Hi, Everybody - There is at least one cemetery in Grafton.... is there one called the Grafton Center Cemetery? If so, can somebody provide some more info. about it and directions to it, please? Thanks! Susan

I've just returned from a trip home to NYS and going through my father's attic where I discovered the adoption papers of my grandmother (Ruby Coons) and photos of her birth parents and sisters. It was so exciting to have these things fall into my lap - and I wanted to share something I learned from the adoption papers. When I searched for information on her adoption, I searched from 1890 (her birth year) to 1910 knowing she was adopted as a young child. She was given away (sold?) as a child but wasn't adopted until 1917 when she was 27 years old! Her adoptive mother died in 1917 and her adoptive father legalized it then. So I learned to never assume at what age someone is formally adopted! Who would have thought there'd be an adoption at the age of 27? Mary

Bryan, You might want to check with Surrogate's Court in the Rensselaer County Courthouse to see if guardianship papers were filed for the children. Many, if not all, the records have been indexed. I'm not familiar with what orphanages were in operation during the 1860s but you could find this information in the Troy City Directories available at the Troy Public Library. I'm confident that a call to their reference desk would give you an answer. Good luck! Lynn

Hello everyone, I'm hoping that someone will have some advice or insights to help me locate some folks in the 1860 census. Richard and Eliza Jane LIGHTBOWN, along with their two young boys Charles and William, moved from Saratoga Co NY to Troy in 1855. In the 1860 census I've found Eliza Jane living with the family of Charles Davis in Troy, but without her husband or children (Charles born 1851, William 1854). The indexes don't show Richard in 1860 in NY at all. Eliza Jane died in 1862, so she may have been ill in 1860....Richard enlisted in NY in 1861, at the start of the Civil War, so he was probably still in NY state in 1860. So where are Richard and the boys in 1860? I'm thinking that the children may have been in an institution such as an orphanage. Does anyone know what sorts of orphanages, poor houses, or prisons were in Troy at about this time? Or how I might locate them in the census without looking page-by-page? (The 1880 census has institutions listed at the end of the last Soundex film, but what about 1860?). Are ther records of orphans at the courthouse? Any other ideas as to where I might search? Thank you, -Bryan-

My recent postings have created some questions that hopefully I can answer with this post. I viewed the microfilms at the Sacramento LDS Family Research Library. All you have to do to see these is go to your nearest and order them ($4 per film). When they come in, they call you and you can go see them. The ones I view were filmed in 1981 and were better than the actual books which I viewed in 1998. The reason I say that is that many pages were torn out because there were no real rules about looking at the books. They were up in an attic at the court house and they let people up there to look at the books without supervising them. Anyway, here are the film numbers (I got them from www.familysearch.org). All are for Rensselaer County. 1304655 Naturalization certifications 1844-69 1304657 " " 1852-56 1304658 " " 1856-59 1304659 Declarations of intent 1844-72, Nat. Certs. 1859-69 ** 1304662 Court minutes 1843-57, Index to Naturalizations 1304663 Declar. of intent 1854-1906 ** 1304664 Alien declarations 1884-1906 1304665 Petitions 1903-06 1304666 Nat. Records 1824-1908, Index, Final Applications 1896-1906 ** 1434126 Oaths 1827-1929 1434129 Oaths 1881-88 1434130 Nat. Certs 1844-72 1437398 Book of Oaths 1814-43 ** those are the films I posted from -- Pat Connors, Sacramento CA Siochain Leat (peace be with you)

This response is a little late, but I wanted to share my experience. If I were you, I would go ahead and copy the photos, deduct the costs from the amount paid and refund the rest. A couple years ago I compiled a book of lineage, anecdotes and pictures for one of my lines. I sent letters to all the persons I had addresses asking for corrections of the data I had and any additions that they would like included in the book. I was pleasantly surprised to receive responses from over 70% of my queries (although some were as long as a year later), and when my book was finished almost all of them bought a copy. I set the price to just enough to cover my expenses, since I wasn't doing it for profit, only to share the info I and my mother had gathered through the years. One elderly relative after seeing a copy his son had purchased sent me an order for copies for all his other children and grandchildren. He included a nice bonus as a thank you for the work I had done. In this case, I accepted it and wrote him a nice letter thanking him for his generousity. I felt he did it because he realized how much work had gone into the production end, and would have been offended if I had returned his check. Sometimes graciously accepting a gift is important also. Ruth Tucker > > Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2000 08:19:06 -0600 > From: bmyers <bmyers@du.edu> > To: NYRENSSE-L@rootsweb.com > > Hello... > > Several weeks ago, I sent out letters to some of my father's cousins. I > introduced myself and offered to copy and send them pictures of common > relatives. I also asked if they had any information to add to the "family > tree." > > Recently, I received a letter from one of these relatives. He had no > information to add, but sent a $35 check for any fees I incure while > reproducing the promised pictures. >

I have just added a link - SOME Marriages from Troy Newspapers - 1798-1859 http://members.tripod.com/~JeffriesB __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail � Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/

Hello, I'm trying to find the graves of Carpenter (d.1846) and Lucretia (d.1835) CONKLIN in Sand Lake. According to a 1940 manuscript, they are buried on their farm "between Sand Lake and West Sand Lake which adjoined the CARMICHAEL farm." I assume this refers to the farm of John CARMICHAEL, one of the original settlers of Sand Lake; Sylvester's 1880 history of Rennsselaer Co. mentions that the CARMICHAEL farm was in the southwest part of Sand Lake. The manuscript also said that this old CONKLIN farmstead was then (1940) owned by a Lithuanian family--no name given. I would be grateful if someone could tell me the specific location of the CARMICHAEL farm, or (even better!) where the old CONKLIN farmstead and graves are located. Thank you, Jim Conklin

The last Naturalization list should have said #5, sorry.

This is the last of the Alien Declarations from film #1304666. All were living in Troy unless otherwise stated. If you are looking for surnames: Connors/O'Connor, Flynn, Campbell, McEntee they will be on my website some time this week end, I'll announce it when completed. 4/14 1903 Owen McGovern, 29, laborer b Annaghdale or Anghndale (?hard to read), Co. Fermanagh, Ire. arr: NYC 5/17 1900 wit: Hugh McGovern, Hugh O'Reilly 5/12 1904 Luke Murphy, 40, farm hand, living in No. Greenbrush b Cloghheen (?hard to read), Co. Tipperary, Ire. arr: NYC 12/24 1888 wit: Edward Mahar, James Hughes, both of Troy 6/30 1904 Kevin O'Toole, 35, electrician, living in Schenectady b Iniskerry, Ire. arr: NYC 3/9 1901 wit: Richard Behan, Lawrence Buins, both of Troy 2/11 1904 John J. McLaughlin, 24, insurance agent b Ballaureen, Co. Roscommon arr: NYC 9/5/ 1901 wit: James Corcoran, Michael Rourke That's the end. Hope they helped someone.

same film number as previous 3 postings, all from Troy, unless otherwise noted Alien Declarations continued: 7/6 1906 James Egan, 31, river man b Co. Clare, Ire. arr: NYC March 16, 1862, under 18 yr at the time wit: Richard Chamberlain, Patrick Purcell 7/12 1898 James H. Murphy, 43, machinist b Drumavaddy (?hard to read), Co. Down, Ire. arr: Boston Sept. 1883 wit: John Cloke (from Hoosick), Mathew Bowers (also from Hoosick) 7/6 1906 andrew P. Byrnes, 21, machinist b Christianstown, Co. Kildare, Ire. arr: NYC October 31, 1900 under the age of 18 at the time wit: James H. Glavani, John Marion *** all three living in Waterford, Saratoga Co. 7/28/ 1902 Stephen Byrnes, 43, night watchman b Whylem, Co. Kildare, Ire. arr: NYC April 11, 1900 wit: James H. Glavani, John Marion *** all three living in Waterford, Saratoga Co. 6/15 1900 Patrick Collins, 41, iron worker b Murro, Ireland arr: NYC May 6, 1899 wit: Thomas Kennedy, Edward Minahan 10/13 1903 Blanche Charlotte Scott, 47, proof reader b Dublin, Co. Dublin, Ire. arr: NYC, 9/16 1889 wit: Walter H. Main, William J. Rice more to come .... -- Pat Connors, Sacramento CA Siochain Leat (peace be with you) Researching: Connors/O'Connor, McEntee, Campbell, Flynn/O'Flynn, Smith, Phillips, Carter, Boyle, O'Rourke, Healey, Cullinan, Hoare, Todd, Owen, Booth, Gallagher, Fahey, Ryan, Haviland http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.com/~nymets http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/c/o/n/Pat-Connors/ mailto:nymets11@pacbell.net

Part 1, 2, and 3 are all from the same film noted on Part 1 Alien Declarations continued: 12/1 1903 William Milne, 31, Blacksmith b. Galashiels, Co. Silkerk, Scotland arr: NYC 11/25 1897 wit: Cornelius C. Ryan, John J. Callopy 8/9 1899 Dennis Reardon, 44, iron worker b Emily (sic), Co. Tipperary, Ireland arr: NYC 12/29 1880 wit: Cornelius C. Ryan, John J. Callopy 3/17 1904 Thomas Murphy, 29, moulder b Kelleagh, Co. Cork, Ireland arr: NYC 4/27 1900 wit: William T. Leonard, James Collins *** all three lived in Hoosick Falls 7/6 1903 Joseph Mulkerrin, 55, laborer b Carna, Ire. arr: NYC 5/20 1895 wit: Oliver Cady, William J. Kehn 12/10 1896 William Hefferman, 32, laborer b Emly, Ire. arr: NYC 6/2/ 1896 wit: John J. Casey, Ira Dusten 7/6 1906 James Hefferman, 26, teamster b Tipperary, Ire. arr: NYC 6/5/ 1895 under 18 yrs at the time wit: Patrick A. Purcell, Oliver Cady more to come ...... -- Pat Connors, Sacramento CA Siochain Leat (peace be with you) Researching: Connors/O'Connor, McEntee, Campbell, Flynn/O'Flynn, Smith, Phillips, Carter, Boyle, O'Rourke, Healey, Cullinan, Hoare, Todd, Owen, Booth, Gallagher, Fahey, Ryan, Haviland http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.com/~nymets http://www.familytreemaker.com/users/c/o/n/Pat-Connors/ mailto:nymets11@pacbell.net

Alien Declarations: (all from Troy, unless noted otherwise) 8/9 1905 John Devine, 38 yrs old, laborer b Co. Sligo, Ireland, arrived: NYC 5/5 1891 witnesses: Thomas Holland, Felix Devine 8/25 1905 John J. Cronin, 23, laborer b. Askeaton, Ireland, arr: NYC 7/5 1900 less then 18 yrs old at time wit: John Maguire, Patrick Kane 1/27 1902 Thomas Mulvany, 47, brickmaker b Boyle, Co. Roscommon, Ireland, Arr: NYC March 1885 wit: Thomas Riley, Thomas F. Stapleton 10/28 1899 Michael Caughlin, 32, laborer b Cloncolman, Co. Clare, Ireland, arr: NYC May 1896 wit: Simon Kerschner, Moses Kraker 6/23 1903 John White b Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, arr: NYC 5/22 1885 wit: James P. Trainor, Philip J. Reilley more to come..... -- Pat Connors, Sacramento CA Siochain Leat (peace be with you)

I spent six (6) hours at my local FHS scouring over Rensselaer County naturalization records. Some records gave much information, down to city/townland of origin. Others gave only the country, most gave in between. I will post some of the info I handcopied that had to do with my own research but may be helpful to others. Please don't ask me to do lookups, since the film went back to SLC. Another interesting thing--I recently bought a digital camera and took it along with me today. When I found a record that I know was my family's, I was actually able to photo it and then printed it out when I got home. What a revelation! From now on, I will take it with me to copy pages of cenus, etc. It will save a lot of time. Here's a few I found today (all from Troy unless noted otherwise): Natualizations Records, film #1304666, 1824-1908: June 1903 John O'Neill Witnesses: Robert Tobin, Isidore Van Herpe 5/13 1905 Jeremiah Cronin Michael Cronin, Albert Chippendale b Co. Tipperary arrived: NYC 1883 5/18 1905 Patrick Cronin James Dorr, Thomas O'Hara b Co. Tipperary arr: NYC 1883 5/26 1904 Michael Morahan Patrick Canfield, Michael Birmingham b Boyle, Ireland arr: NYC May 1898 7/21 1905 Michael Ryan James Doran, John H. Murnane b Montreal, Canada arr: Rouse's Point 9/19/1898 More to come..... Pat Connors, Sacramento CA

I have started a new email list for discussion of New England History. If anyone is interested in this subject the address for joining is: NEW-ENGLAND-HISTORY-L-request@history.rootsweb.com for list mode NEW-ENGLAND-HISTORY-D-request@history.rootsweb.com For digest mode In the body of the email put the word subscribe and leave the subject blank. Cheers Ray Brown Ray Brown's Place for New England Genealogy http://members.xoom.com/New_England/

Hello, I am new to the site. Seeking information about Eliza Clark married to Henry VanBuren. They were born in 1819 and lived in New York till 1840. Listed in the 1840 census living next Jemima Jeffers VanBuren and Dewitt VanBuren. Would love more information on them before they moved to Fulton Co., IL. Going thru the female side of the family because there is a dispute about Henry's birthdate. Don't want to follow wrong line. They are buried in the LaSalle Cemetery in IL. Thanks Suzanne

Just discovered at least one of my ancestors was born in Steventown, NY. Nelson N. Grippen (sometimes spelled Griffin/Grippin), born circa 1836, died in Civil War on July 1, 1863, at Malvern Hill, VA. Does anyone know of Grippens in Steventown in middle 1800s? John E. Rowe

BABCOCK If anyone is doing research on BABCOCKS in Rensselaer Co. or RI or CT please contact me. Thanks Laurien Babcock Fan Laurie

List, I just happened across this informative site -- Roads in New York State -- enjoy. Roads in New York State - Index Page http://fatnet.8m.com/nyroads/ NY State Roads http://fatnet.8m.com/nyroads/stateroads/index.html U.S. Highway Routes in NYS - Index Page http://fatnet.8m.com/nyroads/usroutes/index.html Interstate Routes in NYS - Index Page http://fatnet.8m.com/nyroads/interstates/index.html Ron Myers San Diego

I have just added as a link Births/Baptisms from 1st Presbyterian Ch. of Brunswick, Rensselaer Co.,NY 1812-1832 which has many of the same surnames as Gilead Lutheran and Society of Friends of Troy, NY 1743-1840 which includes PITTSTOWN & WHITECREEK http://members.tripod.com/~JeffriesB __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/