General Membership Meeting Minutes Of the World Chamberlain Genealogical Society

World Chamberlain Genealogical Society (WCGS) President Bill Mennel called the meeting to order September 12, 2016 at 09:10 a.m. in the Lake Superior Room, located at the Michigan State Library and Archives, Lansing, Michigan. A list of those attending can be found at the end of this report.

We began with a quick review of the agenda, which was accepted without change. The next order of business was announcing the results of the recent Executive Board election. All candidates for office were re-elected unanimously. Jim Sugg also joins the board as its executive secretary. The meeting was adjourned at 12:10 p.m.

1. Reports:a. Executive Secretary, in the absence of an Executive

Secretary, Pat Sugg read the spring 2016 meeting minutes. The minutes were approved unanimously having been published earlier in the Chamberlain Key and needing no corrections.

b. Treasurer, Ted Chamberlain reported the Total Assets of the WCGS to be $8689.22 as of 12 September 2016. Ted reported that during the period between January 2016 and September 2016 total income was $1670.00 and total expenses were -$954.66. The result is a net income of $715.34. Approximately 63% of those expenses are the production, copying, and postage costs associated with mailing the quarterly Chamberlain Key newsletter. Liability insurance coverage for meetings was about 20% of the expenses.

c. Corresponding Secretary, Pat Sugg reported membership currently stands at 107 active members, up from 103. i. We have 27 Life Members, ii. 70 Annual Dues paying members, and iii. Nine Libraries are complimentary members. iv. Since the fall 2015 meeting, there have been nine

new members. Six new members chose multi-year memberships and five are electronic Chamberlain Key 1 recipients.

1. As we approach the final quarter of the WCGS business year, a suggestion was made regarding anyone applying for initial membership in the

1 It is important to distinguish that the quarterly magazine titled the Chamberlain Key is meant to be a research, analysis, and historical publication of the Chamberlain surname. The Chamberlain Key Hole is our much less formal method of informing the membership and others doing Chamberlain research, as to the location/dates of meetings, where some attending may wish to stay, or simply keeping everyone apprised of the latest WCGS events.

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next few months. They could be given the benefit of membership gratis until January 1, 2017 at which time their official membership would commence.

2. For some time we have informally followed this practice that is now formally in place.

v. We had 17 non-renewals1. In response to a question if we knew of any

particular reasons for not renewing, Pat replied she did not.

2. Chuck Chamberlain suggested sending a query to each non-renewal soliciting their feedback on why they chose not to renew. Paul Chamberlain volunteered to do this if Pat sent him the necessary contact information.

vi. The latest issue of our Chamberlain Key Hole has been sent to 188 email recipients.

vii. The WCGS Facebook page currently has 113 followers.viii. Election Results, Pat Sugg reported 107 ballots were

either emailed or sent via US Postal Mail to the members. Eight paper ballots were returned and 27 members emailed their votes to her. The candidates on the ballot were elected unanimously. They are: President, Bill Mennel; Vice President, Don Chamberlin; Treasurer, Ted Chamberlain, Executive Secretary, Jim Sugg; Trustees, Chuck Chamberlain, George Richard Chamberlin, and Pat Sugg. They will each serve a two-year term.

d. Website activity, Jim Sugg reported that since the spring 2016 executive board meeting we have posted the spring and summer Chamberlain Key. In late August, the WCGS web administrator was notified by our website hosting company that the server on which we reside had been hacked and they were taking it off-line for repair. They stated their need to determine their most recent Chamberlain-Society.org backup files and attempt to repost them. Since then we have exchanged emails with them seeking to determine the best course of action to restore the site. Our plan is to try to recreate as many pages as possible and link the needed files to each. Whether we remain with our current host, or move to another commercial web-hosting site needs to be determined. We are currently working with the hosting site team to get ourselves up and running again.

e. Chamberlain Key editor, Peter Chamberlain congratulated the society on its 20th anniversary. This quarterly journal has been published continuously since the

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inaugural issue in 1996. An idea that was accepted during the meeting is include “human interest” stories on the people and lives of our ancestors. To the greatest extent possible, some level of lineage will be provided to enhance the story. Peter concluded his report with a tribute to Jim Parker and Phil Chamberlain for their tireless efforts to make the Key the fine publication it is today.

f. DNA Study, Philip Chamberlain stated 237 people have submitted DNA testing results. He says he can often link someone to an ancestor but it is unknown how two similar people are related. He briefly described some of the newest techniques used to assist family history researchers. He mentioned Family Tree DNA Company offers two useful products, i. Family Finder that is a simple cheek swab, helping

to discover your roots, connects the dots, and unlocks your family history. The company states this signature DNA test provides powerful tools to find your DNA matches, trace your lineage through time, and validate family connections.

ii. Comprehensive Genome that is touted as the most comprehensive and highest resolution Mitochondrial (mtDNA) test. Results identify the ethnic and geographic origin of the maternal and paternal lines. It consists of Family Finder, plus a male specific Y 67 marker-chromosome test and a Full Mitochondrial Sequence.

iii. Anyone with DNA testing results, or contemplating doing one, is invited to share your test results with Phil to expand the characterization of the Chamberlain surname DNA.

g. WCGS Master Genealogy Database administrator, Bill Mennel reports both he and Ted Chamberlain continue to work with Jim Parker to create a better composite Chamberlain research database. Bill proposed adding information to the Family Group Records found in the David Conrad Chamberlin documentation as a way to supplement David’s work with information that has become known in the past ten or so years. Jim Parker also described the assorted Chamberlain databases he maintains and the web sites he monitors for questions about the Chamberlain surname. His goal is to expand on the work done by DCC using census records and other sources. Where David had approximately 20K names, Jim has about 133K.

2. Old Business:

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a. Pay Pal, Chuck Chamberlain, and Ted Chamberlain collaborated on creating a Pay Pal account. Ted has the action to finish and submit the banking information needed to wrap up this effort2. We will use a variety of means to notify everyone when Pay Pal is available as we are approaching the season where membership dues need paying.

b. Chamberlain Genealogical and Historical Book, George Richard Chamberlin and Jim Sugg have completed transcribing the five early immigrant lines the Chamberlain Association of America traced at the turn of the twentieth century. i. Each of the five immigrants has their own volume. ii. It is organized as Generations 1-4, then Generation

5, Generation 6, etc. to keep the electronic file sizes manageable.

iii. Work remains to proofread the entire manuscript, identify any missing individuals needing to be in the manuscript, and prepare bound copies for any libraries holding WCGS material.

3. New Business:a. Meeting Location 2017 , we selected Allen County Public

Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the site of the next meeting. It will be in mid-late June 2017.

b. Ted Chamberlain brought up an idea discussed at the spring meeting in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Is it still necessary to hold two separate meetings each year? In today’s world of instant communication and information sharing, perhaps one annual meeting of the membership will suffice. i. The Executive Board would hold a more “WCGS’s

business” oriented meeting the day or night before and the general meeting would be more of a research, education, and information exchange for members and guests.

ii. Topical speakers, splinter interest groups, and “how to” demonstrations would be the order of the day.

iii. An audience friendly and family story oriented general meeting is envisioned so we can attract the largest possible membership attendance.

iv. The motion to hold only a single gathering was approved unanimously, with the understanding that the Executive Board can hold a meeting whenever circumstances warrant doing this.

2 After leaving the meeting, Ted Chamberlain reported he has completed the actions needed to establish our PayPal account.

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c. Special Recognition, Vice President Don Chamberlin took advantage of the gathering to present framed Certificates of Appreciation to Ted Chamberlain, Jim Parker, and Philip Chamberlain for their tireless efforts on behalf of the WCGS over the past twenty years. We also recognize and appreciate all the hard work Chuck and Judy Chamberlain did to make this a truly successful meeting.

d. Call for information , as mentioned earlier we presently provide complimentary copies of our Chamberlain Key magazine to nine3 libraries around the United States. This enables us to further our mission to research, share, and educate everyone about the Chamberlain surname. Members are encouraged to nominate other libraries you feel would benefit from receiving a copy of our collection. Simply drop Corresponding Secretary Pat Sugg a note or email and she will take it from there.

On another note, those attending the meeting also took time to socialize when we informally gathered in the East Lansing, Michigan Holiday Inn Express great room to meet and greet new and old friends on Sunday afternoon. Later most dined at a nearby Applebee’s restaurant to continue the conversation. Monday night those who remained dined at nearby Mitchell’s Fish Market restaurant before we all headed home over the next day or so.

List of AttendersChuck and Judy Chamberlain, Haslett, MichiganLarry and Marilyn Chamberlain, Monroe, OhioMary Chamberlain, Whitmore Lake, MichiganPaul R. and Paula Chamberlain, Conroe, TexasPhilip Chamberlain, Lansing, MichiganTed and Faye Chamberlain, St. Joseph, MichiganDon Chamberlin, Clearwater, FloridaJohn Chamberlin, Ann Arbor, MichiganDolores (Chamberlain) Kelley, Rochester Hills, MichiganJane Kelley, Bloomfield Hills, MichiganJames B. Parker, Whitmore Lake, MichiganMaureen (Kelley) Porada, Port Huron, MichiganBarbara Ryan, Harbert, MichiganJim and Pat Sugg, Germantown, MarylandCassie Veselovsky, East Lansing, Michigan Wm. Mennel and Lynne Johnson, Bolivia, North Carolina

3 The nine libraries are; Allen County Public Library, Ft. Wayne, IN; Family History Library, Salt Lake City, UT; North Carolina State Library, Raleigh, NC; Pejepscot Historical Society, Brunswick, ME; St. Louis, MO Public Library; Los Angeles, CA Public Library; Mid-West Genealogy Center, Independence, MO; The Newberry Library, Chicago, IL; New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, MA

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Respectfully submitted,Jim Sugg, Executive Secretary

World Chamberlain Genealogical Society

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