Dear Folks, I had an appointment up at the VA hospital in Buffalo this afternoon and after the whole routine of being examined by ENT, having a chest X-Ray and then waiting for my prescription to be filled out, I was almost on my way to drive back home when I figured that I better go to the bathroom before I left the hospital. As I walked down the corridor and turned toward the Ladies Room I heard a voice behind me. "Vee?" I turned around and stared at the woman and instantly recognized her as Kathy. I said, "Kathy?" and at that instant we really recognized each other and exchanged a warm hug. And here's the thing of it. While I was on active duty at the Navy Recruiting District Buffalo Headquarters in the mid 1970s to mid 1980s, Kathy worked there also as a Civil Servant. As a result we both suffered through the tyrannical atmosphere for over eight years. And if it weren't for our mutual sense of humor, we would never have survived those years. It's been almost 25 years since we've seen each other. Kathy has now been working at the VA Hospital in Buffalo for ages and she's counting the number of months (years) when she can retire. We stood in the corridor and tried to bring both of us up to date as to what's been happening to each of us over the years. I guess we exchanged the most dismal aspects of our lives since then but came to the conclusion that that's what life is all about. We're both still surviving and will continue to survive as long as the Lord wants us to. We gave each other a really warm hug when we parted both of us promised to pray for each other Now you don't often witness such a reunion in the Buffalo VA Hospital on a daily basis vee

Vee I don't know if the HPIIID is any more current than my HP DeskJet 712C that's now working smoothly again. The HPIIID is a laser printer that HP slipped up and built to tank or battleship standards. Anything after that went downhill. I haven't seen any of their deskjets that are worth bringing home unless HP compensates in a generous manner. Like lifetime no limit VISA cards that they make the payments. The most important specification for printers is weight. The more weight the more better. If you don't have to strain to pick it up it is junk. Bob AZ

I was kinda of curious about looking on Ebay for genealogy items, after it was mentioned here on the list. So, noisy me looks on ebay. I couldn't believe all the things they have on there. Someone asked what link do you go on to look at these things, well here's where you go. Go to ebay.com at the top of the page click on search, when search page comes up, click search for stores. Type in Genealogy References and More. It's amazing at the prices on some of these items. I saw some New York references. Just thought I'd add this, since someone asked how to get on this page. Janey

Vee: Thank you!! Kim ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vee L. Housman" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 4:08 PM Subject: Re: [FOLKS] Town Historian for Town of Pendleton > Kim, > > The Town of Pendleton Historian is: > > Beny Sobczyk > 5201 N. Tonawanda Creek Rd. > North Tonawanda, NY 14120 > (716) 692-3257 > > vee

As for Ebay, I just put "lewiston" in the search box. About four pages of results come up, mostly for Lewiston, Maine. I took a look last night, but other than a few early 1900's postcards (which may be reproductions) there was nothing really interesting. I can keep my eyes open, if any other listmembers are interested in such things. --- RSW Dreaming of 1810 when wild wolves roamed the Ridge.

Kim, The Town of Pendleton Historian is: Beny Sobczyk 5201 N. Tonawanda Creek Rd. North Tonawanda, NY 14120 (716) 692-3257 vee ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kim & Mike Paul" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 4:45 PM Subject: [FOLKS] Town Historian for Town of Pendleton > Vee: > > Would you happen to know of a town historian for the Town of Pendleton, in Niagara Co.? My Clickner family comes from there. > > Kim > >

Vee: Would you happen to know of a town historian for the Town of Pendleton, in Niagara Co.? My Clickner family comes from there. Kim

Raymond & Vee and all: I agree pretty much with Raymond & Vee. I rarely to go Ebay myself, I would never be able to afford the high bids on some of those items. I am so fortunate to have what I do have and I don't mind sharing. I noticed they do the same thing with photographs as well as Bibles. I am fortunate to have two family Bibles, one of our Bowen line, and the other of our Roberts line, which hails from Cortland Co., NY. I had the Bible pages photocopied so I could share with other family members, the Bibles were too big to scan on my home scanner. Kim

Vee, thanks for the address. Everything is there - names, towns, and villages. This sharing of info is such a blessing. Jo in Michigan ----- Original Message ----- From: "Vee L. Housman" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, March 29, 2004 9:59 PM Subject: Re: [FOLKS] Planning a NY State Historians' meeting > Jo suggested the following to the list , > > What a > > wonderful idea to get a list of all the names (apples ;-) and addresses > of > > the people attending so that those of us who are researching New York > State > > would have people to contact who might be in one of those little villages > or > > town where our ancestors lived. Do you think this would be possible. . . > . . What do you think? > > Jo, it's much more simple than what you suggested. Just check out the URL > http://www.tier.net/~aphnys/cohistorians.html which lists all of the > municipal historians in NY state. Granted, there are a couple of counties > where when you click on their links there's no web page found (Niagara Co. > included) but at least you'll have the snail mail address of the county > historian and you can go from there. In the case of Niagara Co., just ask > me. > > BTW, APHNYS stands for Association of Public Historians of New York State. > > Keep in mind that some local historians have little to no information on the > genealogy of the local families. Some are more concentrated on collecting > historic artifacts and researching the history of the town than the people. > So here's a few hints. > > Always enclose a SASE when you make a request of any of them. > > Tell them what surname(s) (but not ALL of them) you're researching and a > brief indication of when your family lived in that area. > > Request that he/she refer you to the office or society most likely to be > able to help you in your research. > > Don't expect an overnight response. > > P.S. Jo, keep up the important work of gathering together as much vital > information from the churches in your county. I know that it's hard work to > tackle such an important project but from experience I know the satisfaction > when you eventually see the end results. > vee > > >

Raymond, where do you go on EBay to pick up cards like that? Jo in Michigan ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 12:51 AM Subject: [FOLKS] Just venting a bit > Why oh why doesn't the Town of Lewiston have somebody like Vee? > > I'm not complaining about the wealth of messages pertaining to the Town > of Porter, but most of my family came from Lewiston and I have a special > fascination with that neck of the woods. There's a great deal of history > behind Lewiston, yet it appears to be suffering from neglect. I have yet > to come across any good source of information about the town: no books, > no web sites. Even the little museum is a disappointment. > > Just a thought: I browse through Ebay every few days, and quite often I > come across original letters or postcards written by Lewiston pioneers. > I've seen a couple dated from the very early 1800's. Somebody should be > snapping these things up and bringing them home to the town where they > belong. I wish I could do it myself, but I'm just barely making ends meet > at the moment. I don't have enough pennies to take on anything else. > > Are there any listmembers who have a passion for Lewiston the way our > friend Vee is gung-ho for Porter? > > --- Raymond Scott Woolson > "All roads lead me to the Ridge and the River" > >

I agree with Raymond and Vee. It's frustrating to find something on eBay that either belonged to an ancestor or was connected to the area where your ancestors lived, then see the price on it go sky-high. I saw a Rosenberger Fraktur offered on e-Bay and almost certain it was made by an ancestor of a member of our Rosenberger mail list, I emailed her to check on it. She discovered that it was woven by a gr-gr-aunt of hers. She bid on it but the price went way beyond her means. She was disappointed but she kindly wrote the person who purchased it to tell her about the person who made it. Faith

Kathy, How about putting the student nurse's journal on here in installments like Kim did with Phoebe's diary? hint, hint. Ruth At 2:57 AM -0500 3/30/04, [email protected] wrote: >Hi Vee - > I agree in principal that it's awful to see Bibles and letters going on >ebay for huge prices, but... if not for ebay, many of these things would >sit in >someone's attic, or worse, get thrown out. > I bought a centennial book for the town in PA. that my dad was from. >Along with it, they sent a journal of a student nurse from the same town. She >wrote it in 1922, and it's very eye opening as to schooling they got back >then. >(makes you SO glad you live now instead of then) I've been trying to find >someone from the family, to get it back to them. So far, I only got in >contact with >another woman who has her (the nurse's) family pictures. She also is trying >to find the family. But, if the seller hadn't put it on ebay, who knows where >it would have landed. The seller obviously didn't think much of it, to toss it >in with the centennial book. And in a lot of cases, it's the buyers that make >the price. I had fought (bid against) someone for 2 yearbooks from that town. >He took both of them beyond what I would pay. The only reason I got the >centennial book from him, I'm up at weird hours, and that's when the >auction went. > But, that's why they can go so high in price. >Kathy -- Ruth Barton [email protected] Dummerston, VT

Hi Vee - I agree in principal that it's awful to see Bibles and letters going on ebay for huge prices, but... if not for ebay, many of these things would sit in someone's attic, or worse, get thrown out. I bought a centennial book for the town in PA. that my dad was from. Along with it, they sent a journal of a student nurse from the same town. She wrote it in 1922, and it's very eye opening as to schooling they got back then. (makes you SO glad you live now instead of then) I've been trying to find someone from the family, to get it back to them. So far, I only got in contact with another woman who has her (the nurse's) family pictures. She also is trying to find the family. But, if the seller hadn't put it on ebay, who knows where it would have landed. The seller obviously didn't think much of it, to toss it in with the centennial book. And in a lot of cases, it's the buyers that make the price. I had fought (bid against) someone for 2 yearbooks from that town. He took both of them beyond what I would pay. The only reason I got the centennial book from him, I'm up at weird hours, and that's when the auction went. But, that's why they can go so high in price. Kathy

Oh Dear Raymond, I can appreciate how frustrated you are regarding the lack of very unique sources pertaining to the history of Lewiston. But even the most dedicated Lewiston researcher, Alan Johnson (who is now legally blind), or any of the other historical society members would even consider going on Ebay and paying prices that are asked for documents that are important to the town's history. There are very few (if any) historical societies whose treasuries could afford it. I guess all of our societies have to be content with what sources are donated to us or what sources we can manage to dig up ourselves. I personally am appalled when someone holds out a precious historical document for ransom and the highest bidder gets to keep it for whatever purpose he has in mind. A really good guy who obviously knows the historical value of the document would just donate it or even a Xerox copy of it to the historical society. So there. I just vented myself! vee ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 12:51 AM Subject: [FOLKS] Just venting a bit > Why oh why doesn't the Town of Lewiston have somebody like Vee? > > I'm not complaining about the wealth of messages pertaining to the Town > of Porter, but most of my family came from Lewiston and I have a special > fascination with that neck of the woods. There's a great deal of history > behind Lewiston, yet it appears to be suffering from neglect. I have yet > to come across any good source of information about the town: no books, > no web sites. Even the little museum is a disappointment. > > Just a thought: I browse through Ebay every few days, and quite often I > come across original letters or postcards written by Lewiston pioneers. > I've seen a couple dated from the very early 1800's. Somebody should be > snapping these things up and bringing them home to the town where they > belong. I wish I could do it myself, but I'm just barely making ends meet > at the moment. I don't have enough pennies to take on anything else. > > Are there any listmembers who have a passion for Lewiston the way our > friend Vee is gung-ho for Porter? > > --- Raymond Scott Woolson > "All roads lead me to the Ridge and the River" > >

Dear Bob, Regarding my attending such a state-wide meeting around here, in the first place it isn't a "usual annual meeting." To my knowledge it's the first of its kind. Regarding the Town of Porter not reimbursing me for out-of-pocket expenses including mileage to attend the occasion, all that I need to do is to submit a voucher and I'll receive a check in full. I swear I could spend as much money as my historian's budget could handle and they wouldn't blink an eye. In regard to what the Town expects of me, it was pretty much agreed between us in the first place that if I'm unable or unwilling to attend meetings because of my physical disabillities, that's OK with them. In the meantime they're thrilled with the important work that I continue to do. vee ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, March 30, 2004 12:34 AM Subject: [FOLKS] Re: NYNIAGAR-FOLKS-D Digest V04 #70 > Vee > > <<Now how could I not attend such a prestigious state-wide meeting of > historians just "down the road?">> > > If your leaders don't expect your attendance at the probably usual annual > meeting they are stupid or cheap. Go and send them the bill. > Bob AZ > >

Why oh why doesn't the Town of Lewiston have somebody like Vee? I'm not complaining about the wealth of messages pertaining to the Town of Porter, but most of my family came from Lewiston and I have a special fascination with that neck of the woods. There's a great deal of history behind Lewiston, yet it appears to be suffering from neglect. I have yet to come across any good source of information about the town: no books, no web sites. Even the little museum is a disappointment. Just a thought: I browse through Ebay every few days, and quite often I come across original letters or postcards written by Lewiston pioneers. I've seen a couple dated from the very early 1800's. Somebody should be snapping these things up and bringing them home to the town where they belong. I wish I could do it myself, but I'm just barely making ends meet at the moment. I don't have enough pennies to take on anything else. Are there any listmembers who have a passion for Lewiston the way our friend Vee is gung-ho for Porter? --- Raymond Scott Woolson "All roads lead me to the Ridge and the River"

Dear Folks, Note: this is another of my long-winded late night ramblings. A couple of weeks ago I realized that I RARELY used my "old" Dell desktop computer any more and that virtually all of my computing has been done on my much newer Toshiba laptop for well over a year. Therefore, I bit the bullet, stripped all of my personal data from the hard drive and gave the computer to my grandniece Amanda and her husband Jeff. They were thrilled inasmuch as they didn't have a computer. In addition it impressed them that it has over 1 gigabyte of storage. After I got used to the thrill of the extra desktop space that I had after it was gone, I was a happy camper until my laptop acted up so badly that I had to use my Recovery Disk to get it running properly again. That meant that I had to reinstall all of my favorite programs back into it. But what I hadn't realized is that I had never originally installed my digital camera into my laptop because the camera worked perfectly well with the desk top. And that's when I was brought up short. Not only couldn't I install the camera into my newer version of Windows XP, even if I could, the camera's cable connection to the computer needed a serial port and my laptop has only USB ports. I was "devastated." That cheap Polaroid digital camera ($138.00 on sale at Wal-Mart in late 1999) was the perfect camera for me. Just enough bells and whistles but no more than I really could or wanted to use. Sadly, I knew that I couldn't use it any more and so I asked my niece Deb if she wanted it or could use it. Boy, COULD she? She was thrilled to death. As a result about a week later Deb stopped over to my house with a "present" for me. While she and her husband Jack were on a long distance truck run Deb window-shopped through a truck stop's store. That's when she spied a teeny tiny digital camera for less than $40.00!! Because she was so thrilled with the one I had given her she wanted me to at least have another one. I had told her previously that I had thought long and hard about spending the money to buy another digital camera but decided I really have very little use for one anymore. Let's face it, I can't take pictures of tombstones in cemeteries any longer because I'd have to stoop down to take them. Now, I have no trouble stooping down, but it's the trying to get back up on my feet again that causes a serious problem! :-) The teeny tiny camera she bought me is a SiPix Style Cam Blink II that has "streaming snapshot" and I have an idea I can do something along the lines of videos and other fancy stuff that I don't have a clue what they're even talking about. The size of the camera is about 2" square by 1/4 inch thick and it comes with a neck strap to hang it from. It occurred to me that I could play "I Spy" with it and keep it tucked into my cleavage for just the right critical picture-taking moment! The bottom line is that I was able to install the program into my laptop, I was able to get the camera to work, I was able to take a few obscure pictures around the house this evening but they're not the best quality. Nonetheless, the lighting wasn't the best either. So I guess it's a keeper. BTW, it's power operated off a simple AAA alkaline battery and it has enough memory to store 300 pictures at low resolution! So overall, I'm certain that on occasion I'll find good uses for it. If nothing else, I might get into the spy business and add a bit of spice into my life. Let's face it, I REALLY need to get out of the house more often! :-) vee

Vee <<Now how could I not attend such a prestigious state-wide meeting of historians just "down the road?">> If your leaders don't expect your attendance at the probably usual annual meeting they are stupid or cheap. Go and send them the bill. Bob AZ

Vee That surprised me inasmuch as I subscribe to the NYS historians mailing list and no mention has been made so far as to all of us meeting here. There should be an executive circulation about things like this. There usually is among groups like this. Perhaps it requires a special membership or registration. And probably a restricted circulation. I know there is such a thing for the owners or leaders of the Rootsweb groups that would include you. Contact the leader of the NYS historians mailing list. Bob AZ

Jo suggested the following to the list , What a > wonderful idea to get a list of all the names (apples ;-) and addresses of > the people attending so that those of us who are researching New York State > would have people to contact who might be in one of those little villages or > town where our ancestors lived. Do you think this would be possible. . . . . What do you think? Jo, it's much more simple than what you suggested. Just check out the URL http://www.tier.net/~aphnys/cohistorians.html which lists all of the municipal historians in NY state. Granted, there are a couple of counties where when you click on their links there's no web page found (Niagara Co. included) but at least you'll have the snail mail address of the county historian and you can go from there. In the case of Niagara Co., just ask me. BTW, APHNYS stands for Association of Public Historians of New York State. Keep in mind that some local historians have little to no information on the genealogy of the local families. Some are more concentrated on collecting historic artifacts and researching the history of the town than the people. So here's a few hints. Always enclose a SASE when you make a request of any of them. Tell them what surname(s) (but not ALL of them) you're researching and a brief indication of when your family lived in that area. Request that he/she refer you to the office or society most likely to be able to help you in your research. Don't expect an overnight response. P.S. Jo, keep up the important work of gathering together as much vital information from the churches in your county. I know that it's hard work to tackle such an important project but from experience I know the satisfaction when you eventually see the end results. vee