Niagara County Genealogy-Meeting Notes

We hope that by providing a brief description of recent meetings of our society you will gain an insight to our organization. If any of the presentations are of interest to you and you wish more information please contact us.

Wednesday May 26, 2010 at 7 pm Saturday April 24, 2010 at 11 am
Wednesday March 31, 2010 at 7 pm Saturday February 27, 2010 at 12 pm Saturday January 30, 2010 at 12 pm Wednesday October 29, 2008 at 7 pm
Wednesday September 24, 2008 at 7 pm

Wednesday May 26, 2010 at 7 pm

The NCGS presented a panel of three local Historians for the May program. They were: Debbie Wynes of the Town of Cambria, Walter Bissette of the Town of Wheatfield and Margaret Truax of the City of Lockport. Larry Haseley of the Town of Lockport was also scheduled to speak but could not make it at the last minute due to illness.

Each speaker told about their background and how they came to be historians, what their position entails, what kind of records (if any) are available and where they are housed, and what projects they are involved in. All three brought books and pamphlets that they referred to in their presentation.

The April NCGS Program meeting was combined with the bi-annual NYSCOGO meeting. The speaker was Belinda Patterson, of the Tuscarora Nation, who is a Native American Interpreter at Old Fort Niagara. Her position as interpreter includes developing and implementing educational programs that tell the story of Native American involvement at Fort Niagara, and developing both on-site programs and outreach programs for schools and community organizations.

She presented a program on Native Americans and Old Fort Niagara, including Native American style clothing during the era of the Fort, and also trading between the Fort and the Native American tribe called the Naudenosaunee.

Emily Conable, Assistant Director of the Holland Land Office Museum in Batavia, NY presented a program on the history of the Holland Land Purchase and development of the land. Emily worked for 21 years at the Genesee Country Museum in Mumford, NY as a Horticulturalist and Interpreter. She brought in some actual artifacts from the museum, including types of tools that would be used in the original survey such as a chain.

Shelley Richards, NCGS Board Chairman, presented the program "Everybody Ought to be Rich: John Raskob and His Connections to Lockport Families." She described the rise of Lockport's most famous son, John Jacob Raskob, to prominence and highlighted his many communications with Lockport people in the first part of the 20th century. He was the son of a Lockport Cigar maker, a Treasurer of General Motors in it's hey day, the builder of the Empire State Building and the Campaign manager for Al Smith's presidency in 1928. Shelley is the granddaughter of Ralph Foltz, a closed friend of John Raskob.

An annotated index of letters to and from Lockport families was shared as well as a number of copies of the actual letters. John Raskob's collection of private correspondence, held by the Hagley Museum in Wilmington Delaware holds troves of Lockport historical treasures in the form of personal communications with notable Lockport families such as the Foltz, Feeley, Bewley, Moran, F. Smith, Flagler, Spaulding, Bradley, Noble, Dole, Gerner, Hutchinson, Moore, O'Brien, Pound, Ruhlman, Shomers and hundreds more.

Three local family researchers discussed their favorite resources at the NCGS library. Cindy Ribbeck, NCGS Board Secretary, discussed the 1855, 1865 and 1875 NYS Censuses. Ann Bruski, former NCGS Board and Society president, discussed the collection of Family Histories at the library, and several important tips such as belonging to the genealogy society where you live and one where your ancestors lived, etc. Shelley Richards, current Board president discussed the City Directories, as well as her own project of 1836-1840 vital records gleaned from Lockport newspapers that she transcribed and donated to the library. After the meeting, many in attendance had the opportunity to see the library and use its resources for the first time.

Pete Ames, former Niagara County Genealogical Society Chairman and Board member, spoke about files from the long-closed Niagara Falls International Institute that recently came into his possession. They provide a unique glimpse of the lives of newly arrived immigrants that were living on the East side of Niagara Falls after World War I. Pete read some of the early official reports filed by the first Director of the Institute which described her struggle to find a location for the Institute and of gaining the trust of the Immigrants. This woman was quite a writer who tragically died a few years later at an early age. There were many nationalities that were helped by the Institute but the files Pete has in his possession are mostly of Polish immigrants.

Shelley Richards, Chairman of the Niagara County Genealogical Society Board, presented findings from early original newspapers she discovered in 2000 at the Lockport Public Library History Room. She told fascinating stories of people, births, deaths, runaways, and oddities of local families and the historical context they lived in for the period of 1836-1840. From the Niagara Democrat and The Niagara Democrat & Lockport Balance, Shelley has gleaned many vital marriage and death dates, as well as implicated birth years, significant because our formal records were not in place at that time. Some copies of the records were made available for members of the Society.