After two months off, The Family Finders Genealogy Club met on February 6, 2007, with President Diana McLean presiding. Nita Wesson read the minutes of the November meeting and gave the financial report. The meeting was opened by the members sharing “What Valentines gift they received that stood out the most”. It was “special” hearing about the gifts they received, one in particular was unusual!

We had a visitor, Virginia Noblitt, attend our meeting. Virginia had been a member of our club in the past and we would like to see her come again.

We talked about our ongoing project of making additional flag holders for the Veteran’s graves in the Re-located Cemetery. We thank Bobby and Susan Welch for taking on this project. If you are aware of a Veteran buried in the Re-located Cemetery that has not been marked with a flag holder, please contact Nita Wesson at 273-1558 and we will make sure they are commemorated properly.

Along with the flag holders, our club is looking into purchasing the small flags to be used in the holders. We are considering leaving the flags out year round and replacing them as needed.

We’ve noticed that Commissioner Charley Parker had one of his men working on the over grown fence line at the Re-located Cemetery. The limbs hanging down and poking out from the fence line not only are unsightly but they also cause problems with mowing! Thanks to the men that are working on this problem.

We received a nice donation from the children of Jess and Josephine Roberson. Every year when this family gets together for Christmas, they collect money from the family members. The money collected is given either to Family Finders Genealogy Club or the Nowata Historical Museum. Josephine was a dedicated and hard working member of each one. If you use our Genealogy Department, you can see all the hard work that she and other faithful members have done in the past. We plan to purchase the new book, “Family Histories of Washington County and Areas”, for our Genealogy department in their memory.

The Library really needs an up-to-date digital microfilm reader/printer. The one they have is manual winding and the prints are not of good quality. We have “hopes” of seeing a new reader/printer materialize in 2007….never give up on your hopes and dreams!

We had only a couple inquires these last two months. Joseph Pugh of Overland Park, KS wants to know what happened to his G-G-Grandfather, John Edgar Pugh and family after they were located on the Nowata 1910 census. Nita was able to give him some clues, but we still haven’t been able to locate where they went. Also, Alice Shofner of Cedar, MN, requested the obituaries of John Edgar and Leona James, however, Diana was only able to located Leona’s obituary for her.

Diana gave a very interesting program on how to get information from the Social Security Office when trying to locate one’s family member. She also shared some ideas about non-conventional places to search for family information. The death notice from the funeral home that takes care of the funeral has a vast amount of information that can help in further research. If you can’t find an ancestor but have found the husband or wife, and haven’t found an obit or burial, check for divorce records. There can be some great information there.

Diana shared with the members some of the web sites that she uses in her searches. If you know your ancestor was in the military, there is information that might help you at Link to archives.gov/veteran When using this site, click on the Archives.Gov icon for search box and highlight Genealogists/Family Historians. If you think an ancestor might have died in Missouri, check out Link to archives,death certificates Death certificates are posted for deaths after 1910 and over 50 years old. Diana also showed us various documents that she had acquired through some of these web sites.

Susan Welch advised us when looking for information in our Genealogy research, that we should not overlook using Church records. In the absence of some types of vital records, these religious institutions' records may provide specific information about ancestors. If you are fortunate enough, you might be able to trace the movements of your ancestors from membership transfers or pinpoint the time period a person was in an area. Susan also told us an interesting story of how the “Common Law” marriage came into being.

Please remember that the Family Finders Genealogy Club collects “Best Choice” labels as a way to raise money. Even if you cannot give a monetary donation to help preserve Nowata’s genealogical history, everyone can collect labels from any Best Choice product, glass, package or can that you already purchase. Please bring any “Best Choice” labels to the front desk of the Nowata City-County Library. We received $60 for the labels that were turned in for 2006. Thanks to those that brought in the labels!

Also, the library collects Campbell’s Soup labels to purchase books and equipment. They would appreciate any help from the community in this endeavor.

Our next meeting will be, March 6, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. in the Nowata City-County Library. Come and join with us and learn about GENEALOGY!

Secretary, Nita Wesson
Nowata Star February 2007

The Family Finders Genealogy Club met on March 6, 2007, with President Diana McLean presiding. The members answered roll call by “Naming a game they played as a child”. Various games were mentioned, such as Aunty Over, Cowboys & Indians, Double Dutch jump rope, Hopscotch, Button-button, Red Rover, Jacks, Hide & Seek, Crack the Whip and Monopoly. How many of these do you recall playing?

We had 9 members present, Virginia Noblitt joined the Club and Edith Gibson was a visitor. It was great having to move in more chairs for our meeting!

The minutes of the February meeting were read and approved. Nita Wesson presented the financial report.

It was decided that we would purchase the 4”x6” flags on a stick, from the Nowata VFW. We will have an adequate supply on hand to keep them on the re-located Veteran’s graves the year around. Bobby and Susan Welch are working on finding materials to make more flag holders for the cemetery. If anyone has any 3/8” rebar stakes and ½” black pipe lying around and would like to donate it to help with this project, please call the Welch’s at 273-9143.

Thanks to the children of Jo & Jess Roberson for their donation as a memorial gift in honor of their parents, the Club purchased the new book, “Family Histories of Washington County and Areas”, for our Genealogy department.

A committee was formed to look into the different kinds of digital microfilm reader/printers on the market. After this committee makes a recommendation to the club members, this information will then be passed on to Mairlyn Biggerstaff. Another committee has been instructed to find which genealogy books are available to purchase that would be good to have on hand at the library.

Again this month members shared more tips on searching for genealogies. I have been having a ball using the web sites that Dianne informed us about last month. Susan Welch said if you are looking for your ancestors that came to America through Ellis Island, check the Link to Ellis Island web site. Thanks to our new USGenWeb coordinator, Sharlee Farrell, the Nowata County web site has taken on several wonderful new changes and additions. The Nowata marriages from 1887 – 1939, several cemeteries and a new search engine are just a few of the new additions. Link to Nowata Oklahoma Genweb site Be sure to check it out!

There were so many other things discussed, I just don’t have space enough to tell you all about them.

The inquires for this last month were from: Margie Pierce of Ponchatoula, LA, she wanted to know the burial place for Albert & Flora Frisinger. Thanks to the nice people at Benjamin’s Funeral Service, I was able to tell her that they were buried in Bartlesville’s Memorial Park Cemetery. Keith Fine of Dalhart, TX wanted any information on John J. Childress, Martha (Childress) Fine, Levi & Wiley Fine, Mary Leandra (Fine) or (Childress). I wasn’t able to locate much on these people. If anyone has knowledge about this family, please call Nita at 273-1558. Then we had Mitchell Duncan from Rockwood, Maine looking for any information about his grandfather, S.A. “Sid” Mitchell, who had the Mitchell Merchant’s Delivery Service in Nowata from 1916 until 1942. I was able to find several articles and pictures about the Delivery Service. One picture taken in 1927 showed the delivery wagons & team of horses with the drivers, Joe Grant, Carl Edmiston, Jake Whitson, Harry Grant, Wert Whitson, Elmer Harrell and my father, Jess Roberson. This picture is hanging in the Nowata Museum.

Charolett Elizabeth (Mitchell) Duncan, who is his mother, lives in California. She was born in January 1910 in a Nowata Hospital and graduated from Nowata High School in 1928. After asking several people if they knew where the Nowata Hospital was located in 1910, I’ve come to the conclusion it was on the top floor of the Savoy Hotel. If I am wrong, please let me know. I searched the 1928 Nowata Daily Star newspapers and made copies of the graduation activities that took place then. Thanks to Raymond Cline, I was able to get a copy of the 1928 graduating class. I also sent photos of the Nowata Grade School & High School to Mitchell for him to share with his mother when he goes to California this month. I hope these items will bring back “good” memories of Nowata to Charolett.

Please remember that the Family Finders Genealogy Club collects “Best Choice” labels as a way to raise money. Even if you cannot give a monetary donation to help preserve Nowata’s genealogical history, everyone can collect labels from any Best Choice product, glass, package or can that you already purchase. Please bring any “Best Choice” labels to the front desk of the Nowata City-County Library.

The library collects Campbell’s Soup labels to purchase books and equipment. They would appreciate any help from the community in this endeavor.

Ever wonder why people get pinched on St. Patrick’s Day if they do not wear green?

Our next meeting will be, April 3, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. in the Nowata City-County Library. Come and join with us and learn about GENEALOGY!

Secretary,
Nita Wesson

The Family Finders Genealogy Club met on April 3, 2007, at 1:00 PM, with President Diana McLean presiding. The members answered roll call with their “Nickname” if they had one. Some of the names given were, Shrimp, Old Hide, Ginger, Bobby Jo, Johnny, Squirrel Lady, Lefty and Bear.

Twelve members were present, plus three guests, James & Edna Hatcher and Carolynn Woodworth. Edna & Carolynn became members of the club. Since our group is growing, it was decided to have our meetings downstairs in the East Meeting room. There is plenty of room and it is an easy access for everyone.

The minutes of the March meeting were read and approved. Nita Wesson presented the financial report.

We received the flags for the re-located cemetery veteran’s graves and are still looking for materials to make more flag holders.

We had the pleasure of having Sharlee Farrell, the new coordinator for the Nowata County GENWEB site, at our meeting. Sharlee shared with us all the changes that has been & will be made to this web site. Check out this site! Link to Nowata Oklahoma Genweb Site Sharlee lives in Tacoma, WA and will be moving to the Nowata area real soon.

Last week, Virginia Temple attended a 2-day Computerized General Conference in Salt Lake, Utah. One of the programs she attended was, “Finding Your Immigrant Ancestor in online passenger lists.” If you are not certain what port your ancestor arrived at, you first search the five major ports of arrival: New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Boston and New Orleans. These are indexed online.

If you don’t find your immigrant ancestor in a large port, then try smaller ports of arrival-Virginia, Connecticut, Delaware, Texas, Georgia, South & North Carolina, Maine, Rhode Island, Florida, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Michigan, Alaska, California, Hawaii and Washington. Many of these are indexed online as well.

You can site search these ports in Google. I never realized there were so many arrival ports for the immigrants; I thought most everyone came through Ellis Island!

Diane gave us 15 states’ “Nicknames” and had us write what State it belonged to. Here are the Nicknames: Old Line, Garden, Blue Grass, Diamond,

Tar Heel, Empire, Keystone, Volunteer, Green Mountain, Equality, Old Dominion, Buckeye, Pine Tree, Hoosier and Hawkeye.

The answers are: Maryland, New Jersey, Kentucky, Delaware, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Wyoming, Virginia, Ohio, Maine, Indiana, Iowa. So, how did you do?

Inquires for the month were: Mary Murphy of Farmingville, New York, wanting info about the family of her grandfather, Richard W. McConnell. Wilma Beisel of Springdale, Arkansas, looking for info about several families, Winters, Benjamin, Echels, Barton & Martin. From Oceanside, California, John Morrison, asked for help in identifying students in the 1924 Nowata graduating class. Ernest Batman of Frankford, Indiana, requested information on a Wallace Johnson family that lived here in early 1900. We were able to furnish most of the information everyone wanted.

Please remember that the Family Finders Genealogy Club collects “Best Choice” labels as a way to raise money. Even if you cannot give a monetary donation to help preserve Nowata’s genealogical history, everyone can collect labels from any Best Choice product, glass, package or can that you already purchase. Please bring any “Best Choice” labels to the front desk of the Nowata City-County Library.

The library collects Campbell’s Soup labels to purchase books and equipment. They would appreciate any help from the community in this endeavor.

Our next meeting will be, May 1, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. in the Nowata City-County Library. Hope to see you there!

Secretary,
Nita Wesson

The Family Finders Genealogy Club met on May 1, 2007, at 1:00 PM, with President Diana McLean presiding. The members answered roll call by naming their oldest living relative.

Nine members were present, plus two guests, Edith Gibson and Barbara Yates, both whom became members of the club.

While corresponding with Arthur Ray of Hartville, MO, he decided to become a member of our club. He has family ties in the Lenapah area.

The minutes of the April meeting were read and approved. Nita Wesson presented the financial report and they were approved.

Thanks to John Jordan and Bobby Welch, the flags holders are coming right along and they should be available by Memorial Day to put on the Veterans’ graves at the re-located cemetery.

We were disappointed to hear that Sharlee Farrell, the new coordinator for the Nowata County GENWEB site, will not be moving back to Nowata at this time.

We received the 2006 Nowata Star on microfilm and it has been placed in the genealogy department for your use.

No new inquires for the month, just continued to supply more information to Ernest Batman of Frankford, Indiana on the W.C. Johnson, Connor and VanWinkle families. Additional information also was given to Peggy Culbertson of Wichita, KS on the Driskill and Decker families.

Virginia Temple presented a short program on Basic Research Methods in helping to do research. She showed several documents that are useful for obtaining information. She encouraged everyone to get as much information as they could from older family members.

Diana McLean gave everyone several different kinds of genealogy forms to be used in their researches.

Virginia Temple & Diana McLean have been copying the old school records at the court house. This takes a lot of time and we appreciate their effort.

Please remember that the Family Finders Genealogy Club collects “Best Choice” labels as a way to raise money. Even if you cannot give a monetary donation to help preserve Nowata’s genealogical history, everyone can collect labels from any Best Choice product, glass, package or can that you already purchase. Please bring any “Best Choice” labels to the front desk of the Nowata City-County Library.

The library collects Campbell’s Soup labels to purchase books and equipment. They would appreciate any help from the community in this endeavor.

Our next meeting will be, June 5, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. in the Nowata City-County Library. Hope to see you there!

Secretary,
Nita Wesson

The Family Finders Genealogy Club met June 5, 2007 at the Nowata Fire Department building on South Cedar for the purpose of using their computer-viewing area.

President Diana McLean presided, with 9 members answering roll call telling, “What ancestor they have traced back the farthest”.

We wish to welcome the newest members of our club - Bonnie Ericson of Nacogdoches, TX, and George & Rhoda Flower of Delaware. Thank you all for joining the Family finders Genealogy Club! Bonnie has donated to the club, two books about the Settlers of the Missouri Territory and one on the Marlin Thornbrugh family.

The minutes of the May meeting were read and approved. Nita Wesson presented the financial report and they were also approved.

New flag holders and flags were put out on the Veteran’s graves at the re-located cemeteries for Memorial Day. We had hoped to leave the flags out year round; however, that decision was changed because approximately a dozen flags had been removed from graves. How sad this is.

Diana McLean & Virginia Temple has been recording old school records at the Nowata Court House. This is a monumental undertaking and we do appreciate their effort.

Edith Gibson has begun researching the Madden School, a one-room schoolhouse, located East of the 2nd Lee Square School. According to Edith, when this area was Indian Territory, Madden School was located in what was then called Hayden County. Anyone knowing something about this school please contact Edith.

There were several new inquires for the month. Glenda Dalton of Virginia contacted us about information on the Pleasant View School-District #9, Nowata County School. She will be in Nowata sometime in June and, hopefully, we will have something for her. If anyone has any information regarding this school, please let Nita know. Timothy Dollens of Columbia, MO, requested the obituaries for Ethel & Orval Dean “Jud” Knight. We have only been able to find Ethel’s obituary. Charlotte Kincaide, Nowata, asked for information about her Whitford families. Nita was able to provide her some of the information she had requested. Helen Dixon of Mabelvale, Arkansas, was searching for information about her grandmother, Sarah A. (Kennedy) Alexander. Helen needs information for her D.A.R. application. Three small articles about Sarah’s death were found in the archives of the Nowata Daily Star (February 1932) and provided to her. If anyone has other information about this person, please call Nita.

Program:
Thomas Walker, owner of “The Computer Tech”, presented a very informative program on “How to Scan Photos to Put Onto Your Genealogy Pages”. Thomas is very knowledgeable about computers and he shared several other tidbits about the computer and programs.

Family Finders Genealogy Club collects “Best Choice” labels as a way to raise money. The library staff has given the Campbell Soup labels to our Club to purchase merchandise for the library’s Genealogy Department. Please bring any “Best Choice” and “Campbell Soup” labels to the front desk of the Nowata City-County Library. We would appreciate any help from the community in this endeavor.

Please note that our next meeting will be, July 10, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. in the Nowata City-County Library. This is a week later, because of the holiday week. Hope to see you there!

Secretary,
Nita Wesson

Family Finders Genealogy Club

The Family Finders Genealogy Club met July 10, 2007, at 1:00 P.M., with President Diana McLean presiding.

In attendance were 11 members, a guest, Charolett Kincaide, and a former club member, Lisa Fry, who rejoined the Club. Everyone answered roll call by telling, “Where their parents were born”. We have had two new members from out of town join The Family Finders Club. They are Carlene Wright of Fritch, Texas, and Bill Graham of Tulsa.

The minutes of the June meeting were read and approved. Nita presented the financial report. One of the projects the club has done in the past was to record old marriages from the books at the Court House. However, this project moved to the back burner when we took on the responsibility of getting a much-needed Re-located Cemeteries Directory built. The Re-located Cemetery is just south of the Nowata Memorial Park Cemetery. We also, put up a large Cemetery sign and had white vinyl fencing installed. Our latest project has been getting flag holders made for the Veteran’s graves.

Lisa Fry has volunteered to start recording the Nowata County marriages again. Joyce Parrish and Rosalee Fink will help Lisa with this project.

Our Club member, Bonnie Ericson, from Nacogdoches, TX, has donated several books about Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, North and South Carolina to the Genealogy Department. This is the second time that Bonnie has donated books and we do appreciate them very much!

Inquires for the month were: Vickie Wilkins wanting information on the Henry Tiblow family; Micheal Bell looking for information about Martha Bell; Carolyn Frye wanting information about the Stanart Family and Debbie Fuller of Bakersfield, CA, wanting information about Ida Mae (Matthews) Sherwood. We were able to furnish information to them.

Program:

Diana showed the members how to use the “Family Tree Maker CD’s” that were donated to our Club. There is so much information available on these CD’s, and we hope that the members and visitors to the Genealogy Department will use them.

Family Finders Genealogy Club collects “Best Choice” and “Campbell” UPC bar codes, as a way to raise money. Please bring them to the front desk of the Nowata City-County Library. We would appreciate any help from the community in this endeavor.

Our next meeting will be August 7, 2007, at 1:00 P.M.

Secretary, Nita Wesson

The Family Finders Genealogy Club met August 7, 2007, at 1:00 P.M., with President Diana McLean presiding.

In attendance were 12 members and 3 guests, Donna Flower, WilmaJean Gabriel and Barbara Tidwell’s grandson, Cooper. Donna & WilmaJean joined the Club. Amanda Walker from Claremore also joined our club during the month of July.

Everyone answered roll call by answering the question, “How many different states have you lived in?” We had a few members stating they had lived in seven or eight different states. That beats my two states for sure!

The minutes of the July meeting were read and approved. Nita presented the financial report.

Lisa Fry and her friend, Tiffany, from Texas, have been busy recording the old marriages from the books at the Nowata Court House. It is good to see this job being done again. Diana has been recording the old school records too. When they are completed, we will have these records available for public use in the Genealogy Department of the Nowata City-County Library.

We sent off a package of Best Choice labels and should be getting $90 to add to our Family Finders Club Fund. We appreciate everyone’s help in collecting these labels.

We will continue collecting the Campbell’s Soup labels, however, the members believe the schools can better use the items that can be acquire with these labels; therefore, we will turn them over to one of the schools as we collect them.

We will have a booth at the Nowata County Fair, September 13, 14, 15. Lisa Fry is the chairperson in charge of getting the booth ready for the fair. Be sure to make plans to go to the fair, stop by our booth and visit with us.

WilmaJean brought a large Family History Chart to show the members. It is a very unusual and impressive chart reflecting seven generations of her family, dating back to the early 1710’s. The original chart was printed in 1890. WilmaJean also had some very interesting stories to tell.

Dianna gave us a web site for the state of Washington, where you can get information looked up for free. Link to www.SecState.Wa.gov/library/ask.aspx

Jeannie reported that nine cemeteries in Nowata County had been under water during the recent flooding. As of yet, she has not made it to all of them to check out the damage.

Inquires for the month included Donna Stueve of Missouri Valley, IA, requesting information on Charles H. Smith. Harry & Joyce (Stanfill) Rose of Cummings, GA, needed help on researching a Stanfill baby. Also, Carlene Wright of Fritch, TX requesting information on the Cokers, Worthingtons, Cruppers & Stouts families.

We received a notice from the Ottawa County Genealogical Society. They will be holding a Genealogy Fair on September 22, 2007, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Miami Civic Center. Sounds like it would be a fun thing to go to, especially if you are looking for materials and books to help you in your Genealogy. There will be several vendors available. Admission is $3.00.

The Nowata County web site Link http://www.rootsweb.com/~oknowata/index.htm has added several new things. The site host, Sharlee Farrell, is doing a wonderful job of getting things posted and updated. She wants people to send her stories and pictures about Nowata County. Check out the site and let Sharlee know what a great job she is doing.

Carolynn Woodworth & Barbara Tidwell shared with the members what they learned at a Genealogy class they recently attended in Bartlesville. Last month, I reported Diana showed the members how to use the “Family Tree maker CD’s”. I need to add a word of caution. Some of the information on these Family Trees is unproven work. However, you may find some information you do not have and then you can research and prove it or disprove it for yourself.

Remember to bring your Best Choice and Campbell’s Soup labels to the front desk of the Nowata City-County Library. We would appreciate any help from the community in this endeavor.

Our next meeting will be September 4, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. in the East Room at the Nowata City-County Library. Hope to see you there!

Secretary, Nita Wesson

The Family Finders Genealogy Club met September 4, 2007, at 1:00 P.M., with President Diana McLean presiding.

Twelve members and a guest answered roll call by answering the question, “How many different paying jobs have you had?” The most jobs held by a member was15 different jobs and another member had 32 years at one job. The earliest year that a member went to work was in 1942. A couple of the jobs that I personally wouldn’t like to do were picking cotton and cleaning the floor of a slaughter house where dead animal were killed!

The minutes of the August meeting were read and approved. Nita presented the financial report.

Joyce Parrish is helping Lisa Fry with recording the old marriages at the Nowata Court House. As they get them written down, they give them to Nita and she types them on her computer and sends them to Sharlee Farrell to put online.

If you haven’t gotten on the www.rootsweb.com/~oknowata web site in awhile, you are in for a treat! Sharlee has done a wonderful job of getting things put on line as soon as she receives the information. We have gotten several “good” comments about the web site.

The club members spent time discussing and preparing for what we would have in our booth at the Nowata County Fair, September 13, 14, 15.

Inquires for the month included Judy Warren wanting to know where Amos and Millie Ann Hensley were buried. They were found buried in Pryor, OK. Becky Moyer of Frederick, MD wants any information on Mary McIntosh married to Will Phillips. We have had several people contact us with corrected information about birth and death dates that had been posted incorrectly on the Nowata Rootsweb site. We do appreciate this very much.

Dianna told us some interesting facts about the History of Labor Day.

On May 11, 1894, workers of the Pullman Palace Car Company in Chicago struck to protest wage cuts and the firing of union representatives. On June 26, the American Railroad Union called a boycott of all Pullman railway cars. Within days, 50,000 rail workers complied and railroad traffic out of Chicago came to a halt. On July 4, President Grover Cleveland dispatched troops to Chicago. Much rioting and bloodshed ensued, but the government's actions broke the strike and the boycott soon collapsed. The strike brought worker's rights to the public eye and Congress declared, in 1894, that the first Monday in September would be the holiday for workers, known as Labor Day.

Although Labor Day is meant as a celebration of the labor movement and its achievements, it has come to be celebrated as the last, long summer weekend before autumn.

Remember to bring your Best Choice and Campbell’s Soup labels to the front desk of the Nowata City-County Library. We would appreciate any help from the community in this endeavor.

Our next meeting will be October 2, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. in the East Room at the Nowata City-County Library. Hope to see you there!

Secretary, Nita Wesson

The Family Finders Genealogy Club met October 2, 2007, at 1:00 P.M., with President Diana McLean presiding.

Fifteen members and a guest answered roll call by answering the question, “Which is your favorite season of the year?” The fall season outweigh the rest by far.

Diana welcomed new members, Alma George and Mary Stritzke and guest, Joy Monroe.

The minutes of the September meeting were read and approved. Nita presented the financial report.

Lisa reported on the activities that took place at our booth at the Nowata County Fair, September 13, 14, 15. We gained 4 new members through this event.

Tina Owens won the Historical Map donated by Nowata Historical Society, Mary Stritzke won the Genealogy Book donated by Lisa Frye, and Penny Gorley won the crocheted name donated by Joyce Parrish.

The club’s new by-laws were reviewed by the members. After some discussion, several suggestions were added. We will vote to accept the final product at next month’s meeting.

Nita ask the members if anyone would donate three hours a month to sit at the Nowata Historical Museum. Three members said they would be willing to donate their time.

Diana wants to have one or two of our members available in the Genealogy Department every Wednesday for 3 hours. Sometime between 11 AM to 4 PM.

Inquires for the month included Betty Gosdin of Glen Rose, TX, wanting burial information on Andrew Jackson Gibson & Mary Frances Gibson. We were able to tell her they were buried in Fannin County, TX.

Dianna handed out information pertaining to one’s birthday that can be acquired from the www.dmarietimecapsule.com web site. This might be something you would want to include in your genealogy records. She, also, gave us information on how people lived and how things were 100 years ago.

Remember to bring your Best Choice and Campbell’s Soup labels to the front desk of the Nowata City-County Library. We would appreciate any help from the community in this endeavor.

Our next meeting will be November 6, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. in the East Room at the Nowata City-County Library. Hope to see you there!
Secretary, Nita Wesson

The Family Finders Genealogy Club met November 6, 2007, at 1:00 P.M., with President Diana McLean presiding.

Sixteen members answered roll call by naming “two things they were thankful for”. Most answers were family, God, grand and great grand children.

The minutes of the October meeting were read and approved. Nita presented the financial report.

Members reviewed the club’s new by-laws, and after much discussion and a few changes, it was decided to hold the vote to accept the final product at December meeting.

Elections were held for the upcoming terms of President and Vice-President. Diana was re-elected as President through Dec 2009. The office of Vice-President was added, and Lisa Frye was elected to serve through Dec 2009. The present Secretary/Treasurer term will not expire until Dec. 2008.

Lisa has finished hand copying book 13 of the marriages for Nowata County; and has given them to Nita to type into a database and send to Sharlee Farrell to put on the Nowata’s web site. Lisa stated that she and Joyce are working hard to copy the remaining books as soon as they can. This process is very time consuming and these ladies need to be commended for their dedication.

Jeannie shared information about a free anti-virus program. To download the program, go to http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html and follow instructions.

The Genealogy Department of the Nowata City-County Library is in need of a new microfilm reader-printer. The reader-printer they have is running on its last leg. The Family Finders Club will be looking for ways to help raise funds for this endeavor. Anyone wishing to help with this expense can send their donations to the Nowata City-County Library, P.O. Box 738, Nowata, OK 74048. Note that your donation is for reader-printer. This project would be an excellent last-minute, end-of-the-tax-year donation opportunity. Any gift would be tax deductible.

Inquires for the month of October were; Julie Goheen of Dow, IL wanting obituaries on Cuba & Mary Dugan. Peggy Edmondson of Sand Springs, needing school record of her mother, Golda Manley Hudson. Georgia Hartwell of Columbus, OH, requested the obituary of Harriett Curtis Warden. Fran Baribeau of Ashdown, AR wanted obituaries of Marion M. & Sarah Kerns, we could only find Sarah’s. Anyone have information on Marion’s, please let us know. Carla Garner of Pryor, wanted information on Wm. Henry & Sarah Ann Wiggins. Mark Christian of Coffeyville was seeking information about Nancy Jane Ketchum. Carol Hanshaw of MO, wants additional information on Cora Wilkinson. Roger Morris of Wisconsin, is wanting information on his great grandfather, William Henry Morris.

Remember to bring your Best Choice and Campbell’s Soup labels to the front desk of the Nowata City-County Library. We would appreciate any help from the community in this endeavor.

Our next meeting will be December 4, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. in the East Room at the Nowata City-County Library. We will be having our Christmas party and everyone is to bring a $5 exchange gift. Hope to see you there!

Have a “Happy Thanksgiving” and count your blessings!
Secretary, Nita Wesson

The Family Finders Genealogy Club met December 4, 2007, at 1:00 P.M., with President Diana McLean presiding. Twelve members were present and a new member, Carolyn Frye, joined the club. Everyone enjoyed the good food, conversations and exchanging of gifts.

With this being our Christmas Party, we suspended from the formality of a regular meeting. We did, however, review the new by-laws and voted to accept them. We also, made the decision on which microfilm reader/printer we would like for the Genealogy Department. We hope the Library will get a grant to help pay for this. Nevertheless, the Family Finders Club will be looking for ways to help raise funds for this endeavor. Anyone wishing to help with this expense can send their donations to the Nowata City-County Library, P.O. Box 738, Nowata, OK 74048. Note that your donation is for reader-printer. This project would be an excellent last-minute, end-of-the-tax-year donation opportunity. Any gift would be tax deductible.

Remember to bring your Best Choice and Campbell’s Soup labels to the front desk of the Nowata City-County Library. We would appreciate any help from the community in this endeavor.

Our next meeting will be January 8, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. in the East Room at the Nowata City-County Library.

Have a “Very Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year”!
Secretary, Nita Wesson