I am beginning a search for a Bernard SMITH b. 1917 NY m. Elaine MESSIER b. 1921 NY and resided in Cohoes, Albany County. His father was Alfred SMITH b. 1887 NY and mother was Emma ____b. 1890 NY I think Alfred's father was William SMITH b. about 1859 NY and his mother Angeline ___b. 1857 Canada My information is from census records and I am not sure where to look from here. I noticed there was a William SMITH b. about 1861 in a Cohoes household in the 1880 and 1900 census with parents of Bernard SMITH b. 1827 and Mary SMITH b. 1835 who were from Ireland.  I can't seem to tie them in with the family I am searching. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you, Donna

Dara, The Owens Funeral Chapel is no longer in the phone book. I checked each entry for an address in case it was still there under a different name. The closest was at 89 Second Ave. Albany does have both a Second St. and a Second Ave, however. Cliff ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Darleen Lansing wrote: >Does anyone know if the Owens Funeral Chapel at 9 Second St. in Albany still exists? I am trying to locate funeral records for someone who died & was buried from there in 1935. >Thank you for any assistance > >Dara > >deliarye777@yahoo.com > > > >====NY-Albany Mailing List==== >Check out the mailing list's website at:http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/Albany/ >Add/check your Albany surnames on the Surname Registry. >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NYALBANY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > >

Does anyone know if the Owens Funeral Chapel at 9 Second St.  in Albany still exists?  I am trying to locate funeral records for someone who died & was buried from there in 1935. Thank you for any assistance   Dara   deliarye777@yahoo.com

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: AnnEllenBarr Surnames: WREN, WRIN Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newyork.counties.albany/7691/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Is there an index of marriages in the Albany, NY area for this time period. Seeking marriage record (Catholic) of Elisabeth WREN or WRIN. Do not know surname of groom. About 1870 - 1885 in Albany or West Troy areas. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: halned Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newyork.counties.albany/7690/mb.ashx Message Board Post: I have recently started a new web site, ALBANYHILLTOWNS.COM, that allows family researchers who have ancestors in one of the Hilltowns of western Albany County to add biographies of their ancestors. Anyone with ancestors from Berne, Knox, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville is encouraged to participate. Also the former Berne Families Genealogy has been renamed the Hilltowns Genealogy and now covers the four Albany County Hilltowns. It is posted on the Berne Historical Project site at BerneHistory.org Harold (Hal) Miller ALBANY HILLTOWNS - sharing information on our Berne, Knox, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville ancestors BERNE HISTORICAL PROJECT - now featuring the Hilltowns Genealogy HILLTOWNS FACEBOOK GROUP - discussing history and genealogy of the Hilltowns Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: Barbkat Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newyork.counties.albany/1626.1768.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.3.2.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Thanks for your response. Yes, I have the Albany Presby Church records and several other Albany records. I have a great deal of information from 1802 on(census, military records, partnerships, houses he built, NYC church and cemetery records, newspaper articles, who his children married, etc.) They moved to NYC around 1819, where Isaac was a builder and architect. He also owned property in upstate New York for awhile. I need Isaac Lucas's place of birth and parents and there's no indication he was born in NYC. New York State records have been searched extensively with no luck, but all his papers say he was born in New York. The IGI entry for an Isaac Lucas born 1780 Massachusetts is incorrect and apparently has no backup information at LDS. I will check OliveTree though, in case I missed something there. Barb Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

Ah yes- I had forgotten the boys diving. ....wonderful memories...Joan In a message dated 4/7/2009 10:42:23 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time, ljy@nycap.rr.com writes: I'm there with you. How well I remember them--the picnics at Kingston and the boys at Hudson diving in for coins. Lois **************Feeling the pinch at the grocery store? Make dinner for $10 or less. (http://food.aol.com/frugal-feasts?ncid=emlcntusfood00000001)

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: theclown16 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newyork.counties.albany/1626.1768.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.3.2/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Try New York City. There is a WorldConnect tree indicating that may be his origin. Assume you have the records of the First Presbyterian Church of Albany showing he was admitted to the church in 1802 and the wife admitted 1804. also look for NY church records on OliveTree Genealogy.com. I haven't visited that URL recently but lots of good info there. Be careful in navigating the site. Do not enter the names in the center box or it will take you to Ancestry.com. Good luck. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: Barbkat Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newyork.counties.albany/1626.1768.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.3.1.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Thanks for the response. I don't have access to my notes right now, but I think I finally decided Mary Burton is a cousin, not a sister, of my Sarah Burton. There is a connection though, because Sarah named her daughter Susan Hooghkirk Lucas born Oct. 18, 1810 Albany. Sarah's parents were Josiah Burton and Susannah Winans/Wynans both born in Connecticut, but later of Dutchess Co., NY and I have a list of their children and who they married. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

I'm there with you. How well I remember them--the picnics at Kingston and the boys at Hudson diving in for coins. Lois At 10:10 AM 4/7/2009 -0400, you wrote: >When I was in grade school in Selkirk in the mid- to late-1930s and early >'40s, at the end of each school year we had an "excursion" on the day >boat, taking the southbound boat in the morning from Albany to Kingston >Point, where we had a picnic, and then we caught the northbound boat going >from NYC to Albany for the return trip. I remember the stop at Hudson, >where little boys on the pier dove into the water for coins people threw >overboard. > Once or twice I got to go the whole way to NY to visit relatives. > Does anybody else recall those trips? > Jane > >====NY-Albany Mailing List==== >Check out the mailing list's website >at:http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/Albany/ >Add/check your Albany surnames on the Surname Registry. >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >NYALBANY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message

When I was in grade school in Selkirk in the mid- to late-1930s and early '40s, at the end of each school year we had an "excursion" on the day boat, taking the southbound boat in the morning from Albany to Kingston Point, where we had a picnic, and then we caught the northbound boat going from NYC to Albany for the return trip. I remember the stop at Hudson, where little boys on the pier dove into the water for coins people threw overboard. Once or twice I got to go the whole way to NY to visit relatives. Does anybody else recall those trips? Jane

Hi Barb, I have the several generations of the Hooglerke family on my website at www.angelfire.com/ga4/myhayes_family/ I have Lucas Lucassz Hoogkerke and his wife Henderikje Janse plus several other generations of the family. Richard

Hi Jamie, Issac Hoogkerke was baptized in the Albany DRC on 2 Mar 1737. See Albany DRC Records, p. 65 Wit: Isaac Fonda & w. Alida. I am related to the Hoogkerkes thru the Fonda family. Richard

Hal, Your inquiry brought to mind the book "The Parsonage Between Two Manors, Annals of Clover-Reach" by Elizabeth L. Gebhard, 1910. While primarily about life in and around Claverack [Clover-Reach] and in particular about the Reformed Church of Claverack just prior to the Revolution and the half century that followed it, it really presents a vivid picture of family life along the Hudson during the late 1700's and early 1800's. It is available for reading on Google Books [free] at: http://urlcut.com/betweentwomanors While 316+ pages it is a quick and enjoyable read and gives any amateur genealogist a wonderful image of what life was like for our ancestors. It can also be downloaded in PDF format. Enjoy! Jim Groat ----- Original Message ----- From: "Harold Miller" <halned1@gmail.com> To: <nyalbany@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, April 06, 2009 3:38 PM Subject: [NYALBANY] Early Van Rensselaer leases in the Hilltowns >I am trying to discover when the earliest Van Rensselaer leases were >written > for lots in the Hilltowns of western Albany County. > > A 1767 survey map by John R. Bleeker of the entire Rensselaerwyck Manor, > shows 133 lots on the west side of the Hudson River and 148 on the east > side. An index on the map identifies the families that lived there. There > are two clear leases above the Helderberg Escarpment in what is now the > Town > of Westerlo, one was to Koenard Hogteling and the other to Casper Fouser. > In > what is now the Town of Knox near the Schoharie County line, along the > wagon > road between Altamont and Schoharie, are two names, Hett? and Smith. To > the > east along the road are four other scattered houses with no names. > > The area in what is now the Town of Berne shows a lake, but no houses, > even > though two years earlier there were enough people living at the Beaver Dam > (now Berne) to organize the Dutch Reformed Church. Since the survey map > covers the entire Manor, and gives the name of each person below the > Helderberg Escarpment holding a lease, it is reasonable to assume that the > only leases above the Escarpment at the time were as previously mentioned. > > The NYS Archives reports that records of early leases in the Western Manor > were destroyed by the Capitol fire. It seems hard to believe that all > evidence of early leases in the Hilltowns were destroyed including the > leases themselves, survey maps, survey books, account books, and all other > records that would point to the existence of pre-Revolutionary War leases. > > Still, a few pre-War leases have come to my attention. In 1774 Catherine > Van > Rensselaer, the widow of Stephen Van Rensselaer II, issued a lease to > Jacob > Weidman for land on Fox Creek in the Beaver Dam upon which Weidman had > constructed the first sawmill and gristmill almost 20 years earlier. > Surveys > were also made for the homesteads of Peter Dietz and Conrad Swart in the > Switzkill Valley, and leases signed by the Catherine Van Rensselaer. > > These are the only leases I have been able to find so far dated before the > Revolutionary War. The majority of the leases known to me in the Hilltowns > were at the time of 1787 survey for German and Dutch squatters, and a few > years later for new settlers from New England and Downstate. > > Is anyone aware of other pre-Revolutionary War leases in the Hilltowns? > > Harold (Hal) Miller > > ALBANY HILLTOWNS <http://albanyhilltowns.com/> - sharing information on > our > Berne, Knox, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville ancestors > BERNE HISTORICAL PROJECT <http://bernehistory.org/> - now featuring the > Hilltowns Genealogy > HILLTOWNS FACEBOOK > GROUP<http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1609167281&v=feed&story_fbid=42097780582#/group.php?gid=39859776842>- > discussing history and genealogy of the Hilltowns

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: JamieHald27 Surnames: Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newyork.counties.albany/1626.1768.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.3.1/mb.ashx Message Board Post: I only have Mary Burton's name, no dates or even parents and siblings. Her husband, Lucas Hooghkerk was born March 22, 1775 in Albany, NY and they were married Ar 25, 1798 in Albany. For their children I have: Rebecca born Mar 17, 1799 Isaac born Sep 2, 801 Susannah b. Dec 26, 1803 d. Sep 28, 1808 Elizabeth b. Feb 28, 1806 Rachel b. Jun19, 1808 I have Lucas as the son Isaac Hooghkerk abt 1736-1809 and Rachel Van Zandt 1740-1822. I descend from Isaac's brother Gerritt. Below are the sources and notes I have for Isaac. Please feel free to let me know if any of this helps. Love to add any new details as well. Jamie Sources: 1. Genealogies of the First Settlers of Albany, pg. 64. 2. Records of Reformed Dutch Church of Albany, NY., Part 6 1772-1779. 3. Shirley Bracey. 4. Lucas Hooghkirk (Lucas Van Hooghkerke) The Immigrant, Descendants of Lucas Hooghkirk of Holland (?) and Albany, New York, by John R. Swanson, Ph.D., 1993. Bapt. rec: 1775 bo. the 22nd Mar Lucas of Yzaac Hoogkerk & Rachel V Santen wit: Abrm Hoogkerk & Antje Hilton. #4 states that his marriage info to Mary Burton is SPECULATION, but gives several reason as to why this is the match. Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: Barbkat Surnames: Hooghkirk, Burton, Lucas Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newyork.counties.albany/1626.1768.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.1.3/mb.ashx Message Board Post: My ancestors are Mary Burton's sister Sarah and her husband Isaac Lucas. Have you possibly seen anything on Isaac Lucas's parents? I have the Albany records showing a birthdate for him and have most of the information on their children and some of the Burton info. But I'm stuck on where Isaac Lucas lived before 1803. I hired an Albany researcher, but she could not find him. Thanks, Barb Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.

I am trying to discover when the earliest Van Rensselaer leases were written for lots in the Hilltowns of western Albany County. A 1767 survey map by John R. Bleeker of the entire Rensselaerwyck Manor, shows 133 lots on the west side of the Hudson River and 148 on the east side. An index on the map identifies the families that lived there. There are two clear leases above the Helderberg Escarpment in what is now the Town of Westerlo, one was to Koenard Hogteling and the other to Casper Fouser. In what is now the Town of Knox near the Schoharie County line, along the wagon road between Altamont and Schoharie, are two names, Hett? and Smith. To the east along the road are four other scattered houses with no names. The area in what is now the Town of Berne shows a lake, but no houses, even though two years earlier there were enough people living at the Beaver Dam (now Berne) to organize the Dutch Reformed Church. Since the survey map covers the entire Manor, and gives the name of each person below the Helderberg Escarpment holding a lease, it is reasonable to assume that the only leases above the Escarpment at the time were as previously mentioned. The NYS Archives reports that records of early leases in the Western Manor were destroyed by the Capitol fire. It seems hard to believe that all evidence of early leases in the Hilltowns were destroyed including the leases themselves, survey maps, survey books, account books, and all other records that would point to the existence of pre-Revolutionary War leases. Still, a few pre-War leases have come to my attention. In 1774 Catherine Van Rensselaer, the widow of Stephen Van Rensselaer II, issued a lease to Jacob Weidman for land on Fox Creek in the Beaver Dam upon which Weidman had constructed the first sawmill and gristmill almost 20 years earlier. Surveys were also made for the homesteads of Peter Dietz and Conrad Swart in the Switzkill Valley, and leases signed by the Catherine Van Rensselaer. These are the only leases I have been able to find so far dated before the Revolutionary War. The majority of the leases known to me in the Hilltowns were at the time of 1787 survey for German and Dutch squatters, and a few years later for new settlers from New England and Downstate. Is anyone aware of other pre-Revolutionary War leases in the Hilltowns? Harold (Hal) Miller ALBANY HILLTOWNS <http://albanyhilltowns.com/> - sharing information on our Berne, Knox, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville ancestors BERNE HISTORICAL PROJECT <http://bernehistory.org/> - now featuring the Hilltowns Genealogy HILLTOWNS FACEBOOK GROUP<http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1609167281&v=feed&story_fbid=42097780582#/group.php?gid=39859776842>- discussing history and genealogy of the Hilltowns

Dear Glenn, Thanks for the compliment, but I don't think I would be very good at writing a whole book. I do write a lot of articles and have revised with additions and corrections a couple of historical books which were out of print but I did not write the original books. If you are remotely interested in anything else I write, you could join the Rensselaerville Historical Society (it is only a ridiculous $5 per year membership) and get our quarterly newsletter, much of which I write. The latest issue has a rather long and very eloquent story about Rensselaerville which was written in the 1870s which I edited and added background comment on our history. If you are interested, the address is Rensselaerville Historical Society, POB 8, Rensselaerville, NY 12147. Janet Haseley **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221621488x1201450096/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID %3D62%26bcd%3DAprilfooterNO62)

A beautiful story,beautifully told, Janet. You should write a book! Glenn On Apr 6, 2009, at 11:12 AM, Edhase@aol.com wrote: > Dear John, > > Nope, I never lived full-time in Rensselaerville. Beginning when I > was 8 > years old, however, I have spent at least one or two weeks each > summer in > Rensselaerville. When my brother and I were kids and living on Long > Island we spent > the whole month of July there visiting my grandmother and when we > left I > knew it would be a whole year before I got back again. Since we did > not own a > car, to get to R'ville we had to take a taxi, a train, another > taxi, another > train, and then ride out to R'ville with the mail delivery man. > Today it is > possible to drive back and forth even in one day (3 hours each > way). My fondest > wish was to have two pair of strap-on wings so I could fly back and > forth > whenever I wanted to and take a friend along. Unfortunately, that > never happened. > > I met my husband when we were both in college in Ohio. I wanted our > marriage > to be in Rensselaerville which he didn't mind. We continued to spend > vacations there, only one week when he had a one-week vacation and > eventually it was > four weeks by the time we lived in North Carolina which is still my > legal > address. When he retired and the kids flew the nest we started > spending six > months in Rensselaerville. When he died 7 years ago I was tempted > to move to > R'ville full time but what would I do with 50 years' accumulation > of stuff in > the NC house? And I wouldn't see as much of the NC grandchildren so > now I > migrate every six months and from May through October live with my > brother (who > lives there all year) in the house our grandmother bought in 1939. My > grandmother, my mother, my husband, and a slew of Niles ancestors > are buried in the > village cemetery next door to our house. > > My mother was very active in the R'ville Historical Society and the > house is > full of portraits of ancestors and my grandmother would tell us > stories > about them. So when the kids flew the nest and my husband retired I > started > volunteering at the Historical Society and am Research Chair and one > of the > trustees and editor of the newsletter. > > Janet Haseley > **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just > 2 easy > steps! > (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221621488x1201450096/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID > %3D62%26bcd%3DAprilfooterNO62) > ====NY-Albany Mailing List==== > Check out the mailing list's website at:http://www.connorsgenealogy.com/Albany/ > Add/check your Albany surnames on the Surname Registry. > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NYALBANY-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message

Dear John, Nope, I never lived full-time in Rensselaerville. Beginning when I was 8 years old, however, I have spent at least one or two weeks each summer in Rensselaerville. When my brother and I were kids and living on Long Island we spent the whole month of July there visiting my grandmother and when we left I knew it would be a whole year before I got back again. Since we did not own a car, to get to R'ville we had to take a taxi, a train, another taxi, another train, and then ride out to R'ville with the mail delivery man. Today it is possible to drive back and forth even in one day (3 hours each way). My fondest wish was to have two pair of strap-on wings so I could fly back and forth whenever I wanted to and take a friend along. Unfortunately, that never happened. I met my husband when we were both in college in Ohio. I wanted our marriage to be in Rensselaerville which he didn't mind. We continued to spend vacations there, only one week when he had a one-week vacation and eventually it was four weeks by the time we lived in North Carolina which is still my legal address. When he retired and the kids flew the nest we started spending six months in Rensselaerville. When he died 7 years ago I was tempted to move to R'ville full time but what would I do with 50 years' accumulation of stuff in the NC house? And I wouldn't see as much of the NC grandchildren so now I migrate every six months and from May through October live with my brother (who lives there all year) in the house our grandmother bought in 1939. My grandmother, my mother, my husband, and a slew of Niles ancestors are buried in the village cemetery next door to our house. My mother was very active in the R'ville Historical Society and the house is full of portraits of ancestors and my grandmother would tell us stories about them. So when the kids flew the nest and my husband retired I started volunteering at the Historical Society and am Research Chair and one of the trustees and editor of the newsletter. Janet Haseley **************A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours in just 2 easy steps! (http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1221621488x1201450096/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID %3D62%26bcd%3DAprilfooterNO62)