wow did this hit home. my GG GMother's first husband drowned in the river behind their home in Cohoes, you tell me its either Hudson or Mohawk? I know they lived near Saratoga and Columbia Streets, and at some point on Reservoir street. (? which came first?) If anyone is going back to the Albany County Hall of Records, William Sullivan drowned cir. 1843, leaving his 18 year old wife, Ellen, pregnant, the baby born was Mary Sullivan. Wm's cousin, Cornelius McCarthy, came from Ireland and married Ellen, Mary Sullivan in later census' was called Mary McCarthy I did find an immigration record for Wm Sullivan declared 1843. ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Cc: "Donald Cosgro" <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, September 12, 2012 10:41:57 PM Subject: Re: [NY-TROY-IRISH-GENSOC] Coroner Inquest I have looked through these records as well, at the Albany Hall of Records. They are not indexed, but they are arranged by years. They were interesting to search through, although unfortunately I did not find the record I was searching for. I was surprised how many of these coroner's records are available there. Donna ---- Donald Cosgro <[email protected]> wrote: > Michael > Yes, I have seen a coroner inquest, at the Albany County Hall of Records > from 1875. A couple of years ago, I finally discovered the circumstances > of my my GG grandfather who drowned in the Hudson river in June 1875, after > falling from the bridge between Troy and Watervliet (West Troy at the time) > and from the newspaper account of the event, there was a race between two > coroners, one from Green Island and the other from Cohoes, when the body > was recovered. The coroner from Cohoes won. Lucky for me the coroner was > from an Albany county town, and not the other side of the river in > Rensselaer. > I made a phone call and learned that Albany county hall of records has tin > boxes of coroner inquests from the 1800's. Some are in fragile condition > as they haven't seen the light of day in quite sometime. From what I > understand they are not indexed, so you must sort through various tins > containing the old reports. I was helped by a very friendly staff member > and we sorted through several old tin containers one by one until we came > across the one I was looking for. In the process, we came across some very > sad John Doe type cases of people dying under mysterious circumstances, > where no name could be obtained. Lucky for me, the inquest papers and > summons papers, about my GG grandfather were in good enough condition for > photocopies to be made. I discovered names of people who were friends, > family, and at least one tavern owner, very interesting to say the least. > and it really gives you a personal sense of going back in time. I now have > a copy of my great grandfather signature, as he was called as a witness to > the inquest. No stenographer, no typewritten testimony, ( at least in this > inquest). So just reading the handwriting can be challenging. > So yes, in my particular case, I learned a lot. It gave me names of > people I believe to be relatives of my gg grandfather, though I can't > figure out how. I can't say what other jurisdictions do with these > reports. I am grateful that Albany County Hall of Records did a great > job in preserving them and making them available even after over 135 years > have passed. Someone in the Albany county government deserves a lot of > credit, if these records could have been disposed of long ago, and they > chose to keep them. > Don >

The river closest to all of the streets you name (Saratoga, Columbia and Reservoir Streets) is the Mohawk. If you look at a current Google map of Cohoes, you can see the Mohawk tributaries feeding into the Hudson, but all of those streets you mentioned are about a mile from the Hudson. An aside: I was able to find a newspaper account about my own gggrandfather's drowning in Lake Champlain on July 4, 1898, leaving behind a wife and five children. The 1900 census, then shows his eldest child, my great-grandmother living in Watervliet, where she subsequently met and married my grandfather. Where would I be if he hadn't drowned? /"Life turns on a dime. Sometimes towards us, but more often it spins away, flirting and flashing as it goes: so long, honey, it was good while it lasted, wasn't it?" - Stephen King, 11/22/63/ On 9/13/2012 1:34 PM, [email protected] wrote: > wow did this hit home. my GG GMother's first husband drowned in the river behind their home in Cohoes, you tell me its either Hudson or Mohawk? > > I know they lived near Saratoga and Columbia Streets, and at some point on Reservoir street. (? which came first?) > > If anyone is going back to the Albany County Hall of Records, William Sullivan drowned cir. 1843, leaving his 18 year old wife, Ellen, pregnant, the baby born was Mary Sullivan. Wm's cousin, Cornelius McCarthy, came from Ireland and married Ellen, Mary Sullivan in later census' was called Mary McCarthy > > I did find an immigration record for Wm Sullivan declared 1843.