Cameron County Genealogy Club Discover Your Past
Fifth Meeting Notes 7/12/2003
| A special thanks to Kim Irwin for taking notes at
Saturday's meeting! Cameron County Genealogy Club Meeting Notes - July 12, 2003. The July 12th meeting started at about 1:00 PM at the Library. Summer hours are in effect at the Library. The attendance was limited (15 people) presumably due to the American Cancer Society's Relay For Life activities and family reunions, plus it's finally summertime. Mike Wennin spoke of the Cameron County Genealogy Club pamphlets that were distributed locally and are disappearing fast. This advertising will help raise awareness of the family and local history research opportunities in our area and beyond. In business matters, the Cameron County Genealogy Club has $105.50 in the Savings Account and this is quite a pleasure to express appreciation for the members and other's donations to the CCGC.. In regard to merging with the Cameron County Historical Society, it is noted that a Board of Directors would need to be formed. The email feedback is quite positive on the idea of a merger. John Kautz is the new President of the CCHS and is working to sort out his role and activities needed to bring the Historical Society forward. The Historical Society has tons of historical items stored in boxes in different areas and this would be a good task for some new research and guidance in searching our history. Many people donated family scrapbooks, photos and articles, voting records, township records, etc., that were never categorized or displayed. The old library was previously a Bank and there were boxes of old deeds and records in storage at that location that are now at the museum, along with many other local storage areas filled with boxes of family's donations. At some time all of these items need catalogued for use in family research and historical documentation and preservation. Sandra Hornung's attic is full of boxes of historical scrapbooks, papers, etc. that eventually will be sorted out. With new members at the helm, the Historical Society will undoubtedly locate some unique treasures awaiting discovery in the stored material. One idea being considered as a fundraiser would be a postcard pictorial history of Cameron County such as the type that Clearfield and McKean County have that was published by Arcadia Press. It has been several years since a booklet has been developed for sale for Cameron County History. These postcards could also be scanned and recorded on a CD for sale. Jim Miller graciously allowed the Club to borrow one of the two large volumes of the Newton Cemetery records of the lots in the Newton/Wiley Cemetery. This old record book is indexed according to the purchaser of the plots and records of the occupants of the plots. Some of the plots had subsequent owners and could have different names associated with them. Mike Wennin is diligently compiling a list of plots at the Newton Cemetery for the internet site. The lots were plotted in 9 graves per lot and some were even sold as half lots. There are some unmarked plots classified as "occupied-no records". This is a daunting task, but so worthwhile! We certainly appreciate Mike's efforts. Kenny Ostrum brought a book by Edna M. Dunbar (copyright 1987) titled "Naturalization Records of Cameron County 1850-1906". These records were compiled from the Naturalization records at the Cameron County Courthouse. Many families can find their ancestor's information there and how some of the family names may have been altered through the assimilation process and the ever-present spelling errors, phonetics, and literacy issues. Chuck Jordan brought pamphlets to hand out for the Allegheny Mountain Engine & Implement Association's 24th Annual Demonstration scheduled for July 25, 26, & 27, 2003 at Port Allegany, PA. This demonstration will include antique engines, tractors, cars, trucks and models, along with a large flea market area with crafts and foodstuffs galore! Come join the festivities and reminisce with the folks. Visitor Colleen Royer and her granddaughter Jennifer from Lock Haven are searching the Harvey Peters and Laura Rice (b. about 1899) names. Kenny Ostrum is searching for Charles Beldin and Joe Hicks who served in WWII with him. New member Andy Kaul from St. Marys is searching for John Scott Archibald (of Scotland) and Miss Maxwell (1st wife), and Miss Dudley(2nd wife of Archibald). Naturalization records show intent for Mr. Archibald in 1869, and finalized in 1875. Mr. Kaul also is an avid collector of old named bricks, i.e., bricks such as the type manufactured at Cameron (Cameron Block Works-Hunts Run) with the manufacturer's name imprinted, such as Penn Block, Cameron, Penn Block Caulder, and Knob Block Anyone who would like to share in his collecting hobby can contact him at 814 781-7171. One man's garbage can lid weight can be another man's treasure! Their motto: "Happiness is kicking over a brick and finding a name!" A question was raised about the listing of club members on the website and how to manage it in terms of the privacy issues. This area hasn't been figured out yet. Emails within the club website are archived for research. The club presently has about 55 members, and we welcome many more to join us. A possible activity at a later date would be to photograph headstones and scan them onto the website for people to view as most people can't physically view the graves if they live too far away or don't have the time to visit cemeteries. Our Cameron County resident Genealogist, Sandra Hornung, has Cameron County Press's newspapers to the 1870's on microfilm. The late George Kempher had CC Press's starting in 1868, which, when unfolded, slightly disintegrated. These newspapers are being carefully microfilmed also. Finding a microfilm reader may be a problem. The Cameron County High School has some CC Press issues prior to 1870, and they have a microfilm reader. The Cameron County Historical Society is tossing around the idea of having a town building to contain and display the massive amounts of collected items. It may be cost prohibitive at this time, but is a serious consideration in the future. Centre County has a good setup for their records, scrapbooks and the like. Potter County (in Coudersport) has a separate building for their genealogy department with many volunteers to help researchers, with the museum part located on the first floor of the building. The door prizes were the booklet of the Rock of Ages of DuBois (available at Rock of Ages in DuBois at 814 371-4025). One copy was won by Ken Ostrum, and the other by Andy Kaul. The meeting closed at about 1:45 PM with a few of us staying to look at the Newton Cemetery record book and visit with Mr. Kaul. Maybe the Newton Cemetery Record Book can be borrowed again at a later meeting for more people to access. Thank you for visiting this site and we hope to see you at the next meeting on August 5th/ kai |
This page was last updated on Friday, September 19, 2003.
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