Examples of Bad Gravestone Restoration

A new video was created to show what bad gravestone repairs look like. Recently I was driving North on Route 9 from Latham into Crescent and noticed the Fonda Cemetery. I have driven this stretch of road numerous times and had never noticed the tiny cemetery with the white fence just in from the road. Of course I had to stop on my way back and I was not pleasantly surprised with what I found. The small cemetery was restored by someone or a group who used the wrong techniques.

The video consists of a brief intro that leads into the actual cemetery footage and concludes with a short critique of what was done incorrectly. As I mention great intentions led to incorrect methods. People need to know their limitations and when questions arise... find the answer before moving forward.

The video was removed at the suggestion of one of my family members. My critique was too harsh for someone who was attempting to do the right thing.

History Presentation & Conference

The Jacob Leisler Institute and the Historic Albany Foundation will host upcoming history presentation and conference in April.

Natives on the Land: American Indians in the Mid-Hudson Valley

19 April 2018, 6 pm

Hudson Area Library, 51 North Fifth Street, Hudson, NY

The Jacob Leisler Institute, in cooperation with Hudson Area Library and the Gotham Center for New York History, will present Natives on the Land: American Indians in the Mid-Hudson Valley by Professor Emeritus of Anthropology William A. Starna,

For more information email programs@hudsonarealibrary.org or call 518.828.1792 ext.101.

2018 Statewide Historic Preservation Conference

26-28 April 2018

New York State Museum, 222 Madison Avenue, Albany, NY 12230 

Over 300 preservationists, architects, archaeologists, and historians are expected to take part in this exciting, educational event. This year's Keynote Speaker is Katrina Johnston- Zimmerman of Think Urban Consulting Firm. 

This annual conference is brought to you in partnership by the Landmarks Society of Western New York, Historic Albany Foundation, Preservation League of New York State, and NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.

Historic Albany Foundation would like to encourage our membership to attend this year's conference for a chance to learn about exiting new happenings in the world of preservation. Early bird registration is now available through April 4th.

Registration Open : 2018 NYS Family History Conference

The full schedule is now available for the 2018 New York Family History Conference in Tarrytown, New York on 13-15 September 2018. Early bird discounts are still available. Register before May 31 and receive a $30 discount. Over 45 conference sessions on a variety of subjects will be offered and presented by nationally recognized speakers. Click here to see the full program. Click here to register.
Notable conference speakers include Blaine T. Bettinger, Judy Russell, D. Joshua Taylor, and Thomas W. Jones. Conference sponsors include Living DNA, Family Search, MyHeritage, Find My Past, Family Tree DNA, and American Ancestors.

Blogaversary

This Blog is now five years old! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day DNA Sales

If you have been thinking about getting into DNA testing for genealogy, below are two sales on DNA testing products.

Save $30 on AncestryDNA kits with an Ancestry.com St. Patrick's Day sale. AncestryDNA kits regularly cost $99 but are on sale until March 19th for $69, plus shipping. 

Save $20 on 23andMe Ancestry Service DNA kits. 23andMe Ancestry kits regularly cost $99 but are on sale until March 18th for $79, plus shipping.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Upcoming History Programs

The following articles come from recent issues of the Rensselear County Advertiser newspaper.

Greenbush Historical Society Meeting
Join the Greenbush Historical Society on Sunday, march 18th, at 2 PM for a delightful afternoon of Irish music. Ireland has produced an abundance of songs about people and struggles, happiness, and sadness. Don Kelly, a local musician, will charm us with his acoustical guitar and sometimes haunting melodies of the Emerald Isle. Enjoy learning the history behind some of the classic folk songs. Wear your green and sing along if you like!

The program will be held at the East Greenbush Library. It is free and open to all, but do please register for the event by calling 518-477-7476.


Sand Lake Historical Society Fundraiser
A fundraiser for the Sand Lake Historical Society will be held at The Old Daley on Crooked Lake on Fri., April 20th, from 6p.m.-9p.m. This will be a fun night to step back into this decade with appetizers, comfort food stations, dessert, and coffee station and cash bar. An old-time radio style DJ will play our favorites and prizes will be awarded for the best costumes. Reservations are required. The cost is $50p.p. For tickets, visit FB sandlakehistory.org or mail a check to SLHS, P.O. Box 492, WSL, NY 12196.

There will be open seating, or you may reserve a table for 8-12 people! Don't miss this exciting event at this wonderful venue! Hurry, reservations are limited!

Isabelle Marie (Missy) Kelly Carroll

On Friday, 09 March 2018, my wife lost her beloved mother and I lost a wonderful mother-in-law after a long illness. To honor Missy below is a photo montage of her throughout her life.

RIP, Missy, 1943-2018

Genealogical Detective Work Pays Off

Over the past three days, I was involved in a genealogy caper that quadangulated (did I just create a word?) into a successful venture. Here goes: three days ago my second cousin, Bob, emailed me and asked me to call him. I did; and during our conversation he told me that a fellow genealogist, Janet, contacted him wondering if he had contact information on descendants of Elizabeth White who married William Kelly because she had an important family heirloom that she wanted to return to the family.

Elizabeth was an older sister to our great great grandfather Charles William White. I told Bob that I did have a contact who was a distant cousin and also a direct descendant of Elizabeth and William. Elizabeth and William were part of the White family exodus from Albany to Kansas in 1878 - 1879. Father and mother, Robert and Ann White uprooted and moved the whole family including Elizabeth with her family, sister Sarah Jane, brothers Thomas Edward, William Henry, and Robert Jr. Only two brothers, Joseph and Charles William remained in the Albany area.

I contacted Janet and mentioned that I did have a contact from that family. Janet said that she had an old Bible with marriages records written in it along with obituary clippings. So I gave Janet the names of Elizabeth and William's children and the known spouses. Janet replied that the names matched.

After hearing this I asked if she had a scan of the pages and if so could she send a copy to me. She did and Janet was correct. She had a family Bible that was Elizabeth and William's. The Bible was found in an attic in Shawnee, Kansas. Immediately I contacted my distant cousin Carla and notified her of this find. Carla was extremely happy and wanted the Bible. So I put her in touch with Janet and I am sure that they are now working out the details to get the Bible back to the family.

Below is a scan of the Bible page and an obituary clipping.

Kelly - White Bible Page Containing  Family Marriages
Scan courtesy Janet Lake

William Kelly obituary, unknown & undated newspaper
Scan courtesy Janet Lake

I was glad that I was able to assist in this adventure. Had my cousin Bob not had an online family tree on ancestry.com this story probably would have ended differently. Janet did incredible genealogy research to track us down and her efforts paid off!

Present & Upcoming

Presently, I am looking out my window at the new snow we have and also thinking about having to give up my airfare and conference tickets to RootsTech 2018 in Salt Lake City. Well, there is next year.

Upcoming, I am not giving out any clues or hints. But, there will be a quick five day max complete cemetery rehab project that will be completed in short time that is if the weather will cooperate. It will be a three step process: 1) weed-whack, cut down small saplings, and rake out the grounds; 2) upright, level, and repair damaged stones; 3) clean-up & re-mortar the stones. Roughly, twenty-five grave markers.

Plenty of photographs and videos will accompany a blog post when complete. You might be familiar with this one, stay tuned...