It has become customary in the Society 
to send an end of year letter that discusses in a very general way what the society has done in the year that is ending and to outline plans for the year ahead. As everyone is painfully aware the last two years have been unusual, to understate the situation. Our plans, as well intentioned as they were, never quite came to fruition as intended. Fortunately, we have resourceful and flexible members who adjusted well to the changes. I think a positive was the introduction of ZOOM as an option; we intend for it to remain an option while we return to face-to-face meetings as the norm 2023 will mark Society’s 65th Anniversary. For a small, all-volunteer organization that’s quite a milestone.
The Society began according to a history in the Journal some years ago in November 1958 with a dinner meeting in Murray. The early years included three dinner meetings with a speaker and a bus excursion. Over the years as the membership has waxed and waned; we have moved to Saturday morning meetings, which better seem to accommodate the current membership; and dispensed with the luncheon for number of reasons. The officers, from time to time, discuss bringing back at least one luncheon meeting per year. Plans for that were disrupted by COVID. I am sure it will be discussed again and any input or advice from members is welcome.
Our programs are discussed in the Journal, which you should have received. During the last few years several of the officers, including myself, received multiple inquiries and comments from both members and nonmembers about historical markers across the Jackson Purchase in both Kentucky and Tennessee. I see it as a positive thing that people thought of us as the organization to contact for action on something regarding the history of the region. As an offshoot of this we partnered with the Kentucky Historical Society (KHS) to do a preliminary survey of markers in the eight county Kentucky part of the Jackson Purchase that they had not been able to locate during a survey they had conducted.
There were 22 such markers and we are almost finished the survey with only six in McCracken County to complete. We were able to locate 11 of the markers and confirm the destruction of two others. Leaving only three that are still unaccounted for. We’ll resume searching after the holidays. In the course of the project, we engaged in conversations both with KHS and local historical societies and will be partnering with a number of local historical societies in the region to begin a more ambitious marker project in 2023. It will assess the condition of various markers, identify any that have misinformation, and look to develop a list of subjects for future markers. Markers are not history, of course, but they do remind us that history is all around us and I think they are valuable. KHS has funds to refurbish and replace markers, but the funds are limited, and they probably will not be able to refurbish and replace all the markers that need to be replaced or refurbished for some years. For example, of the 10 markers in Callaway County, two are in very poor condition and another has factual errors. KHS seems open to partnering on the costs of refurbishment and replacement and we’ve had discussions already with Calloway County Genealogical and Historical Society on working together on the markers in Callaway County.
This can be a model going forward. To prepare for the future cost of markers that we need refurbishment, or replacement and those that we might propose as new markers we have added a line to the dues renewal form to establish a marker fund. This will be used to cover costs of the refurbishment of markers as well as the cost of replacing those that have been destroyed or erecting new markers. It’s hard to project the cost at this time, but we are optimistic that we will be able to move deal with this effectively going forward. Anyone who would like to help with the marker project is welcome, just let me know.
We are sending the dues renewal notice with this for several reasons. One is we did not want to send it before we had finished the Journal, which ran into an unusual number of delays due to illness among the editorial group, computer issues among other things. I hope you will agree it was worth waiting for. The second reason is that during the last two years there has been a great deal of confusion about dues renewal and when individuals’ dues were due. This was confusing for people who would pay in May or June and then be asked to pay again in August. I’m not sure going to a calendar year basis will completely resolve this but I think it is worth a try. We will also be revising the language on the dues form to simplify the process and make the term of membership clearer. We will monitor this to see if it helps and, of course, welcome any comments members may have.
As I mentioned above, 2023 is our 65th Anniversary and we are planning an ambitious program that will offer interesting speakers on a range of topics. Plus, several book signings, which have proven popular. We are also trying to broaden the area from which we draw speakers and when appropriate, to be able to offer a travel stipend. We have over the last few years accumulated a reserve in our general fund, due to your generous support. To insure we don’t deplete our funds, we are adding a line to the dues renewal form to invite contributions to a 65th Anniversary Fund, which will be used to offset added costs of our 65th Anniversary programs. In the future, we will use this, selectively, to continue to bring in speakers who require more travel than has been the norm in the past. It is, of course, difficult to get the whole schedule planned a year in advance — but the current schedule is included in this mailing so you will have an idea what we are planning and where things stand.
For the 65th Anniversary we are trying something new — a genealogical workshop put on by the Ulster Historical Foundation from Northern Ireland. They have been in touch with us for several years about doing a workshop and we have been in discussion as to how best to do it. A very large part of the population of the Jackson Purchase in both states and the surrounding area trace their ancestry to the north of Ireland. Emigration from that area began in the mid-17th century and continued well into the 20th century. Before 1815 the largest part of immigrants from Ireland to the United States were from the north, which is, broadly, the Ulster province. This program will involve a cost for us, and we will have to charge a registration fee, although we are seeking sponsorships and grants to help keep the cost to participants as low as possible. This will be in March.
I am pleased to report that the state of the society is strong and healthy. Our membership has increased over the last five years, and we hope that the activities of our anniversary year will bring in even more members. It has been my pleasure and honor to serve as president and I look forward to working with all of you to make Jackson Purchase history more accessible and to preserve the record of that history for future generations.
Thank you very much.
Bill Mulligan
President
billmulligan@murray-ky.net