This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: RandySeaverCV Surnames: bresee, brazie, brazee, bries, breese Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.newyork.counties.columbia/4738/mb.ashx Message Board Post: I recently found out that one of my ancestors is Cornelia Bresee, born 5 Dec 1780 in NY, died 1840 in Jefferson County NY; she married James Bell (born 7 Aug 1777 in Scotland, died 1839 in Jefferson county NY) in Schodack (Rensselaer county NY) in about 1797. Their children were Sarah, Polly, Nancy, Betsy, David, James, Oren and Lucinda. Some of this data is from a WorldConnect database "sprague family" submitted by Lance Sprague. I believe that the birth dates for Cornelia and James probably came from some sort of family record. I've been digging through as much Bresee (Bressee, Bresie, Brezie, Brazie, Brazee, Brasy, Brissee, Brussie, etc) data as I can find on the Internet. It appears that one of the major centers for this surname in the late 1700s was Columbia County NY, just south of Rensselaer County (and just across from Schodack). There is also a concentration of Bries (and Brees, Breese, Breeze, etc) families in Rensselaer County and very few are in Columbia county. Does anyone have my Cornelia Bresee (born 1780) in their databases? Does anyone have a list of Bresee (and variant spellings) families in the Rensselaer/Columbia county area in about 1780-1800? If so, who are likely parents of Cornelia (some can be eliminated due to age, marriage date or other children born in 1780)? Thanks for any help -- Randy Seaver/Chula Vista CA ([email protected]) PS I am blogging about my Bresee research at http://randysmusings.blogspot.com - drop in and read what I find! 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.