Recently, the list distributed a collection of obituraries for Onieda County, NY. Some members of the line I am searching are included among those reprinted. I have read many obituaries originally published in Oneida County newspapers and reprinted by dilgent researchers. These obituraries consistently omit the names of survivors and parents. Here are two examples, published in the same time frame as those presented in the recent mailing list, but not included in those lists: Roman Citizen of 9 September 1864. "Died in Rome, New York, of typhoid pneumonia, on the morning of September 8, 1864, aged 60 years, Mrs. Mary Brooks, wife of the late Hon. Merrit Brooks. Mrs Brooks was known to a large portion of the inhabitants of this county, being one of its early settlers. As a wife, a mother, and a friend, she was affectionate, amiable and highly esteemed." Who were her childen? Did everyone know who they were? And then this one in the same newspaper two weeks later: "Another citizen of Rome is dead. Truly our list of mortality is sadly large for the last few weeks. Mr. Stephen Brooks, for many years has been an energetic business man, and not only this circle, but among a large number of friends and acquantances, his death is mourned. The last surviving parent of this famuly has just been laid in the grave [Mary perhaps?]and the affliction, coming as it does so soon after the late grief, awakens in the community a deep sympathy for the family so greatly bereaved." It is left up to the reader to discern who the deceased may have married or who might have been his or her children, mate, or siblings. Even more mysterious to me is the apparent nonexistnce of any obituary for "the Hon. Merrit Brooks" who died in 1858 and is the central figure buried in the Rome Cemetery in a family plot dominated by a rather ornate monument. It is strange that there is no obituary for Merritt Munson Brooks because he was somewhat prominent in his life time. Although I have pieced together a fairly convincing connection between Stephen Merrit Brooks, his siblings, and his parents, and between Merrit Munson Brooks and his siblings and parents (Stephen Brooks (5) of the Cheshire line is probably his father), I have no written documentation supporting these connections. Posted genealogies on the internet I have seen are incomplete, inaccurate and undocumented. If any subscriber to this list knows of an obiturary that might actually mention Merrit Munson Brooks' parents, sibling, or children, I would be grateful to read of it. Jerry Walsh __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

Jerry Walsh wrote: > Even more mysterious to me is the apparent nonexistnce of > any obituary for "the Hon. Merrit Brooks" who died in > 1858 and is the central figure buried in the Rome > Cemetery in a family plot dominated by a rather ornate > monument. It is strange that there is no obituary for > Merritt Munson Brooks because he was somewhat prominent > in his life time. Does the title Hon. reference state office, as in the legislature? If so, perhaps there would be a biography in a contemporary legislative directory, or information or a filed obituary available through a legislative services office in the state capitol. My grandfather served a term in the New Mexico legislature. It was only this spring that we finally found his obituary (not in his home county) through such an office in Albuquerque and a helpful state government staffer there. Chris