The Spencer County Historical Society met on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 in the Rockport Library Genealogy Room.

The meeting was called to order by the president at 7:00 PM with six members present.

The minutes from the last meeting were read and approved.

The treasurer’s report was given. 

There had been memorial contributions for a member who had recently passed away.  There was a discussion about what to do with the money.  It was suggested that the Society needed to let the daughter help with the decision.

A motion was made and seconded to continue membership in the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana.  The motion carried.

A member reported that Historic Newburgh, Inc. had purchased two anodized aluminum signs to use as markers for the Boner Bridge.  He informed the Society that he and the president had placed the signs on each end of the bridge.  A lot of information was included on the signs.

A member mentioned the Meeks relatives who had visited from Wisconsin.  He had taken them to the different locations where the Meeks were buried.  He had done some dowsing and found the location for eight graves near the area where the Society had placed a marker.  The property is owned by a farmer who is willing to enclose the area around the grave sites in respect for the Meeks family.  It was suggested that this might be a good fall project when the weather is cooler and the crops are out of the field.  The president stated that he had obtained some plastic chains and concrete posts that could be used in the project.

The president mentioned that the Society had been given two CD’s with information about the old Huffman Mill logbooks and also information about John (Jack) M. Killian’s diary.  John Killian was a local photographer and beekeeper.

A member read an e-mail from the director at the Willard Library concerning a Lincoln head plaque that had recently been given to the library.  The Lincoln head is similar to the one at the Lower Landing in Rockport, Indiana and the one on the square in Boonville, Indiana. It was interesting that Honig’s name had been scratched off the plaque.  The library was going to place the plaque in the stairway next to the Slavery and Abolition Collection (which includes many Lincoln biographies). 

A member also mentioned that his son has found several Honig plaques while he has been doing work in the area for Toyota.  He found one at Camp Carson (near Princeton, IN) and several at the Mesker Park Zoo.  The ones at the zoo were on palettes in a junk area and the zoo hadn’t decided what to do with them.

The president mentioned a letter from Elbert Hayford that he was going to include in an upcoming newsletter.

A member mentioned that he had received a call from The News-Enterprise, an Elizabethtown, Kentucky newspaper, telling him that a house that had been built by Thomas Lincoln had burned down over the weekend.  It had been arson and they had already caught the person.

A member also mentioned that the Lincoln Cemetery at Ft. Knox, Kentucky was fantastic.  It is worth going to see.

The president had several publications for consideration:

• “History of Jasper College/Academy 1889-1933”
• “Indiana Toolmakers and Their Tools”
• “Ohio County, Kentucky Obituary Index”

A motion was made and seconded to purchase the “Indiana Toolmakers and Their Tools”.  The motion carried.

The president had received a packet of information from a person from New Haven, Missouri who was doing research in the Genealogy Room.  The person had mentioned how impressed she had been with the amount of materials and the helpfulness of the people in the Genealogy Room.

The president read information about an upcoming gravestone restoration workshop in Bloomington, Indiana in October and also the Indiana Genealogy and Local History Fair in Indianapolis, Indiana in October.

A member mentioned the all-day Lincoln event on June 7, 2009 at the Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial and the June 12, 2009 Lincoln Bicentennial Plaza Dedication and the opening night of the new Lincoln Drama, both of which will be in Lincoln State Park.

A motion was made and seconded to adjourn the meeting.  The motion carried.  The meeting adjourned at 8:55 PM.

The next meeting will be August 4, 2009 at 6:30 PM in the Genealogy Room.