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questions from people seeking to trace their geneaology. “We welcome any old family papers, Bibles, memoirs or information from anyone in the county,” Holschuh said.
Cathy Knuepfer, a Society member, pointed out that the Society will help people looking for information, but will not do the searching involved in geneaology. “We go through the records we have, and then we tell the people about the clerk’s office and other sources of information,” Knuepfer said.
The Society is interested in Rappahannock’s recent past as well as older information. “History is yesterday, and it doesn’t have to be 200 years old for us to be interested in it,” Holschuh said. The Society keeps records on the schools, churches and businesses in the county, and information is saved by clipping obituaries and marriage notices from the newspaper.
Another project the Society is working on is researching the canal that was operated from Waterloo to Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock - River for 50 years in the 1800s. Hols'••.chuh has also done oral histories by taping interviews with some of the older residents of the county. Files on old homes in the county are also kept by the Society.
All of this work has to be done on a shoestring budget since the only funds the Society receives are the members’ dues and donations. The Society has been conducting a fund raiser project that involves selling the bricks on the front of the Society’s building for a dollar per brick. The bricks are numbered, and a record is kept of each sale on drawing of the building.
The Society has about 100 members, and the dues are $6 for an individual, $10 for a couple and $3 for students. The regular meetings are held on the first Friday in February, May and August when the members hear speakers and conduct their business.
Some of the goals for the Society’s future include a bathroom in the building, a wing added on to the building for office space so the front can be used solely for a museum, a computer to put all of the information on, a telephone and more furnishings like display cases. “Right now I just want to get everything organized and keep the basement dry so we don’t have to move everything in wet weather,” Knuepfer said. “I also want to get more information and verify it.”
A love of history keeps the Society’s members going despite the frustrations of not being able to do all that they would like to. “I’ve worked so hard for the Historical Society because I think that it is a worthy cause, and besides it’s fun,” Lindstrom said.
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