 for a short business meeting on the months that we have presentations so that we can keep current on business issues.
Respectfully submitted,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
November 11, 2017
President Carol Jones called the meeting to order once everyone gathered at her home as the Library was closed due to Veteran’s Day. There were seven in attendance including guests Kevin Billman and Mike Aldridge.
Secretary Katrina Cooper read the minutes of the September 9th and October 21st special meeting set up to further discuss the Cemetery Video Project and 2018 meeting topics. Treasurer Marilyn Yager reported a balance of $3358.32 after payment of seven videos at $299.00 each with mention of an upcoming bill for bookcases to hold RCGS Library at the home of Carol Jones for about $117.
Carol reported that the Indiana Landmarks Eastern Regional office is located in Cambridge City. Jessie Russett is the director. It covers Blackford, Decatur, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Henry, Jay, Madison, Randolph, Rush, Union, and Wayne counties. (Huddleston Farmhouse, 838 National Road, PO Box 284, Cambridge City, IN 47327. Ph# 765-478-3172 [email protected])
A short discussion was held as to the location of Martin Cemetery. It is East of SR 3 -near Williamstown. Is it in Decatur or Rush County - or on the line?
Officers elected for 2018 were listed.
President – Carol Jones
Vice President – Bill Baetz
Treasurer – Marilyn Yager
Secretary – Katrina Cooper
Making a donation to the Rushville Library was suggested and Marilyn Yager moved to give $150 with Bill Baetz seconding the motion with all in agreement.
It was felt that we should have a meeting of all who have worked on the Cemetery videos and those who would like to assist in 2018 to meet no later than January so we can get started on the preparation. It was decided to meet January 13th at 10:00 a.m. before the meeting. It was mentioned that Trustee Meredith Kuhn probably has a plot map for the Moscow Cemetery.
The new format of Find A Grave was discussed with most agreeing they do not like the change. It is more spread out when you print off the information and there are no links to other relatives like before. It is easier to add photos however.
Carol Jones brought up a change in Family Tree Maker. When you put in sources, it used to come up “add” or “use existing” when you typed in a few letters of a source. Now you have to “add a new source” to the Individual’s record.
It was mentioned that to use Drop Box is free is you do not use a lot of space; otherwise, it is $100 per year.
Sincerely,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
January 21, 2017
Carol Jones, President of the Rush County Genealogical Society called the meeting to order at 11:00 a.m. The meeting having been delayed a week due to the forecast for Icy weather. She asked Katrina Cooper, Secretary to read the minutes of the November 12, 2016 meeting. There was a question from Carol Jones about giving funds to the Beech Settlement. Marilyn Yager, Treasurer said she has written two checks to the Beech Church fund – one at least was last month as the speaker advised she could take no payment for coming as it is part of her job and said we could make a donation to the Beech Church instead if we liked. She will check when the other funds were disbursed and the minutes will be corrected as needed. Katrina also read the minutes of the Nov. 15, 2016 Officer’s Meeting.
Carol Jones asked us all to be thinking of longtime member, Linda Mahan as she has been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer. She will be having chemotherapy treatment; however, at this time her white count is very low.
Carol asked Kevin Harr to tell us about the videos being done by Satolli Glassmeyer around the county. He will be here working on other projects and has offered to do one for just $299 since he will already be in the area. We could apply for a grant from the Rush County Community Foundation for funds. The group felt cemeteries would be the subject best suited to our interests. It was decided that Carol should pick up an application to pursue the grant. He is already doing one on the Covered Bridges, the Princess Theater/Masonic Lodge, Memorial Gymnasium and the East Hill Cemetery. Members asked Kevin why Rush County Historical Society was not sponsoring a video(s). It was thought that they are concentrating on putting heating and air conditioning in the carriage house.
Treasurer Marilyn Yager reported that we currently have a balance of $3,596.29. She had went by the Post Office and was able to pay the next year’s fee of $48 before the cost increase to $52.00. She mentioned that she picked up several checks for 2017 membership fees.
Carol will not be able to be at the February meeting and Vice President Bill Baetz will preside over the meeting. She noted that Eleanor Arnold has agree to do a presentation in November.
Bill Baetz brought up a discussion about the Queries showing on our website. Katrina has responded to several with only response back from one person. They all seem to be older and need to be deleted and we need to give instruction to send queries to our e-mail address which Carol, Bill and Katrina all have access to.
Katrina Cooper introduced Marilyn Gray Roberts, the daughter of Donald and Norma Lee Gray who grew up on a farm east of Mays. Her family has deep roots in the community and she was active in Center Christian Church and 4-H. Marilyn gave a very interesting talk about the Mays community sending around a map of the town and shared many photographs with the group. Eleven members and guest enjoyed her presentation.
Sincerely,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
February 11, 2017
Bill Baetz, Vice President, called the RCGS meeting to order at 11:00 with nine in attendance. Katrina Cooper, secretary, read the minutes which were approved. Marilyn Yager, treasurer, reported our balance to be $4134 which includes several dues and a gift to fund one of the Sattoli Glassmeyer videos. She also reported that she had received $15.50 from Amazon Smiles so people making Amazon purchases and listing RCGS does help add to our treasury.
Bill reported that after our October, 2016 meeting when several had difficulty in accessing Wi-Fi in the Library basement. He had offered the Library that RCGS would be willing to purchase an extender. However, the last two meetings, he has been able to get Wi-Fi in the Library’s meeting room.
Bill advised that after discussion with Katrina Cooper, the dated queries on our website have been removed. He saved the files in case they would be needed. He has changed the verbiage for queries to be submitted via our e-mail.
Bill removed the cemetery committee listing as it is no longer active. He did leave the notation that Pam Steed was the founder of RCGS. After what Marilyn said about the Amazon Smile program, he will add instructions on how to use this as a way of donating to the organization. It was noted that the name on our Facebook page is still rushcogs. Can this be changed to rcgsociety.org?
For new business, discussion turned to having a video project for Rush County cemeteries and other topics that fit with our Genealogy interests. It was thought at first that Satolli Glassmeyer would be filming today; however, Shirley Biehl reported after looking through Gary Crull’s book on the Raleigh Zion Cemetery, she felt we should hold off until the scenery would be green again. Satolli is in Rushville today doing videos at the East Hill Cemetery and the Courthouse. He hopes to come by at the end of our meeting to speak with us about his projects of capturing historic sites on video.
Suggestion was made that we apply for a grant to cover 10 videos from the Rush County Community Foundation. Due to the timing of the application process, we would not have an answer until about June. Shirley voiced that she did not think it would be difficult to raise funds through donations as well. Each video costs $299. If we are going to do videos on different cemeteries, we will need to do research on Important people buried in each cemetery – like William S. Hall at the Raleigh Cemetery. It was again suggested to include the Beech Church. It was mentioned that Tracy Porter might be a good resource on the Little Blue Cemetery. Shirley introduced our guest at that time - Joy Hall of the William S. Hall family.
When questions were brought forth about how hard it would be to get a grant, Shirley passed around the application and many agreed that it was felt that people would give donations once they hear of the project. Kevin Harr has gotten a grant from them to publish his book. He is hoping to have it completed by November.
For our March meeting Joan Hostetler will give a presentation on photo preservation. Katrina asked if Larry Stout had agreed to speak at our May meeting and Marilyn Yager advised that he will be speaking about Knowles Shaw, the author and composer who wrote “Bringing in the Sheaves”. He is buried in the East Hill Cemetery.
Satolli Glassmeyer was able to join us at the end of our meeting. He handed out a wish list of sorts - ideas/projects for videos in Rush County. He was interested in the Beech Settlement as well. He has spoken to the president of the Steam Engine show when he did the video on the Rush County Covered Bridges. He stated that the cost is $299 if we do the research and he really just has to interview a knowledgeable person. He would charge $499 if he has to do the research and write out a script. As far as scheduling, he usually sets them up on Saturdays and can do 4-5 per day. It takes about an hour – 15 minutes for the interview and 45 minutes to film the site. It will take him a couple of weeks to edit the video before it is ready. With this cost in mind, Satolli suggested we might apply for $499 x 10 videos. If we can do our own research, we could do more videos, but we would have the funds if we cannot do it ourselves.
How does this benefit us? He would put our name at the end of the video that the video is being sponsored by RCGS with our contact information. We would be given a master copy on a flash drive. Satolli would hold the copyright. He stated that he has done over 200 videos over the last three years. Looking ahead to July, the Saturdays we asked him to pencil in were the 15th and the 29th. Satolli was thanked for coming and the meeting was adjourned.
Sincerely,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
March 11, 2017
President Carol Jones called the RCGS meeting to order Saturday, March 11, 2017. Katrina Cooper read the minutes and they were approved. Treasurer Marilyn Yager reported that we have a $4,029.68 balance. We received a Thank you from the Beech Foundation. Nineteen were in attendance.
Carol reported on Genealogy News. May 17, 2017 the Indiana State Library will be hosting “Genealogy for Night Owls” from 4:30 – 8:30 pm. There will be sessions by various groups and people such as Betty Warren, a professional genealogist and the Central Indiana DNA Interest Group. There is no cost; however, you must register by May 16th.
If you are interested in Civil War information, there is a good site to consult at discover.civilwargovernors.org sponsored by the Civil War Governors of Kentucky.
After hearing our discussion on the video project, Donna Tauber mentioned she has been working with about ten Ball State students who are videotaping sites in the Henry County area. She meets with them about once a month and the interns earn college credit for their work.
Bill Baetz reported he has been contacted by someone who has a chest of Rush County items such as post cards and photos. He will accept the donation on our behalf. He reminded the group that he is still holding the books that we had donated. Carol stated she needs to get with Steve Mahan again about storing items in the Rush Count Historical Society attic. Steve has been doing a lot of work there on the coach house.
Katrina Cooper reported that Bill had been able to post the Mays presentations to our website. He updated our Weebly account from free to the next level and we will pay a small fee in order to post these. She thanked him for all his efforts on the behalf of RCGS.
Carol Jones introduced our guests, Joan Hostetler and John Harris. Joan reported about The Indiana Album project she is working on. She is the owner of Heritage Photo and Research Services as well. She gets requests for photos such as a picture of squirting milk in a cat’s mouth and one of the Saturday wash tub. She has already posted 7200 photographs to the Indiana Album site. She told about types of photos, tips on dating photos and how to store photos. She suggested we should have a Digital Estate plan and to be keep somewhere safe your passwords and where items can be accessed. While she was giving her presentation, John started working on scanning photographs people had brought in to share. Once the meeting was adjourned further scanning of photos was continued.
Respectfully submitted,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
April 8, 2017
Carol Jones, President, call the RCGS meeting to order Saturday, April 8, 2017 with nine in attendance. Katrina Cooper read the minutes of the March 11thmeeting and they were approved. Treasurer’s report was submitted in advance with a balance of $3829.68.
Carol reported that she will not have to have shoulder surgery after all. Longtime member Linda Mahan is still dealing with cancer. She has found out she qualifies for a research program and seems to keep in good spirits. Our thoughts are with her.
Discussion turned to the suggestion that we would offer to speakers to make a $100 donation to the charity of their choice.
Carol reported that as of March 31st Ancestry.com will no longer support Family Tree Maker.
Bill Baetz reported that he had not been able to reach the person who offered the tub of pictures, etc.
Carol Jones gave a presentation on how she organizes her Genealogy research. She brought a binder to show how she begins with the Family Line’s Pedigree Chart, then Family Group Sheets and then the Data/Documentation that are the sources to the information. She types people in Upper Case once she has proven them. She has a different tab for each generation. For brothers and sisters, she alphabetizes these. She inserts her documents/pictures into sheet protectors.
She said as far as current work, she keeps a file in a filing cabinet with information she is still looking for or items she has found and not yet fit it together in her research.
She encouraged everyone to have a Genealogical Will so that your research will go to who or where you wish.
Carol went over items considered to be Primary documentation such as Bibles, Tombstones, Birth Certificates, Death Certificates, Wills, Social Security Applications, and Obituaries. She warned that these are still at times incorrect with wrong dates or parents often listed. They are only as good as the Informant had knowledge on some documentation. Secondary documentation is found in Newspaper articles, Historical Books, City Directories, Deeds, Census, Military records, school records, and Find A Grave.
One of the best things to do is talk to your relatives. Too many times we wait too late or do not write it down. She again reminded everyone to be sure to store photos in Archival safe boxes separated by acid free tissue paper. Too many are stored in plastic tubs and other boxes. It would be good to have an Index of where Items are kept.
Our next topic discussed was the Filming project. We had Satolli Glassmeyer pencil in the second Saturday of July to film cemeteries. The Rush County Foundation grant application will need to be completed and the funds do are not given until June. Several of the county cemeteries were suggested as possible projects: Raleigh/Octagon House, Center, Shiloh, Little Blue Baptist, New Salem/Winship, Lower/Laughlin Cemetery, Richland/Wright Brothers, Arlington East Hill, and Fairview. It was decided to choose six: Raleigh, Center, Shiloh, Little Blue, Richland and Arlington. What is our target audience? We want to preserve history and family information. It was decided to meet again April 22 after each group has a chance to do some research and see if these will be feasible. Katrina will send out a reminder of everyone involved and all officers. We will apply for six grants at $499 each.
Below find the list of projects and those who volunteered to work on them:
Zion/Raleigh Cemetery - Shirley and Don Biehl, Jim Gordon
Mays/Center Cemetery - Shirley Biehl, Marilyn Gray Roberts, Katrina Cooper
Richland Cemetery - where grandparents of Wright Brothers are buried -- Amy Marlatt and Katrina Cooper
Arlington East Hill Cemetery - Carol Jones, Priscilla Winkler
Little Blue Baptist Cemetery - south of Center Christian Church - Carolyn Craig
Shiloh Cemetery - northeast of Mays - Esther Oldham has done history we can use. Marilyn Gray Roberts, Katrina Cooper
Respectfully submitted,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
May 13, 2017
Saturday, May 13th at 11:00 a.m. Carol Jones opened the meeting asking Secretary Katrina Cooper to read the February meeting minutes. Treasurer, Marilyn Yager was unable to attend so she had sent in her report of a balance of $3829.68. Carol mentioned she has a membership fee of $15.00 to deposit in addition to this amount. There were eight in attendance at the meeting.
Carol reported that she had spoken with Priscilla Winkler and was able to get the history of the Arlington East Hill Cemetery along with information on the USAC people who were killed in an airplane crash and then buried there. The cemetery has much information on their website including a listing of burials.
Carol has supplied the Rush County Foundation with 13 copies of the grant application for our videotaping project.
Marilyn Roberts reported that she is acquainted with John David Lutz who is a descendant of the Hudelson family and works at the drama department at Evansville University. She suggested we ask him to do the interview about the Shiloh Cemetery if he would be willing.
We will have another meeting about the Videotaping Project on Thursday, May 25th at Carol Jones’ home at 241 West 12th Street at 6:30 p.m.
Carol introduced our speaker, Larry Stout who gave an interesting presentation about Knowles Shaw. He also brought many books and information he has gathered in his thirty years of research on this Poet and Song Writer. “Bringing in the Sheaves” is the song most would have heard. He is buried in the East Hill Cemetery here in Rush County. Larry Stout has found he is related to him as are others in the Hungerford, Harcourt, and Whitinger families of the area.
Our next meeting will be Saturday, June 10th with Marilyn Yager speaking on how to find genealogy information at cemeteries.
Sincerely,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
June 10, 2017
The June 10, 2017 RCGS Meeting was called to order by Vice President Bill Baetz with ten in attendance. Minutes of the May 13, 2017 meeting were read by Katrina Cooper and Marilyn Yager, Treasurer reported that our balance is $3699.68 with an outstanding $100 check for the Beech Settlement and about $20 to be deposited for membership fee and Amazon Smile proceeds. $65.00 was paid to the accounting firm to file our taxes and for the Bond with the State of Indiana.
We will meet to make final plans for the video project on Thursday, June 15th. It was suggested that we ask on Facebook if anyone has the plot map for the Laughlin Cemetery. City records were destroyed by fire. Kevin Harr reported that the Mayor has stated they would restore the cemetery if the plot map could be found.
Many expressed their concerns with the state of many of the old Rush County cemeteries and it was asked if there are laws which cover the upkeep for these cemeteries and if there is any funding to restore or even to protect what is there at this point. It was stated that the township Trustees are to oversee cemetery upkeep; however, it was unknown what type of budget they have for this. Some of the cemeteries mentioned were the Ormes Cemetery, Hinchman, and Cassady Cemetery.
The meeting was turned over to Marilyn Yager who gave an interesting talk on Genealogy Research done in Cemeteries. She stressed the need to be conscious of “Safety First” and for the sake of the tombstone we would never want to do anything to harm this memorial of our ancestors.
She suggested to be sure to take photos of the Cemetery Sign, front and back of the stones, take close-up ones for details, and Wide shot to show the relative location of the stone and to note the neighboring stones as they will more than like be relatives.
Managing the light is important as well – be mindful of the best time of the day to take photos for less glare and shadowing. Is it too cloudy or too sunny? One can use reflective light to get a better shot by using mirrors, reflectors, or by using a remote flash. Always avail yourself of a photo editing program to get the best record.
Marilyn discussed using Aluminum foil to cover the stone and get an impression of the information on the stone - or could rub snow into the surface, but you do not want to use Shaving Cream as it is hard on the stone – nor would you want to use flour, cocoa, cornmeal, cornstarch, baking powder or powdered sugar to rub into stone to bring out the engraving. Chalk and paint are also no- no’s. Using cleansers, ammonia, peroxide or detergents can harm the stones. Bleach will cause the stone to disintegrate.
Simply wet and soak the stone, wait a few minutes. Might use a wooden spatula or popsicle sticks to clean the stone. Watch the temperature of the water – you would not want to throw cold water on a hot stone or hot water on a cold stone. Make sure you have enough water to finish the job – do not leave a residue on the stone.
If there is plant growth on the stone, do not just pull it off- would want to cut it every six inches and be careful in using any type of poison so it will not do damage to the stone.
Two people in the area who do stone restoration are Brad Manzenberger and John Walters.
It was reported that Gary Crull has many tapes of his father discussing the Raleigh area and he is working on putting them in order and into a usable format.
A suggestion was made that a project we might entertain for the future is to interview older people of the community – people in their 80’s or 90’s have experienced so much in their lives.
One research topic that was requested that we cover in one of our meetings was to learn how to order and use LDS tapes that you can order.
Sincerely,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
September 9, 2017
Carol Jones opened the September 9, 2017 meeting and asked for the reading of the minutes by Katrina Cooper, Secretary. Marilyn Yager, Treasurer, reported that the account balance is $5,182.40 with $1497 outstanding for the first check written for the videos and $297 for the final payment. There is a $22.00 bill outstanding for the Annual Business Report for the State of Indiana.
Carol reported that there will be a Genealogy and Local History Fair at the Indiana State Library on Saturday, October 28, 2017 from 10:00 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. This year’s theme will be Examining Military Resources and History with special speakers on the Revolutionary War, Civil War and Military Record Research.
She announced that the Family History Library (LDS) will discontinue their loan of microfilms as of September 1, 2017 due to most records being available on-line.
Carol has spoken with Larry Martin, Treasurer of the Arlington East Hill Cemetery and he was very happy with our video and it is posted as a link on their website along with how to access it on YouTube.
Bill Baetz has created links to the videos on our website as well. See them at www.rcgsociety.org.
Discussion turned to reviewing the good and bad points about doing these videos. It was disappointing that in the Richland video, that Marilyn Yager was in the shade. It was noted by Katrina Cooper that on the second set of videos, Satolliseemed to be in a hurry and would not stop for any re-takes.
Carol Jones reported that Satolli has advised that his cost will be going up $100 per video effective January 1, 2018. We decided to meet Saturday, September 23rd at the Library to look at our ability to possibly videos by November 1st. The following videos were selected as possible ones:
Fairview – Shirley Biehl
Blue River Baptist – Shirley Biehl, Marilyn Roberts
Milroy – Katrina Cooper
Moscow – Carol Jones
Manilla – Katrina Cooper
Barrett – Marilyn Roberts
Bill Baetz reported that through Weebly we have unlimited storage. HD Video and Audio Players and HTML players can view our items. Quality will depend on one’s viewer.
Sharon King Baker had contacted Katrina about Mayhills offering Atlases. What counties are these for? Are they still available?
Katrina reported that for the Tour of Historical Homes in October, she will ask for RSVPs by September 30th so we will know how many will attend and will be sure to have adequate transportation.
Respectfully submitted,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
P.S. There was concern for the cost if we could not finish all the cemetery filming in this short of time period. It was suggested that Carol ask Satolli if we could pre-pay to hold the 2017 price and actually video the cemeteries in the Spring.
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
October 21, 2017
President Carol Jones called the Called Meeting to order with five in attendance. This meeting was set to further discuss the Cemetery project and look at meetings topics for 2018.
Marilyn Yager, Treasurer, reported our account balance is $3986.40.
There was much discussion on how many videos needed to be completed in order to fulfill our obligations. We were given the grant from Rush County Community Foundation that would cover 10 videos, Don and Shirley Biehl gave a donation to cover another video and we received $695 for Memorial gifts for Elizabeth King. The King family has requested we do videos specifically on the Blue River Baptist and Barrett Cemeteries with this money. That will account for a total of 13 videos and we have completed six videos to date, leaving 7 more to film. The following list was considered:
1) Fairview – Shirley Biehl, Marilyn Roberts
2) Blue River Baptist – Shirley Biehl, Marilyn Roberts
3) Milroy – Eastbrook possibly – Katrina Cooper, Marilyn Yager
4) Moscow – Carol Jones
5) Manilla – Katrina Cooper
6) Barrett – Marilyn Roberts, Katrina Cooper(ISSCH)
7) Aldridge or Macklin along with Directional Arrows -Carol Jones
Satolli has agreed for us to pre-pay for the videos at the $299 per video price and we plan to video five on May 12 and 19th and September 8th – two King videos
Discussion turned to 2018 Meeting Topics. The following meeting topics were suggested:
January: How to Source your Research – Katrina Cooper
February: Cemetery Organizations in other Counties – Carol Jones-contact
(Fayette County – Pat Cudworth and Henry County – Donna Tauber)
March: Working Meeting
April: Emmett Newkirk – Manilla – Shirley Biehl will contact him
May: Filming
June: Wilbur Wright Museum, near Hagerstown – Bill Baetz to organize
July – Working Meeting
August – Larry Stout – Boxer presentation – Marilyn Yager, contact person
September – 2nd week – filming King videos – Blue River Baptist/Barrett
September – 3rd week - Meeting – Oral Histories with people in their 80’s and 90’s – Marilyn Yager
October – Historical Home Tour – Katrina Cooper
November – Circuit Riders – Katrina Cooper, Election of Officers, Time for Dues
December – No Meeting
Suggestion was made that we should come at 10:30 for a short business meeting on the months that we have presentations so that we can keep current on business issues.
Respectfully submitted,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society
Rush County Genealogical Society Meeting Minutes
November 11, 2017
President Carol Jones called the meeting to order once everyone gathered at her home as the Library was closed due to Veteran’s Day. There were seven in attendance including guests Kevin Billman and Mike Aldridge.
Secretary Katrina Cooper read the minutes of the September 9th and October 21st special meeting set up to further discuss the Cemetery Video Project and 2018 meeting topics. Treasurer Marilyn Yager reported a balance of $3358.32 after payment of seven videos at $299.00 each with mention of an upcoming bill for bookcases to hold RCGS Library at the home of Carol Jones for about $117.
Carol reported that the Indiana Landmarks Eastern Regional office is located in Cambridge City. Jessie Russett is the director. It covers Blackford, Decatur, Delaware, Fayette, Franklin, Henry, Jay, Madison, Randolph, Rush, Union, and Wayne counties. (Huddleston Farmhouse, 838 National Road, PO Box 284, Cambridge City, IN 47327. Ph# 765-478-3172 [email protected])
A short discussion was held as to the location of Martin Cemetery. It is East of SR 3 -near Williamstown. Is it in Decatur or Rush County - or on the line?
Officers elected for 2018 were listed.
President – Carol Jones
Vice President – Bill Baetz
Treasurer – Marilyn Yager
Secretary – Katrina Cooper
Making a donation to the Rushville Library was suggested and Marilyn Yager moved to give $150 with Bill Baetz seconding the motion with all in agreement.
It was felt that we should have a meeting of all who have worked on the Cemetery videos and those who would like to assist in 2018 to meet no later than January so we can get started on the preparation. It was decided to meet January 13th at 10:00 a.m. before the meeting. It was mentioned that Trustee Meredith Kuhn probably has a plot map for the Moscow Cemetery.
The new format of Find A Grave was discussed with most agreeing they do not like the change. It is more spread out when you print off the information and there are no links to other relatives like before. It is easier to add photos however.
Carol Jones brought up a change in Family Tree Maker. When you put in sources, it used to come up “add” or “use existing” when you typed in a few letters of a source. Now you have to “add a new source” to the Individual’s record.
It was mentioned that to use Drop Box is free is you do not use a lot of space; otherwise, it is $100 per year.
Sincerely,
Katrina Cole Cooper, Secretary
Rush County Genealogical Society