Hi to all Westchester friends. We are looking for a lady named Mary Emma Smith Townsend Collins. She was b. May 1818 in Westchester Co and d. at 105 in Hamburg, Eirie Co NY. The story of her life goes something like this: When she was 3 months old her father was killed in an accident we think. at least he died. Her mother died shorttly after that, we don't know if that means 2 months or 2 years, and she was adopted by the Townsend family. Which one we don't know. As of reflection of her early life she was interviewed at stated that she rode the first steam passenger train for a distance of 7 miles from the metropolis of NY. (Does that mean NYC) She related that the train often stopped and they got out and picked berries. ( I am a assuming that she was about 18 and unmarried) By 1844 she had s son, John, in Utica, NY and by 1846 she was married to Paticrick Collins and living in Wyoming County, NY near Java Center. They were catholic and the baptisms in St. Patrick's church shows that she was referred to as Mary Smythe as the mother and Patrick Collins as the father for the children who were baptised. We cannot find this family in 1850 on the Wyoming Co census, but on the 1860 census the family is listed as John, Thomas, Francis, Michael. Other children later were Elizabeth, Ellen, Andrew. It is said she had 13 children but no proof of that, and Patrick Collins was born in Ireland about 1808 and was a stone mason, but after 1860 he bought farm land and later moved to Wethersfield where they farmed. HIs son, Thomas, spent most all of his life in Bliss, married twice and is buried with the first wife. Does anyone have a clue as to what records would be available to show the school records of the children and where to find them, or other articles that might refer to a family in this area? Are thre Civil War records for Wyoming County that would list the names of the soldiers from Wethersfield? We need to desparately determine if the name used on the baptism record is the maiden name of Mary Emma Townsend or an earlier married name. If her name were Smith and she were born in Westchesster Co in 1818, what records might refer to the death of her father or the settlement of his estate? Would there be adoption or orphan records in the court for a townsend family who adopted Mary and would there be court records accounting for her welfare on an annual basis until she reached age 18? We really need to find out what her maiden name was. If anyone knows, please contact us with this email. Her children married into the following families. Elizabeth m.l Judson Rodgers, Ellen m. Streamer, Thomas, m. a Kelly, Andrew m. Lana Streamer, Francis m. Kelly. We hope you can help. Valerie in California. ************************************** AOL now offers free email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.