Historic Pittsburgh project online
Historic Pittsburgh is a digital collection that provides an opportunity to explore and research the history of Pittsburgh and the surrounding Western Pennsylvania area on the Internet.  The project is a joint project of the University of Pittsburgh's Digital Research Library and the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania at the Heinz History Center, and is a highly useful tool for genealogists with Pittsburgh-area families.

The Historic Pittsburgh Project includes: ú  A digital full-text collection of 476 books published prior to the 1920s ú  A searchable database of the U.S. Census schedules for Pittsburgh (1850-1880) and Allegheny City (1850-1970) ú A collection of more than 900 historic land ownership maps of the area ú A searchable collection of 289 finding aids that detail important archive collections on great Pittsburgh history ú A searchable chronology of Pittsburgh history with over 3,100 entries (1717-2001) ú  An online catalog for the Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.

This site really works! 

A census search for ancestor John Townsend found him in Pittsburgh in 1870.  Testing a little further afield, a digital search of book resources for ancestor Amos Miller found him in a roster for Company K, 211th Regiment raised during the Civil War in Westmoreland County. 

The reference was a local history, Old and New Westmoreland.  This indicates that this site is useful for the entire region surrounding Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, and not just Pittsburgh.

You can access this Web site by pointing your browsers to: http://digital.library.pitt.edu/pittsburgh. Thanks to the Newsletter of The Paradise Genealogical Society.

The Clan MacLeod Society, USA, held its annual meeting at the University Plaza Convention Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky on May 28  - June 1, 2003. 

The business meetings were held on Thursday and Friday, leaving Saturday open to attend the Glasgow Highland Games where Chief John MacLeod of MacLeod was the Honored Guest.  The Games were well attended and Chief John received a warm reception at the Opening Ceremony.  The MacLeods made a bright appearance in their "Loud MacLeod" tartans.

At the business meeting, William C. MacLeod of Naperville, Illinois, was elected President of the Clan MacLeod Society to replace Donald B. MacLeod whose term had expired.   Other officers elected were: John B. MacLeod, Vice-President; Anne L. MacLeod, Secretary; Richard A. MacLeod, Treasurer; John McLeod Tutterow, Counsel; Harry E. Boyes, Newsletter Editor; Norman Livermore, Piping; Rev. Dr. James A. McLeod, Chaplain; Dixie McCaskill, Migration Director; W. Jefferson Bryson, Jr., Historian; Gloria McLeod, Publicist/Recording Secretary; Perry Beaton, Youth. 

The Regional Vice Presidents in the thirteen Regions are: Dr. Donald A. MacLeod, Robert E. MacLeod, Richard W. MacLeod, W. Franklin Wyatt III, Jay McClure, Larry McLeod, John N. MacLeod, Arthur Nicol, Douglas Beaton, William M. Woodall, Michael E. Barger and Penny McLeod Degraff.

Workshops were scheduled for each day that covered migration/genealogy, Scottish harp and fiddle, the USA Clan MacLeod Web Site, and piping.   An especially entertaining session was conducted by Mr. Leroy May, an amateur genealogist, who traced the relative of a MacLeod whose ashes had lain in the Postal Recovery Service for a dozen years unclaimed.

The banquet was held on Saturday night where Chief John was the guest speaker.  The Clansperson of the Year Awards were given for the years 2002 and 2003.  Dual awards were given to Don Mack and Kathrine McLeod from Boling, Texas, for 2002 in recognition of their many years of service to the Society.  Don Mack served as Regional Vice President of the South Central Region, then as Vice President of the Society followed by his term as President from July 1996 to July 1999.

The Clansperson of the Year for 2003 was William F. MacLeod of San Diego, California, who has served as Vice President, President and most recently Treasurer of the Society covering the years of 1991 to the present.  His wife, Mary, accompanied him to the podium to accept this very special award.  Bill is relinquishing his duties as Secretary this year and will be replaced by Richard A. MacLeod of Illinois.

Each of these recipients was greeted with standing ovations from fellow members for their faithful service over the years.

The group joined in singing "Auld Lang Syne" to end the evening but were already looking forward to the North American Gathering that will be held in Arlington Heights, Illinois, July 1-4, 2004 at which time the MacLeods from Canada will join the American MacLeods for a big "family" gathering.

Laugh out loud!
Prime Minister Tony Blair visits an Edinburgh, Scotland hospital accompanied by a doctor.  He enters a ward full of patients with no obvious signs of injury or illness. 

He greets the first patient and the patient replies: "Fair fa! Your honest sonsie face, great Chieftain o' the pudden' race. Aboon them a' ye' tak' your place, Painch, tripe or thairm, as lang's my airm."

Tony is confused, so he just forces a smile and moves on to the next patient and greets him.  The patient responds: "Some hae meat and canna eat, and some nae meat that want it. But we hae meat and we can eat, so let the Lord be thankit."

Even more confused, but trying not to show it, Tony moves on to the next patient, who immediately begins to chant: "Wee sleekit, cowerin', timorous beasty, thou needna' start awa' sae hasty, wi' bickering brattle."

Now alarmed, Tony turns to the accompanying doctor and asks. "What kind of facility is this, is it a mental ward?"

"No," replies the doctor. The serious Burns unit!"

Thank you, Matthew R. Edgar.

AGM scheduled for Clan Moncreiffe Society of North America
 The 6th annual meeting (AGM) of the Clan Moncreiffe Society of North America (CMSNA) will be held in Atlanta, Georgia at the Stone Mountain Highland Games on Friday, October 17, 2003.   The meeting will be held at the Stone Mountain Hampton Inn from 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.  Lunch will be available.  For more information contact the Publicity Chairman Rachel Moncrief at rm7273cin@yahoo.com.

Virginia Genealogical Society Conference holds annual meeting
The Virginia Genealogical Society in partnership with the Fairfax Genealogical Society, will hold its annual Fall Conference on Saturday, October 25, 2003 at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 651 Dranesville Road, Herndon, Virginia. 

The Conference theme will be "Virginia's Friends and Neighbors."  The topics will be wide ranging and in addition to Virginia, will include lectures on aspects of research in Pennsylvania, Maryland, North Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia, and the National Capital area.  The Conference registration table opens at 8:15 AM, and the main program starts at 9:00 AM.  The Conference will feature three separate lectures in each of four time slots.

Eight of Virginia's most popular speakers will be there: Charles S. Mason, Jr., Clifford C. Neilson, Barbara Vines Little, Ken Macomber, Eric Grundset, Margaret M. Hofmann, Char McCargo Bah and Patricia O'Brien Shawker.

Registration forms with agenda and details are available directly from the Virginia Genealogical Society, "Fall Conference," 5001 W. Broad Street, Suite 115, Richmond, VA 23230.

Mecklenburg County cemetery books now available
The Olde Mecklenburg Genealogical Society has issued the second volume in a series of six surveys of cemeteries of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. The books include burial in the original colonial Presbyterian churches of this area, which was first settled by Scots-Irish in the 18th century.  Burials date from the Revolutionary War era until present day and include a number of surnames of interest to those researching Scottish forebears who settled in colonial America.

Volume 1 covers 11 cemeteries in the northern part of the county as well as eight burial grounds that were flooded at the creation of Lake Norman in the 1950s.  There are 272 pages plus 16 pages of introductory material. 
Volume 2, which covers 10 cemeteries in southern Mecklenburg County, has 224 pages plus 16 introductory pages. 
Each book is completely indexed by surnames, and a map marking the cemetery location accompanies each listing.

Upcoming volumes will cover the west and east areas as well as city cemeteries.  The lists were compiled by the late Melvin Cook and his wife Pinny.

The Society also issues a Quarterly.  A list of published articles may be found on the group's website http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncmgs or a printed list is available for $2.00.  A complete list of all publications is on the website, along with an order blank.
Cost of each volume of the cemetery books is $32.50 postpaid.  Orders may be sent to Olde Mecklenburg Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 32453, Charlotte, NC 28232. Thanks to Mary E. Utting.

Allen Miller of Olathe, Kansas died April 3, 2003.  He was an early member of the Macfie Clan Society of America who made several trips to Scotland for Clan Parliament and to visit Colonsay.  He was a regular, until recently, at the Stone Mountain Highland Games in Atlanta, Georgia and over the past six years convened a clan tent at the Kansas City Games.  He suffered a stroke in February of this year and did not recover.  He was only 55.  He is survived by his wife, Norma.

Bruce McPhee of Palmerston North, New Zealand, died May 28, 2003 after a long illness.  He was one of the first Macfie Clan Society members to respond to Belle Brew's call to form a McPhee Clan Society in New Zealand and served as the society's president in the 1980s as well as other management committee positions for many years.  Bruce was 75 and is survived by his wife, Shirley, and daughters Kristine, Shona and Diane who are the clan society's genealogists.