Lillee and everyone else researching Troy ancestors This is a good opportunity for me to tell you about a GREAT genealogical source which is often overlooked, because as far as I know, it has not been transcribed and put online, and in fact, as far as I know, it has never even been indexed. So, to use it, you will have to take some time and do some work. But if you have any ancestors who lived in Troy in the 19th century, your hard work is VERY LIKELY to be rewarded! Through your local LDS Family History Centre, you can order microfilms of RECORD OF DEATHS, BURIALS &C. IN THE CITY OF TROY. This is a register kept at the time; it is not the same thing as cemetery inscriptions. Many people appear in these records for whom there is no gravestone today. This might be because their gravestone was damaged or vandalised or for some other reason no longer survives; it also might be because they never had a gravestone. These records are spread over three microfilm reels: 1434103 covering 1833-1867 1434104 covering 1867-1882 1434105 covering 1882-1890 and 1919-1928 There is also an Index to Plots on Film 1434105. How much information they give varies from year to year, but for many of the years, you get the following information: Year, month and day of death; name of deceased person; residence; where died [you often get a street address in this column]; cause of death [amazing how many babies died of "teething"]; duration of disease; attending physician; informant; sex; marital status; occupation; where born; parents' names; place of interment; and age in years, months and days. Even some of you who think you have someone's whole family may find that they had other children you don't know about, whose short lives didn't span a census year. They won't have left descendants, of course, but when you study forenames with a view to finding what parents these babies' parents had, it's nice to know that there was a son or daughter older than the son or daughter you THOUGHT was the oldest! Given the tendency [not absolute, but often] to name the first couple of sons after the grandfathers and the first couple of daughters after the grandmothers, knowing about these unknown children could even point your search for these grandparents in a whole new direction. Another EXCELLENT source is Troy City Directories. The LDS Library in Salt Lake City has these on microfiche, and I think you can order them through your local LDS Family History Centre, but it's not as easy as a microfilm because (at least here in England) you have to pay for the fiche by the sheet, and you often have to pay for 7 or 8 sheets when you know you need only one. Still, beggars can't be choosers, and I don't know any OTHER way to access these directories from afar. They help tremendously in locating where people lived between censuses, and they are a particular help if you have end-of-the-[known]-line people in Troy and don't know who their parents or siblings were. These directories will tell you, if you are willing to study them, who all ELSE lived at the same address as your ancestors. Lillee, your man last seen at age 70 in Troy in 1850 is an EXCELLENT candidate to appear in these burial records! Happy hunting! Lin Van Buren Saint Leonard's on Sea, England """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" >From: Zierau <zierau@ionet.net> >To: NYRENSSE-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: [NYRENSSE] Vital Records C. 1850 Troy >Date: Fri, 21 Jul 2000 17:01:11 -0500 > >Can anyone help me gather more information about an ancestor: >I have not been able to find any trace of them after 1850 at which time >their age is given as 70 although they may have been 61 according to other >records. I would like to find record of death or other trace of them. >I have checked newspaper obituaries from that period. Was there a Lutheran >Church in Troy at that time? Does anyone have any suggestions at all? >Any help at all will be appreciated. Lillee Zierau