----- Original Message ----- From: <AdornR@aol.com> To: <NJSOMERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2000 11:50 AM Subject: M.E. Church, Somerville, NJ > Hello:- > > Does anyone know what church this is, or where it is located today??? > > M.E. Church, Somerville, NJ > > Thanks > Rob > > The ME Church no longer exist...... they are now the United Metodist Churchs of America ...... so If there is one in that area check with them. Patty

In reference to the "M.E. Church, Somerville, NJ", The abbreviation "M.E." as I know it, as was often used in NE Ohio, stands for "Methodist Episcopalian". The current April 1999-March 2000 Bell Atlantic phone book does not have any listing for "M.E. Church" or "Methodist Episcopalian" church in Somerville. The Episcopal churches listed are: St. John' Episcopal Church, 158 W High, Somrvl, 908-722-1250 Emmanuel Reformed Episcopal Church, 100 Grant Ave., Smvl, 908-725-2678 There are no Presbyterian churches listed. There is a listing for a St. Thomas A.M.E. Zion Church, 75 Davenport St., Somerville, NJ 08876, 908-218-9669 A few notes of caution: Somerville is the county seat and some of the surrounding areas are sometimes referred to as "Somerville". The Somerville post office, zip 08876, covers much more than just Somerville and there are small pockets of other zip codes within it. If the mailing address says "Somerville" the odds are better than 50-50 that it actually isn't located within the town of Somerville. To make matters worse the Somerville Post Office is not cooperative in advancing items to the proper location even if it is obvious where the intended address is. For an example of this fiasco- The mailing address for the Branchburg Twp town hall, police and DPW are "Somerville, NJ 08876", and the towns don't even have a common border. Some locals refer to this post office as the "return to sender post office" Perhaps a note or phone call to the Somerset County Library, P.O. Box 6700, Bridgewater, NJ, 08807, ph 908-526-4016, could shed some light on your research. Bill Iden Neshanic Station ----- Original Message ----- From: <AdornR@aol.com> To: <NJSOMERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2000 12:50 PM Subject: M.E. Church, Somerville, NJ > Hello:- > > Does anyone know what church this is, or where it is located today??? > > M.E. Church, Somerville, NJ > > Thanks > Rob > >

Hello:- Does anyone know what church this is, or where it is located today??? M.E. Church, Somerville, NJ Thanks Rob

I am looking for inf about John Cox, wife - Amy, dau Sarah b 26 Feb 1794 Bernard, Somerset, New Jersey, md Elias Hutchings 29 Dec 1816, Avery, Huron, Ohio. Amy second husband - Ebenezer Smith. This inf from family records. Would like any verification or further inf about this family. Gwhite

Looking for information on the Orts family. Currently I have the following information: William Orts, born 11-8-1909 in Bedminster Township, died 6-10-1975 in Lawrenceville NJ Mercer County, but lived for 22 years in New Egypt Ocean County. (Williams father is Archie Orts) His wife, Helen Virginia Philhower, born 2-17-1922 in Clinton NJ (I do not know the county), died 6-25-1975 in Lawrenceville NJ, but also lived in New Egypt Ocean County for 22 years. (Helen's mother was a Mrs. Edward Wilson on New Egypt) They were both residents of Morris Hall Rehabilitation Center in Lewrenceville. Any help with these two will be greatly appreciated. Darlene Orts West Virginia verifyvary@aol.com

Thanks for your response Candee, My Coddington family is one person at the moment. She, Nancy, b c1788, m c1817, into the Rumsey family in Goshen, Orange Co., NY. The Rumsey's had come from Long Island and did not stay long but moved on to Ithaca, Tompkins Co., NY. There the children were born and then they moved south to Tioga Co., NY. The next generation moved a little farther south into Sayre, PA. (off the farm, into the city) It seems there were a large number of families who moved together. I am also searching for Van Ripers. My Van Ripers, who married into the Rumseys, were also in Tompkins Co. (Danby) and moved south to Tioga. However Thomas & Mary Jane (Smith) Van Riper of Tompkins Co. were born in the Morris Co./Essex Co. area of NJ. There are a number of Coddingtons in the cemeteries of Goshen, Orange Co. area and the Tompkins Co. area. My theory is they may have moved together and may have originated from NJ, at least the Van Ripers and the Coddingtons. Pam Felton pofelton@cs.com Reisterstown, MD

Hello all! I am looking for anything on the Zeller/ Wurmser/ Butscher families.They were Catholic..from Alsace Lorraine region..many were carpenters. They went to St Mary's in Plainfield? Other places they were found: ALL the plainfields, Stirling, Stoney Hill..Warren Twp...and more. Sound familiar to anyone? Cathy

Somers Point is not in Somerset County. It is south of Atlantic City, very near Ocean City, NJ. Either Ocean County or Atlantic County. ----- Original Message ----- From: <Genealogy6@aol.com> To: <NJSOMERS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, February 07, 2000 3:05 PM Subject: William Clevenger > William Clevenger was a prominent researcher in Somers Point, New Jersey in > the 1940's. No one else has been able to find as much about the Clevenger > family than he was. When he died his research was donated to the Library. > Does anyone know of this William Clevenger? I would appreciate any response-- > what libraries are equipped to accept this voluminous research papers and > books? Thank you so much for trying to lend me a helping hand. Candee Hoff >

William Clevenger was a prominent researcher in Somers Point, New Jersey in the 1940's. No one else has been able to find as much about the Clevenger family than he was. When he died his research was donated to the Library. Does anyone know of this William Clevenger? I would appreciate any response-- what libraries are equipped to accept this voluminous research papers and books? Thank you so much for trying to lend me a helping hand. Candee Hoff

Subject: Re: STAATS of Somerset County and Union County, NJ Staats researchers, I the FTM NJ Marriage Index, 1680 -1900 and there are numerous Staats on the list and almost all are in Somerset Co. I would be happy to do lookups for anyone that needs one. Joann

I just received a letter from someone asking if I knew anything about Abraham Staats who lived in Union County, NJ in 1880. Is Union County anywhere near Somerset? Does anyone know if some of the Somerset Staats's moved to Union County. Thank you for any input. Daniel Staats Daniel, In reference to the above the following should be of some help. If not contact me by e-mail and I will do what I can to assist. Somerset County is located adjacent to and west of Union County. The county seat of Somerset County is Somerville, located in the western part of the county. The county seat of Union County is Elizabeth, located in the eastern most part of the county. Somerville and Elizabeth are about as far apart as you can get and still be in the two counties. Both counties are located on I-78. To my knowledge, enhanced by a couple of rounds of beer for the old-timers at the firehouse, the STAATS were located around the area that is now known as Hillsborough Twp, Branchburg Twp., and Readington Twp. The Neshanic Station post office (this is not a town but a post office which services parts of each of the previously listed twps) has several STAATS families within it's area. There is even a road in Hillsborough named "Staats Farm Road". There are several farms within this region which are known as "The Staats' farm". The family has been very involved with preservation of farm lands. Within the Somerville (this encompasses western Union County and the southern part of Somerset County) telephone directory there are currently 19 listings for STAATS. In the Hunterdon County (west and south of Somerset County) directory there are 5 listings. In the Elizabeth (eastern Union County) directory there is 1 listing. A potential source of information would be the Somerset County Library located in Bridgewater, NJ. If they can't answer your question perhaps they could provide you with a better source. The STAATS are fairly well respected in the county. I have seen several locally authored picture historical softcover books which have had pictures of various Staats' properties and persons in them. If I can be of any further help contact me at carolbilliden@worldnet.att.net Bill Iden Neshanic Station, NJ

Elizabeth is the County Seat of Union County now. Carleene in PA via Union County, NJ -----Original Message----- From: Abudebbie@aol.com <Abudebbie@aol.com> To: NJSOMERS-L@rootsweb.com <NJSOMERS-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Saturday, February 05, 2000 12:48 PM Subject: Union Co >Hi--Union County is beside Somerset county for a good long ways. I don't have >any Staats, but I used to live there. Plainfield is the County seat of Union. >Debbie in CA >

Staats researchers, I have recently transcribed the church membership lists from the Millstone Church from 1766-1866. There are numerous Staats on the list along with plenty of other Dutch names. Sheila has the lists and is readying them for the web site but I will forward the list in the meantime if anyone wants it. It is in Microsoft Word and will come as an attachment. Marti Vannice Wethington/Ohio

Hi--Union County is beside Somerset county for a good long ways. I don't have any Staats, but I used to live there. Plainfield is the County seat of Union. Debbie in CA

I just received a letter from someone asking if I knew anything about Abraham Staats who lived in Union County, NJ in 1880. Is Union County anywhere near Somerset? Does anyone know if some of the Somerset Staats's moved to Union County. Thank you for any input. Daniel Staats

Hello! Does anyone know of a group of Coddingtons who moved from some New Jersey location to the Orange &/or Ulster County area of New York about 1780? Was there a migration of families? I am looking for parents of a Nancy Coddington, born in Orange County, NY about 1788. There seems to be several families of Coddingtons there at that time. She married James Smith Rumsey and moved to Tioga County, NY. Thank you Pam Felton pofelton@cs.com Reisterstown, MD

***** URGENT ***** ***** URGENT ***** ***** URGENT ***** Are Iowa Birth Records Closing????? Are you aware the State of Iowa's Legislature is considering a bill RIGHT NOW to close Iowa birth records to public viewing in Iowa county courthouses? Laws like this have already been enacted in other states. If this bill passes the only way to obtain a birth record for anyone born after 1905 will be to write to the IA State Dept of Health. You will have to pay a (probably) non-refundable fee for EACH record search you want performed. When just starting your research, how will you even know which records to ask for? Aren't you are searching the records for that very information?? The following is from Richard Harrison, the IAGenWeb State Coordinator.: The Closing of Iowa Birth Records???? The Iowa State Department of Health, Vital Records Division, would like to see all birth records less than 95 years old closed to the public at the county level and have drafted a bill to this effect to be taken up by the legislature. According to Larry Coghlan of the Vital Records Dept., "The proposal is to make birth certificates 95 years old and older available for inspection and copying at the county level. The rest of the birth certificates would require a direct and tangible interest to obtain a copy. It is being proposed because of the identity theft (fraud) that has been taking place throughout the United States." This proposal raises a number of questions: Is it really necessary to close 95 years of records to address this problem? How will moving the records from the county level to the state level make it any more (or less) difficult for people interested in committing fraud? How will they define "direct and tangible interest"? Will state employees have the time and inclination to REALLY search the records for your ancestor, or will they keep the money and say "Not Found!" when the record is not exactly where it should be but just a few lines or pages away? Can they take the time to search for possible misspellings or decipher illegible handwriting? If ISDH gets this passed for birth records will all the other records follow suit? Is this an ill-conceived plan to punish the innocent (genealogists and others who need access to these records) instead of the guilty (those who commit fraud)? We need to ask questions, now. If you cherish your right to have all your county records available at your county courthouse, now is the time to speak up. WRITE… CALL… EMAIL… your county officials, state representative, and yes, even Governor Vilsack. If you don't speak up now, it might be too late. -- Richard Harrison/Encinitas, San Diego, California IAGenWeb State Coord.: http://www.rootsweb.com/~iagenweb/index.htm IAGEN-L List Owner: IAGEN-L@rootsweb.com ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** If you are NOT an Iowa resident it is just as important, if not more so, that you also be heard. Remind the legislators of the money you spend when you are in your county of interest to do research. Not only are you providing revenue to the county for copy fees, etc. You are also spending money in their motels, eating establishments, shops, and other area tourist attractions. PLEASE contact one of these legislators and express the importance of having the birth records remain open. Send an email to: keith_weigel@legis.state.ia.us and betty_soukup@legis.state.ia.us ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** CONTACT INFORMATION The Honorable Governor Vilsack Mailing Address: Office of the Governor State Capitol Des Moines, IA 50319 Phone or Fax: (515) 281-5211 phone (515) 281-6611 fax Email the Governor http://www.state.ia.us/governor/comments/index.html The web page below has links to District Maps and to the emails of all the Iowa Senators and Representatives. Send an email to the ones representing your county of interest: http://www.legis.state.ia.us/Members/78GA-members.html. We will post the bill number and the names of committee members as soon as that information is available. Please forward this message to: 1) as many people you know who reside in Iowa 2) as many genealogists you know who have Iowa research 3) as many genealogical societies as you know 4) as many other organizations whose voices might make a difference 5) everyone you know who is involved in genealogy and history research ==== INFRANKLI Mailing List ==== Don't forget to stop by the Franklin County Genealogy Website at http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/6863

To All: My wife and I are looking for any information concerning the Finderne section of Bridgewater, NJ. Particularly the land at the intersection of Main St. & Finderne Ave. We believe this to have been owned by Frederick Pope and called the Pope Tract, can anyone elaborate as to who Mr. Pope was? Also as a child my wife remembers a small cemetary on this property in back of where The Eastern Star is now, WE CAN'T find it! Is there any way to check on cemetaries. Also does anyone have any info on the origin of the name Finderne. Bob Kalinak ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com

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Dear Barbara, Interested inyour message about your anscestors purchasing the Doty farm. I am researching the Dotys in that area - do you have any first names? Thank you Cleona