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Archiver > NY-TROY-IRISH-GENSOC > 2008-07 > 1215697813


From: "Rebecca Rector" <>
Subject: Re: [NY-TROY-IRISH-GENSOC] TIGS Data Base/Church Memorials
Date: Thu, 10 Jul 2008 09:50:13 -0400
References: <bdd.3024e0f8.35a3f699@aol.com><1095C4F41AF448DD8E4EBB6FBF5FD17E@cohoesfallsPC>


Bill - I think this is a great idea! And once we finish the Catholic
Churches, it would be nice to do some of the Protestant Churches also. Many
Irish attended Protestant churches in the area. I have been computerizing
the vital records from North 2nd St. Methodist Church (at Historical
Society), and I'm seeing more and more Irish names, especially in the later
records (1880's).
There also may be other buildings, such as chapels etc. in the area that
would have memorial windows. I am currently researching a family who had a
memorial window at RPI, but sadly, the building burned in 1904. I wonder
what happened to those windows??
Rebecca (count me in for helping with this project!)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lynn" <>
To: <>
Sent: Tuesday, July 08, 2008 11:02 AM
Subject: Re: [NY-TROY-IRISH-GENSOC] TIGS Data Base/Church Memorials


> You know that when the St. John's (Episcopal) in Cohoes closed and moved
> to
> Vliet St.,the city of Cohoes took over the old church and now uses the
> building as the Cohoes Library. I really commend the politicians who made
> that possible. They were (of course) anxious to remove any signs of
> Christian habitation and in doing so donated four panels of stained glass
> windows to the new church. They did retain the Tiffany windows for obvious
> reasons. The new church paid to have the windows restored and mounted in
> the new church. When researching the windows for insurance purposes we
> discovered that they were the work of a man who survived the holocaust (he
> was in a concentration camp)and immigrated to this country where he
> eventually was commissioned to do windows in the National Cathedral in
> Washington. That certainly upped the premium!
>
> My point is this; that I have always felt a sense of sadness and loss when
> I
> see windows donated by people to honor their loved ones dumped along with
> the churches that housed them. I think it would be great to try and get
> some
> laws on the books to insure that they do not just crumble and fall apart.
> Certainly there are new churches that might want to inherit them and even
> pay for the restoration and installation in their churches. I was recently
> in St. Joseph's church (in Albany now in the process of restoration) for a
> concert and it was sad to see how the windows had deteriorated and how
> much
> it was going to cost to have them restored. Is there any organization that
> concerns itself with preserving the donated windows? Even if they just
> took
> pictures and recorded the information it would be a way of honoring the
> families who often sacrificed to donate a window in memory of their loved
> ones. I think they thought it would a memorial for ever.
>
> Another point...someone from Heritage Hunters told me that someone was
> transcribing the records from St. Particks church in Cohoes (closed by the
> Diocese quite a while ago) but I have not been able to track that down.
> The
> Catholic Diocese should be made aware that people are interested in
> transcribing records of churches that are closing. It drives me crazy when
> trying to get information and being told that the records were burned in a
> fire (like some of military records kept by the government and census
> records) or have been destroyed in some other kind of disaster. The more
> places the records are kept the safer our heritage.
> Anyway just a few thoughts.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <>
> To: <>
> Sent: Monday, July 07, 2008 6:45 PM
> Subject: Re: [NY-TROY-IRISH-GENSOC] TIGS Data Base/Church Memorials
>
>
>> Bill
>> I think this is a fabulous idea When reading the story about St
>> Lawrence's
>> church It Made me think... It would be a great idea to take photo's
>> of
>> the Churches and other historical buildings to help preserve the memory
>> of
>> them I remember St Lawrence's was a beautiful Church with Wooden
>> Altars
>> Pat
>>
>>
>> In a message dated 7/7/2008 11:35:45 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
>> writes:
>>
>> As a genealogy researcher we think of birth dates, marriage dates, death
>> dates, as the bare bones of an ancestors record. What the individual
>> did
>> in
>> life, what were the accomplishments, what sacrifices were made, I think
>> add
>> "flesh" to that ancestors bones and give us a better picture of that
>> individual
>> we never knew.
>>
>> If you look at the various TIGS projects on line, you will see that
>> approximately seven of the current TIGS projects reflect this thinking.
>> For example
>> with the Alderman data base, we can observe that our ancestor was a
>> Alderman
>> year in and year out in a particular ward in Troy or with the Bank
>> Officers
>> data base we can see a lifetime of service in a particular Troy Bank.
>> These
>> little details of a persons life add some "flesh" to that persons
>> history.
>>
>> So along this line it would be interesting to have some list discussion
>> on
>> the following idea for a new TIGS project.
>>
>> Last year while visiting a son in Ridgefield, Conn., I attended mass at
>> St.
>> Mary's Church and spent some time reading the various inscriptions on
>> the
>> stained glass windows. Lots of information on these memorials. Family
>> names,
>> individual names of family members, some dates of death, etc. I thought
>> then
>> that this would be an interesting idea for a TIGS data base on the
>> various
>> memorials in Troy area churches. If your families ancestors scrimped
>> and
>> saved
>> to donate a church memorial which carries the family name wouldn't; you
>> like
>> to know about it? Does this information add "flesh" to that ancestors
>> bones?
>>
>> As many list members know, over the years Troy has seen Holy Trinity
>> Church,
>> St. Lawrence's Church and St. Jean deBaptiste Church all closed. If
>> there
>> were family names on memorials in these churches are they still there or
>> have they been removed? I know the names from my family's church, St.
>> Michael's, are long gone as the original building was destroyed by fire
>> in
>> the 1970's.
>>
>> With the recent announcement of the possible closing of the following
>> churches in Troy, how many more memorials with our ancestors names will
>> be lost?
>>
>> List of Troy Churches From The Albany Times Union:
>>
>> St. Mary's Church
>> St. Paul the Apostle Church
>> St. Peter's Church
>> St. Francis de Sales Church
>> St. William's Church
>> St. Patrick's Church
>>
>> So, if any list members have any thoughts on this idea, pro or con, they
>> are
>> invited to post their comments to the list.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Bill McGrath
>> TIGS Project Coordinator
>> Clifton Park, NY
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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