I have to agree with you, there is something profound in going and standing where your ancestors lived! I am glad you had a great time. Liz Parmalee ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Curtis" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2003 6:56 PM Subject: My Genealogy Trip to Oswego & Jefferson Counties (LONG) > Hello everyone, > > I just returned from a wonderful genealogy vacation in Oswego County and > Jefferson County, New York. Here are a few comments that I hope might help > others in their research. My first stop was the Oswego County Records > Center where I had the opportunity to meet Barbara Dix. There is a wide > range of records to be found there, and Barbara is extraordinarily helpful. > I spent significant time going through the state census records for Oswego > county. The 1855 and 1865 state censuses are indexed. 1875, 1892, 1905, > 1915 and 1925 are not indexed, but all of the censuses are in large binders > that are much faster and easier to read than microfilm. The federal > censuses for Oswego county are there too, but I didn't bother with them as > I can view them online from home via Ancestry.com and Heritage Quest. When > I finished with those records Barbara wheeled out a big cart with marriage > licenses dating from 1908-1935, I think. The index is in the front of each > book and the actual license and marriage returns are in the back. This was > a surprisingly valuable tool for finding siblings, children and their > spouses of my ancestors. I never did get to many of the other records they > have, such as city directories, family genealogies, etc., etc., etc. > > Barbara insisted that I contact the Town Historian for Sandy Creek, > Charlene Cole. She said that Charlene has done an incredible job of > collecting local historical and genealogical records, so I made > arrangements to go see her. To say that Charlene is a ball of fire is an > understatement! She has the energy of 10 normal people. She went out of her > way to show me the archives and their plans for the future; then she sat me > down at a table and brought me stacks upon stacks of relevant information - > family files, cemetery indexes, biographies and more. The information > wasn't limited to Sandy Creek either. She has lots of information for the > surrounding towns as well. While I was there she introduced me to another > person researching one of my surnames, a second person who does lots of > cemetery fieldwork in the area, and finally, to a member of the Halfshire > Historical Society. I'll get to him in a minute. I would strongly recommend > contacting or visiting Charlene if you have ancestors in Sandy Creek or any > of the nearby towns. You won't be disappointed. > > Next I made arrangements to see the New Haven Town Historian, Nancy > Searles. New Haven has far less genealogical information, but Nancy is > knowledgeable about the area, and familiar with its history. She was able > to tell me where my grandmother went to school, where my great great > grandfather had his grocery store, and the place he likely lived. I didn't > get a lot of data on this visit, but there is something profound about > standing on the same piece of land as your ancestors, and this was worth as > much to me as names, dates and places. I appreciated her taking the time to > share her knowledge with me. On the same trip I stopped off in the Town > Clerk's office. Debbie Allen stopped what she was doing and made a copy of > a death certificate for me in a matter of minutes. > > I mentioned the member of the Halfshire Historical Society that I met. His > name is Shawn Doyle and he seems to know almost everyone in the area. He > shared some data and photos with me on some of my collateral lines, he > contacted Albion Town Historian Florence Gardener on my behalf, then > introduced me to another Halfshire member, George Widrig, who is an expert > on the history of the hamlet of Richland. George also knew my great > grandparents and various cousins, aunts and uncles. What a wonderful > opportunity that was to sit down and talk to him! > > Next I went to Williamstown and met with Town Historian Glenna Gorski. > Prior to my arrival she pulled together a lot of information that she hoped > would be of value to me. After looking at an 1800s map of the area we > figured out that my 4th great grandmother lived almost straight across the > road from her. When we exhausted the documents she provided, Glenna got on > the phone and called some people in the area that she knew were descendants > of my ancestors. She just went out of her way to be helpful. > > Oh I almost forgot, I also made a stop at the Surrogate Court to search > through the probate packets there. A woman whose name I unfortunately > didn't learn was very helpful, explaining how everything was indexed and > filed. I didn't find anything new for my ancestors, but I was able to rule > out a couple of potential relationships, so it was a worthwhile trip. > > The people in the Pulaski Library were very helpful too. They have > microfilmed rolls of the Pulaski Democrat dating back to the 1830s, and I > was able to find several obituaries there. > > I never did get a chance to meet with Florence Gardener, but Shawn had > provided her with my name, phone number and address, as well as information > on the family I was looking for in Albion. She called me and said that she > had found some information that might be of value to me. Since I couldn't > make it to see her she offered to mail it to me. > > My trip to Oswego County was so amazing that I almost didn't make it to > Jefferson County, but I'm glad I did! I began with a trip to the Historical > Association of South Jefferson. They just moved into their new facility - a > beautiful old home that they are restoring. In between scraping wallpaper, > Debbie Quick provided me with family files to search through. I was looking > for one particular piece of information - an exact date of death for my 3rd > great grandfather - but I was unsuccessful. > > Debbie called the Henderson Town Clerk's office and provided them with the > information I was looking for, then gave me directions to get there. She > also provided me with directions to the Adams Town Clerk's office because > my 3rd great grandfather lived in Smithville, which crosses over both towns > and she thought that if the death didn't occur in Henderson it might have > occurred in Adams. I drove to the Henderson Town Clerk's office. She wasn't > there but her assistant was searching for the record when I got there. She > couldn't find the record but searched in every possible data source she > could think of. She apologized for not finding the record, but I was amazed > and appreciative of how much effort she put into the search. I then went to > see the Adams Town Clerk, John Knapp. His office is in his hardware store > in Adams Center. When I walked in he immediately stopped what he was doing > and took me to the big fireproof safe where the old records are kept. He > too tried everywhere he could think of to find the death record, but was > also unsuccessful. > > I called Debbie Quick back, and she offered to meet me at South Jeff on > Friday evening so I could search the 1905 Jefferson County Journal page by > page to see if I could find his death notice. When I arrived she sat down > with me and went through one set of newspapers while I went through > another. I finally found the death on 5 May 1905 (5-5-05). I don't know why > there isn't a death certificate filed (there isn't one in Albany either) > but I sure appreciate everyone's effort in helping me to finally track down > the date. > > My next trip was to the Jefferson County Clerk's office to do deed > research. They wouldn't allow me to use my digital camera there, which was > a shame, so I read through the deeds and picked out the ones that were most > important to me and had the ladies there photocopy them for me at $1 each. > The ladies were all very friendly and didn't seem to mind making the > copies, but I always felt like I was imposing on them and taking them away > from other work they were doing. I wish the County Clerk's office had a > policy of allowing digital cameras even if they charged for the pictures I > took. As it was, I had 22 copies made. If I was able to use my camera I > probably would have taken close to 100, been there half as long, put less > wear and tear on the deed books, and happily paid a per-copy charge so they > could maintain a revenue stream. It would also reduce the workload of the > personnel there. I realize that the current policy is probably dictated to > them by the state, but it would be nice if the benefits of allowing digital > cameras were recognized. Nonetheless, it was a pleasant research experience > and I managed to find one of those wonderful deeds that lists every heir of > a deceased individual. I was able to extend one family line by identifying > the parents and all of the siblings of a 3rd great grandfather. > > From the County Clerk's office I walked over to the Genealogy Room at > Flower Memorial Library. As always, the volunteers there were wonderfully > helpful. I looked through surname notebooks and found some useful > information. I also found some key information on the 1865 Jefferson County > census, which they have on microfilm. While I was looking at the microfilm > one of the volunteers was checking through their Rhode Island historical > records volumes for mentions of my family from there. When the Genealogy > Room closed at 4:00 I went downstairs to the main library and went through > microfilm from the Watertown Daily Times until the library closed. > > My next trip was to the Henderson Historical Society whose facility is a > wonderful old Unitarian Church in the village of Henderson. They have a > surprising amount of great genealogical and historical data there, and are > extremely friendly and helpful. I found a map with my 3rd great > grandparents house on it - something I had been unable to find in the past > even though I knew within a couple of miles where they lived. I also saw an > original Civil War record that explained that my 3rd great grandfather was > turned down for military service due to disability. I had always wondered > why he hadn't participated in the war, and I would never have found this > document had the Henderson Historical society not been so helpful. Another > interesting tidbit I found out - after a brief discussion we figured out > that my 2nd great grandfather's sister in law is the sister to one of the > Society members' brother in law. He is still alive, as is the nephew of my > 2nd great grandfather, who was a long time teacher and coach in the area. > They provided me with his address so I could write to him. > > By then the week was over and it was time to drive back to the North > Carolina mountains. There was so much more that I could have done that I > felt like I could easily have stayed for another month. What surprised me > the most about this trip was the value to be found in talking to the small > historical and genealogical societies as well as the town historians. I > usually tend to think in terms of extending my lines by studying vital > records, deeds and probate records; yet the time spent with these other > people and the connections I made were immensely pleasurable and easily the > most valuable part of the trip. In total I took over 800 digital > photographs of documents, local scenery, and gravestones in the 11 > cemeteries I visited in between my other stops. It may take me a year to > sift through all of the material I gathered. By then I'll be ready to go > back again! > > Best regards, > > Mike Curtis > > > ==== NYOSWEGO Mailing List ==== > New York GenExchange > http://www.genexchange.com/state.cfm?state=ny > > ============================== > 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 > >