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The State University of New York at Stony Brook, also called Stony Brook University (SBU), is a public research university located in Stony Brook, Suffolk County, New York. It is the largest public university in the state and the flagship campus of the SUNY (State University of New York) system. Stony Brook's story began in Oyster Bay, New York in 1957, when it was called the State University College on Long Island. In 1960 the State decided to form a new public university on Long Island. upon a recommendation by the Heald Report, and Ward Melville donated over 400 acres of land at Stony Brook to the State for that purpose. Two years later, in 1962, the State University College on Long Island was relocated to Stony Brook and its name was changed to State University of New York at Stony Brook. In 1963, the State took another recommendation from the Heald Report, for the creation of a Health Science Center and campus hospital to train and prepare medical professionals. Since then, Stony Brook has expanded to 1,454 acres of land with 213 buildings. These are are few of the originals, from photos taken in July of 1965: I was only able to locate one of the buildings on the campus. The first picture in the slideshow above is what is now the Sports Complex building shown here on Google Maps: Stay tuned as I share more of this collection of 1960s photos! Click here for more New York history and tons of genealogy resources! #newyork #suny #colleges #universities #stonybrook #longisland #suffolkcounty #photos

While going through an old box of slides and photo transparencies from the sixties, I found some dated July 1965, and after popping one in to my slide scanner, I was thrilled to see it was Shea Stadium. While these photos were before my time, I have been to Shea Stadium twice in the 1990s to see the New York Mets play, but it didn't look like this! The story of Shea Stadium is an interesting one. To sum it up, we need to go back to 1957, when New York had two National League baseball teams - the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants. They also had the New York Yankees, but the Yankees are in the American League, East division. The New York Giants had played ball at the Polo Grounds since 1891, and The Brooklyn Dodgers played at both Washington Park and Eastern Park before using Ebbets Field, which they used for about 43 years. Both teams were in need of new stadiums. The owner of the Dodgers, Walter O'Malley, wanted to build a new stadium in Brooklyn at his own expense, but New York officials wanted the city to build the stadium and lease it out. Furthermore, the city insisted the new stadium be built at Flushing Meadow Park, so O'Malley packed up and moved to Southern California. The New York Giants baseball team also moved to California. so, the Brooklyn Dodgers became the Los Angeles Dodgers, the New York Giants became the San Francisco Giants, and New York was left without representation in the National League from 1958 to 1962. Finally, in 1962 a new National League team was formed. They were called the New York Mets and their colors were a combination of the two departed teams - blue from the Dodgers and orange from the Giants. The Mets played at the Polo Grounds, while the new stadium was being planned and conflicts over everything from financing to electrical work caused many challenges and setbacks. The stadium finally opened on April 17, 1964, when the Mets faced the Pittsburgh Pirates with a crowd of a little over 50,000 people in attendance. Sadly, the Mets lost 4-3. They played 82 games at Shea in 1964. Shea Stadium was located on Roosevelt Avenue in Flushing, Queens, New York. The first game played there was five days before the 1964-65 New York World's Fair, which was held near the stadium, so the stadium was decorated with blue and orange panels coordinating with the fair's futuristic theme. The panels remained until 1980. Shea Stadium hosted the World Series in 1969, 1973, 1986, and 2000. The Mets shared the field with the New York Jets (football team) from 1964 until 1983, converting it for use as a baseball field in the Spring and a football field in the Fall. In 1983 the Jets moved to New Jersey to share Giants Stadium with the New York Giants (football). The Mets continued to play at Shea Stadium until 2008, when it was demolished to make space for additional parking for their new home at Citi Field, which was completed in 2009. Their last game at Shea Stadium was against the Florida Marlins on September 28, 2008. The Mets lost 2-4. The photographs in the slides that got me all into this story were stamped by Kodak, "JUL 65", so I went to find out which game they were taken at. Even if we don't recognize the red and white uniforms, we can see in the scoreboard photo that the Mets were playing the St. Louis Cardinals. The Mets were losing 3-0 at the bottom of the second inning. I found a site that helped me find the roster for 1965, so I checked all the games they played against the Cardinals that year finding they played 18 games, of which they only won 5 that year. I was then able to check each game's "play by play" and found that on Sunday, July 4, 1965, the Mets played the Cardinals and at the bottom of the second inning, the score was 3-0. The final score was 6-2, with the Mets losing again. It was game #81 of the 1965 season but it was their 38th home game that year, so in these photos we see their 120th game played at Shea Stadium. The Mets' record for the season was 27-53 (W-L) when the game was over. Overall, they won 50 games that season and lost 112. These photos were sitting in storage for the past 60 years and I just thought they should be shared in memory of Shea Stadium and it's part in the changing of New York baseball, a major part of New York's culture. I hope you enjoy them! For those interested in copies of some of these rare old photos and more, check out my gallery on FineArtAmerica. Click here for more New York history and lots of genealogical resources! References: Shea Stadium [Wikipedia] Scores and Standings Sunday, July 04, 1965 [Baseball-Reference.com] Mets 1964 Schedule [Baseball-Reference.com] Mets 1965 Schedule [Baseball-Reference.com] Scores and Standings Sunday, September 28, 2008 [Baseball-Reference.com] #history #baseball #newyork #mets #photography

My 9th great-grandfather, Samuel Stowell, was born in 1625 in England. Chudleigh Parish Registers indicate that his father died on December 7, 1628, when Samuel was just three years old. Young Samuel arrived in America some time before 1635, for it was in that year that he went to Hingham, Massachusetts, with Peter Hobart and about 25-30 people who Hobart had brought from England and some he recruited at Charlestown to accompany him.[1] Hobart was a Puritan minister, undoubtedly traveling by boat to Hingham, a distance of about eleven miles. In Hingham, Samuel Stowell worked as a toolmaker and was granted land there in 1656.[2] The Stowell House, Hingham, Mass. - “One of the oldest houses in America, on Fort Hill Street, at the foot of the hill on which stood the old fort prior to King Philip's War. The streets were then mere grassy lanes without sidewalks. The houses were of logs with thatched roofs and oiled paper for windows. Here Samuel Stowell lived. On the same spot, over 250 years ago, the above house was built. It is still standing and has been occupied by at least five generations of the descendants of Samuel Stowell.” - Stowell Genealogy[3]. In an attempt to find out if the house was still standing today, I found information seeming to match the above description. A house built in 1685 by Capt. Thomas Lincoln, once occupied by Stowells[4], was moved from its longtime home at 99 Fort Hill Street in 2013 and was relocated to its new home 1.5 miles away. It now sits behind the Old Ordinary Museum on Lincoln Street as part of the museum's campus and is called the "Old Fort". Google Maps is an awesome tool for potentially seeing the places our ancestors lived without leaving home, so I went looking for images of the home before it was moved in 2013. While click-walking down the street in an attempt to spot the house in the photo, I noticed a home at 106 Fort Hill Street, which looks more like the one in the plate shown above from Stowell Genealogy than the one on the flat bed being hauled in the news photo. Below, the street view image in October 2012 is shown. An image for 2009 is also available, but the house is barely visible, being hidden behind trees. Therefore, it appears the property was cleaned up and the home was remodeled sometime between 2009 and 2012. A date is shown on the corner of the house - "1693". The home appears at the bottom of the hill and looks identical to the Stowell House, which was said to have been built in 1685 by Capt. Thomas Lincoln. Perhaps he built several houses using this basic plan. Samuel Lincoln, original proprietor of Hingham, was the ancestor of Abraham Lincoln.[5] If you're planning a trip to Hingham, you can visit the museum and fort. Check out the Hingham Historical Society's website for more information. If you are interested in the preservation of Hingham's history, consider donating to the society. A donation link is provided on their page. In the meantime, this video published by the HHS provides an excellent view of the structure believed to have been the long time home of the Stowell family of Hingham, about half way through the video. Please share your thoughts and comments below! UPDATE: The original home belonging to Samuel Stowell reportedly burned in 1933. Still, the home behind Old Ordinary appears to have also belonged to a Stowell, according to the news article in the Boston Globe, referenced herein. Thank you to Sarah Jane Stowell for sharing this link and update with us! Sources: [1] Annual Meeting, Stowell Family, p. 6, by the Stowell Family Association, 1925. [Link] [2] An address delivered before the citizens of the town of Hingham, by Solomon Lincoln, 1835. [Link]. [3] "Stowell Genealogy, A Record of the Descendants of Samuel Stowell of Hingham, Mass.", by William Henry Harrison Stowell, 1922. [4] "17th-century house moved to new home", by Jessica Bartlett, Boston Globe, July 14, 2013. [Link] [5] "Abraham Lincoln and Religion", by Lincoln Financial Foundation Collection [Link] Click here for Hingham, Massachusetts, genealogy and history resources Click here to learn more about this branch of my family. #stowell #harvey #samuelstowell #hingham #historiclandmark #massachusetts

Hingham, Massachusetts, was first settled by a group led by Puritan minister, Peter Hobart. Hobart was among the many Christians who fled religious persecution during The Reformation. Christians were harshly persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England and many sought freedom in the new world. Hobart had arrived in America in 1633, settling in Charlestown. In the first year of their arrival, his father surveyed nearby land which was officially incorporated as the town of Bare Cove in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in September of the same year[1]. The name was soon after changed to Hingham. A small Unitarian church was built in 1635 and Peter Hobart was installed as minister. It was the 12th church built in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1681, a much larger church or "Meeting House" was built and although it only took three days to build, it still stands to this day. It is the oldest church in America still in use since its construction well over 300 years ago. It was more than just a place of worship. The Meeting House offered protection for the settlers as well as a place to conduct official government business. It was the heart of the community who helped build it. The church members/founders cut down trees from the surrounding forests and those with ship-building skills were critical in its construction, which could explain the ship-like components of its design. It was ordered that all settlements be built within half a mile of the meeting house. Among the church's members was Samuel Lincoln, ancestor of Honorable Abraham Lincoln. Parishioners sat on wooden, backless benches until pews were put in in 1755 and there was no heat in the building until about 1822. Images from Early American Churches[2]. Tour the exterior of the church with this interactive Google Maps (Street view): Click here for genealogy resources and more information about Hingham, Plymouth County, Massachusetts. Several of my maternal ancestors were early settlers of Hingham. David Stowell was born there in 1660, and his wife, Mary (Stedman) Stowell was born there in 1670. Samuel Stowell II was married there in 1649 and died there in 1683. (He is buried in Fort Hill Cemetery). John Farrow and his wife, Frances (Carpenter) Farrow, died there between 1687 and 1689, and their daughter Mary (Farrow) Stowell died there in 1708. She was the wife of Samuel Stowell II. Click here to see my index of ancestors. [1] Shepherd in the Wilderness, Peter Hobart 1604-1679, by Edward Franklin Ripley. [Link] [2] Early American Churches, by Aymar Embury, 1914. [Link] #hingham #massachusetts #oldshipchurch #stowell #farrow #samuelstowell

How much do you know about your cultural roots? I knew virtually nothing about mine before my quest to find my heritage began. My parents told me I was part English, Irish, French, Welsh, German and a little bit of Native American, but my grandparents and great-grandparents were all born in America, so as far as I knew, none of their cultural customs or traditions were passed down to me. I was intrigued by friends who emigrated to America, or whose parents or grandparents came from some exotic faraway land. Now, after years of following my family history backward through time, I know a lot more about my family's coming to America and I realized that the reason we didn't know much about our ancestors origins is because it was too long ago! The last immigrant ancestor in my family was my maternal 2nd great-grandfather, Harry Dickinson, who was a third-generation steel worker. He emigrated with his parents from Sheffield, England, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the 1880s during the steel boom that made Pittsburgh famous. His wife, Annie (Robinson), had immigrated from Manchester, England, with roots from Wales. Prior to that, my paternal 3rd great-grandfather, William McGinnis, had immigrated from Ireland to upstate New York, escaping the Great Irish Famine in the late 1840s, probably by offering himself as an indentured servant to whoever paid his passage. The next immigrant ancestor, going back in my ancestral history, was my paternal 7th great-grandfather, Elias Shevalier, who sailed from Jersey - the island, that is. He was born in Saint Helier, Jersey, in or before 1712 and immigrated to Connecticut as an indentured servant before 1735, after the death of his parents. Those are the four most recent arrivals of my immigrant ancestors and the only traces of them today is quite literally microscopic. It's a shame to think that within a couple hundred years, your descendants could know nothing about you! Living in today's increasingly globalistic society, some people prefer to eradicate the cultural differences between us, while others stereotype, shame and vilify people for the deeds of people who are long gone and probably no relation. Consequently, we grow further and further from our roots and the cultures of our ancestors, who each played a vital role in our existence. While we possess little to no heirlooms, scarcely any documented evidence, almost no portraits or photos, and absolutely no video footage of our ancient ancestors, we do carry copies of portions of each of them in our DNA. Every cell in our body carries traces of those who came before us, as inconceivable as it may seem. Not only do we inherit their dominant physical traits, but some of the habits, preferences, customs, and traditions we learn from our parents may have also been passed down for generations, too. As a "genealogy addict", I love to learn about the things my ancestors experienced and personal aspects of their lives, such as the kinds of foods they ate and the music they enjoyed. Traditional ethnic recipes and favorite old folk songs can help us feel a connection to our heritage and they're not too hard to find. Of course, recorded music wasn't available in homes until the invention of the phonograph in 1877. Just think, for thousands of years, the only music that was heard was played or sang live. Surely minstrels were popular and a home with a musically inclined family member was an extra happy one. Since there are no recordings, however, the only songs that have survived are those that were written down or ones that were popular enough to be passed down from generation to generation as folk songs. Note, also, that the printing press wasn't invented until 1473, so printed sheet music wasn't even available until then. Prior to that, copies of music had to be reproduced by hand. On that note, it's probably safe to assume that many great songs died with people who never copied them down or passed them on. While researching your family history, you might come across a note or a newspaper clipping with details about a song sang at a wedding or party, or perhaps a wedding invitation quoting a line of lyrics or the name of a song. When you do, try to find a copy of the song online and then find a way to preserve the memory of it. Print out the lyrics and/or sheet music and keep them in a scrapbook or frame, share it with family to keep the memory of alive. Also, try a search for folk songs and see what you can find. Maybe a small part of you will find some comfort or enjoyment in a good old kansanlaulu (Finnish folksong), or a volkslied (Dutch folksong), or maybe a népdalt (Hungarian folksong). These are more than songs, these are connections to your people. These connections remind us that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves. We are part of a clan, a family - one with millions of people across the globe, who you probably would never guess are your relatives. It's a reminder to be kind and compassionate to all people regardless of race, creed or color. Tip: Try searches for both "folksong" and "folk song", along with the language, ethnicity, or country. Translate "folksong" to whatever language you're looking for to find authentic songs and more accurate versions. Google Translate will come in handy! My personal favorite is this cân werin (Welsh folk song) called, Dacw 'Nghariad (There is my sweetheart). Of course, I don't know if any of my ancestors knew it, but my DNA thoroughly enjoys it, so maybe! A full playlist of Welsh folksongs can be found here, but first, listen to this song! Share your thoughts and comments below! Dacw 'Nghariad Dacw 'nghariad i lawr yn y berllan, Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dal O na bawn i yno fy hunan, Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dal Dacw'r tŷ, a dacw'r 'sgubor; Dacw ddrws y beudy'n agor. Ffaldi radl didl dal, ffaldi radl didl dal, Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dal. Dacw’r dderwen wych ganghennog, Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dal Golwg arni sydd dra serchog. Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dal Mi arhosaf yn ei chysgod Nes daw 'nghariad i 'ngyfarfod. Ffaldi radl didl dal, ffaldi radl didl dal, Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dal. Dacw'r delyn, dacw'r tannau; Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dal Beth wyf gwell, heb neb i'w chwarae? Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dal Dacw'r feinwen hoenus fanwl; Beth wyf well heb gael ei meddwl? Ffaldi radl didl dal, ffaldi radl didl dal, Tw rym di ro rym di radl didl dal English translation: There is my sweetheart down in the orchard, Oh how I wish I were there myself, There is the house and there is the barn; There is the door of the cow house open. There is the gallant, branching oak, A vision, lovingly crowned. I will wait in her shade Until my love comes to meet me. There is the harp, there are her strings; What better am I, without anyone to play her for? There’s the delicate fair one, exquisite and full of life; What nearer am I, without having her attention? #wales #music #reese #griffith #dickinson #welsh #folksong Share this blog with other lovers of folk music!

Over the past few weeks I have been working on better organizing the thousands of genealogy resources I've collected for reference during my years of genealogy research. Most of them are within the United States and you can browse resources by State, County, or Town, but I've also found some useful international resources along the way and organizing them has been somewhat of a challenge due to my admitted lack of knowledge of world geography. It is all very confusing to me, so I took some research to figure it all out. Let's take England for an example, where much of my family originates. England is located on the island of Great Britain, within the United Kingdom (U.K.), off the northwestern coast of the continent of Europe. The islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, and more than six thousand smaller islands make up the British Isles, collectively encompassing 121,684 square miles. Besides the United Kingdom, Ireland is the only other sovereign nation in the British Isles. The Republic of Ireland is located on the island of Ireland, divided from Great Britain by the English Channel. Northern Ireland, however, belongs to the United Kingdom and although both Great Britain and Ireland are islands, they are located within the continent of Europe. As you know, Europe is one of the earth's seven continents. It is also considered part of the larger landmass called Eurasia. In this map, the continent of Europe is shown in green. As you can see, the islands of Ireland and Great Britain are shown as part of the continent of Europe, along with Iceland and thousands of other small islands. However, in terms of Continental Europe and its common definition, Great Britain, Ireland, Iceland and Scandinavian (Nordic countries) are not considered European countries. It is primarily countries on the mainland that are considered to be part of Continental Europe. As of today, October 18, 2021, the population of Europe is 748,226,898 (Source). Russia's population tops the chart in both size and population, out of all the European countries, followed by Turkey, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom, respectively. Following is a list of countries within the continent of Europe, located on the mainland (Continental Europe): * indicates countries that straddle both Europe and Asia. The following countries are Northern European countries, formerly part of Scandinavia, called Nordic Countries: Following are Islands which are considered part of the Continent of Europe, but generally not considered Continental European countries: After shining some light on my dark understanding of the definition of "European", I now understand why many of the early immigrants to America were called Europeans, despite some having British, Irish, Scottish, and other origins we might not typically consider to be part of Europe. Are you from England, Ireland, or Scotland? If so, do you consider yourself to be European? Please share your perspective in the chat! #european #geography #genealogy

Sometimes researching family history is like a roller coaster. It is exciting to find out you're related to a famous person and gratifying to find ancestors who were upstanding citizens who contributed to society in some way, but what about when you uncover a family secret or an ancestor or relative who did something shameful? When we venture into the family forest we should make sure we're ready to accept whatever we may find. We should remember our goal is to learn about our family's history and the fact is we can also learn from both their successes and their failures. Actually, it's probably easier to learn from people's failures than it is to learn the secrets of people's success. Yes, shameful deeds put a stain on the family record, but there is a positive side. The fact that these records exist is an important lesson for us all, especially for those with children. Remembering that your deeds will be recorded in newspapers, court records, people's journals, or elsewhere, might help influence people to make better decisions. After a story hits the newspapers, all your peers, neighbors, and family discover what you've done, and your name is tarnished forever. A hundred years from now your great-grandchildren might want to learn about you and search old newspapers and what would you like them to find? That you were abusive, criminal, or even a murderer? Also, knowing the shame or stigma the family suffers should also be strong motivation to resist the temptation to do shameful deeds, too. It makes the decision process simpler: If you'd be ashamed for people to read about it in the newspaper, don't do it! I have been working on adding more documents and sources to the people in my tree and I was searching newspapers at fultonhistory.com when I stumbled upon a story about Levi Sherman, with the headline "Assault With Deadly Weapon - Such is the Charge Against Levi Sherman After Shooting a Woman". I had been researching another branch of my family from the same area, but this story jumped out at me because my 4th great-grandfather was named Levi Sherman and he also lived in the same area. My ancestor, Levi Sherman, was the grandfather of Cora (Sherman) Leonard. Cora married Lewis Leonard, son of Charles Russell Leonard. Cora's father was James Sherman. I remember there was another Levi Sherman with a son named James in nearby Wayne County, mentioned in my previous blog, but this incident was in Cayuga County so it wasn't this other Levi Sherman. I also already found a story about Levi's daughter, Dora Sherman, who pistol-whipped a man in 1874, for not paying the rent he owed her, and she also stabbed a man with a pitchfork in 1878. Based on this pattern of aggression, I was pretty sure there was a connection, so I continued reading and found more articles about the incident, all shown below. The story, in short, is that Levi Sherman lived "in the woods" near Venice, New York. He had a girlfriend, Minnie Cogsdill, a married woman who had apparently separated from her husband. In November of 1907, Minnie left Levi and went to her friend Mrs. Pearl Wallace's home in Venice. Levi showed up and asked to speak with her and they went outside to talk. He asked her to marry him while brandishing his gun and she agreed, fearing he would kill her. She then said she had to go inside to get her cloak and he objected, saying she had plenty of cloaks at home. When she protested, he slapped her in the face. Then, giving up the charade, she told him she would not marry him and went back in to the Wallace home. A few minutes later, Levi appeared at the front door and began shooting at the occupants inside. Mrs. Wallace was the only one shot, receiving only a grazing, and when he ran out of bullets, he was chased away. Police found him later in a cornfield and although his gun was fully reloaded, he did not resist and was taken into custody. He was taken to prison and soon after committed to Willard Asylum in Ovid, New York. He escaped in November of 1908 but was captured after locals spotted him in Moravia. What made me realize this wasn't my ancestor, Levi Sherman, was that mine died in 1898, nine years before this incident. Also, my ancestor would have been near 90 years old if he were alive in 1907 and Minnie was only 31. I looked among Levi's children's names and found no mention of a son named Levi, so who was this "Levi Sherman", hermit of Moravia? For this answer, I looked to the census and on the 1875 New York State Census, I found the following: Here we find Levi N. Lamphere (or Lamphier) living in the home of my 4th great-grandfather, Levi Sherman, who was 63 years old at the time. Mary Lamphere, age 28, was listed as Sherman's housekeeper and it appears her two sons were in the home: Daniel Webster Lamphere, age 6, and Levi N. Lamphere, age 2 years 4 months. So Levi Lamphere (later called Levi N. Sherman) was born in January or February of 1873. Looking back on the 1870 census, we see Mary and Daniel were already in Levi Sherman's home, along with two of Levi's sons, so it is possible that Levi N. Lamphere was actually a son of Levi Sherman. Oddly enough, on the 1880 census, Mary was listed as Levi Sherman's wife. According to that census, he was 48 years her elder. Levi N. Lamphere would have been 7 years old in 1880, but I was unable to find him on that census. The next records I found him on was the 1892 New York State Census, when he was 19 years old, a laborer. His name was written "Levi N. Sherman". Following are the news articles containing the story of the shooting. Click here for Part 2 of the video. So, now we know who Levi Sherman, the eccentric hermit of Moravia was. Whether or not he had any children is unknown, but it appears he was freed by 1914 and it didn't take long for him to find someone willing to marry him. On November 17, 1914, Levi N. Sherman married Manervia Maxson (Manervia Lillie) in Sempronius. (NY Marriage Cert. 25174). Hopefully she wasn't coerced by his gun! #sherman #levisherman #crime #venice #genealogy #history

In the year 1584, two ships sailed across the Atlantic looking for a suitable settlement in which the English could stake their claim of land in North America. The ships, sent by Walter Raleigh, landed off the coast of North Carolina on Roanoke Island, a region rumored to be rich in silver and gold. The land appeared fertile and green and the natives were hospitable, so the ships returned to England and delivered their report. Full of hope, Raleigh requested permission from Queen Elizabeth to start a colony there and name it "Virginia" in her honor, since the unmarried queen was known as the "Virgin Queen". Permission was granted and Raleigh sent about a hundred men to Roanoke to form a colony. The colonists soon found that not only were the rumors of gold and silver false, but the soil was too sandy to farm. When their crops failed, the desperate men raided the fields of the Indians, prompting hostility. Finally, they withdrew and sailed back to England. They had been at Virginia less than a year. Undeterred, Raleigh gathered a second group of colonists in 1587 to make a second attempt. This time he sent women and children along with the men - about 120 people. After the long voyage and delivering the colonists to Roanoke, the ship went back to England for supplies and because of the threat of the Spanish Armada, all worthy ships were required to stay in English ports for a time. When they were finally permitted to leave again, they returned to find the settlement at Roanoke destroyed and the settlers no where to be found. Their fate remains a mystery. Following is a list of the people of the "Lost Colony" at Roanoke (sorted by last name): *Allen, Morris Archard, Arnold Archard, Joyce (woman) Archard, Thomas (child) Arthur, Richard *Bailie, Roger ("Assistant") *Bennet, Marke Berde, William *Berrye, Henry (or Berry) *Berrye, Richard (or Berry) Bishop, Michael Borden, John *Bridger, John Bright, John *Brooke, John (or Brooks) *Brown, Henry *Browne, William Burden, John *Butler, Thomas *Cage, Anthony *Chapman, Alis (or Charman?, a woman) *Chapman, John *Cheven, John Clement, William *Colman, Thomas *Colman, ___ (woman) *Cooper, Christopher ("Assistant") Cotsmur, John *Dare, Ananias ("Assistant") *Dare, Elyoner (woman) *Dare, Virginia (born at Roanoke) Darige, Richard Dorrell, Henry Dutton, William Earnest, John Ellis, Robert (child) Ellis, Thomas English, Edmond Farre, John Fernando, Simon ("Assistant") Florrie, Charles Gibbes, John Glane, Elizabeth (woman) *Gramme, Thomas (or Graham/Graeme) *Harris, Thomas *Harris, Thomas *Harvie, Dyonis ("Assistant") *Harvie, Margery (woman) *Harvie, __ (born at Roanoke) Hemmington, John Hewet, Thomas *Howe, George ("Assistant") *Howe, George (woman) Humfrey, Thomas (child) Hynde, James *Johnson, Henry *Johnson, Nicholas *Jones, Griffen *Jones, Jane (woman) *Jones, John Kemme, Richard *Lasie, James Lawrence, Margaret (woman) *Little, Peter *Little, Robert *Lucas, William Mannering, Jane (woman) Manteo, a "savage" from England *Martyn, George (or Martin) Merrimoth, Emme (woman) Myllet, Michael Mylton, Henry Newton, Humfrey Nicholes, William *Pattenson, Hugh *Payne, Henry (or Paine) *Payne, Rose (woman) Phevens, Thomas *Pierce, Jane (woman) Powel, Edward *Powell, Winnifred (or Wenefred, a woman) Prat, John (woman) Prat, Roger ("Assistant") Rufoote, Henry *Sampson, John ("Assistant") *Sampson, John (child) *Scot, Thomas Shaberdge, Richard Smart, Tomas (child) *Smith, Thomas Sole, William Spendlove, John Starte, John *Stevens, Thomas ("Assistant") Stilman, John Sutton, Martyn Tappan, Audry (woman) Taverner, Richard Tayler, Hugh *Taylor, Clement Tomkins, Richard Topan, Thomas Towaye, a "savage" from England Tydway, John *Viccars, Ambrose (child) *Viccars, Ambrose *Viccars, Elizabeth (woman) Warner, Thomas Warren, Joan (woman) Waters, William *White, Cutbert *White, John ("Governor") Wildye, Richard *Wilkinson, Robert *Willes, William *Wood, Agnes (woman) Wotton, Lewes *Wright, John Wyles, Brian Wyles, John Wythers, William (child) The Governor, John White, and ship captain, Simon Fernando, returned to England. George White, an Assistant to Governor White, was killed by Indians soon after the colonists arrived. Many of the other names were found among the Indians in Robeson County, North Carolina, as late as 1888 and "the traditions of every family bearing the name of one of the lost colonists, point to Roanoke as the country of their ancestors". These names are indicated with an asterisk ("*") in the list above. Sources and further reading: The English voyages of the sixteenth century, by Sir Walter A. Raleigh (1861-1922), 1910. Read it free online [Link] or click here to find a copy on eBay! Sir Walter Raleigh's Lost Colony, by Hamilton McMillan, 1888. Read it free online [Link] or click here to find a copy on eBay! Click here for 20,000+ free genealogy resources! Tour the island on Google Maps here: UPDATE: 9/23/2021 I found this video on YouTube. If you like a good storyteller, this is your guy! #virginia #northcarolina #lostcolony #sirwalterraleigh #colonization #history #roanoke #america #precolonial

Immigration records are a treasure for family historians, providing not only evidence of our ethnicity but also personal information we probably couldn't find anywhere else. If you can find the ship manifests or passenger lists, they could yield genealogical treasures. The ship's place of origin could provide evidence of one's ethnicity, a documented connection to ancestral homelands - unless they transferred ports, of course. Some passenger lists included the age and place of birth, too, which is most helpful in distinguishing between people sharing the same name. The timing of their voyage could indicate why they emigrated. For example, my maternal 3rd great-grandfather, John Dickinson, came from Sheffield, England, in the mid to late 1800s to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. What brought him here? Well, he was a "steel forgeman" back in Sheffield and in the 1870s, Pittsburgh boomed with new steel mills, making it one of the foremost steel producing cities in America at the time. (To this day, their NFL football team is called the Pittsburgh Steelers - my favorite). So, it appears the Dickinsons came to America for opportunity. On the other hand, my paternal 3rd great-grandfather, William McGinnis, came from Northern Ireland to America in 1849 or 1850. What was happening in Northern Ireland in 1850? It was about five years into the Great Irish Famine, which killed over a million people and caused over 2 million to flee the country - not just for a chance at a better life but to save their lives. My "Timeline of Events" was created to help see what major events were taking place at any given time. It is a work in process but many major events are listed and may provide some clues as to what was happening during their lives. The other passengers on ship manifests may also provide clues. For example, half of the Mayflower passengers were members of the Leiden Congregation who came from the Netherlands. You may also be able to determine who they traveled with. Perhaps their future husband or wife was on the ship with his or her parents, which would provide more clues for you to follow. Some manifests indicate how much money they were carrying, their occupation, any distinguishing marks on their bodies, their height, weight, and/or eye color. Being from the northeast, when I think of 19th and 20th century immigration to America, I think of Ellis Island, Castle Garden, and the Ports of Philadelphia and Boston. My immigrant ancestors all arrived in the northeast, and most stayed in that area, with the exception of my great-grandfather, Percy Daniels. He was born in Olympia, Washington, but his parents had gone west by land, following the Oregon Trail. As far as I know, none of my ancestors arrived on the west coast, so I had never given much thought to immigration stations in the west. It was a book called "Angel Island, the Ellis Island of the West", by Mary Bamford, that brought the Angel Island Immigration Station to my attention. As you can see on the map, the analogy is fitting. Like Ellis Island sits in the New York Harbor, Angel Island sits in the San Francisco Bay. After Mexico ceded California to the United States in 1848, Angel Island was used as a military base, just as Ellis Island was formerly used by the military for decades, first as a fort (Fort Gibson) and later as a battery and naval magazine where ammunitions were stored. Castle Garden, now called Castle Clinton, located in Battery Park, New York City, was America's first immigration station. More than 8 million immigrants reported their arrival at Castle Garden between 1855 and 1890. Ellis Island didn't open until about 1892 and from then until 1954, about 12 million immigrants were processed there. Although immigrant lists were kept, there were no restrictions on immigration to America until 1882. It was then that Congress passed The Chinese Exclusion Act, restricting the immigration of Chinese laborers and they soon realized the need for a designated place on the west coast for immigrants to be processed and inspected upon arrival and Angel Island was chosen as the location. The administration building for processing immigrants at Angel Island was opened in 1910. The immigrants arriving there came primarily from Germany, Russia, India, Africa, Japan, Korea, and China. Because only skilled Chinese immigrants were allowed entry, some who didn't qualify claimed they were sons or daughters of Chinese Americans already in the country, thereby claiming they were automatically citizens. Those immigrants had to be thoroughly interrogated and detained while their claims were investigated. Witnesses had to be called and relationships had to be verified, a process that took anywhere from 3 days to 22 months. Those who were detained wrote poems in Chinese on the wooden walls at Angel Island, expressing their disdain for the process, their treatment, and unsanitary conditions in the detention center. Over a million immigrants were processed at Angel Island between 1910 and 1940 and about 80% were granted entry. Of those, it is estimated that 175,000 were Chinese and 117,000 were Japanese. In August of 1940 the main building and part of the women's quarters were destroyed by fire and the station and detainees were relocated to a facility in San Francisco. Three years later, in 1943, the Chinese Exclusion Act was repealed. The buildings on Angel Island sat in disrepair for decades until the 1970s, when demolition was considered. A group of advocates, however, fought to preserve the site and it was made into a public park. The poems of the detained Chinese immigrants on display as a reminder of the suffering they endured in hopes of becoming American citizens. For more information about Angel Island, see the Wikipedia article found here. You might also enjoy this short video: Finally, here is the book that first peaked my interest in Angel Island. Read it free, courtesy of Archive.org: #resources #immigration #thewest #california #genealogy

Last week my family and I toured Lower Manhattan, visiting the home of several of our ancestors. Since it was the first time my two youngest kids visited the city, I thought the best way to see it would be from one of the tallest buildings on earth - the One World Observatory. With a little reluctance, despite the recent Iranian conflict, we embraced our faith in God and Country and spent the day in the same district targeted by terrorists on September 11, 2001. Located on West Street, between Vesey Street and Fulton Street, the tower is located directly next to the 9/11 Memorial at the World Trade Center. Construction began in 2006 and was completed in 2013. It was opened to the public on November 3, 2014 and the observatory opened on May 29, 2015. With the spire on top, the building stands 1,776 feet, a deliberate measurement corresponding with the year America gained its independence from Great Britain. Initially it was called the "Freedom Tower", but in 2009, it was officially named "One World Trade Center" or "One WTC". My absolute favorite part was the elevator ride going up. The walls of the elevator display a time-lapse of the cities growth, from its bedrock foundation, to the time of the early Dutch settlers, and into the present day, similar to a time machine! If you're interested in watching my very amateur video of our trip, here it is! Subscribe to my YouTube channel while you're there if you haven't already! #newyorkcity #onewtc #worldtradecenter #manhattan #ancestortrails #nyc

Near Castle Clinton, formerly Castle Garden, in Battery Park, New York City, stands a stirring memorial called "The Immigrants 1973". It is a memorial to the immigrants arriving at Castle Garden prior to the opening of Ellis Island in 1890. In this scene we see weary and afflicted immigrants from various places arriving off the boat. At the head of this diverse group, we see an Eastern European Jew, barefoot and crawling with an outstretched hand. Behind him, a young man and his bride look up, likely praying and hoping for a better life for their newborn child. They are the only ones wearing shoes. A muscular man holds his hand over his face, either fighting back tears or seasick from the voyage as he holds on to the young man in front of him. Beside him, a priest, perhaps Russian Orthodox, holds his hand to his heart and carries his suitcase at his side, also looking up in the same direction as the young couple. Behind the priest, an African slave rejoices with broken chains still around his wrists. Finally, a Christian woman on bended knee in prayer, presumably giving thanks for a safe landing. Each life is a story and this scene reflects scenes familiar to many of our ancestors who came to America for a chance at life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The sculpture was commissioned by Samuel Rudin (1896-1975) in the early 1970s in honor of his parents, who had immigrated to America in 1883. The work is credited to Frank Luzi (Architect), and Luis Sanguino (Sculptor). It was completed in 1973 and dedicated in 1983. The red granite base of this bronze sculpture measures 8' x 17' 7" and the statue stands over 10' tall. The inscription at the base reads as follows: DEDICATED TO THE PEOPLE OF ALL NATIONS WHO ENTERED AMERICA THROUGH CASTLE GARDEN IN MEMORY OF SAMUEL RUDIN 1896-1975 WHOSE PARENTS ARRIVED IN AMERICA IN 1883 You might also like to have this book for your family history collection: Click here to see more from my visit to Battery Park Click here for my list of places to find immigration records This is part of my new Ancestor Trails series, visiting the places my ancestors lived. Click here to see more like this Subscribe to my blog for free updates! #ancestortrails #newyorkcity #dykeman #tourneur #newyork #nyc #manhattan #monument #batterypark #immigrants #immigration #castlegarden

During our trip to New York City last week, one of the monuments I marked on our tour route was the Netherland Monument in Battery Park (The Battery). My 10th great-grandfather, Johannes Dyckman, worked for the Dutch West India Company. He was born in Holland around 1618 and was "first clerk to the chamber at Amsterdam". In 1651 he was stationed at Fort Orange (modern-day Albany, New York), working as Commies (Commissary) - the clerk and chief officer of Fort Orange. The "Old Dyckman Homestead" on Broadway in Manhattan is the oldest Dutch house on the island to this day. It was owned by Jan Dyckman and possibly originally the property of another 10th great-grandfather, Daniel Tourneur, a French Huguenot who lived in this settlement when it was still called New Amsterdam. Daniel's home is marked on the 1660 map of New Amsterdam. For more blogs about this interesting branch of my family, click here. To learn more about the Dykeman branch (which married into several New York City families including Tourneur, DeVaux, Bosyns, Claessen, and Paresis), click here. "IN TESTIMONY OF ANCIENT AND UNBROKEN FRIENDSHIP THIS FLAGPOLE IS PRESENTED TO THE CITY OF NEW YORK BY THE DUTCH PEOPLE, 1926" The west side of the monument is inscribed: "ON THE 22ND OF APRIL 1625 AMSTERDAM CHAMBER OF THE WEST INDIES COMPANY DECREED THE ESTABLISHMENT AND THE CREATION OF THE ADJOINING FARMS THE PURCHASE OF THE ISLAND OF MANHATTAN WAS ACCOMPLISHED IN 1626. THUS WAS LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK." The opposite side contains a map of "Fort Amsterdam and Surroundings". This monument is located on the southwest corner of Battery Place and State Street, at the head of Broadway and across from the National Archives building. It was designed and sculpted by H.A. van den Eijinde (1869-1869) from bronze and granite. The base is 7-feet x 7-feet and it stands 12-feet in height, without the flagpole. Click here to see more monuments of Battery Park. Subscribe to my blog for free updates on my Ancestor Trails and other genealogical finds! Click here for my list of places to trace your Dutch heritage! #newyorkcity #batterypark #netherlands #dutch #holland #newamsterdam #nyc #manhattan #tourneur #dykeman #devaux #genealogy #historic #monument #ancestortrails

From the time the Dutch settlers arrived in New Amsterdam (now Manhattan, New York City), they knew the southern tip of the island was a strategic location for guarding the harbor and protecting the settlers on the island. A substantial fort called Fort Amsterdam was built there by 1626, shown in the illustration below from one of my favorite books, "The Legend of New Amsterdam". My father's ancestor, Daniel Tourneur, lived nearby in 1660. Fort Amsterdam remained until after the American Revolution but was demolished in 1790. For nearly two decades, there was no fort there, but with tensions rising again between the U.S. and Britain, a new fort was built in 1808, just before the War of 1812. The new structure was built slightly west of where the original fort stood, on an artificial island called West Battery. A bridge connected the fort to Manhattan, as shown in the painting by Samuel Waugh, below. The name of the fort was changed to Castle Clinton in 1815, in honor of Mayor DeWitt Clinton, who later became Governor of New York. Then, in 1822, the U.S. Army ceded the fort to the city who used it as a venue for public entertainment such as concerts and plays. On August 1, 1855, Castle Clinton was designated as New York's official Emigrant Landing Depot, the country's first immigrant processing center. Prior to that, most ships arriving in New York City landed at the docks on South Street. With more standardized procedures in place, it is estimated that 8-12 million immigrants were processed here between 1855 and 1890, maintained by the State of New York. In the 1860s, landfill was used to replace the water between Castle Garden and Manhattan, thereby extending the island of Manhattan and forming what we know of today as Battery Park or "The Battery". Strolling or riding along the paths of Battery Park, admiring the dozen or more massive granite monuments scattered throughout the park, you'd never suspect it was built upon 19th century garbage any more than you'd suspect there are cars driving underground beneath your feet, through the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. The Pier A Harbor House was built in the mid-1880s as headquarters for the NYC Board of Dock Commissioners, later known as the Department of Docks. It was also home of the Harbor Police. In 1890, the U.S. Government assumed control of immigration processing and desiring a more isolated place to do so, Ellis Island was built and opened by 1892. The records from Castle Clinton were moved to Ellis Island and operations commenced, but to every genealogists dismay, a fire broke out on Ellis Island on June 15, 1897, destroying at least 42 years of immigration records containing valuable information about our ancestors. Castle Clinton was slightly modified to host the New York City Aquarium in 1896, quickly becoming a popular attraction, drawing thousands of visitors to the city for the next 45 years. In 1941, the aquarium was closed for the construction of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel, and more than once, demolition was considered. In 1946, legislation was passed making the castle a U.S. historic monument, and still, just a year later, it came close to being demolished for the sixth time, but because of the public outcry of those who opposed the demolition, the New York State Assembly rejected the request. Finally, in July of 1950, the city ceded Castle Clinton to the federal government. It was renovated in 1956 and again in the 1970s. The original masonry of the fort is still in tact. These are photos I took last week. Today the castle is managed by the National Park Service and has been restored relatively close to its original appearance, minus the water surrounding it. To this day, visitors from around the world enter the castle to experience a taste of what millions of immigrants experienced. It is used as a departure point for visitors taking cruises to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island, the place where life in America began for millions. Click here to see my photos from the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Click here to see more from my trip to Battery Park. Click here for my list of places to find immigration records. This is a part of my Ancestor Trails, visiting the homes of my ancestors. Subscribe to my blog for free updates! You can learn more about Castle Garden/Castle Clinton in this book: #castleclinton #batterypark #ancestortrails #newyorkcity #nyc #historic #newyork #manhattan

Almost 12 million immigrants to America were processed at Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954 and although all my ancestors came before 1892, several did travel overseas through this port and many lived in the area. See photos and video clips from my family's recent trip to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty in this video, below. We departed from Liberty State Park in Jersey City and took the ferry to Ellis Island. After spending a couple hours there, we took another ferry to Liberty Island. We didn't go to Lady Liberty's crown, but we went up to the pedestal (near her feet). From there, the ferry took us back to Liberty State Park. The sky was heavily overcast and a light misty rain fell most of the day, but we still had a great time and got some good photos. Enjoy! Later we toured lower Manhattan including Battery Park, Castle Clinton, and South Street Seaport, where my great-grandfather, Percy Daniels lived around 1900. He was a merchant mariner and the American Merchant Mariner's Memorial is located very close to where he roomed in between voyages. We also saw many immigrant monuments and memorials, like the Walloon Settler's Monument, the Netherland Monument, the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the American Merchant Mariner's Memorial, "The Immigrants 1973" memorial, and the East Coast Memorial. We also visited the One World Observatory, the tallest building in the western hemisphere, which was amazing experience giving us a peek at what New York City looked like before it was plastered with concrete and steel as if we were traveling through time. If you haven't been there, don't miss that video! Click here for free genealogy tips and resources to help research your family's history! #StatueofLiberty #NewYorkCity #NewYork #immigration #immigrants #ellisisland #newyork #libertyisland #ancestortrails

If you're heading to the Statue of Liberty from Manhattan, you'll need to head to The Battery. The Battery, also known as "Battery Park", was used as a defensive stronghold in the late 1600s. Artillery batteries were placed here at the southern tip of Manhattan to protect the settlement on the island. The location was also used as a landing point for immigrants (Castle Garden) arriving at New York until Ellis Island was designated as the place for processing immigrant arrivals around 1890. Surely many of our immigrant ancestors' first steps in America were taken in Battery Park. Today Battery Park is a 25-acre public park on the southern tip of Manhattan, between Pier A and the South Ferry Terminal. It features several monuments commemorating the people of New York's past. My family and I toured the park last week and because I can't stand the cold, I mapped out which monuments and memorials I wanted to see on my brisk January walk-through beforehand. First, we saw the (1) Seaglass Carousel (shown above), which was closed. Then we saw the (2) Statue of Liberty Viewpoint (shown above). Since we visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island last year, it was interesting to see it from this perspective. Next, we came to the (3) East Coast Memorial, a tribute to the soldiers who died in the Atlantic during World War II. Continuing north from there, we came across the dramatic sculpture depicting suffering immigrants, called (4) "The Immigrants 1973". Next on the trail we saw (5) Castle Clinton. Continuing on, we stopped at the (6) Korean War Veterans Memorial. From there, we saw the (7) American Merchant Mariner's Memorial (shown above). Continuing north, toward Battery Place, we found the (8) Walloon Settler's Monument, and finally, on our way back to the parking garage, we stopped at the (9) Netherland Monument. Check out my other blogs to see my photos of these memorials, South Street Seaport, and pictures from the top of the One World Observatory! Note: The grey roads shown on the above map are actually underground tunnels. The Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and the Battery Park Underpass run below Battery Park. The Hugh L. Carey Tunnel goes under the ground and water, connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan, while the Battery Park Underpass connects West Street to FDR Drive. New York is such an amazing city, packed full of interesting things to see and do. If you're planning a visit, be sure to plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time to see and experience as much of it as you can. On this trip, we focused on Lower Manhattan, where my great-grandfather, Percy Daniels, lived as early as 1907. Next time we will venture up to the Upper West Side and Central Park to see the lands his wife's ancestors once owned there since the 16th and 17th century. This is part of my new Ancestor Trails series, visiting the places my ancestors lived. Subscribe for free updates to be notified about my new blogs! #ancestortrails #newyorkcity #dykeman #tourneur #newyork #nyc #manhattan #monument #batterypark #landmarks #historic

On the north end of Battery Park, opposite the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel entrance, stands a granite monument nearly 10-feet tall, commemorating the Walloon Settlers who joined the Dutch settlement in New Amsterdam, now Manhattan, in 1624. My 9th great-grandfather, Frederick De Vaux, immigrated from Wallonia to New Amsterdam (Manhattan) in 1675. (Click here to learn more about this branch of my family). Gilded inscription: PRESENTED TO THE CITY OF NEW YORK BY THE CONSEIL PROVINCIAL DU HAINAUT IN MEMORY OF THE WALLOON SETTLERS WHO CAME OVER TO AMERICA IN THE "NIEW NEDERLAND" UNDER THE INSPIRATION OF JESSE DE FOREST OF AVESNES THEN COUNTY OF HAINAUT ONE OF THE PROVINCES --- 1624 - 1924 The Walloons were natives of the County of Hainaut, Belgium. Like many others, they fled to Holland to avoid religious persecution. Feeling unwelcomed there, they requested permission to settle in Virginia in 1621, while it was under British control, but their request was denied. Next they petitioned the Dutch West India Company for permission to settle in Dutch-controlled New Amsterdam, a request that was granted. They left Holland in March of 1624 and landed in New York on May 20, 1624. This memorial was a gift from the Conseil Provincial du Hainaut and was dedicated on May 20, 1924 exactly 300 years after their arrival. That same year, the New York state Senate officially recognized the Walloons and their place in New York and American history. Three commemorative stamps (#614, 615, and 616) were issued by the Federal Government and the Huguenot-Walloon Tercentenary Silver Half-Dollar was also minted in memory of the Walloons. Check to see if these are available for sale! This trip was part of my Ancestor Trails, visiting the places my ancestors lived. Click here to see more memorials from Battery Park and be sure to subscribe to my blog for free updates and new additions! #nyc #batterypark #ancestortrails #walloons #immigration #anniversary #monument #memorial #dykeman #FrederickDeVaus #Wallonia #Belgium #NewYorkCity

Yesterday, my family and I finally visited South Street Seaport at the southern tip of Manhattan, New York City! I had been there years ago, but that was before I knew that my great-grandfather, Percy H. Daniels, sailed to and from there frequently and lived across the street when he was in port. Percy used the address "27 South Street, New York" on several records I've found between 1907 and 1920. The building is no longer there, however, the historic South Street Seaport is! This is the view of the East River, along the banks of which the docks were built, from One World Trade Center Observation Tower. The skyscrapers are obstructing our view of the piers, but they are to the right of the Brooklyn Bridge in this photo: Click here to see more of my Ancestor Trails Subscribe to my blog to follow my genealogy trails! (Free) Click here for my free Genealogy Dashboard with thousands of free resources! #newyorkcity #ancestortrails #percydaniels #southstreetseaport #sailor #genealogy #heritage

For years many in my Leonard family have tried to confirm the identity of our matriarch, Sophronia Burrill. She married Russell Leonard quite young and their son Charles Russell Leonard was born in 1830. Their daughter, Jenette, was born in 1833. On May 2, 1834, Sophronia placed a notice in the Cayuga Republican newspaper, asking for information about her missing husband who reportedly had gone to buy land in Michigan Territory several months prior, in November of 1833. See the clipping here. Russell's fate and identity has yet to be proven, and is another mystery. The family reports that Sophronia remarried to Thomas Knapp in Genoa, Cayuga County, New York, on September 11, 1837. She was living in Scipio in 1840, Genoa in 1850, Locke in 1855, Springport in 1860, Union Springs in 1865, Springport in 1875, Summerhill in 1880, and she died in Moravia in 1883. Her obituary said she was to be buried in Union Springs. I wondered if there was a connection to or mixup with Sophronia (Campbell) Burrill, wife of Nelson Burrill, who lived in Elbridge, Onondaga County, New York, as mentioned in my previous article. The similarities are astounding. Both Sophronias were reportedly born in or about 1815 and they also both died in 1883. Sophronia (Campbell) Burrill died on April 20th and Sophronia (Burrill) Leonard Knapp died on December 3rd. Ancestry DNA is an amazing tool for solving these mysteries! Their ThruLines feature automatically suggests connections to people by comparing shared matches in both trees. It suggested that my 5th great-grandfather (Sophronia's father) was Joshua Burrill of Pembroke, Genesee County, New York. In some cases, ThruLines is unreliable, because it relies on data entered by others in their trees. If they have entered erroneous data, it could cause significant confusion. For example, ThruLines shows that there are 12 matches connecting my father to Joshua Burrill because 12 people on Ancestry have connected him as Sophronia's father, yet there is no evidence to prove this. It has been a rumor or theory that her father was Joshua, but no records have been found to confirm this (to my knowledge). There are, however, a few reasons I now believe this connection is true. First, Joshua had a son named Arba F. Burrill, who named one of his daughters Sophronia Burrill (born abt. 1849). It seems likely that he named her after his sister. Furthermore, there is now DNA evidence to show the connection is there! Here's why: My father's DNA shares three other matches with Joshua's brother and sister, Simeon and Polly. This raises the question of why Sophronia wasn't mentioned in Joshua's will, dated May 22, 1865. He mentions only his "three oldest daughters, Patty (Martha) Redman, Brooksey King and Achsah King", giving them each $200. To his "only son, Arba F. Burrill" he left $10. Finally to his "youngest daughter, Mahaleth Shuminsk and Jacob her husband", he left the remainder of all his real estate. (Side note: It is interesting to note that both Achsah, Mahaleth, and Arba are Hebrew Biblical names). Update: See Joshua Burrill's timeline for a newly discovered clue! Next, I decided to do a little research on Nelson Burrill, the husband of Sophronia Campbell. Low and behold, his father was Jacob Burrill, the brother of Joshua. Therefore, Nelson would have been Sophronia's first cousin! With this revelation, it leaves me wondering if the DNA connection is through Joshua Burrill or Jacob Burrill. Regardless, both would lead back to John Burrill and Mary Eaton. There are currently 24 family trees on Ancestry with Jacob in it. Whether or not these users have had their DNA tested is unknown but so far no DNA matches are found among them - or at least none greater than 7 cM, which is the threshold at Ancestry. (On GedMatch, comparisons can be made at a lower threshold. If you are a descendant of any of these Burrills and have uploaded your DNA to GedMatch, please contact me!) Update: (9/5/2021) Notice also, my confirmed relationship to descendants of Joshua who have had their DNA tested on Ancestry. Three of his daughter, Martha's descendants are confirmed matches with both my father and I, as shown here: Stay tuned for updates! If you have info on this family, please share! Click here to learn about my connection to the Burrills. Click here for thousands of free genealogy resources. #burrill #sophroniaburrill #joshuaburrill #genealogy #newyork

Looking for a marriage that occurred in Massachusetts between 1784 and 1840? Check this resource! Four volumes of marriages at your fingertips! Free! Click here for more Massachusetts genealogy records! Click here for more Marriage Records #marriagerecords #marriages #massachusetts #resources

Prior to their release by Reclaim the Records, the New Jersey birth index was only available on microfilm at the Archives. You can now access some of the indexes free of charge online. The birth index includes the name of the child, the parents, and the certificate number. Copies can be ordered using this information. Some of the pages are missing, faded, torn or damaged. The following is a sample of what you can expect to find. The names are sorted alphabetically by last name, so you will have to flip through the pages to find the names you are looking for. Use these links to find the surnames you are looking for: 1901 - Surnames [A-H] [I-L] [M-S] [T-Z] 1902 - Surnames [A-J] [K-L] [M-W] [W-Z] 1903 - Surnames [A-Z] Additional years may be added as the time limitations expire. Check for new releases here. For more birth records, visit the New Jersey Genealogy Resources page and select Vital Records from the list. From there you can also check resources for specific counties or towns, too. You can also submit a request for a search of the New Jersey's Birth Records Database, which contains births from 1848 to 1920. The search is $10-$15. Click here to see more places to find birth records nationwide. Stay tuned for more valuable genealogy finds! Subscribe for updates - it's free! #resources #newjersey #births

Today is a great time for researching family history with more sites and resources available online than there is time to review it all. There are excellent sites for searching databases, such as Ancestry, FamilySearch, Wikitree, MyHeritage, FindMyPast...the list goes on! Although you're likely to find some relevant matches most of the time, results are often numerous and filtering results could cause you to miss out on legitimate matches, so the process can be very time consuming. Even with hours of searching, there is still a chance that the records you seek are not available on any of these popular sites. I've found that much of the valuable information we seek about our ancestors was printed in old books, most of which are available free online. Church records with births, baptisms, marriage, deaths and burials, local histories with portraits, maps, illustrations and biographies, immigration records and passenger lists, military records, census records, statistical data, and directories can all be found among these old books. As you may have guessed from my site's name, I'm a genealogy addict and whenever I get some free time, you can find me searching for family history. When I come across books containing valuable genealogical data, I add them to my resource database, which currently contains about 20,000 resources with new items being added regularly. It is by no means complete, but a work in progress. In the past, users had the option to search or browse the titles in my database, but because people who lived prior to the 20th century certainly didn't foresee search engine capabilities when titling their books, these searches didn't produce ALL relevant matches either. As someone who uses my database quite a bit, I found it annoying and finally took action. Over the past several months I've spent countless hours categorizing them ALL by the location(s). I even recruited the help of my husband who probably pitied me for taking on such a massive challenge and decided to help me through it. (Thanks, honey!) So, in summary, now you can choose a State from the dropdown menu at the top of the page, or you can visit the Genealogy Dashboard and choose one from there. You will see all the resources I've found for that state, along with information about the State's size and year of founding. From there you can also see a list of all the Counties in the State. You can choose a County to see a map along with resources pertaining specifically to said County. From there, you can also see a list of all the Towns and Cities in said County. Select a town to see an interactive map of the town as well as resources specifically related to the town or city. Give it a try! Let us know if you find anything relevant and stay tuned for updates!

Here I go again, being sidetracked by an intriguing story I came across while searching Archive.org for old family history books. This one is unrelated to my family like my previous blog about The Bissinger Suicide, but equally as interesting. Before researching my family's history, I was under the impression that people in America in the 1800s were good, righteous, God-fearing people who did no wrong. Only true outlaws like Bonnie & Clyde and Billy the Kid broke the law! From my grandparents and other elders, I heard all about how up until the 1960s people could leave their doors unlocked and they could let their children play outside and roam the neighborhood all day long without worrying about them being kidnapped or murdered. They abstained from premarital relations and they never ever got divorced. This is what I heard about the good old days as I was growing up, so I'm always shocked when I read these stories. Yes, morals in America have suffered tremendous decay with each passing decade, but the people in the past were definitely not as righteous as I thought. If we all made an effort to learn from the mistakes of those who came before us, we might have achieved a Utopian society by now, but instead we prefer to make our own decisions and our own mistakes, which can cause major setbacks in life, if not our total total destruction. This book I found is called "The Pennsylvania hermit. A narrative of the extraordinary life of Amos Wilson who expired in a cave in the neighborhood of Harrisburgh (Penn.) after having therein lived in solitary retirement for the space of nineteen years in consequence of the ignominious death of his sister". It was published in 1839, author unknown. This short story is only 24 pages and gives us a personal look into the events that occurred in a small town in Pennsylvania in the late 1700s. It all started with a young woman named Harriot* Wilson. She was born in Pennsylvania, possibly in Lebanon (Dauphin County), in 1776, according to the author. Growing up she was a well-respected, virtuous young woman, that is, until she reached the age of 18. It was then that she became acquainted with a young man by the name of Smith, who lived in Philadelphia. Mr. Smith charmed and seduced young Harriot, by pledging his love and promising to marry her. She "surrendered to her vile seducer all that could render her respectable in the eyes of the world". Afterwards, she was devastated to learn that Smith was a married man with no intention of marrying her and the situation became dire when she realized she was pregnant with his child. The author reminds us of society's treatment of "tarnished" women in those days, in some ways, still do today: "The tenderness and sensibility that prevails in the minds of females, subjects them to many temptations and dangers from which men are in a manner exempt. Their weakness and dependent state places their reputation on a foundation so slender, that the smallest breath of wind will overturn, and the slightest touch indelibly tarnish. While lordly man can sin with impunity, and his most indecent deviations from modesty and virtue, set down as trifling indiscretions, and oftentimes, the more he sins the more he is caressed. He can, without any scandal to himself, seduce the innocent virgin from the paths of virtue, while the unfortunate victim of his arts is expelled from society, and doomed either to end her days in a brothel, among the most depraved, or be made a sacrifice on the altar of justice". When the child* was born, Harriot secretly laid the body in a neighboring grove. Whether it was living or not, I found no mention but she was immediately suspected of being the perpetrator and was put on trial for murder. The trial lasted 11 hours and in the end, the jury delivered a verdict of "guilty". Distinguished people sought her pardon and, her brother, Amos* Wilson, fought adamantly to prevent her execution. He was two years Harriot's elder, born in 1774* in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. On the morning of the scheduled execution, Amos went to Philadelphia and "prostrated himself at the feet of the Governor", begging for a pardon for Harriot. The Governor had mercy and issued the pardon. With no time to waste, Amos raced back home to stop the execution. On his way, however, heavy rain fell, making the Schuylkill River impassable. He had to wait for the rain to stop and the waters to calm enough for him to cross and continue his race home. As he raced to the place where the execution was to take place, pardon in hand, he witnessed the invisible departure of his sister's soul, while her lifeless body hung from the gallows. He was five minutes too late to stop the execution. He fell from his horse in shock and disappointment and was never the same again. For a time he remained at his parents home, delusional and inconsolable. Finally, he decided his perception of the world was now too tainted to participate in society. He went into the forest and found a cave near Harrisburg and there he stayed for 19 years. He rarely had visitors, except the author of the book, a friend. He would have been only about 39 years old when he died, but the illustration provided by the author, who was reportedly a personal friend of Amos, depicts an older man, in my opinion. The discrepancies were enough to entice me to search for the family in historical records, to confirm whether or not it was true. First, I tried Findagrave but found no matches for Amos Wilson (born 1774) or Harriot Wilson (born 1776). Next, I tried to find the family on the 1790 census before the murder. This, I found, to be very difficult because on the 1790 census, only the head of household was named and since the book doesn't mention their parents' names, I was unable to identify the family, even with the help of my 1790 Census Helper. There were more than a dozen Wilson (and Willson) families in Dauphin county in 1790 and none of them contained two males and two females, as described in the book. Next, I searched the web and found that both Amos and Harriot have articles on Wikipedia, which provide more information, some conflicting with the information in the book that had first brought the story to my attention. (I marked those items with an asterisk* above). Yes, I realize academia frowns upon Wikipedia, deeming it unreliable because it is user-contributed data, but when properly cited, it can be a great resource for information. At any rate, there is much information about the tragedy in the articles for Harriot and Amos, including variations of the story passed along the grapevine. First, Harriot's name was actually Elizabeth Wilson and she was not born in 1776, as stated in the book, which did not state the year of her execution. She was scheduled to be executed on December 7, 1785, but when people began to doubt her guilt, it was postponed until January 3, 1786. Since we know she was at least 18, she was born no later than 1767, but varying accounts are given for her age. Some say she was born as early as 1758. Next, her brother's name was William Wilson - not Amos - and he was not born in 1774, as stated in the book. He was born in or around 1762 and died in October of 1821. So he was about 59 when he died in the cave he lived in for 19 years. The cave was said to be near Hummelstown. Today it is a tourist attraction called Indian Echo Caverns, located about 8 miles east of Harrisburg. It is a place of natural beauty with underwater lakes, stalactites, and minerals and the temperature is a constant 52 degrees (Fahrenheit) year-round. The most shocking allegation that conflicts with the account written in the book is that it wasn't "a child" that Harriot left in the woods, it was "children" - twin boys. According to one version, she confessed that Smith met her in the woods because he wanted to see if the boys resembled him and then he ordered her to kill them. When she refused, he trampled the boys to death. Many people, including the judge and the sheriff of Chester, believed she was innocent. I believe the unnamed author of this book may have been attempting to protect the identity of the family by changing the names and omission of dates, but the fact that the book's account only mentions a child and not twins, makes me wonder if this person really knew "Amos" at all or if the author just recounted the story from local legend. It was, after all, published 53 years after her execution and 18 years after William "Amos" Wilson's death. See also: Elizabeth "Harriot" Wilson [Wikipedia] William "Amos" Wilson [Wikipedia] Pennsylvania Genealogy Resources Genealogy Dashboard #pennsylvania #history #murder #wilson #scandals #crime

Every now and then I do a search on Archive.org in hopes that new books have been uploaded, which may contain clues about some of the brick walls in my family tree. I probably haven't found all the answers yet because I usually get sidetracked, reading about families completely unrelated to me, like I did again here. I came across a book on HeritageQuest, printed in 1875, bearing a shocking title, "The Bissinger suicide history of that sad tragedy in which Mrs. Bissinger (as alleged), made desperate by neglect and ill treatment, drowned herself and three children in the Union Canal, at Reading, Penna., statement of her brother in reply to her husband". The title sums up the tragedy, but I was curious and wanted to know more. The book starts with a well known quote: One of the greatest poets that ever existed has written an adage which will be quoted as long as language lives. It is this: "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!" In the book, the story of how Louisa, a young woman just 29 years old, was driven to the point of suicide and beyond, after being discarded by her husband, Philip Bissinger. He was a saloon keeper in Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania, who was reportedly openly having an affair with a German woman from Philadelphia, even bringing her to the family home. In a recent argument sparked by his infidelity, he ordered Louisa to leave, offering her $2,000, a hefty sum in those days, to just be gone with the two daughters, leaving him their only son. Instead, Louisa reportedly took the three children to Union Canal where she and the children, ages 9, 6, and 3, collected large rocks, putting them into a basket. She then tied the basket to her waist and jumped into the canal with her three children in her arms. This is the Union Canal in Reading. Could this be the spot she jumped from? Following are some articles I found about this tragic event: In this article, Louisa's brother, Fred Eben, writes a personal message for Philip Bissinger. He ends it with these words that should have cut like a knife at the conscience of Philip. Fred says: "...but I also know that YOU, PHILIP BISSINGER WERE THE CAUSE of all this, and in conclusion, I, as her brother, and the son of a broken-hearted mother BRAND YOU AS THE MURDERER of my sister and your four children - and I am willing that the people amongst whom we live shall judge between us. Fred. Eben." (The Daily Gazette, Sept. 10, 1875). I found Philip's memorial on Findagrave (see here). There I learned that he was a soldier of the civil war, enlisting in Company G, Pennsylvania 79th Infantry Reg. in September of 1861. He rose through the ranks and was promoted to Sergeant Major, to 1st Lieutenant, and finally to Captain of Company F in December, 1863. He resigned from his commission nine months later and mustered out Sept. 12, 1864. He was counted on the 1860 census, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He was a bar tender living in the home of Augustus Schoenberger, a brewer and immigrant from Germany. Philip was 18 and a young woman named Mary "Bisinger", age 16, was also living in the home. Both were reportedly born in Germany. Was this a first wife, or a sister? (Census shown below). Because Louisa's brother's name was Fred Eben, (documented in the article at left), I was able to find Louisa on the 1860 census. She was living in the South East Ward of Reading with Gotleab (?) and Rosina Eben, presumably her parents. Her father's occupation was "Restaurant". Louisa was 14, Frederick was 12, and a younger sister, Rosa, was 9. That census was taken on June 9, 1860, so based on her age, she was born before June 9, 1846. (Census shown below). Her memorial on Findagrave contains details about the story and another sketch of Louisa. There her birth date, is given as March 21, 1836, calculated from a newspaper clipping of the funeral announcement which stated she was age 39 years, 4 months and 27 days. (Confirmed with The Time Deductor). Based on the 1860 census, though, I believe she was born in 1846 and that she was 29 years old when she committed suicide on August 17, 1875. In 1880, four years after the suicide and death of his family, Philip married Ida Sebald Rosenthal. According to Findagrave, she was born Oct. 20, 1850, in Philadelphia. I found nothing to indicate whether or not she was the mistress mentioned, but she was a younger woman from Philadelphia, so it is possible. Ida died in Reading in 1910 at the age of 59 and Philip died at the age of 84, in 1926. All of them are buried in Charles Evans Cemetery in Reading. Following are the two census records from 1860 before Philip and Louisa married, mentioned above. When the 1870 census was taken, Philip and Louisa were married and living in Reading with two daughters: Mary, age 3, and Elizabeth, age 3 months. A domestic servant named Susan also lived in the home. Philip's occupation was "Saloon Keeper". He was born in Bavaria and Louisa was born in Wurttemberg. So from this, we can see that Philip married Louisa very soon after returning from the war, sometime between September, 1864 and 1867. Louisa would have just turned 18 years old when he returned and their oldest daughter, Mary, was born in April of 1867, when Louisa would have been about 21 years old (if she was born in 1846). So they were married sometime between September 1864 and July 1866. A final observation regarding the names of Philip and Louisa's daughters. On the 1870 census, the two daughters living in the home were Mary and Elizabeth. The short obituary shared on Findagrave, reports that (aside from the unborn child in her womb), the three children who died with their mother on August 17, 1875 were: Mollie C. Bissinger, age 8 years, 3 mos., 19 days - (Born April 28, 1867, "Mary", age 3 on the census taken in August 1870) Lillie Bissinger, age 5 years, 2 mos., 11 days - (Born June 6, 1870, "Elizabeth", age 3 months on the census taken in August 1870) Philip Bissinger, age 3 years, 7 mos., 5 days - (Born Jan. 12, 1872) The ages match perfectly but the names of the girls are different, as you can see. Yes, Mollie can be used as a nickname for Mary, but I wasn't aware that Lillie was a nickname for Elizabeth, unless one of them was her middle name. It just goes to show how census records, newspapers, and even gravestones and cemetery transcriptions can contain errors. Either way, four innocent children's lives were cut short at the hand of a dejected and tormented mother who saw no other way out. What should have been a flourishing family tree today, was cut down at the roots, marking the end of Mr. Bissinger's bloodline. Instead of being the beloved immigrant ancestors of a great many Bissingers, like many of our ancestors are, Philip was left with no heirs. Instead, his decisions earned him a legacy of being the unfaithful and cruel husband who drove his wife to suicide and murder. May their souls rest in peace. #miscellaneous #murder #genealogy #pennsylvania #berkscounty #readingpa #suicide

Those interested in Plymouth and its early settlement might be interested in this resource I came across. The Records of the Colony of New Plymouth were published "by order of the Legislature" in the 1850s, and contain much of the official business of the colony in the 1600s. I was able to find the following volumes, which you can read online at Archive.org using the corresponding links: Volume 1 Acts of the Commissioners of the United Colonies of England (1643-1651) [Link] Volume 2 Acts of the Commissioners of the United Colonies of England (1653-1679) [Link] Deeds &c. Volume 1 Book of Indian Records for their lands (1620-1651) [Link] Court Orders Volume 1 (1633-1640) [Link] Court Orders Volume 3 (1651-1661) [Link] Court Orders Volume 5 (1668-1678) [Link] Court Orders Volume 6 (1678-1691) [Link] Miscellaneous Records. (1633-1689) [Link] Judicial Acts (1636-1692) [Link] Laws (1623-1682) [Link] You might also like the Interactive Mayflower Passenger List, loaded with information, illustrations, resources and more or see even more Mayflower resources here. #mayflower #genealogy #plymouthplantation #plymouth #massachusetts

130 years ago this February, there was a murder in the small town of Rose, Wayne County, New York. The town of Rose was first settled in 1805 when it was in the Town of Wolcott. Wolcott was divided to form Rose in 1826. At various times, Rose was called Valentine, Albion, and Rose Valley. When the 2010 census was taken, only 2,369 people (646 families) were counted as living there. Common causes for murders of the day were property disputes, jealousy, or robbery but none of those was the cause for the rage that led to a son taking his father's life in a bloody and brutal attack. My knowledge of the Lumbert murder began when I found my 3rd great-grandfather on the 1892 census in a place relatively far from where he had spent most of his life. He was with a new family in Rose, New York, 55 miles from Groton, his former home. His new "wife" was Luella and he lived with three of her children from her first marriage, and her mother, Betsy Lumbert. What happened here? Why did he move so far? This will be discussed further in my next blog, but for now, let's talk about the Lumbert family. Luella Schriver (or Scriber) was a daughter of Betsy Austin and Benjamin Schriver. She was born in 1850 but her marriage ended early as Betsy and her 4-month old baby were living with Betsy's brother, Morton Austin, in Springport, Cayuga County, New York, in 1850. I haven't researched Benjamin's fate or identity, but Betsy was remarried to William LUMBERT, probably between 1852 and 1854. When the census was taken in 1860, Betsey and Luella were living with William LUMBERT in Savannah, Wayne County, New York. Betsey was 29 (est. birth 1831) and William was 39 (est. birth 1821). Children in the home were: Ella LUMBERT (age 10, a.k.a. Luella SCHRIVER), Benjamin LUMBERT (age 7, likely also SCHRIVER), William LUMBERT (age 6), Mary LUMBERT (age 3), and Charles LUMBERT (age 9 months). Note: It appears this Charles LUMBERT may have died young, because when the census was taken ten years later in 1870, Charles LUMBERT's age is given as 2 years old. If it were the same Charles, he would have been 10 in 1870. Before I continue, I'd like to note that the ages of these family members vary greatly from census to census and cannot be relied upon for calculating the ages. Still, the census records do provide some evidence to clear up conflicting data. For example, on Luella's grave, her birth date is given as 1851, however, because she was counted on the 1850 census, we know for a fact that the date on her grave is wrong. In 1870, William LUMBERT, age 36 (est. birth 1834) and Betsey LUMBERT, age 35 (est. birth 1835) were counted on the census in Rose, eleven miles northwest of Savannah. Children in the home were: Benjamin LUMBERT (age 17), William LUMBERT (age 14), Mary J. LUMBERT (age 13), George LUMBERT (age 8), and Charles LUMBERT (age 2). Luella wasn't in the home because she was married abt. 1864 to William KNAPP and living in Groton with three children. This map from the Wayne County Atlas, 1874, shows exactly where they lived, in the top left corner of the map. The Lumbert family lived on what is known today as High Street, half way between Catchpole Road and Wayne Center-Rose Road, on the west side of the street. Here in this interactive Google map street view, the home would have been on the right side of the road somewhere here: The 1900 map below was found in “Rose Neighborhood Sketches” by Alfred S. Rowe, 1893, which gives brief mention of the incident on pages 187-188 as follows: A trifle north of the foot of the hill, on the west side, is the humble habitation of William Lumbert, who came to these parts from Cayuga county. His family lives in two houses, not because his children are so numerous, though he has several, but because the buildings are so small. (Mr. Lumbert was killed by his son, George, Feb. 16, 1891. For this crime the son was sentenced to life imprisonment.) The map was published in the same book, showing the location of Lumbert's home: In 1880, Betsey & James Lumbert were still living in Rose (Wayne County). James was a Day Laborer reportedly born in Illinois while his parents were born in New York. Betsey's age was given as 50 and James' as 60. Only one child remained in the home, Charles Lumbert, age 13. George A. LUMBERT (age 17, est. birth 1863) was living as "servant" in the home of Samuel and Margaret Converse in nearby Galen (Wayne County), and working as a farm laborer. Wayne County's 1885 State Census is not available as far as I know, and the 1890 census was destroyed by fire, so there is a period of 11 years we cannot find the family on the census. In local newspapers, however, we can fill in some of these blanks. We learn that Charles Lumbert had his own home about three quarters of a mile from his parents by 1891 and George, whose real name was Amasa, went out west in the 1880s. He came back a changed man, according to those who knew him - and not for the better. The next census found was the 1892 New York State Census, taken in February. At that time Betsy was living in Rose, presumably in the same home. In the home was her daughter, Luella, and three of Luella's children: Sophronia KNAPP (16), Murray KNAPP (12), and Malvina KNAPP (9). Luella reported having been married to Charles Leonard for seven years and he was head of the household. (You can see that census here). But where was James Lumbert? From local newspapers, it was shocking to learn that he died in February, 1891, at the hand of his son, George (Amasa) Lumbert. Following are some of the articles written about the horrific circumstances. The story in the Oswego Daily Times, Feb. 18, 1891, states that during the trial, which had taken place earlier that day, evidence such as an ax, three sticks of fire wood, a shirt, a vest, a knife, a broom and a pair of pantaloons were brought in. The story continues here: W.D. Saunders of Palmyra stated that he was a stenographer and that he took the last confession made by the defendant, being requested by him to do so. His testimony was the same as what Deputy Sheriff Collins gave yesterday, except that Lumbert also claimed that he was influenced by his step-sister, Mrs. Sophronia Leonard*, to commit the crime. [*I believe this was Ms. Sophronia Knapp, daughter of Luella, using her stepfather's name]. Jefferson Morey of Clyde testified that he was driving to his home in Rose on February 17, 1891, and that he met Geo. Lumbert on the road and gave him a ride to Rose, reaching there about noon. The different articles found in the house where the murder was committed were retained in evidence. Edson W. Hamm, attorney for Lumbert, then made an address asking for the discharge of the prisoner, stating that the evidence shown was not enough to hold him. He also said that until several years ago Lumbert was an intelligent young man, until the time that he contracted a disease which left him insane. The motion was denied. The first witness sworn for the defense was William Lumbert of Rose, a brother of the defendant. He stated that until three years ago his brother George was a peaceable agreeable and hard-working young man, and after that he did not act like his former self. Frederick Ream of Rose, stated that he had lived near the Lumberts for several years and knew the defendant to be a good, industrious young man until the latter part of the year 1890 when he noticed a change in him. Lumbert came to his home about this time and told him his relatives were putting up a job on him at home and that he was afraid to stay there and asked the witness if he would allow him to remain at his home that night. He also said that he believed that George was insane. He told the murdered man of the occurrence and was in turn told the latter did not consider that his son was in his right mind and laid the cause of it to the medicine which George was at that time taking. Mrs. Betsy Lumbert was sworn and said that she was the mother of the defendant and that up to three years ago, when George had gone to Michigan, he was industrious and kind of particular about his personal appearance. She had noticed a change in him two years ago. He had formerly been a sensible conversationalist, but his conversation and actions suddenly became silly. He continued this way until the time that the murder was committed. James J. Dodds, of Rose, stated that he had known the defendant for eighteen years and had employed him on different occasions and always found his work satisfactory. He also remarked the change in George about the year 1890 and on one occasion the defendant told him that he believed that his parents and the doctors were putting up a job on him. Orrin B. Carpenter of Rose, was sworn and stated that he had known George for twelve years. He also noticed a change in him about two years ago. Mrs. Ida M. Lumbert stated that she was the wife of Charles H. Lumbert, a brother of the defendant, and that George came to her home about ten days before the murder and coming into the room where she and her sister, Mrs. Mary J. Hapeman, were sitting, he drew a razor and asked his sister to allow him to cut her throat with it. The witness grabbed the razor, when George asked her to cut his throat. He also drew a revolver, which the two women took away from him. He requested them to return the razor and revolver and when they asked him what he intended doing with them, he answered: “To raise hell with them.” She also stated that she had been married twice. Her first husband deserted her six years ago and she believed that he was dead. She married Charles H. Lumbert three years ago. Dr. Marcus J. Williams of Rose stated that he had examined George and did not believe that he was afflicted with the disease which his counsel claimed he had contracted. Dr. James W. Putnam of this village stated that he believed that he had treated the defendant at the Wayne county almshouse in 1888, for the disease referred to, and that his patient apparently improved while under his care. Mrs. Jane Hapeman swore that she was also the sister of the defendant and that he had one occasion asked her if the top of his head had not blown off, also if his face was not black. On another occasion he threw all of the furniture out …and her father had…claimed Lumbert was afflicted often affected his brain. The counsel read to the witness a hypothetical question, which was a review of the testimony given regarding the actions, sayings, etc, of the defendant before the night of the tragedy and of the way in which he confessed to have committed the deed, etc. He then asked the witness whether she considered such a man sane or insane. The witness replied, “Insane”. The court adjourned at 6 p.m. until nine o’clock tomorrow morning. Rochester Herald. The Daily News, Batavia, New York, Thursday Evening, February 19, 1891, provides more details: THE MURDERER A LUNATIC. Particulars of the Killing of Old Man Lumbert in Wayne County. Rose, N.Y., Feb. 19 - The murder of James William Lumbert, the farm laborer who was found dead in his door yard at Worden's Corners, near here Tuesday afternoon, has created an immense amount of excitement. Lumbert was born in Vermont and was a stone cutter by trade, but for thirty years he had lived in this town, working as a wood chopper and farm laborer. His family, beside his wife Betsy, consists of Benjamin, aged 38, of Chicago; William, aged 33; Mary, 29; Amasa, 26; and Charles, 23, all of Rose. The daughter is married, her named being Leonard. Amasa is known in the neighborhood as "George." On Sunday, it is said, a family quarrel took place and George turned his mother out of doors, she taking refuge with her son Charles, leaving the old man and George alone in the house. Tuesday afternoon Charles went to the house (this being the first time any of the family went there since Sunday) to see how George and his father were getting along. he found his father murdered and his brother missing. Yesterday, Amasa, or George, Lumbert, was arrested, charged with killing his father, and committed to jail. Blood was found on his clothing. He is partially demented and has been an inmate of an insane asylum." From the Syracuse Weekly Express, Thursday, February 26, 1891: Lyons, Feb. 25 (1891) -- Until Wednesday when George Lumbert was brought here by one of Sheriff George W. Knowles's Deputies and lodged in the county jail, few authentic details of the murder of William E. Lumbert had been learned in this village. Owing, to the out-of-the-way place in which it occurred it was many hours after the discovery of the murder before the officers of the law were notified to the crime. About one-half or three-fourths of a mile off the main road which runs from Rose Valley to Lyons stands a little weather-beaten one-story board house. The upright part of the house fronts the road. There are two rooms in it. One the south side is a little wing or shed. In this shed the cooking and housework is done. The front room of the house was occupied by the old couple as a living and sleeping room and in the room back of it George slept. There is no chimney on the house, but a length of stovepipe rises the roof of the shanty. Only a few boards remain on the fences about the house, which looked bleak and drear enough last evening. The road near which the house stands is known as the swamp road and it is all that the name implies. It would be hard to imagine a more lonely spot. At about a mile from the main road the swamp road enters a long strip of wood. About a quarter of a mile further on and near the edge of the woods stands another shanty, new and more pretentious than the Lumbert house. The Lumbert family consisted of William E. Lumbert, the father, aged seventy-two years, his wife, aged sixty-one, and George Lumbert, their son, who will be twenty-seven years old in April. Notwithstanding his advanced age, Mr. Lumbert was able to do a good day's work at chopping wood in the winter or on the farm in the summer. For the last two years George has done little or no work. His father and mother frequently upbraided him for his laziness. He became very irritable of late when spoken to about it and after quarrelling with the old folks would leave home and be gone from three days to as many weeks, no one knowing anything of his whereabouts in the meantime. Two years ago he returned home from three years' wandering in the West, the greater part of which time was spent in the pineries of Michigan, where he associated with dissolute women, who it is notorious, infest the lumber camps. While there he contracted a loathsome disease from which he has ever since suffered. This fact together with his love of whiskey perhaps made him physically unfit for work and may have impaired his mind. Some time ago he spent several months in the County House near this place. He ran away last summer and returned to his home. The keeper of the County House believes he is demented. On Monday at 11 A.M. Mrs. William E. Lumbert, widow of the murdered man, left her home and crossed the fields to the west of their home, about three-quarters of a mile, to another road, where her son Charles lives. She had left behind her at the little shanty her husband and their son George. As she had often done before, she remained overnight at her son Charles. Tuesday afternoon about 1 o'clock, having little else to do at this season of the year, Charles walked across the swamp to his parent's house to see how his father and brother were getting along. He found the house deserted. Blood was spattered all over the floor, walls and bed of the front room of the house. The bed in which the old man Lumbert slept had not been disturbed, showing that he had not slept in it Monday night. The covering of George's bed was thrown back and the bed bore appearances of having been occupied during the preceding night. Neither George nor his father was anywhere to be seen. A bloody trail led out through the back door of the house, through a fence about forty or fifty feet into a lot that adjoins the one on which the house stands. There, lying on the snow, his head covered with blood which had matted his hair so that it was frozen to the ground and icy snow, was the dead body of his father. Chunks of earth and frozen snow adhered to the hair and head was extricated with difficulty. The body was removed to the shanty, the neighbors notified and word was finally telegraphed to Coroner Yorke of Palmyra, who went to the scene of the murder, impaneled a jury, and viewing the remains, adjourned the inquest until Friday. An axe covered with blood and hair was found behind the door in the rear room of the house. On a chair near the stove in the front room of the house was found a razor covered with blood. When the Coroner's jury had viewed the body the Coroner gave permission to have it removed to the house of William, another son living near Rose Valley. Tuesday night and Wednesday search was made through the woods, swamp and barns for George Lumbert on the theory that he had killed his father and probably committed suicide. The bloody razor was thought to indicate suicide. Wednesday afternoon at 2 o'clock as a posse, under direction of ex-Deputy Sheriff George Jeffers of Rose Valley, returned from a search of the woods, Jeffers discovered George Lumbert walking up and down the road in front of Lumbert house. Jeffers seized Lumbert, and told him that while he had no legal papers yet, he would put him under arrest for killing his father. Lumbert coolly denied all knowledge of the death of his father. He was taken to Rose Valley, and locked up in Pimm's Hotel, under custody of a Constable. Late Wednesday Lumbert was arraigned before Justice Osgood at Rose Valley charged with murder in the first degree. He pleaded not guilty and was held for future examination. That night he was taken to the county jail. At Rose Valley, in searching George Lumbert, the dead man's son, showed three longitudinal cuts on the top of the head, nearly an inch apart, and running parallel with each other. The length of the cuts corresponds to the length of an ordinary axe blade. The cut on the right side exposes the brain. On the back of the head and running across from ear to ear is a frightful gash, which cuts the head nearly half in two and also exposes the brain. On his forehead above, and the cheek below the left eye are bruised and blackened lumps. There are no other marks or bruises anywhere and the face wore a peaceful expression. A stick of stove wood was found in the middle of the floor in the front room of the house. George Lumbert was seen at the county jail Wednesday night by an Express representative. He is of medium height, slight build and appeared sick and nervous. He said he was born near Clyde and would be twenty-seven years old next April. The greater part of his life had been spent in Rose Valley and his parents had occupied the house on the swamp road for twenty years. He told of his life in the Michigan pineries, and when asked if he had been treated at the County House for insanity replied emphatically that he had not, but that he went there to receive better medical treatment than was obtainable at home and that he went away when he believed he had improved sufficiently. He had suffered more from his ailment for the last two weeks than ever before. "When did you leave your home, Lumbert?" was asked. "Monday afternoon between 3 and 4 o'clock." "Why did you leave?" "Well, my folks were poor and had a hard time to get along, and I thought I'd go away." "Where did you propose to go?" "I thought I would go down to Pennsylvania." "When did you return to the house?" "This afternoon about 2 o'clock." "Why did you return?" "Well, I don't know. I thought I'd come back." "Was it not a little strange that you, after having stayed at home for two years, should start out for Pennsylvania when you were sicker than you had ever been before, and that you should change your mind after the first night and return home again?" "Well, maybe it was." "Have you not quarreled with your family because they asked you to go to work?" "No, not much." "Haven't they complained because you did not go to work?" "Yes, they have." "Then you never quarreled with your family?" "No, sir." "You still deny that you killed your father?" "Yes, sir.” "How do you account for the blood stains on your shirt?" "I had the nose bleed on the way to the schoolhouse near Clyde." "Whereabouts?" "I cannot tell you the exact spot." Mrs. Lumbert, the widow, was so overcome that she could do nothing last evening but sob and moan. Notwithstanding the poverty of the family, the interior of the little shanty and Mrs. Lumbert's personal appearance showed that she is a neat and thrifty housekeeper. The funeral took place yesterday afternoon from the house of William Lumbert. Burial was made in Rose Valley. Late Wednesday The Express's correspondent had another interview with Lumbert in his cell at the jail and the prisoner made the following voluntary confession: "Three or four weeks ago I quarreled with my father because he misused my mother. Our relations were anything but amicable and my father had repeatedly threatened to have me arrested if I did not leave the house. I refused to go away and we had frequent quarrels. Monday evening I sat in the room with my father. He faced the south and I the east. We had some hot words about my mother. At length he lost control of himself and came for me with his fists. I thought he was going to kill me. He struck at me several times, but I parried the blows. I did not strike back at him, but tried only to keep him away and to defend myself. Then he seized a hot stove lid from the front part of the cooking stove, but it slipped out of his hand before he could throw it at me." Here Lumbert broke down and declared this was the last time he saw his father alive. When asked if he did not kill his father his eyes flashed with the expression of a maniac, and, assuming a threatening position, he angrily said: "No, I did not kill him." He was told by the correspondent that everybody was certain that he had committed the crime, and that every circumstance pointed to him as the murderer. Being convinced of the futility of his denial, he suddenly drew himself up at full length and said very positively: "Yes, I did kill my father." He then went on with the confession and said: "I was sitting near the stove on the wood box with my head to the east when the stove lid dropped from my father's hand. I grabbed a piece of fire wood and hit him three or four times in the face. He fell to the floor. I took hold of the body and made for the door. As I dragged him out through the woodshed I seized the axe, which lay near the door, and dragging him out into the back yard, completed the crime with the axe. How many times I struck him with it I do not know, but I certainly hit him a number of blows. I then went into the house, washed my hands and went away. I stayed there about twenty minutes. I walked all night Monday and until Tuesday afternoon at 4 o'clock, when I struck a little brick schoolhouse where I passed the night. I then changed my mind and decided to return to Rose. I went to the house where I gave myself up." GEORGE A.J. LUMBERT. His X mark. Signed in the presence of Fred M. Kreutzer. Dated, Lyons, February 19th, 1891, at 12 o'clock noon. The Clyde Democratic Herald, Tuesday, February 16, 1892, informs of the following: ON TRIAL FOR MURDER - The Lumber Murder Case Begun at Lyons yesterday. George A. Lumbert of Rose, N.Y., was placed on trial for his life at 5 o'clock yesterday afternoon in court of oyer and terminer at Lyons before Judge William H. Adams, for the murder of his father, Wm. E. Lumbert, on the night of February 16, 1891. Edgar W. Hamm, of Lyons, represents the prisoner, and District Attorney S. Nelson Sawyer the people. Lumbert appeared in court neatly attired in a new suit of clothes, furnished him by the sheriff, and looks as though his confinement of a year had agreed with him. He has the appearance of a dull, simple-minded person. He is 28 years of age. The work of empaneling a jury out of a panel of fifty extra jurors together with the regular panel of thirty-six, was at once begun. The entire extra panel was challenged by Mr. Hamm. Twenty-four jurors were sworn, out of which six qualified as follows. "James Parish, farmer, Butler; George Bridger, farmer, Sodus; Jas. Harlow, farmer, Macedon; George Swading, mason, Walworth; Philip Wadsworth, farmer, South Butler; Erastus L House, clerk, Ontario. The court then adjourned until o'clock this morning. The defense will undoubtedly be insanity, and a great deal of expert testimony will be offered on both sides. From The Weekly Gleaner, Thursday, February 25, 1892: Lumbert Found Guilty. Lyons, N.Y., Feb. 20. - The jury last night rendered a verdict in the Lumbert murder trial, finding George A. Lumbert guilty of murder in the second degree. In reply to the question asked by the clerk, Lumbert stated that he thought he was about 28 years of age, was unable to read or write, and had never received religious instructions. A follow up story in the Weekly News and Democrat, March 2, 1892: Lumbert Arrives - The Lyons Murderer Comes to Auburn to Stay. George A. Lumbert was received at the prison Thursday to serve a life sentence having been convicted of murder in the second degree. Lumbert is from Wayne County and the crime for which he was sentenced was the killing of his father, a man 75 years old, in the town of Rose, Feb. 16th, 1891. The case was tried at Lyons and was one of the most interesting in the history of the county. Previous to the trial Lumbert made two confessions to newspaper men, in one of which he said that his step-sister urged him to kill his father. The defense on the trial was insanity. It was brought out during testimony that Lumbert and his father were alone in the kitchen of their home. The father was busy about the stove when he was suddenly struck in the head by his son with a piece of kindling wood. The old man ran out doors and the son followed him, picking up a broom as he ran. With that he struck the old man and knocked him down and continued beating him until he was unconscious. Not content with this the fiend went to the woodshed and got an axe and crushed the old man’s skull. The son had become smeared with blood and washing his hands he started away from the scene of the crime. He did not go far and the next day he returned to Rose and gave himself up. Sheriff Thornton who brought Lumbert to prison this morning says that Lumbert has been an easy man to manage and has given no trouble at all. It was reported that George died the following year in prison. This news was from the Buffalo Evening News, Thursday, September 28, 1893: Lyons- George A. Lumbert who murdered his father, James William Lumbert, near Rose Valley February 17, 1891, and after trial was sentenced to Auburn prison for life, died there yesterday. He escaped being electrocuted though a please of insanity. However, the following day, The Auburn Bulletin (Fri., Sept 29, 1893), set the record straight: LUMBERT ISN'T DEAD. A False Report About a Wayne County Murderer. George A. Lumbert, a convict at the prison who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his father near the village of Rose, Wayne county, was reported dead by relatives in that vicinity. Lumbert is about work as usual this morning. Lumbert is not even an inmate of the hospital and is in good health. The Rochester Democrat and Chronicle yesterday printed the following from a Lyons correspondent: "Charles H. Lumbert, of Rose, has received information from the prison authorities at Auburn, that his brother, George A. Lumbert, who was serving out a life sentence for the murder of his father, William Lumbert, had died in that institution. It will be remembered that on February 18, 1891, William Lumbert, an old man over 70 years of age, living on a by road three miles west of the hamlet of Rose Valley was found murdered, lying in an orchard a few rods distant from his home, his head being cut open with an axe. The discovery was made by Charles H. Lumbert, a son of the murdered man about four hours after the terrible deed had been committed. The house in which Mr. Lumbert and his son, George A. resided was a mere hovel with only two rooms in it. The principal room in the house was found besmeared with blood, the furniture broken to pieces and all surroundings showed that the murdered man had made a desperate fight for life. On a shelf in the room was found a razor covered with blood and in the woodshed was found an ax covered with blood and hair. The old man lived with his wife and son, George A. Lumbert. The former was away at the time, and the son was suspected as the guilty party. An organized body of armed men began to scour the country for the purpose of securing the murderer. In the afternoon of that day John L. Lyman, a constable of the town of Rose, met the son on his premises talking in an incoherent manner and walking aimlessly around, his clothing bespattered with blood. Lumbert alleged that he had been killing chickens. Lyman arrested him. A (coroner's inquest was held over the remains of the father Rose and the son was held for the murder. He was taken before the next grand jury and although he pleaded not guilty, was indicted. At the term of circuit court and court of oyer and terminer which convened in Lyons February 17, 1892, Lumbert was placed on trial; was convicted of murder in the second degree and sentenced to Auburn prison for life. This trial cost the county of Wayne over $3,000. On Wednesday, February 24, Lumbert was taken to Auburn and nothing was heard of him again until the news reached this village yesterday that he had died in prison." No other mention or record of George Lumbert's death has been found, however. The Auburn Prison records indicate he was "transferred to the asylum", with no further notes. Charles Leonard died on November 23, 1908 and Luella remarried to Benjamin Wilson in April of 1910. She died on February 4, 1912, predeceasing her 88-year old mother by 44 days. The Groton and Lansing Journal, March 20, 1912, announced Betsey Lumbert's death: Betsey Lumbert Dead. The death of Mrs. Betsey Lumbert, aged about 88 years, occurred at the home of her son, Charles Lumbert, of this place on Friday, and the funeral was held from the residence at 2 o'clock on Monday. She leaves two sons, one of Groton and one of Auburn, and one daughter of North Wolcott. The "daughter of North Wolcott" mentioned in her obituary was Mary Jane (Lumbert) Sebring Hapeman, who lived from 1867 to 1922. Betsey is buried in Groton Rural Cemetery, in the same section where Charles Leonard and Luella are also buried (Section N Lot 62). According to her Findagrave memorial, she was born Feb. 14, 1824. More info: Rose, New York (Wikipedia) Landmarks of Wayne County Charles Leonard Leonard Genealogy Wayne County Resources New York Resources #charlesrussellleonard #leonard #knapp #lumbert #murder

The History and Antiquities of New England, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, published in 1842, and written by John Warner Barber, offers a glimpse into the rich past of the northeast including: Discoveries and settlements Indian History Indian, French and Revolutionary Wars Religious History Biographical Sketches Anecdotes, traditions, remarkable and unaccountable occurrences with a great variety of curious and interesting relics of antiquity Biographical Sketches begin on page 575: (Alternate link) CLICK HERE FOR MORE FREE GENEALOGY RESOURCES #newengland #NewYork #newjersey #NewJersey #pennsylvania #rhodeisland #Massachusetts #biographies #genealogy #familyhistory #resources

If a 19th century genealogist saw the advantages we have today, they would be astonished and probably more than a little envious of the technology we enjoy today. For a genealogy addict like me, it has been so exciting to see the resurfacing of millions of old records that have been stored away in files and book cases for years. We can now even find and read rare limited edition books without leaving home! For example, The Abridged Compendium of American Genealogy is a book I sought back in 2004. I was not aware of any sites that made it freely available for viewing, so I ended up having to buy a copy for $56 - a bargain considerable the sheer amount of valuable information it supplies, but a hefty price for the small piece of information I needed out of it. You will be glad to hear you can now read it online for free, thanks to HathiTrust Digital Library and the University of Michigan. Click here to access the book on HathiTrust.org. Source: Virkus, F. Adams. (1925). The abridged compendium of American genealogy: first families of America; a genealogical encyclopedia of the United States. Chicago: A.N. Marquis & company. Click here for more great places to find free genealogy resources! #resources #genealogy #familyhistory #American

Hundreds of biographies and dozens of portraits of prominent people from Plymouth County can be found in the Biographical Review Volume XVIII Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens of Plymouth County, Massachusetts by Biographical Review Publishing Co., 1897. View the index here and the rest of the book here, free! Scroll on the book page or click the title link for more options. More volumes of Biographical Review can be found here. Click here to see more Massachusetts resources. #Massachusetts #Plymouth #newengland #resources #genealogy #history

Biographical Review volumes and links for free online reading: Volume 1 - Otsego County, New York - (Not found. Click here for more Otsego County resources) Volume 2 - Madison County, New York - Click here Volume 3 - Broome County, New York - Part 1 Click here - Part 2 Click here Volume 4 - Columbia County, New York - (Not found. Click here for more Columbia County resources) Volume 5 - Cayuga County, New York -Part 1 Click here - Part 2 Click here Volume 6 - Delaware County, New York - Click here Volume 7 - Livingston and Wyoming Counties in New York - Click here Volume 8 - Clinton and Essex Counties in New York - Click here Volume 9 - Hampden County, Massachusetts - (Not found. Click here for more Hampden County resources) Volume 10 - Franklin County, Massachusetts - Click here Volume 11 - Hampshire County, Massachusetts - Click here Volume 12 - Litchfield County, Connecticut - Click here Volume 13 - York County, Maine - (Not found. Click here for more York County resources) Volume 14 - Cumberland County, Maine - Click here Volume 15 - Oxford and Franklin Counties in Maine - Click here Volume 16 - Cumberland County, New Jersey - Click here Volume 17 - Rockingham County, New Hampshire - Click here Volume 18 - Plymouth County, Massachusetts - Click here Volume 19 - Camden and Burlington Counties in New Jersey - Click here Volume 20 - Sagadahoc, Lincoln, Knox, and Waldo Counties in Maine - (Not found. See Maine resources here) Volume 21 - Strafford and Belknap Counties in New Hampshire - Click here Volume 22 - Sullivan and Merrimack Counties in New Hampshire - Click here Volume 23 - Cheshire and Hillsboro Counties in New Hampshire - Click here Volume 24 - Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania (and the vicinity) - Click here Volume 25 - Norfolk County, Massachusetts - Click here Volume 26 - New London County, Connecticut - Click here Volume 27 - Middlesex County, Massachusetts - Click here Volume 28 - Essex County, Massachusetts - Click here Volume 29 - Somerset, Piscataquis, Hancock, Washington, and Arostook Counties in Maine - Click here Volume 30 - Worcester County, Massachusetts - Click here Volume 31 - Berkshire County, Massachusetts - (Not found. See more Berkshire County resources here) Volume 32 - Somerset and Bedford Counties in Pennsylvania - (Not found. See more Pennsylvania resources here) Volume 33 - Schenectady, Schoharie and Greene Counties in New York - Click here Click here for more free genealogy resources! #NewYork #Maine #NewJersey #todo #Massachusetts #Connecticut #pennsylvania #newengland

Volume 18 of the Pennsylvania Archives gives valuable information about Dutch Records of New Netherlands. Some of the subjects include: Translation of Dutch Records of New Netherlands, now State of New York (p. 279) Deed to the Duke of York (p. 297) The New York Indian Deed of 1726 (p. 301) The Action of the Connecticut Assembly, 1683 (p. 303) The New York Indian Deed of 1675 (p. 306) Articles of Surrender to the English (p. 308) Articles of Agreement between New York and Connecticut (p. 312) Approval of the Treaty of Hartford (p. 317) Patent for the West India Company (p. 319) You might also be interested in: Pennsylvania Archives Books Online Pennsylvania Archives Records Online More Pennsylvania Resources All Genealogy Resources #Dutch #dutchsettlement #resources #newnetherlands #newyork