Hello List Let me introduce myself. I'm Dick Mathews, and I live in Southend-on-Sea, in the county of Essex, in England. My brother and several other relatives now live in Florida, but despite this my knowledge of what resources are available for genealogical research in the US is very limited. Last year I had a great deal of assistance from the PAMONTGO list, and now I'm hoping that this list will help me get a little further. I've been researching my family history for very many years, and until quite recently I had been desperately trying to make a connection to somone who, it turns out, is not my ancestor at all. My g.g.g.father was William Augustin Mathews, an engineer, who was born in Yeovil, Somerset, England in 1819. I have documentary proof back this far. When William married in 1840 he described his father (also named William Augustin Mathews) as a 'minister', and when he remarried in 1874 he described his father as a 'Baptist Minister, deceased'. For many years I tried to link my William to the only minister named William Mathews that the Baptist Historical Society could identify, but without success. Then I met a distant cousin, much older than me, who knew that the engineer William had been made a Freeman of the City of London. We sent for the details of his application, and found that in 1861 he had described his father as a minister, 'formerly of Wooburn, Bucks, and now of America'. The Strict Baptist Historical Society found a reference in 'The Earthern Vessel' that William had started preaching in London, and in 1833 had founded a Chapel in Wooburn, Bucks, but in 1839 he had 'left suddenly for America'. Armed with this information a search in Philby and Meyer found a reference to a naturalisation for William Augustin Mathews in 1854 in Pennsylvania. I got my brother to get a copy of the papers for me, and found that he had arrived in New York on 9 Aug 1839, and in 1854 was aged 59 and resident in Montgomery Township. William was the minister of Montgomery Baptist Church from 1841 - 50, and from the history of that church, its cemetery inscriptions, and the 1850 census, I learned that by his first marriage he had two daughters (but no mention of a son left behind in England), and that he remarried (to Mathilda Pool, by whom he had a son John). The History of Montgomery Baptist Church was written by Edward Mathews, who appears to have been a prolific local writer. Speaking of William Mathews, it says 'Towards the close of his life he removed to New Britain, where he died 5 June 1866'. Recently I searched the LDS Library Catalogue under 'New Britain', and found two entries: (1) 'An account of the James family of New Britain' by Edward Mathews, the notes for which say it includes ... Mathews ... families, and (2) 'The family of James Duffil Scott and Ellen Mathews' by Robin Scott McDowell. >From the IGI I found that James Scott appeared to have married, successively, Annie Mathews and her sister Ellen, the daughters of Joseph and Martha BITTING. So I begin to wonder whether my William (who claimed to be a native of England) had come to Montgomery, and gone to New Britain, to be near other family members. It certainly seems strange that in 1839 he should leave 'suddenly' for America - perhaps he went by invitation. Certainly if he landed at New York in August 1839 and was admitted a member of Montgomery Baptist Church in Dec 1840, he can't have done much in between. I wonder if it is a coincidence that there is an entry in the IGI for a baptism of a William Augustin Mathews, son of Samuel and Abigail, on 10 Mar 1800 - but it's not in England: it's Hartland Township, Windsor, Vermont. I've ascertained that New York arrivals are on Ancestry CD No. 273 - is it possible to get someone to do a look up for me to find out from it what ship William sailed on, from where and when it left, and which other family members were with him? Alternatively can anyone check NARA catalogue M261-61 (FHL film 0350264) which also has this information? Last year several people sent me GIFs of the page from the 1850 census for Montgomery which showed William and his family, but nobody explained how they had been able to do this. If it's straightforward, would a look up for William in 1860 in either Montgomery or New Britain be possible? The book by James Scott was published in 1983 and the FHL copy has not been filmed: does anyone have any idea how I could find out what it says? There is no monument to William at Montgomery Baptist Church (but there is one for Mathilda and their son John) so I presume that William's memorial (if there is one) will be at New Britain. How can I find out what it says? Is it likely that there would be a newspaper obituary? If he left a will, where would I find it? Apologies for the length of this post, and thanks for reading this far. I'd be very grateful for any help anyone can offer, and can offer reciprocal research in the UK. Dick