Dear Casey, You might try to check Columbia Co. NY records and see what you can build from both ends on your Van Alstyne line. My Van Alstyne line came from Columbia Co. NY (Kinderhook is where the VanAlstyne family settled originally) to Montgomery Co. and then to Steuben Co. Olive Tree Genealogy has a good outline of Van Alstyne genealogy. http://olivetreegenealogy.com/nn/surnames/vanalst.shtml Abraham is a very frequently used name in the Van Alstyne family. Elsie Wilson At 10:07 AM 5/17/02 -0400, you wrote: >Hello all! I am researching the above surnames in Wayne County. I am rather >new to Dutch ancestry and am glad to be a part of a list that will help me >share what I find and learn more as I go. Please excuse the length of this >email as I feel a rather long dissertation coming on. :) >I originally began my research in Wayne county through my mother's BESHURES >surname. (family story says this is a German or Dutch surname) Her parents >had lived in Sterling, NY just North of Wayne County. I found her father's >family in Hannibal, NY and then futher back to Wayne County where the line >just stopped. I discovered that my gr gr grandfather George BESHURES had >actually been born in the State of Ohio but both his parents were born in New >York State. This told me that his parents had been in Ohio for several years >and left the question. Where did the Husband go? Did he die or just >disappear? I found George and his 3 siblings listed with their Mother >Lucinda VANALSTYNE through census records living with her parents in Wayne >County 1850. Lucinda's father was Abraham VANALSTYNE b abt May 1790 d 15 Jan >1873. Abraham, Lucinda, and two of the BESHURES children (as adults) are >buried in The Old Livingston Cemetery in Wolcott, Wayne County. I find the >reason for them being buried in this 'family ' cemetery was that Lucinda >remarried to Jacob LIVINGSTON b Abt Apr/Mar 1808 d 12 Oct 1895. I have found >no further information on Abraham or Lucinda but am continually searching. >The underlying story to this must be epic as my paternal family has turned up >Welsh, Scottish, and French! > >Casey > > >============================== >To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, >go to: >http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237