86th Ingalls Family Reunion meeting minutes
The 86th Ingalls Reunion was held on Saturday, October 18, 2014, at the United Methodist Church of Greenville and Norton Hill. Fifty-seven people were in attendance. The temperature was 49 degrees at 7:00 a.m. It was mostly cloudy with occasional showers early in the day, then it cleared in the afternoon, with a mix of sun and clouds. It was windy, with a high temperature in the mid-60s.
The Warren and Clarence Ingalls Families hosted. The tables were prettily decorated by Alliene Applebee and Barb Dietz Purcell. Laminated bookmarks commemorating the reunion were presented to each person in attendance. On the front was the family crest, and, on the back, a brief history of Jacob Ingalls, our forefather.
Gary Elliott displayed information about his Lee Publications Outreach Christian Mission Trip to the Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO) in the fall of 2013. He also had information about the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge from the summer.
The Historian, Krista Ingalls Haushalter, displayed the autograph quilt she is gathering signatures for. The family photograph albums and framed copies of family deeds were again on display, and copies of the 2003 Genealogy and History of the Jacob Ingalls Family were available for twelve dollars each. Copies of the 2015 Greenville Local History Group calendar were for sale for nine dollars each.
At 12:00 noon, President John Ingalls rang the cowbell from the Jacob Ingalls’ homestead to gather everyone for the group photograph, taken by the “family photographer,” Kay Ingalls Sutton.
The group then found their seats and Walter Ingalls said grace. A delicious lunch was enjoyed by all.
After the meal, John rang the cowbell to call the meeting to order. He welcomed everyone to the 86th Reunion. He thanked The Rev. Dr. Bob Milsom for the use of the church hall, Janet Lockwood for helping out in the kitchen for her thirty-sixth year, and the host family.
Those who traveled the farthest to attend the reunion were Jeff Perry from Florida, Terry Goff and family from Illinois, and Alden and Phyllis Ingalls Crawford from New Hampshire. The youngest person present at the reunion was Clare Ingalls, three years old. She is the daughter of Jeanette and John Ingalls. The oldest member present was Marjorie Dedie, 90. Several people attended a reunion for the first time: Laura Goff O'Connor, Kathryn O'Connor Cauhorn, Kate Crawford, Connor Hosley, David B. Hosley, and Robyn Hosley.
The Secretary, Paige Ingalls, read the minutes from last year’s reunion, which were approved as written. She sent around the book for everyone to sign and a folder with “Ingallsiana.”
The Treasurer, Alliene Applebee, gave her report:
There was $1724.06 in the savings account prior to the reunion.
Today’s Collection totaled $410.00.
Nine Genealogies were sold, yielding $108.00.
Dispersals totaling $362.60 were made for--
Printing and postage for the invitations ($162.60)
Janet Lockwood’s services ($75.00)
Rental of the church hall ($75.00)
Donation to the ALS Association in honor of Carol Ann Elliott ($50.00)
The host families asked not to be reimbursed for their expenses (food and supplies).
This left a grand total of $1879.46 in the savings account.
It was moved and seconded to accept the Treasurer’s report.
Paige read correspondence received this year:
Jeri and Ron Carford wrote a note to send their regrets, but they had a conflict and could not make the reunion this year.
James Marcello e-mailed that he could not attend because he was teaching a hunter safety course in Ravena.
Robert Rauland from Walworth, Wisconsin, sent a nice letter and a large softcover publication about the Village of Walworth, celebrating its 175th anniversary. Walworth was the home of the Ingalls family from the area and descendants of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Paige passed around the book, which contained a wealth of information and photographs. Mr. Rauland was married to the late Cynthia Lee Cooper from the Lovina Ingalls branch of our family. An advertisement for The Rauland Agency, Inc., Mr. Rauland's real estate agency, was included on page four. The Cooper Market shown in the picture was owned by Cynthia's family dating back to the late 1800s. Mr. Rauland also noted that, since 1973, Walworth has been the home of Kikkoman Foods and its main production plant, which sits on 200 acres. It was nice to learn about Walworth, since our relatives from the Enoch Ingalls, Harvey Ingalls, Lovina Ingalls, Nancy Jane Ingalls, and Cyrus Ingalls (son of Enoch and Nancy Bishop Ingalls) branches left New York State in the mid-1800s to move to this part of Wisconsin. Thank you, Mr. Rauland!
John inquired if there was any “old business” to be addressed, and there were two items:
Paige showed a PowerPoint of the finalized project Marjorie Dedie, Walt Ingalls, Alliene Applebee, and she worked on over the past two years, which was to ”map” the Original Ingalls Homesteads. The presentation of photographs of the original homesteads and their addresses, and photographs of what is located at these sites now, was of interest to many of those in attendance. Because gaps remain, Paige asked anyone with additional information and/or photographs to let her know, and she will update the PowerPoint.
Paige announced that Howard and Scott Snowiss have created a Web site for our family reunion: www.jacobingallsfamily.com. The page from the Internet was displayed so everyone could see what it looks like. All agreed this is very exciting, and we are grateful to Howard and Scott for doing this! Unfortunately, they could not be at the reunion this year, so we could not thank them in person.
John then asked if there was any “new business?”
Gary Elliott spoke about his Lee Publications Outreach Christian Mission Trip to the Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO) in the fall of 2013, and the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge from the summer. He told about his sister Carol Ann Elliott, who has ALS, and those attending the Reunion voted to contribute $50.00 in her honor to the ALS Association.
The Stanley R. Ingalls Family volunteered to host next year’s reunion, to be held on Saturday, October 17, 2015. The Hattie Winans Family volunteered to host the following year's reunion, in 2016. Thanks were extended to both families!
The Officers elected for next year were:
President-- Jason Haushalter
Vice President-- Richard Dedie
Secretary-- Paige Ingalls
Treasurer-- Alliene Applebee
Historian-- Krista Ingalls Haushalter
Krista led the Roll Call of Families, followed by the report of births, deaths, and marriages. The following numbers indicate how many people from each branch were present at the Reunion:
Enoch Ingalls Branch 0
Henry Ingalls Branch 0
John Ingalls Branch 1 (Jean Toland, but she left early)
Lucinda Ingalls Hunt Branch 0
Eleanor Ingalls Winegard Branch 9
Diantha Ingalls Smith Branch 0
Joseph Truman Ingalls Branch 25
Ransom Benjamin Ingalls Branch 33
William Henry Harrison Ingalls Branch 2
Thaddeus Warsaw Ingalls Branch 0
Cyrus Ingalls (Westerlo) Branch 0
This year's “entertainment” was a presentation by Krista Haushalter, on behalf of her nephew Jason Haushalter. Since Jason was in a wedding party today, he was unable to perform his duties as Vice President. However, we look forward to him serving as President at next year's Reunion.
Krista gave a very interesting presentation on the many ways to preserve family history. She used props and different materials to highlight her talk. Some of the creative ideas she gave to organize and showcase family mementos were:
using family tree software to enter information
creating a family tree using Disney characters
making a "peanut" family tree because "every family has its nuts"
finding and working with your family crest
creating a crossword family quilt
designing a timeline quilt (she made one for a daughter's graduation)
making a shadow box with a mother's or grandmother's pin collection
recording history by creating "grandparents remember books" and a "mom remembers book" (these can be written, videotaped, and/or audiotaped)
keeping a journal/diary (e.g. a "ten year journal," which can be purchased on line, with entries made per date for ten years)
creating a trip journal
scrapbooking (e.g. of family photographs) -- remember to use archival grade materials for boxes and albums and polypropylene sleeves)
scanning photographs
creating a family atlas (get a map and enter addresses)
pull together a family heritage recipe book and include photographs of the cooks
design a family calendar with different family photographs for each month
utilize genealogy software
contact different historical societies
make children "junior detectives" (she created kits for this)
Krista noted that, when working with artifacts and family heirlooms, one should:
wear gloves
keep a magnifying glass handy
take notes on a notepad
use stickers
prepare a list of items to look for
make an interview sheet with sample questions to ask
Krista ended her presentation by encouraging everyone to "preserve history -- it's important!"
John closed the meeting by inviting everyone back next year, on October 17, 2015, for the 87th Ingalls Reunion.