I'm hoping to locate the military records for William Baxter. The information provided is from his son, Zimri Baxter. As of yet I have not been able to locate any mention of my William Baxter in any list from the War of 1812. The family originated from Vassalborough, Kennebec, Maine and according to Zimri's oratation, they moved to a mysterious New York county. I have been trying to identify what Zimri Baxter was referring to (see bold, underlined text). Other records where he dictated the information are as confusing, but have been translated. It is thought that he had a speech impediment. I'm on the west coast and don't have a clue as to what the city and county can be, other than perhaps "Synga" means Seneca? What the heck, if anybody wants to give it a shot. From an enclosure of a letter written in 1959 by Hazel Lovell Walker..."History of Zimri Harfford Baxter According to Dates and Scraps" ..."When I was young my parents moved to Gnore, Synga County, New York. Father William enlisted in the United States Army in a war with England in 1814 and in 1815 he died of Typhoid Fever. Two years after father died, mother with her five children (I being the oldest) moved back to Maine in 1817 where I lived with my Uncle John Roberson till I was of age, then I married Eunice Sevy who was born March 1, 1811 in Cornish York County, Maine. We were married May the 2, 1832 in Melton, Maine. Her father, Thomas Sevy was born in Scorboro, Maine in 1749 and died in 1819. His wife (at that time) was Mary Fly. She was born 1770 and died in 1847 in Maine." Hopefully, this will ring enough of a bell so that I can move forward again! Thanks! Cynthia Baxter

I'm going to take a shot at this, so here goes. FIRST; We really don't know how accurate Zimri's memory is of his boy friend, nor how many years after that his memory of his boyhood was recorded. Also the next sentence sounds more like, as if someone was writting what his thoughts were, rather than the recording of his actual words.( Father William sentence) Maine didn't become a state until 1820, which leaves the possibility of William Baxter being recorded in the Mass. Militia. Maine was part of Mass. until its statehood. There is a William Baxter registered in the 1st Regiment (Nye's) Mass. Militia Roll 13, Rollbox 589. Now I think your interpretation of Synga County actually being Seneca County is great. Now how about Gnore ?? If we stick Ca in place of G, we end up with Canore. This could be Candor, which is further south down in Tioga County. A lot of areas I have seen as I have searched the old records were known by the local people for a name given for the area. . The 7.5 Minute Quadrangle maps section covering this area covers from Seneca & Onondaga south all the way to the Pennsylvania border, including Tioga, Chemung, Tomkins Couties and parts of Cortland, and Schuyler Counties. This mapping process began I think in 1796, but I'm not sure what the name is for this area, it could be Seneca, but either way the southern half of Tomkins County used to be in Seneca County. This puts Candor at this stage about 8 miles or less from being in Seneca County at the time William was there. William may have gone there because he had relatives, as the areas somewhere around there was claimed by Mass , plus a number of the Rev. war soldiers had sold off their land grants up towards Seneca and moved down into the Tomkins & Tioga areas. I would also put Seneca, and Candor in front of a person that speaks Gaelic, or Welsh, or has a pronounced Irish or Scottish accent. Zimri may not have had a speech impediment. Just my take on things, hope it helps. Patrick ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike and Cynthia Baxter" <Baxter_2@msn.com> To: <WARof1812-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, May 14, 2003 8:54 AM Subject: New York Muster rolls > I'm hoping to locate the military records for William Baxter. The information provided is from his son, Zimri Baxter. As of yet I have not been able to locate any mention of my William Baxter in any list from the War of 1812. The family originated from Vassalborough, Kennebec, Maine and according to Zimri's oratation, they moved to a mysterious New York county. I have been trying to identify what Zimri Baxter was referring to (see bold, underlined text). Other records where he dictated the information are as confusing, but have been translated. It is thought that he had a speech impediment. I'm on the west coast and don't have a clue as to what the city and county can be, other than perhaps "Synga" means Seneca? What the heck, if anybody wants to give it a shot. > From an enclosure of a letter written in 1959 by Hazel Lovell Walker..."History of Zimri Harfford Baxter According to Dates and Scraps" > ..."When I was young my parents moved to Gnore, Synga County, New York. Father William enlisted in the United States Army in a war with England in 1814 and in 1815 he died of Typhoid Fever. Two years after father died, mother with her five children (I being the oldest) moved back to Maine in 1817 where I lived with my Uncle John Roberson till I was of age, then I married Eunice Sevy who was born March 1, 1811 in Cornish York County, Maine. We were married May the 2, 1832 in Melton, Maine. Her father, Thomas Sevy was born in Scorboro, Maine in 1749 and died in 1819. His wife (at that time) was Mary Fly. She was born 1770 and died in 1847 in Maine." > Hopefully, this will ring enough of a bell so that I can move forward again! > Thanks! Cynthia Baxter > > > ==== WARof1812 Mailing List ==== > ADDRESS MESSAGES TO: > WARof1812-L@rootsweb.com > > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >