Local Genealogical Gems : Website of Troy Irish Genealogy Society

This week's installment of local genealogy gems is the website of the Troy Irish Genealogy Society or TIGS. Do not let the name of this genealogy society fool you. It is not strictly about and or for Irish genealogy. The society has numerous transcribed records that are online assessable for free. Please check its website.

My three favorite record collections that are online on the TIGS website are:

• Transcriptions of marriages, deaths, and miscellaneous info from the West Troy Advocate newspaper. An old Watervliet newspaper. The New York State Library also has these records in book form.
• Index to Marriage Records, Rensselaer County, NY Records run from 1908 to 1935 and have over 60,000 names.
• Lost for many many years were the burial records of St. John's Cemetery in Albany on Delaware Avenue where the Spectrum movie theater is today. A few years ago the burial book was recovered and scanned. TIGS was able to transcribe the scanned images. Over 20,000 burial probably occurred in St. John's Cemetery. The book of interments runs from 1841 through 1887. But further burials occurred after 1887.

Please join TIGS to help support their projects. All transcription work is done by volunteers. Dues are only $10 per year. Check their website for further membership information.

BTW TIGS has upcoming record collections to be added at a later date.

Troy Irish Genealogy Society (TIGS)

The following article comes to us from the latest edition of the Rensselaer County Advertiser newspaper.

Troy Irish Genealogy Election of Officers

The Troy Irish Genealogy Society recently held the election of officers for 2018-2019.
President: Christine Connell
Vice President: Kris Ayotte
Treasurer and List Administrator: Kathy Buckley
Secretary: Gail Landrigan
Project Coordinator: Bill mcGrath
Membership Chairperson: Donna Vaughn
Web Master: Peter Reilly

The Troy Irish Genealogy Society (TIGS) is an organization whose main purpose is to collect, share, and preserve genealogy information. We are open to everyone. You don't need to live in troy, or be of Irish descent, to join TIGS or get genealogy information from us.

Meetings are usually held on the third Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m., and the venue may change from month to month. August's meeting will be at the East Greenbush Library on Thursday August 16, at 6:30 p.m., Meeting Room A.

Saturday's Society : Troy Irish Genealogy Society

This week's Saturday's Society is on the Troy Irish Genealogy Society (TIGS). For a heads up: the society is not only about Troy's Irish. The group aims to make local genealogical records available online and its focus covers many areas in the Capital District.

A few of their "projects" that are online that helped me greatly in my research are:

• St. John's Cemetery, Albany, Interment Records,  1841-1887
• Death Notices Appearing in Troy Newspapers, 1797-1860
• West Troy Advocate 
• St. Mary's Cemetery, Albany, Re-Interment Records
• St. Agnes Cemetery, Menands, Interment Records, 1862-2013

TIGS has many many more records that were transcribed and put online and can be found on their website. Check them out. Join the group. Get involved and volunteer in the Capital District's genealogy community.

TIGS is also on Facebook.

Pinewoods Cemetery Walking Tour

According to the Facebook page of the Troy Irish Genealogy Society, there will be a walking tour of the Forest Park or Pinewoods Cemetery in Troy to be held on Saturday October 25 at 1 PM with a rain date of Sunday October 26 at 1 PM. 

I looked into this further and the Brunswick Town Historian will be the host and guide. There was nothing listed on the Brunswick Historical Society's web page. For more info it would be best to contact Sharon Zankel, Town Historian at 518.279.3461.

Historical Photo of the Cemetery Entrance