I decided I better get out a news letter as it has been a while and you folks are probably starting to wonder what was going on.

There isn't really a lot of news to tell. We are still collecting information from our members on an almost daily basis. We have added information to every county that we cover. Mary, Paul, Fred, Wendy, and Charlie do a wonderful job of keeping up with the information that comes in. Let's all give them a big slap on the back for a job well done.

As webmaster it is my duty to try to keep the site running smooth and keep backups of the entire site. I am always looking for new ways to improve things, and hope what choices I have made in the past have made things easier for all of you. If you have any ideas or suggestions feel free to send them to me at webmaster@painted.org and they wil be considered.

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Are you enjoying the forum board? I see we have a lot of information stored there since we introduced it last fall. We now have 192 members registered for the forum as of today (August 1, 2007). If you want to reply to any of the postings on the forum, remember you must be registered to do so. If you would like to register for the forum you may do so by going to the link on our main page or by going here :

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It has been brought to our attention that one of our members has passed away recently. Lloyd Lanphere a long time member of PHGS passed away last week. Lloyd had contibuted a lot of information and photographs to PHGS. He will be sadly missed by his family and friends.

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Here is an email I would like to share with you. If you have any of the information that she is looking for please let Mary (paint@paintedhills.org) or I (webmaster@paintedhills.org) know and we will pass it on to her.

Hello,

Thank you for your wonderful website!  I have been working on a history of the Quackenbush family in Cattaraugus County, from 1821 to present, and I wonder whether you can help me determine where to find a map of the Holland Land Company's original lot divisions.  My ancestors include the FRANKS, the ELLISES, the BARGYS, the MULTERS, and the CARTERS.  When I am done writing this history, I will submit it to your site.  It provides a lot of the context for the westward migration of pioneers from the Mohawk Valley.

On your website, I found the photographs of my ancestors John and Mary Quackenbush  in the 1879 Bios section.  I am trying to locate the will of John Quackenbush (1818-1912), also, because it might tell how his large farm was divided.

I will be in Western New York in another week, and I will have time to do a little investigating.  Thanks for your help.

Sharon A. Quackenbush Baiocco

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Also we would like to ask your help in collecting photographs of the cemetery entrances of those in the PHGS covered counties. So if you happened to be going to one in the future and we don't already have a photo posted of that particular cemetery, grab your digital camera and send us the shot to post.

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As of today (Aug 1st, 2007) we have 475 PHGS members, of which 192 have registered to post to the forum, and 253 have signed up for the news letter.

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Remember if you have questions or anything you would like to share in the news letter or on the site submit it to Mary (paint@paintedhills.org) or Frankie (webmaster@paintedhills.org)

Thank you;

"May all your brick walls be short ones."

Frankie Stonemetz