Thanks. I'll cc the list. -----Original Message----- From: Christopher Brooks [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, October 13, 2001 7:49 AM To: Ron Hughes Subject: RE: [B-NE] Brooks from Steuben County, NY Hi Ron, I realize you may have intended your reply to reach me offlist -- but there's a bunch of useful clues in there which none of our 195 other subscribers is seeing. Please note that the Reply To function is set up to reply to the individual message, not to the list as a whole -- so when you want to reach all of us, you'll have to overtype <[email protected]> into the Send To line. >Thanks ever so much for such a quick and detailed reply. It's certainly >more than I expected, and it's greatly appreciated. > >Great-Grandpa William R. Brooks has been a mystery for several years. My uncle, who is 70+ >years old, says that his (much older, now deceased) relatives said that >William was born in England. That, of course, is what has been passed down >through the years. > >I do have his Civil War Records, including pension files, which state that >he was born in Sullivan County, NY. I found him listed on the 1860 census >(Hornellsville), and that indicates he was born in NY State. Unless he had >reason to lie about where he was born, I do believe that he was born in >Sullivan County. > >My brother is still living in Owego, NY, which is where I am from >originally. My wife and I are going back there on the 24th -- a couple >weeks away - for a class reunion (1961). We plan on going to Woodhull, >Dansville, and Hornellsville, looking for documentation. In addition, my >brother plans on going to Bath and conducting records searches. > >At one time, I exchanged a few emails with a gentleman from Sullivan County, >who did some library research for me. He also thought it odd that someone >from England would be named Rensselaer. He did mention, however, that some >immigrants adopted, as a middle name, the names of cities, towns and >countys. So, who knows. > >William married Jane Simmons, who was born in Tioga County, NY, about 1827. >She died at the age of 78 in 1906,and is buried in the Woodhull Village >Cemetery. She remarried twice after the death of William, first to Abraham >Freeland in April of 1868, and then James Baldwin in 1874. Among other >children, they had a daughter named Jerusha born abt. 1842, in Owego, NY, >and a son named Marion, born in 1846 in Dryden. Marion was in the civil war >at the same time his father was. > >- - - - - - - >Thanks again for your reply. I'll keep your email and try to come up with a >link to the names you provided.