I believe it is sort of fraternity as described in Wikipedia: Purgatorial societies are Roman Catholic Church associations or confraternities which aim to assist souls in purgatory reach heaven. The Catholic doctrine concerning purgatory, the condition of the poor souls after death (particular judgment), the communion of saints, and the satisfactory value of our good works form the basis of these associations. In the modern Church this role is fulfilled by the Purgatorian Archconfraternity which is run under the auspices of the Transalpine Redemptorists. Sent from my iPhone On Oct 4, 2012, at 8:16 PM, Kristine White <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Kay, > T'm pretty sure that C King is my great great grandfather Christopher King from Stow Ave. I think his obit mentions the Happy Death Society which seemed odd to me when I read it. I wonder if it was a precursor of the Knights of Columbus. > Kris White > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Kay Brearton <[email protected]> > To: ny-troy-irish-gensoc <[email protected]> > Sent: Thu, Oct 4, 2012 2:13 pm > Subject: [NY-TROY-IRISH-GENSOC] Information - St. Michael Archangel, Troy NY > > > There is a Meneely bell outside St. Michael Archangel Church in North Greenbush. > It was one of the few items that survived the fire in the old Church that was > originally located on Stow Avenue in South Troy. > > I noticed that the bell was inscribed and wrote down the information in the > event a name might be of interest to someone. The bell was dedicated in 1878 by > the Happy Death Society. The following names are etched on the bell: > > John Sweeney D. Curtin > Thomas Kernan J. Healy > Michael Maloney J. Ryan > John Carr P. Brady > C. King J. E. Ryan > Edmond Staunton J. Gallagher > John Fitzgibbon P. Kennedy > > > > ===NY-IRISH-GENSOC Mailing List=== > Time for Society Members to pay up their **2012 Dues**. See the Website for > details: > Troy Irish Genealogy Society > www.rootsweb.com/~nytigs/ > Click ON - "JOIN TIGS NOW!" to get form. > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of > the message > > > ===NY-IRISH-GENSOC Mailing List=== > Time for Society Members to pay up their **2012 Dues**. See the Website for details: > Troy Irish Genealogy Society > www.rootsweb.com/~nytigs/ > Click ON - "JOIN TIGS NOW!" to get form. > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message