Committee records, 2012

Historian's Report for 2011

The following report from TSFA historian Thurmon King was submitted on 6 January 2012.

It is past the time I should have given the Sackett Historian's Report for the past year.

One major change came early in 2011. John Lisle had been donating space on his server for the Sackett Database. The growth in the size of the database was causing problems with his server. He suggested that he could supply space on another server if TSFA would secure a domain name and purchase the TNG software and maintain the website. The TSFA Committee decided that the site maintained by Chris Sackett is the official TSFA website and another site is not necessary. Therefore, the only site where the Sackett Database is being updated is sackettfamily.info.

I have really appreciated John donating his time and server space to host the database as long as he did. During that time much of the growth in the database came through visitors to that site. Thank you, John.

During 2011, Kari Roehl found it necessary to concentrate on other concerns. Thus, I suffered the loss of my Assistant Historian and we lost, for the present time, the services of an effective and active researcher. Of course, she still puts in her "2 cents worth" now and then. And I can't find words adequate to express my appreciation for all the great work she has done for us. … And look forward to the time she has more free time.

Growth in the Sackett Database between 21 Dec 2010 and 6 Jan 2012:
Individuals: 31,289 to 36,666
Families: 10,985 to 13,079
Surnames: 4,947 to 5,591
Sources: 542 to 736

Part of the increase in numbers came through entering the individuals from Chris Sackett's extracts from Jacobus' "Families of Ancient New Haven" and sourcing all the entries. While making those entries, Chris and I concluded that there was no record for W# 75-Richard Sackett, m. Margery L. Sleade in the New Haven Records. Therefore, we consider him as an orphan. A cousin of a cousin of Nancy Siders, former President of TSFA and mailing list Administrator, participated in the DNA project and his DNA did not match that of the descendants of Simon. And it did not match that of the Vermont Sacketts, now shown to match that of the New Haven Sacketts. So, we are now left with the mystery as to where Richard Sackett of Dutchess Co., NY connects.

While entering the Jacobus extracts, I also entered the information from Find A Grave memorials that have been created for many of those individuals by Nareen and others. Speaking of the Find A Grave memorials, I have been going back through the notes in the Sackett Database and adding HTML code to the URLs for the memorials I have there. By doing this, links are created to the Find A Grave memorials when Chris uploads the database to the TSFA site.

Among others, Alvin Oglesby has been active in creating memorials for Sacketts and Sackett descendants and linking them. Alvin has been sending me messages with that information as well as correcting information I had/have in the database. I still have over 80 messages from Alvin, that have not been processed. As the linking, on Find A Grave, continues, the memorials there are becoming a huge online family tree.

On the subject of messages that have not been processed, I have quite a number from Ted Smith that I am slowly getting entered into the database. Added to those, Ted sent a file to Chris and myself that contains extracts of all the entries in the California Death Index 1940–1997 which have the Sackett/Sacket surname for the individual, mother's maiden name, or father's surname. Chris will probably have that information posted on the TSFA site before I manage to go through the file and get the information entered into the database.

I would suggest that members of the SACKETT mailing list do as Ted Smith did recently when he posted his research results on the mailing list instead of sending them directly to me. That way, the information will be archived in the mailing list archives and searchable via search engines. This would be better than the messages being archived in my email archive.

This past year, I finished the HTML version of Andrew Paul Sackett's "Ancestors and Descendants of Frederick Plummer Sackett" and Chris has uploaded it to the TSFA site. Before his death, Andrew P. Sackett sent me a copy of his book with a letter which said: "I would be pleased for you to use any and all material from my book." Although our research and recent developments in the DNA project indicate that Andrew P. Sackett settled on the wrong ancestor for Aaron Sackett; the information for the descendants of Aaron contained in the book is a valuable resource.

Another project was transcribing the 1899–1900 journal of Laura Miller and uploading the HTML file containing it and links to the images. Of course, information in the journal led to more research to identify some of those mentioned in it. While searching for one of the individuals mentioned in the journal, I ran across a Franklin "Frank" Sackett near Pittsburgh, PA who was born in Indiana. This sent me off on on another chase.

That chase solved the problem I had with an orphan, I#32852-Richard Sackett. The problem was solved through copies of documents from Allegany County, PA that John Sackett [Member # 138] mailed to me back in 2001. From those documents I learned that he was mentioned as Richard Sackett, "somewhere in Indiana", a son of W#841-Col. Caleb H. Sackett, of whom Weygant said: "So far as known to the compiler of this volume he was unmarried." - [Weygant, p. 191] From this, I found Richard and his household in Candor, Tioga Co., NY, where Col. Caleb H. Sackett resided at that time.

Of course, in addition to working on those projects in my "spare time"; I have worked with several who have contacted me through searches which produced "hits" on the sites where the database is found. Working with the new contacts, we have extended several descendant lines.

I could go on and on but …

Thurmon King
Sackett Historian for TSFA



Registrar & List Administrator's report

We have enrolled 22 new members since mid-July, when I started as registrar. Each query from a potential member receives membership information, and they are signed up when they specifically request to join. The latest enrollment (Jan 7th) was #344.

There have been four deaths that I know of, and there are a couple of gaps in the earlier numbers, so our current membership is around 340. Not all of those are subscribed to the mailing list, however; our membership record shows about 125 nonsubscribers. It is our current practice to enroll new members on the mailing list automatically. A few of them have asked to be removed, but many may never have been on the list.

The administration of the mailing list involves weeding out inappropriate messages from nonmembers, often several per day. Very few (perhaps a half dozen in a year) are deemed to be of possible interest to our members, and those few are forwarded to the list. The others comprise an amazing array of scams, marketing attempts, and offers of "companionship." The Rootsweb filters are very effective in spotting nonmember mail and prohibiting further contacts, but the supply of such messages appears inexhaustible!

Jean Carpenter
TSFA Registrar/List Administrator
9 January 2012



Results of the Committee elections held in April 2012

The Committee approved on 5 May 2012 an announcement of the results of the elections held in April.

Voting in this year's election of members to TSFA Committee closed on 30 April. The election was for up to five members, four to form the class of 2015, and one to fill a vacancy in the Class of 2014. In the event, three candidates were nominated for election. The election was therefore uncontested and the candidates, Don Hertzler, Sharon Powalka, and Thurmon King, were declared elected to serve for three years (class of 2015). Election of these candidates was endorsed by the votes of 26 members of the Association.

The Committee now comprises:
Class of 2013: Glenna Hertzler, Liesa Robarge, Darlene Sackett, Michael Trickey;
Class of 2014: Debbie Barbee, Jean Carpenter, and Ted Smith;
Class of 2015: Don Hertzler, Sharon Powalka, and Thurmon King.



Resolutions of the Committee of The Sackett Family Association approved on 18 May 2012

It was resolved that the following be elected to serve as officers of the Committee for the ensuing year: Debbie Barbee, president; Ted Smith, vice president; Glenna Hertzler, secretary; and Jean Carpenter, registrar.



Minutes of the Sackett Family Association meeting held at Westfield, Massachusetts, 22 September 2012

The meeting was called to order at 9:00 a.m. by President Debbie Barbee. She welcomed all present and thanked Sharon Powalka for her work and partnership in planning and carrying out the reunion. Approximately 20 members were present.

Registrar's Report
Jean Carpenter (Virginia) reported that the Association has 380 members.

Historian's Report
Thurmon King (Washington) reported that he is working steadily on Find A Grave listings of Sacketts. He also stated that database additions have been picking up recently.

Webmaster's Report
Chris Sackett (England) reported that he has two regular targets: (1) add new content every month, such as a small database, which he finds through internet searching. He believes he's just scratching the surface in this area. (2) get the new members' pages up each month. In this case if a new member does not know his/her ancestry, Chris and Thurmon help to research it. They have decided that the scope of the website would include all Sackett descendants, not just those with the Sackett name.
Chris develops the website using The Master Genealogist (TMG) and Second Site software. He engages in three activities daily: (1) internet research (2) recording new information into his database and (3) maintaining and updating the website.
KUDOS!! The website received The Guild of One-Name Studies Award of Excellence 2012. An average of 100,000–120,000 pages are viewed each month. New members are very positive about the website, finding it easy to peruse and to gain new information. Fortunately for all of us Chris really enjoys the job of webmaster.
Thurmon King's database has 37,000 names in it, some of which are not published for privacy reasons. Thurmon and Chris do not publish people born after 1920. After a discussion of raising that date to 1930 the group decided by consensus to leave it as is.

Old Business

1. Simon Sackett Plaque
The Cambridge Old Burying Ground where Simon Sackett is buried has no marker for him. At the Association meeting in Cambridge it was suggested that our group create a plaque for him. Tom Smith was working on it when he died. Lester Sackett talked with Charles M. Sullivan, Director of the Cambridge Historical Commission and contributed the following information via email:

The Cambridge Historical Commission has responsibility for the Burying Ground, and the Cambridge Dept. of Public Works (DPW) maintains it. The Commission has to approve any "changes" to the cemetery. Given the historical significance of Simon, Mr. Sullivan thought something might be approved. In particular laying an engraved stone in the (now brick) pathway. Outside of the pathway would not be accepted since there are unknown numbers of unmarked graves throughout. Also there is no structure upon which a plaque could be attached. He suggested a 12 by 10 inch by several inches deep block, which would be inserted in the ground in the pathway. This would be similar to the type of cemetery stone which is flush to the ground. There is a precedent for adding such a stone. Near the entrance is a stone about 24 by 24 inches with an inscription recognizing a pastor at the adjacent church a few decades ago.
The pathway near the entrance is 36 in. wide, and the pathway further from the entrance is 24 in. wide. The upper limit to a Simon stone would probably be 24 by 24. An application must be made and the proposal approved.

Concerning costs Janice Sackett of New Hampshire stated that her historical society is paying $120 for a 2x2 block of granite and $3/letter. That seems doable for the Association. The consensus was to fund it from commitments by the membership for a specific contribution, e.g. $30.00. Installation might be provided by the Dept of Public Works. Jean Carpenter offered to work on the project. Terry Sackett (New Hampshire) offered to price granite. Patty Sackett Chrisman (New Jersey) offered to write the application to the cemetery.

2. Simon Sackett Plaque in St. Peter's Village Church Cemetery, England
The consensus was to accomplish the plaque in the United States first and then consider one for England.

New Business

1. Next Reunion
Suggestions were made for Cambridge, Massachusetts, Sackets Harbor New York, New Haven, Connecticut (especially for the John line), Ohio and California. Thurmon pointed out that the original intention was to rotate around the country so that more members could attend. The consensus was that Debbie send out an email to the membership asking if members would prefer Ohio or Sackets Harbor and if anyone would organize a reunion at one of those places. If there is no response, the group leans toward going to Salt Lake City.

2. Cemetery Restoration
Debbie inquired about interest in restoring Sackett graves. She will put out the idea on the web. Cliff McCarthy of Massachusetts moved that the Association facilitate and support individual restoration efforts. The motion was approved.

Committee Reports

1. Association Committee
The current committee officers are Deb Barbee, President, Ted Smith, Vice President, Glenna Hertzler, Secretary and Jean Carpenter, Registrar. The full committee is 14 people. The committee is active only if an issue arises. Chris Sackett stated that we need more people involved to make the association relevant.

2. Newspaper Project
This project is based upon the Library of Congress Chronicling America website and other websites with newspaper archives. Members are asked to adopt a state and transcribe relevant articles. The project is idle now, but 1,246 articles have been transcribed. Chris will relaunch this "rediscovering history" project. Cliff McCarthy encouraged looking at (1) genealogy bank.com and (2) fultonhistory.com for a database of NY newspapers. Thurmon stated that Colorado and Oregon newspapers have been digitized.

General Discussion
All members are encouraged to regularly share their information. Chris stated that we will never be done. He wants to write a book on English Sacketts to parallel Weygant's book on the American Sacketts.

Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 10:50 after a lively discussion.

Anne Hastings Murray
Secretary pro tem



Report of the Westfield 2012 reunion convenors

After planning the Westfield reunion for 2 years and having it still fresh in our memories, we thought we would take this opportunity to write a hopefully helpful guide for anyone in the future who is going to be planning a Sackett Family reunion. This is only meant to be a guide as to the items that need to be considered for a reunion. Below is our blueprint.

Sharon & Deb, 26 October 2012

Planning a Reunion

LOCATION

Decide if the location of the reunion will be primarily for Sackett history or Sackett research. Are there any other genealogical research facilities, libraries, historical societies, or museums in the area that can assist with genealogical research? Are there Sackett sites in the area to visit?

DATE

The reunion has traditionally been held in July or September. As a note, regarding both the timing and the location, a reunion could be held prior to or after a genealogy convention which might be in the area, as happened in the case of the Cambridge, MA reunion.

CONVENORS

The two-person system worked very well for the Westfield Reunion.

One person living in the local area of any reunion is not a necessity, but is very helpful as that person will have local knowledge of the area and resources especially when that reunion relies heavily on Sackett sites. All decisions should be mutual, but the programs and logistics are best done locally. The registrations, money, and hard goods such as name badges and T-shirts can easily be done remotely. With the Westfield reunion, we made a conscious decision to collect the registrations in advance of the reunion so we wouldn't need to ask attendees for money during the reunion itself.

MEETING SITE

If you are planning to bring in speakers during the reunion, you will probably need a meeting room. That will add about $150/day. Hopefully the hotel where everyone is staying can accommodate a meeting room. If not, perhaps a local library, historical society, museum, etc. might be able to provide one.

As far as the guest rooms, you should hold a block of rooms until a certain date. This guarantees their availability for the reunion but you do not have to pay anything in advance to just hold the rooms.

REGISTRATION FEE

This is difficult to determine. Regarding the Westfield reunion, from the interest that was initially generated on our web site, it seemed there would be about 35 people. When we decided to go with the $50 fee, it was a best guess. Fortunately, the 20 people who actually registered were enough to cover our costs (conference room, badges, bags, speakers' dinners at the School Street Bistro and the Sackett Tavern owners' dinner gift card).

ACTIVITIES

The options available for activities at the Westfield reunion seemed to be well received. Presenting choices to the attendees is a good idea and they can decide what they are interested in doing. Referring back to the "Location" section in the first paragraph, are there any local genealogical research facilities, libraries, historical societies, or museums that can assist with genealogical research? Are there historical Sackett sites in the area to visit?

MEALS

Having meals each night on your own works best and then holding a group dinner the last evening. Ensure that you book the restaurant for this dinner far enough in advance as you need to consider other groups holding wedding rehearsal dinners, receptions, etc. The restaurant may require a deposit toward the dinner to hold the room for the event. That was the case with the Westfield Reunion at the School Street Bistro who required a $200.00 deposit which was paid to them in January when the room was booked for the dinner.

MONEY & READY CASH

As mentioned under "Meals", in the planning stages of a reunion, before the registration fee is even determined, and it may be unknown yet how many are attending for sure, you may find you need some money for, for instance, the deposit on the restaurant banquet room. This would be your own money and then, of course, you would be paid back through the registration fees. Therefore, it should be noted that having some "ready cash" of your own, perhaps $300.00 to $500.00, may be necessary.



Resolution of the Committee of The Sackett Family Association approved by email 28–30 October 2012

Following a proposal from the webmaster, Chris Sackett, to discontinue the Members' Only area of the Association website, it was resolved that Committee records may be posted in the public area of the website.