Jim Conklin asked: 1. I am having difficulty finding the physical location of Holcomb Cemetery in Sand Lake; I asked this question on the list a few weeks ago and heard from several other people who would like to know, but not from anyone who knew the answer. 2. The will of Carpenter CONKLIN (proved 1848) named one of his sons (Henry) as executor and divided his estate "among my children." Supposedly Henry wrote a letter as executor which named all of these children. Where in the records would I look to find such a record? (1) According to the directions in the Rensselaer County Cemetery Index for the Town of Sand Lake, the Holcomb Cemetery is on the "northwest corner of the junction of Town Barn Road and First Dyke Road (Burden Lake)." Eastbound on Route 43 in the Village of Averill Park, right near the blinking light, there's a right hand turn for Burden Lake Road, pass that one. Take the next right that's Eastern Union Turnpike and Town Barn Road. I'm not familiar enough with that area to be too specific, but you're in the right area. My old Rensselaer County Highway Map shows Eastern Union Turnpike intersecting Holcomb Road which in turn intersects First Dyke Road. (And First Dyke Road intersects Burden Lake Road so it's all kind of a circle.) If you get that close, ask somebody! [And for anyone doing genealogical research in New York State, I think you should get a County Highway map for the county you're interested in. In Columbia County, I bought one in the Court House for $3; in Rensselaer County, I've seen them in the County Executive's office at the County Office Building and also in local Town Clerk's offices; so far they've been free. You probably could get the best results by writing to the County Highway Department.] (2) There are books of recorded wills, but by far the meat of any estate is the probate packet and that's where you should find the executor's letter that you're looking for. Estates are in the hands of the County Surrogate. You can go to the Surrogates office and look at the early probate papers on microfilm but the original early probate packets are held by the Rensselaer County Historical Society on behalf of the Surrogate. I think Kathy Sheehan said that they have from 1791 to 1915, but somewhere close to that. (The Surrogate could throw them out, but not give them away, so the Historical Society is "holding them.") The Historical Society will copy the packet papers for you, and I wouldn't want to swear to this in court, but I think she said the charge is $5 for whatever papers are in the packet. You can write to the Rensselaer County Historical Society at 57 Second Street, Troy, NY 12180. Phone is area code 518 272-7232 and they do have a web site. Hope I got the answer to your question. Marie