Posted on: Niagara Co. NY Queries Reply Here: http://genconnect.rootsweb.com/genbbs.cgi/USA/NY/Niagara/311 Surname: ------------------------- Dear Janet, Regarding any existing prison records for Williamsville, NY, during the War of 1812,the only place I can think of would be the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society (I don't have their address handy). However, from my knowledge of the War of 1812 in this area, if he died in Williamsville, it was in the hospital there. It wasn't a prison. If he was taken prisoner (he would have been on the British side), his wounds or disease was probably being tended to in the hospital when he died. I have a copy of the list of the American soldiers who died in the hospital in Williamsville during that time and who were buried in the War of 1812 Cemetery near where the hospital stood. The small cemetery's location remained the same, but it's now a part of Cheektowaga, Erie County. Granted, I don't know if there's a list of the British soldiers who died there but I can tell you that for the past NUMBER of years, the Village of Cheektowaga goes all out in June with a grand memorial service at that little cemetery and if your ancestor is buried there, you can be certain that representatives from both the United States and Canada pay him the most reverant respect. How do I know this? Because I was one of the speakers at the cemetery service for a number of years. My message didn't have to do specifically with the soldiers from New York who had died and were buried there--there are only 12 of them from NY--it had to do with one particular soldier from Pennsylvania who had served in the War with my great-great-great-grandfather and was a neighbor of his. Dear George Myers is buried there in a mass grave and every year my speech had to do with the families of those soldiers from Canada/England and those soldiers from 11 different states--at a time when our country consisted of only 17 states. Those families never had the opportunity to mourn over their loved ones graves. And that was the point I wanted to put across. Over 175 years after their deaths, it was time to shed a tear for the sake of the families they left behind. Forgive me for my soapbox message, but your query touched my heart strings when you mentioned Williamsville and the War of 1812. Good luck in your research. Vee L. Housman Youngstown, Niagara County, NY