Some years ago, when we visited Syracuse seeking marriage info, we went to (new) St. Mary's RC Church. We were cordially received and got a wealth of info, without being rushed, from: Fr. Carl H. Roesch, Archivist Diocese of Syracuse 240 East Onondaga St. Syracuse, NY If Fr. Roesch is no longer there, someone else will be carrying on the work. This can all be done by mail, perhaps now even e-mail, but if in the Syracuse area, it would be best to go there in person. They will know if anyone else has inquired about marriage you are researching! Fr. Roesch explained to us that Catholics in the area had to go to Syracuse to get married - because it was the only church in the area. Priests periodically visited the towns for the purpose of baptizing babies. We got a better understanding of what life was like in the 1850's, thanks to Fr. Roesch. We also visited the Onondago Historical Association, 316 Montgomery St., Syracuse, NY 13202. At that time, they were severely restricted by lack of funds and equipment. They did have a very knowledgeable and helpful historian who did everything possible to help us. She gave us the names and addresses of Town Historians where we could get more info. Unfortunately, at that time, every town did not have an Historian (they were all volunteers). The Onondaga Historical Association had those important NYS censuses (1855), but they had no copying machine. Mrs. Sylvia Shoebridge, Town Historian, Pompey Historical Society, with no prior notice, invited us into her historic home, which is now a museum, and gave us much information. Mrs. Shoebridge was anxious to share and provide so much info that was passed down from her ancestors in Pompey. You are fortunate indeed if you have ancestors that lived in Pompey, as everything has been recorded, with town maps, businesses, and published Pompey history. Mrs. Shoebridge is now retired, but someone else will be carrying on the work. My husband remembers from his childhood that his grandparents took him "home" to Pompey. Jack remembers that they visited kin, but he remembers nothing about them (alas). What impressed him most, as a child, were the wooden plank sidewalks - and, he really beamed when Mrs. Shoebridge told us about the historic wooden plank sidewalks. It is our hope that we will be contacted by family from the Pompey area. We had a great visit to Syracuse and took home a lot of information and have good memories. As is the case in all libraries, and societies suffering with shortage of funds and volunteers, it is best to call or write ahead and at least find which days and hours they can be visited. Margaret Crandall in SC

Having ancestors and cousins from the Pompey Tully area I sure do wish you had listed the family surnames.... we might link... I noticed that Camillus was once considered DeWitt. Then I wonder was DeWitt once considered 'in' as in 'a part' of Pompey? I wonder about other significant boundary changes especially those relative to Jordan Pompey Tully Fabius Manlius...etc... does anyone know if there exists someplace esp. on the web, a list of the dates the boundaries changed? A few of my surnames in 'this area' are: Rowe Roe Kendall VanDuson Hine1834 Marcellus 1800 Stillwell Manlius 1827 Mary Rowe Manlius Dan Rowe1813Manlius Lucian Elihu Rowe b 4/2/1031 Pompey Everson Pompey(poss) 1839 Ellen Carolyn Rowe Eagle Village 1800 Callender Manlius Lucian Hine Rowe 1863 Jordan 1811 Aurelia Rowe>Camillus dau of Daniel think Dan Rowe moved here circa 1810 aka David Roe? 1830Jordan VanValkenburgh 1886and1885 Jordan> Carrington nd Sperry I wonder why my family surname Rowe or Roe is not found in historic reports like the one mentioned by Diane Wilson Flynn. It hurts to be left out. It's kind of like writing my family 'out' of local history. I wonder what criteria was used. Are their any cousins out there? Lauren Deborah Rowe b Oswego res Syracuse NY --Orig From: J CRANDALL [mailto:[email protected] Sat Jan 3 2004 7:46p To: [email protected] Subject: [NYOnonda] Research in Syracuse yrs ago, visited Syr re m info, went to new St. Mary's RC Chch. cordially received got wealth of info, no rushed, frm: Fr. Carl H. Roesch, Archivist Diocese of Syracuse 240 East Onondaga St. Syracuse, NY snip >>>>