Thanks to everyone who has responded to my inquiry about Burke. I am about to write up all I've learned about this branch of my family, but I thought it would be worth one more sweep to see if I could find any more information before I do so. Here's my problem: I'm looking for a woman named Jerusha MEIGS. Her husband Felix MEIGS (1735-1803) lived in Branford or Guilford, CT; I don't know where Jerusha came from or where or when they were married. They had three daughters, Mindwell, Sylvia and Marina, and one son, Samuel. So far, nobody has ever been able to find Jerusha's maiden name, and that is what I'm trying to find. Felix and Jerusha lived and moved with their daughter Sylvia and her husband, Stephen COOK, through most of the COOK's married life, until the MEIGS's respective deaths. Stephen COOK came from Wallingford, Connecticut. He died in 1829 and is buried, quite prominently, in the Burke Center cemetery. I have seen and photographed his grave. Jerusha died, I believe, between 1810 and 1820. On the 1810 census, there are two old ladies in Stephen COOK's household; on the 1820 census, there is only one. I know Sylvia died in 1849 in Adams Basin, NY and is buried there; her tombstone can be seen, according to a member of the local historical society who found it for me. It seems probable, therefore, that the older woman who dropped off the census between 1810 and 1820 was Jerusha, and she probably died. That would fit with the extremely tentative birth date I have for her of 1740; she would then have been in her seventies at the time of her death. It seemed logical to me to look first for Jerusha in the Burke Center cemetery, since I thought that Sylvia probably would have buried Stephen beside or near her mother; but if Jerusha is in Burke Center, she has no marker. Therefore, I am hoping to find early paper records of that cemetery or others, which might record Jerusha's burial and, please God, her maiden name. It would be nice to find her grave, but what I really hope for is that there would be some record of her, and that her maiden name would be on it. I have been given a few leads to follow up to see if there is any information on her in cemetery records. The only other thing I can think of is that Jerusha may be buried somewhere on the former COOK property in Burke. On page 49 of my copy of "Chateaugay, NY and the War of 1812" by John A. Bilow, there is a map of Franklin County in 1813, which shows a location marked "Cook's" which may or may not be Stephen COOK's farm. But if Jerusha was buried there, it seems even less likely that the grave would be marked, even if its location could be found. I have checked Stephen COOK's will; there is no mention of Jerusha, and I didn't expect there would be (I'm grasping at straws, you see!). I do not know whether Sylvia left a will; if I recall correctly she inherited the farm from Stephen, but she may have signed it over to one of her sons before her death, in which case she probably would not have had a will. I don't imagine she would have mentioned her mother in it, anyway, but you never know. One COOK daughter, Anna, married a man named Charles BLAKE. They lived in Plattsburgh, and they and their three children - all of whom died unmarried and without issue - are buried in Riverside Cemetery in Plattsburgh. I have so far had no luck in trying to trace other COOK children; maybe one of them has a family bible, or some other record of Jerusha's name. The entire COOK family apparently stayed pretty much together, moving, over the years, from Connecticut through Massachusetts into Vermont, where Felix MEIGS died, and on into New York State, right up until Stephen's death (even the married sons moved with the family and settled nearby). Considering that the COOKs had twelve biological children and one adopted one, this was quite a feat. But it looks as if, immediately after Stephen's death, the whole family just flew to pieces, dispersed to Ohio and other places, and left no member of the family in Franklin County, though Sylvia lived in Plattsburgh for a time, probably with Anna. No descendants live in the county at this time as far as I can tell; nobody has responded to my inquiries. I greatly appreciate the help and ideas I have already received from people on these lists, and I am following up on those leads. I will also welcome any other ideas anyone may give me (or any indication of where I might have gone wrong) which might help me find Jerusha's maiden name. It would be tragic to find that, after all the babysitting, all the diaper changing, all the laundry and other household tasks that woman must have performed, nobody even cared enough to write down her name. I'd like to find it and give her the recognition she deserves. Thank you all again - Edie in Maine