Hello, John, and Interested Others, Thank you, John, for your kind public note of apology below. That was very nice, but unnecessary. However, your note was appreciated. Since I have so much on the web, I do get massive amounts of e-mails daily and just do not have enough time to respond in a timely fashion to all with other things that also go on in my life. It happens so easily even when immediate responses are intended. Instead of sending privately to John, I address all who may be interested in this information concerning the "westward" trek of our ancestors. Gone West or Going West in those early 1800s NJ records usually meant the family went into the Miami Valley of Ohio and up into the Northwest Territory settlements that were forming. Now...for research in Butler Co., OH...so many of our ancestors and/or their families, relatives, and friends traversed out of NJ down through PA and into the Miami Valley of Ohio in those early years because of Benjamin Stites and the Miami Purchase by Gov. Symmes. What we have to remember when researching people in Hamilton Co., OH is that Hamilton Co. was the original county founded in 1799 and that Butler Co., OH wasn't formed until 1803 from Hamiton Co. When I first started researching in Butler Co., OH for both my husband's and my ancestors, I soon learned that many records are found in Hamilton Co., OH since families frequently settled there first or were there the entire time with the county changing names instead of them changing residence. Also, another problem was that Hamilton, Butler Co., OH and Cincinnati, Hamilton Co., OH can be confusing in records when just the name Hamilton is given. Also, as lands opened up in the Northwest Territory these same families moved from Hamilton Co. to Butler Co. to Warren Co. and then into Montgomery Co. (from Hamilton and area known as Michigan), Preble Co. (from Montgomery Co. & Butler Co.), and Miami Co. (from Montgomery Co.) where many early NJ ancestors/descendants are also found. Don't discount any of these counties and others nearby as you track your ancestors. Finding locations and records of burials in Hamilton Co. and Butler Co., Ohio has much to be desired for those early years. The history books have been the best help/source to me in at least naming some of the locations, but when visiting little remains to tell us more...field stones sometimes mark the sites but most often names are not found, locations are not marked and some have disappeared from the landscape, and records were not always kept for those residing there or sojourning briefly, then moving on. Some families had the time and money to follow up with a engraved stone; others did not. Some pioneers were merely buried on their own property or in small community graveyards that disappeared or grew larger in scope but without a record of those who were buried in those earlier pioneer years. Many names and sites are lost to time and ages...and to weathering. Some of the very early pioneers settled in what was known as Columbia Twp. Also, know that Cincinnati was originally known as Losantiville in early mention of Ohio history. We are told that Cincinnati actually began as three small settlements - Columbia, North Bend, and Losantiville - founded on the Ohio River in 1788-1789 Here is a commercial site where you can find some of the names of the early cemeteries: http://hcgsohio.org/PUBLICATIONS%20CHECKED%20BY%20THE%20HAMILTON%20CO.pdf Within Kentucky and Ohio histories you will find mention of a "station" which was merely a little settlement or fort with a group of pioneers settling nearby. In these early years in the areas of settlements in the howling wilderness, the Baptist Church seemed to flourish with those pioneers who came from the South. Many of our NJ Presbyterians pioneers can be found as members of a Baptist congregation/community. In some areas of Ohio I have seen the early establishment of the Episcopal Church. Here is a site that may give you some information about early Presbyterian Churches in Ohio: http://mal.net/EarlyPresbyterians/ I don't know if this was of any help, but perhaps some will find it useful. Those early history books are great guides when attempting to locate one's ancestors, but even they are lacking when other records are almost nil. Here is a site for locating information in Hamilton, Butler Co., OH. http://www2.eos.net/dajend/res.html And, this location has a large collection of early documents and vital records: http://www2.eos.net/dajend/res.html#butler And...as mentioned by John, the "History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio" at this site http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohbutler/cyc may be something you may wish to check out. Many NJ surnames are found within the pages. And, the History of Hamilton Co., OH at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohhamilt/histhc/mnindex.html and a resouce site at http://www.jungclas.com/gensite/hamilton/hamresou/ Good Luck in your searches. Audrey Audrey (Shields) Hancock Portage, Michigan AudreyHancock1939@sbcglobal.net -----Original Message----- From: njunion-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:njunion-bounces@rootsweb.com]On Behalf Of JQMagie@aol.com Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 5:52 AM To: njessex@rootsweb.com; AudreyHancock1939@sbcglobal.net; hondolu@hotmail.com Cc: njunion@rootsweb.com; OHBUTLER@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [NJUNION] W: WOODRUFF, Enos, 1822 Both Lucie, hondolu@hotmail.com (see below), and I appear to be descendants of Timothy Woodruff Jr. (1715-1798) and his wife Elizabeth Parsons (1712-1798) of Union County (NJ)-- which was part of Essex County until 1857. Timothy Jr. was presumably born in his father's house-- which is now the headquarters of the Hillside Historical Society (111 Conant St., Hillside, NJ 07205, 908-353-8828). Reportedly WOODRUFF is the most common surname at either Hillside's Evergreen Cemetery or Elizabeth's First Presbyterian Cemetery-- or BOTH. And the Woodruff family were among the founders of Elizabethtown (NJ) in 1664. More on all this in a later post of mine. I haven't been online much lately, having had some recent health problems-- also some computer health problems, mostly associated with my recent and very difficult conversion from Dial-Up to High-Speed. For Senior Citizens like me (born 1939), these problems no doubt occur more frequently. The first post appended below reminds me that I have not yet apologized to Audrey Hancock Shields for my grumpy on-list NJEssex message to her of 4/10/07, titled "zero response from Audrey." I send this apology now. My 4/10/07 complaint, if sent at all, SHOULD have been sent privately, NOT on-list. Sorry, Audrey. And soon after sending that April post, I realized that I too have been guilty of not responding at all-- or not very promptly-- to requests for info from other RootsWeb listers, as several listers can probably attest. Also, belated thanks, Audrey, for your rapid & patient off-list response to me-- sent later the same day, 4/10/07. Soon I hope to respond more fully (privately) to your April 10 message. Though this is a bit off-topic, I'm especially interested, Audrey, in your mentioning off-list that you have spearheaded an online reproduction of the 1883 "History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio"-- something I was unaware of (http://www.rootsweb.com/~ohbutler/cyc). MANY Essex County (NJ) residents apparently settled in Butler County around the beginning of the 19th century, including many Magie (and other) cousins of mine. Several are buried at Mound Cemetery (Monroe, Butler, OH)-- which is reportedly situated, with substantial political incorrectness, on the surface of an actual Adena Indian mound! Other relatives of mine are buried in nearby Hamilton County, OH, especially at the older Carpenters Run Cemetery at Plainville, OH. Here are many MEGIE burials (a mostly 17th century spelling)-- all cousins of mine who apparently left Essex County, NJ, after 1780, but curiously before most all MEGIEs still in NJ agreed to standardize the name as MAGIE soon after 1800. Our common ancestor John McGHIE (1659-1735) arrived in Perth Amboy (NJ) from Galloway, Scotland, in late 1685 and became an Elizabethtown Associate in 1699. The reason I mention Ohio now is that I plan to visit, very soon and for the first time, the Cincinnati area (including Butler County) and its cemeteries, and I may not be able to get back to Audrey again right away. My main focus will be on the OGDEN uncles (and their descendants) of my great-grandfather Jonathan Ogden Magie (1823-1901), all natives of Elizabeth, NJ. My great-grandfather left NJ in the mid-1840s, living briefly in Cincinnati with his uncle Jonathan Ogden, 1807-1888 (also father-in-law of famous meat-packer Philip Danforth Armour, 1832-1901, of Milwaukee & Chicago), before settling permanently in Milwaukee in early 1848. These OGDEN uncles all became well-to-do Cincinnati businessmen, who mostly died before the ca. 1845 establishment of Cincinnati's prestigious Spring Grove Cemetery (a non-denominational "rural" burial ground). Do you know, Audrey-- or does anyone else know-- where in Cincinnati (formerly "Porkopolis") a prosperous Presbyterian merchant would likely be buried before 1845? ...............John (in metro Chicago)