On 3/4/04 (7:12:24 PM MST), in a posting to the Suffolk County Ancestry Board that was 'gatewayed' to NYSUFFOL-L@rootsweb.com, Paula Wallace (paula_ann_mac@yahoo.com) asked, "I am looking for info on Doxie Lane who married Mary Mathews and had several children, one of which was Maryann born abt. 1800 and she married Benjamin Laws Raynor in St. George's Manor around 1816." For questions such as yours, you may want to contact the Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library (this is the library that has a contract to serve residents of the South Manor School District and the library can suggest which local newspaper might have this information and other possible sources of information): Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library 407 William Floyd Pkwy Shirley, NY 11967 Tel: 631/399-1511 Fax: 631/???-???? eMail: wcicola@suffolk.lib.ny.us http://www.communitylibrary.org/ The pertinent geography: Manorville is a hamlet (unincorporated area) in the northeast section of the Town of Brookhaven, in the middle of Suffolk County, along the Brookhaven/Riverhead town line. There are 8 villages (municipal corporations) and 36 hamlets all or partly in the Town of Brookhaven. There are no cities and 10 towns in Suffolk County. There are 2 Indian reservations in Suffolk County. (I'm including after my name a NYS Geographic Glossary with the NYS definitions of county, city, town, village, hamlet and postal zone.) Beginning on the north and moving in a clockwise direction, the Hamlet of Manorville in the Town of Brookhaven is bordered on the north by the Hamlet of Calverton in the Town of Riverhead (the Brookhaven/Riverhead town line); on the east by the Hamlets of Calverton and Eastport; on the south by the Hamlets of East Moriches, Center Moriches, Moriches and Mastic; and, on the west by the Hamlets of Mastic, Shirley and Yaphank (Brookhaven National Laboratory). And, as occurs in every one of Suffolk County's 157 communities (0 cities, 31 villages and 126 hamlets), the Hamlet of Manorville has a different border than does the "Manorville, NY 11949" postal zone (i.e., a place can have a Manorville mailing address and not be in Manorville and a place can have other than a Manorville mailing address and be in Manorville). Those places that have a "Manorville, NY" mailing address that are not in the Hamlet of Manorville are in the Hamlet of Calverton, Town of Riverhead; and, at the same time, there are places in the Hamlet of Manorville with an "East Moriches, NY 11940" mailing address. For those who have their copy of the 2002 or earlier editions of the LI Population Survey or have already downloaded the report from the Long Island Power Authority web site (eMail me directly if you need instructions on how to access and download the report), you'll find the Hamlet of Manorville in the Town of Brookhaven, Suffolk County on pages 14 & 24 (map) and 25 (population estimate). I hope this information is useful or, at least, interesting. Happy Purim (begins Sunday, March 7 at sunset), Regards, Walter Greenspan . Cities, Towns, Villages, Hamlets and Postal Zones in New York State New York State is divided into counties. County A county is a municipal corporation, a subdivision of the state, created to perform state functions; a "regional" government. All counties are divided into cities, towns and Indian reservations. City A city is a unique governmental entity with its own special charter. Cities are not sub-divided, except into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas. Town A town is a municipal corporation and encompasses all territory within the state except that within cities or Indian reservations. Towns can be sub-divided into villages and hamlets. Village A village is a general purpose municipal corporation formed voluntarily by the residents of an area in one or more towns to provide themselves with municipal services. The pattern of village organization is similar to those of a city. A village is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas. Hamlet A hamlet is an unincorporated area in one or more towns that is governed at-large by the town(s) it is in. A hamlet is divided into neighborhoods, which are informal geographic areas. Postal Zone "City" and "Town" A postal zone "City" and "Town" is an administrative district established by the U.S. Postal Service to deliver the mail. Postal zone "City" and "Town" may not (but are encouraged to) conform to municipal or community borders. Thus, postal zone location does not always determine city, village or hamlet location. Please be aware: In many areas of New York State, the problem of non-conforming postal zones leads to a situation where the majority of places have a different community name in their mailing address than the community where that place is actually located.