The next regular meeting of the Roane County Historical Society will be Thursday, April 25th at the Roane County Library, at 7 p.m. All members are urged to attend. Reports on the Essay Scholarship, Heritage Park Museum, and State Hospital Cemetery signage will be part of the old business. Please plan to attend, your input and presence is needed.

The Roane County Historical Society held its first meeting for 2013 on Thursday, March 28th at the Roane County Library. There were 19 members and 2 guests present.

Rick Greathouse, president, called the meeting to order at 7 p.m. Mike Hill led the opening prayer and the pledge to the flag was recited by all.
Susan Tucker, recording sect’y, read the minutes of the November 15, 2012 meeting which were approved as read. [The December 2012 meeting was cancelled due to the weather & bad road conditions.]

Carol Board-Westfall gave the treasurer’s report which reflected a balance of $18,591.15 The report included 4-month’s receipts & disbursements. Copy filed for annual audit.

The Membership/Corresponding Secretary, Linda Liss, reported that she had replied to several inquiries in the past few months which resulted in three new members joining the society. Linda also reported that she sent get well and/or sympathy cards where needed. Several 2012-13 Surname Directories have been returned because of address changes. Those will be remailed. Current membership is 203. Report filed with minutes.

Volume 20-Issue 3 of the "Journal" newsletter will be published soon. Carol Cronin, newsletter editor, was highly commended for the fine newsletters she puts together for the RCHS.

Book Purchase:
“Jackson County, WV History-Past & Present, Book 2” was purchased. A large book “The Crislip Family” was donated to the RCHS’s library.

Old Business:
The circa 1893 B & O Depot Museum located at the Heritage Park is owned by the City of Spencer. RCHS member Theresa Boggs Parker, member of the Roane County Arts & Humanities Council and Museum Caretaker reports that the Museum is in disrepair and needs regular cleaning and upkeep. The building is not climate controlled; the contents of historical value are deteriorating because of the building’s lack of heating/cooling. The Museum is supposed to be open beginning the first Saturday’s monthly beginning in May thru Oct. Persons are needed to clean the building beforehand and staff it during the “open” times. Is there grant money available for such a historical building renovation project? It is suggested that the RCHS Executive Committee investigate the possibility of the society taking over the care of the Museum as a project and reporting back at next meeting.

Essay Scholarship – Linda Liss reported that the guidelines had been distributed in January 2013 by the Roane County High School guidance counselors to interested students. The deadline for filing the application and essay is Friday, April 12th. The $750 scholarship will be awarded to the Senior student submitting the best essay depicting their family history. The scholarship review committee will be Linda Liss, Chairperson, Melissa Swisher and Theresa Parker.

Carol Board-Westfall reported that she has attempted to contact the family who owns the Uriah Gandee log house at Gandeeville. They have not responded.

Susan Tucker reported that the micro-film of the Weekly Bulletin [1898-1905] and some of the Times Record – Roane County Reporter newspapers have been transferred to CD’s. The micro-film reader housed in the society’s library is old and parts cannot be obtained in case of break-down, so the society is backing up these films of the historic newspapers. She has not received an invoice as of this meeting, so could not report the exact price. The 2013 Governor’s Community Participation Grant in the amount $1,000 has been ear-marked to copy the micro-films.

New Business:
Carol B-W reported that she has received a request for the society to advertise in the 2013 West Virginia Travel Guide. The ad will cost $25. Motion was made, properly seconded and passed unanimously to place the ad again this year.

Carol reported that she had received a request for the society to place an advertisement in the Gazette/Daily Mail newspapers on their theme page “Spencer is Booming and Blooming.” Cost of this ad is $45. Motion was made, seconded and passed to place the ad.

Discussion was raised regarding the Spencer State Hospital Cemetery signage. The roadside sign is in need of restoration. Is this something the Society wants to sponsor? The discussion to be continued at a future meeting.

Jack Nida presented an inquiry as to why the over 100 year old Flat Fork Community Church off Clover Ridge had not received one of the commemorative plaques as part of our 2011 project. Carol B-W responded that the church had been on the plaque list, but she was not able to make contact with anyone at the church regarding the project before deadline to turn in the plaque order. Motion was made by Jack, properly seconded & carried unanimously for the RCHS to purchase a plaque for the Flat Fork Community Church. Carol will investigate the cost and if one plaque can be made for a reasonable price and report back at our next meeting.

The next meeting of the Roane County Historical Society will be held on Thursday, April 25th at the Roane County Library at 7 p.m.

Meeting adjourned with refreshments being served.
Notes submitted by Linda Cottrell Liss

Just a little reminder that the Roane County Historical Society will resume their monthly meetings on Thursday, March 28th at 7 p.m. at the Roane County Library in Spencer. We've had our winter break and it's now time to get back to society business. Members are urged to attend and guests are always welcome. Hope to see many of you then... Linda Cottrell Liss, Corresponding/Membership Secretary.

The Roane County Historical Society met on Thursday, November 15, 2012 for their regular monthly meeting with seven members and one visitor present. Rick Greathouse, President, called the meeting to order at 7 p.m., he welcomed those present, Mike Hill led an opening prayer and the pledge to the American flag was recited by all.

Susan Tucker, Recording Sect'y, read the minutes from the October meeting, which were approved as read.

Carol Board-Westfall gave the treasurer’s report with current balance at $19,206.56 Copy filed for annual audit.

Linda Liss, Corresponding Sect'y, reported that she had sent two sympathy cards since last meeting and replied to different inquires as needed. As Membership Sect'y, Linda also reported that current membership is 213 but 17 of those members have not renewed membership for the 2012-13 fiscal year. All have been contacted. Names will be removed from roll if not paid by time of the publishing of the Membership/Surname Directory in December.

Old business:

Susan reported that we still have a few of the DVD's available of the 5 Volumes of the Roane County Cemetery Books that were made available at the Sept. Genealogy Fair. Price of the DVD is $25.

Susan also reported that a “Tailgater” microphone speaker system was purchased and now available for use at meetings and other society functions. Cost: $90.10

Carol Board-Westfall: Nothing new to report on the possibility of the Society cleaning or working with the City of Spencer in cleaning the city Museum housed at the Heritage Park’s historic B & O Depot building.

Carol also reported that the County Commission has approved the $1,000 Governor’s Community Participation Grant for 2013. As discussed and approved at an earlier meeting, the grant will be used toward digitizing the microfilm library owned and housed with the Roane County Historical Society. The microfilms will be sent to the Florida-based company for converting to digitized media.

Information and forms have been received for nomination of a 2013 “History Hero” as part of the annual History Day at the Legislature. This is held in conjunction with the WV Archives & History Commission. After discussion the society decided to forego the nomination this year.

New Business:

Mike Hill suggested an idea of perhaps the society working on a book about early pioneer settler families of Spring Creek, Roane County. His suggestion was to use maps and/or surveys showing settlement of the different families and histories about those families. The Adam Hodam journal and other documents would be good source materials. Item tabled for further discussion.


Program:

Special thanks to Carol Board-Westfall who led discussion about the use of D.N.A. in family genealogy research. She was excited to report that her D.N.A. results through Ancestry.com’s program revealed that her ancestors were 96% Central European. An oral saliva swab is taken and studied, revealing shared D.N.A. characteristics to one’s ancestors and others sharing the same characteristics. Ancestry then makes available surnames of those matching that D.N.A.

The next meeting of the R.C.H.S. is scheduled for THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 2012 at 7 p.m. at the Roane County Library. Each person is asked to bring a sampling of Christmas goodies to share as refreshments. THIS WILL BE THE LAST MEETING FOR 2012. Questions and/or comments may be directed to Linda Liss, Corresponding Secretary, at WVRoots@aol.com

The Roane County Historical Society met Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 7 p.m. at the Roane County Library. There were fourteen members and two visitors present.
President, Rick Greathouse, called the meeting to order, and welcomed members & visitors. Johanna Nutter led the opening prayer and the pledge to the flag was recited by all.
In the absence of the Recording Secretary, the minutes from the September meeting were read by Linda Liss, Corresponding Sect’y. The minutes were approved as read.
Carol Board-Westfall gave the Treasurer’s report reflecting a balance of $18,578.66
Linda reported that she had responded to inquiries where needed and reported that current membership stands at 210. Eighteen members still have not paid dues for the 2012-13 fiscal year. All were sent emails or a reminder postcards.
Two pieces of correspondence rec’d by Carol B-W. – She will follow-up on these.
1. Letter from James Guy Hudkins regarding a portrait of and doctor bag belonging to his grandfather, Byron Jonah Hudkins. At a future time he would like to make a gift of these items to the society if interested.
2. U. S. Postal Service – letter regarding use of automated bar-code on bulk mailings.

Old Business:
1. Several bags of non-perishable foods were bought to be donated to the local food pantry.
2. Possible project to help clean & maintain the Heritage Park Depot Museum was discussed. Carol B-W will talk with Teresa Parker, Museum caretaker and the City of Spencer officials regarding the building and report back at a future meeting.
3. Sound system for use at society meetings: Johanna Nutter reported that Susan Tucker was working on this, but had nothing new to report from Susan at this time.
4. Linda Liss reported that she had talked with Susan Gerstell and Rebecca Lockhart, Counselors at R.C.H. School, and presented the guidelines and firmed up dates to proceed with presenting a $750 scholarship to a 2013 graduating senior who writes the best family history/ genealogical type essay.

Program:
Long-time Society member, Mike Hill, made an interesting & well-planned presentation about focusing on “family genealogy.” His purpose was to motivate and get members interested in discussing their ancestors and family surnames at the different society meetings as part of the society’s regular programming. He is looking to do something, structurally, that will enhance today’s technology-based family research. He distributed the Bonnett/Meadows Pedigree Chart (his wife’s ancestors) which generated discussion among others present who are researching or have ancestors of the same families.

The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m., with a variety of delicious refreshments being served by Shirley Hill.

The next meeting will be held on the 3rd Thursday of November which is November 15th. The program will involve a presentation on use of D.N.A. in forming ancestral connections. Melissa Swisher and Carol Board-Westfall will lead the discussion.

In attendance were: Carol Board-Westfall, Shirley and Mike Hill, Linda Cottrell Liss, Hazel E.C. Gandee, Rick Greathouse, Peggy L. Starcher, Phyllis Counts, Jerry Morgan, Reva Paxton, Johanna Nutter, Betty Moore, Melissa Swisher, Paul Hughes and guests, Judy Hildreth and Bobby Skinner.