Summary of January’s meeting

Okmulgee County Genealogical Society
January 27, Meeting Summary

A new year has begun and the first meeting of the Okmulgee County
Genealogical Society was well attended where we welcomed our guest
speaker, John Phillips.

Mr. Phillips, a retired Professor from Oklahoma State University, gave
a very interesting presentation concerning information in Government
Archives relevant to Genealogists and history buffs alike. These
archives have been indexed and are continually being digitized with
more information becoming available to the public.

Several sources for books in print and digitized collections were
provided. A copy of the handout listing these sources is attached to
this email in PDF format. If you do not have access to a PDF reader
(such as the free Adobe Reader) contact Traci for a hard copy.

After the presentation, the meeting consisted primarily of procedural
discussions and information updates. Ideas were brought forth to help
speed-up the more mundane portions of the meeting allowing more time
for discussion of old and new business and exchange of information.

One of the things discussed was the possibility of getting magnetic
signs with our organizations’ name and logo. This would allow us to
enter vehicles in local parades drawing attention to our society.
Perhaps, throwing out candy during the Christmas parades or other such
activities. Barbara and Vickie volunteered to look into this. If you
have experience in purchasing magnetic signs please let us know.

Under the topics of updated information, it was pointed out that the
Okmulgee County Court Clerk’s office has, unfortunately, moved all of
the bound copies of the marriage records to long term storage and are
no longer available to the general public. This is sad news on
several levels. There is something to be said about examining a
100-year old piece of paper which has original handwriting from your
ancestor. Even a simple signature reminds you these were real people
and not just a name and date on a family tree.

Other examples of the negative impact on genealogy hunters were given.
These ranged from the ability to glean information from nearby
records, to the fact that handwritten notes accompany some of the
certificates and did not get digitized. Another factor to keep in
mind is that the certificate may have been transcribed with errors
making it impossible to locate on the Court’s computerized system. In
these cases, in the past, a manual search was in order using the
general time frame, if known. A practice no longer available.

In a brief discussion with the Court Clerk an exception will be made,
and assurance was given, that their office would work with the
Genealogical Society should a need arise to examine the original
records. If you wish to examine original records in person, feel free
to contact me (Darrell). These are public records and should be
available for examination by the public. Understandably, the Court
has storage and staffing issues but the loss of examining original
documents will possibly result in lost information for future
generations.

It was also announced that the Okmulgee Cemetery Association is in the
process of making changes which will improve several aspects of the
Cemetery. Our speaker next month will be Larry Biddle, President of
the OCA, who will address the group concerning these changes. Larry
stated he welcomes all comments, good or bad, which will aid his board
in making improvements to the Cemetery and the services they provide.

One task under development, which can be shared before our next
meeting, is the OCA’s desire to transcribe the 113 years’ worth of
records to a digital format. Traci and Darrell were given a tour of
these records (something which wasn’t easily available in prior years)
and report there is a wealth of information contained in these cards
of interest to genealogists. It is our hope the OCGS can be involved
in this project and provide physical help as well as input regarding
which types of information will be made available to people with our
interests.

After the meeting, members of the board discussed the possibility of
getting together, informally, to discuss goals for the coming year.
If you have any ideas or suggestions, we would love to hear from you.
If enough people are interested in having a meeting where members
could get together and discuss ideas please let Traci know and if we
get enough interest we will certainly setup something.

We welcome all ideas concerning what the Society can do going forward
so its members can get the most out of their genealogical experience.
Feel free to email any of the board members with any thoughts or
suggestions.

Otherwise, plan to attend next month’s meeting on the 24th and hear
about the goals and plans being made by the Okmulgee Cemetery
Association