Madison County Genealogical Society
Minutes of the Meeting - August 11, 2011
The August 2011
meeting of the Madison County Genealogical Society was held at the Madison
County Historical Society Archival Library on Thursday, August 11, at 7:00 pm.
President, Robert
Ridenour, called the meeting to order.
GIFT
MEMBERSHIPS AVAILABLE
Do you have a
family member that is interested in (or even obsessed with) genealogy? A
membership in the Madison County Genealogical Society would be a very
thoughtful gift. A gift card will be sent to the recipient of any gift
membership.
The following memberships are available:
Individual/Family Annual Membership $20.00
Patron Annual Membership $30.00
Life Membership $250.00
Contact our Secretary, Barbara Hitch, at racerbarb@aol.com,
about a gift membership.
August Meeting
On August 11, 2011,
the Madison County Genealogical Society met at the Madison County Historical
Society Archival Library to hear Mary Westerhold and Gary Forshaw give a
presentation titled Researching
Railroads in Madison County.
The first part of the presentation was about how to begin looking for
information and the types of information that the library holds.
When you go to the Madison County Archival Library to research railroads, you
should have a specific subject in mind. That way, you (or one of the library
assistants) can check the card file for that subject. The index card will
direct you to the documents pertaining to your subject.
The library holdings pertaining to railroads (and many other subjects) include
newspaper clipping, photographs, maps, books, scrapbooks, microfilm, atlases,
etc. Some of the maps and atlases show the rail lines and give the railroad
name at the time of the map printing.
Many books have been written about railroads. Because of the importance of the
railroads to Madison County, the Archival Library tries to keep up with all the
publications concerning railroads. If you are aware of a publication that the
Archival Library does not have, let them know and they will try to obtain it
for their collection.
Railroads were connected with coal mines, grain elevators, brick yards,
recreation, passenger transportation, and transportation of goods. If the
information you wish to find cannot be found directly, perhaps a round-about
way will lead you to it. Even floods and natural disaster are connected to the
railroads. Almost all the former locations of the railroads are now bike
trails. So they are still important as transportation and recreation.
Part of the presentation was the showing of old photos of railroads and
connected industries. This created much discussion and many comments of the
"Oh, I remember that." or "Where was that located?" type
from the audience. And other members of the audience usually had an answer or
response.
Mary asked the audience to consider sharing any information (books, photo,
memorabilia, etc.) that they might have with the Madison County Historical
Society Museum and Archival Library. Even though many do not think so,
everyone's life is part of history. Just think of all the different things that
have happened during your lifetime that have changed the world around you. You
are part of that history.
This interesting program attracted several individuals who had worked for the
railroad at one time, resulting in a larger than normal audience. This program
was well received and generated much discussion and a lengthy question and
answer session.
Our thanks to the Madison County Historical Society and Archival Library.