Hello, all, New list member - glad to be here! I've recently discovered that my great-great-great-grandfather, Michael Dunn, was living in NYC in 1860. He and his wife Ellen (nee Keegan) had married in 1854 in Paterson, NJ, but by 1860 they're listed in NYC in the census. According to the census, they lived in the 2nd District, 1st Ward of New York City. They are on page 62 of that area's census returns, and lived in Dwelling/House #120. My question is... Is there anyway to figure out, more specifically, where they resided? Are there any district maps that would at least show what portion of Manhattan this would have been? Or, perhaps some of you have more specific knowledge you might be able to share. I'm an NYC resident myself - so learning that my family was living here 150 years ago has really been exciting. They would have been Catholic - so I'm hoping to find a more specific location in hopes of finding the parish they attended and seeing if there are any records. I appreciate any and all input. I'm going to spend some time looking through the list archives, as well, but if anyone has any further thoughts on other records that might be of use/interest, I'd love to hear them. Many thanks! Michael Cassara cassara.genealogy@gmail.com

The NYC Directory for 1861 (the addresses were compiled the year before) is available at many locations (NYPL, Municipal Archives, plus online at www.footnote.com). Check for Michael Dunn but there might be a lot of Dunns or he may not have registered. But don't give up. Look for the neighbors on your census page in the City Directory, particularly if some have more unusual names or occupations. Once you find two of the neighbors at the same address in the directory, you know you found where your ancestor lived. You are basically translating your entire census page to the NYC Directory. I did this for one of my ancestors and it worked nicely. Melanie Orlando