Volume 7; Number 1
Winter 1986
Volume 7; Number 1
Winter 1986
| R.G.S. OFFICERS 1985 - 1986 |
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| President: | Helen Berkeley |
| Vice Pres. & Program Chairperson: | Carmen Bush |
| Recording Secretary: | Judy Markham |
| Corresponding Secretary: | Charlene Guyer |
| Treasurer: | Alberta Greer |
| Membership Chairperson: | Helen Rockwell |
| Hear Ye co-editors: | Robert Hesselberth James Roome |
| Rochester Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 92533, Rochester NY 14692 | |
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EDITOR'S MESSAGE Before we write an end to 1985, I would like to share a few thoughts and comments about the RGS trip to Washington. After a rather slow start, and considerable agonizing on my part over whether or not we would attain our minimum quota of 20 people, interest mounted as the fall date drew closer. The attitude of the group was evident from the day of departure. All 32 arrived so early that the bus left ahead of schedule. Refreshments were served during the afternoon by the Hesselberths, and Jane Widger kindly shared a number of her reference books with anyone interested in perusing them. The next two and a half days found people working at the Archives, the Library of Congress and at the DAR Library. Larry Britt, an RGS member now living in Virginia, willingly researched the pension indices for those interested, and had the files waiting on our arrival. To Peter Bush go kudos for arranging for tickets to the beautiful British Exhibit of privately owned paintings, furniture and decorative arts on view at the National Gallery. And to our driver, Jim, our gratitude for all the "extra" trips that he made to each of the research centers. That willingness to do more than we expected stands~out in my mind as one of the most welcome plusses of the trip. It not only saved us all from the torrential rains, but gave us the security of knowing that our private transportation would be there when we needed it. But more than the mechanics of the trip went well. I, for one, felt a coalescing of the group. We went from being 32 individuals to a group of friends. We shared the joys of each others successes, and developed a feeling of camaraderie seldom achieved in such a diverse group. Judging from the letters I received upon returning home, many others shared my feelings. All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Now the only question that remains is, should we do it again? Trips to Albany, Boston and a repeat of Washington are all possible. Lets not lose the momentum. Drop me a card and share your ideas. Helen H. Berkeley, President |
1986 WINTER and SPRING PROGRAM
by Carmen Bush
The Rochester Genealogical Society will continue to meet the third Thursday of each month (except December, July and August), at St. Pauls Episcopal Church, East Avenue and Vick Park 13, The mini-workshop will start at 7 P.M., followed by the business meeting at 7:30 P.M. and the main program at approximately 8:00 P.M. Visitors are welcome,
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Thursday, |
Mini-workshop: Researching in Pennsylvania Proqram: Graven Images. Laurel Gabel, Research Coordinator for the Association for Graveyard Studies, will give a slide presentation which will provide genealogists with a better understanding of 17th and 18th century gravestones, and the clues that may be hidden in them. |
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Thursday, |
Mini-workshop: Genea1ogical Garage Sale. Bring any genea1ogical related books or materials you no longer want and put them up for sale during the time we usually reserve for our mini-workshop. Program: Monroe County Records: Present and Future. Patricia McCarthy, Monroe County Clerk, will show a brief slide program concerning Monroe County records and will discuss the status of the proposed Regional Archives and Public Records Management Project for Monroe County. |
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Thursday, |
Mini-workshop: Researching in Maine. Program: Deciphering Early American Documents. Katherine Thompson, Town of Rush Historian, will discuss the intricacies of colonial handwriting and terminology. |
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Thursday, |
Mini-workshop: Researching in Salt Lake City. Program; The I.R.S. and the Genealogist. Our speaker, Virginia Juby, is an enrolled Agent with H & R Block, Inc., and a former officer of our Society. She will discuss the tax consequences of making money through genealogy: for instance by selling your family history or doing research for others for hire. |
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June event to be announced. |
MEMBERS ACTIVITIES
by Peter Bush
Note: This column is devoted to news about local and out-of-town members of the Society. Members are encouraged to submit information about research, indexing projects, publications and other genealogical activities in which they are involved. Please submit material to the Editor or Peter Bush.
Charlene Guyer reports that she recently indexed Henrietta Heritage, a history of the Town of Henrietta by former Town Historian Eleanor Kalsbeck. Copies of the index have been placed in local libraries.
What would we do without Richard Halsey? His latest projects are the compiling of vital records from the period 1847-1850 (when there was an early State law requiring the collection and reporting of vital statistics) and the copying of tombstones in Brighton Cemetery. He recently produced two typewritten manuscripts entitled Vital Records 1847-1850 from the Town of Brighton, NY and Monroe County Poorhouse and Tombstone Inscriptions from Brighton Cemetery, Rochester, NY (includes about 1400 inscriptions). Copies have been given to the Rundel Library in Rochester, the New York State Library, and the LDS Library in Salt Lake City.
Evelyn and William Arthur currently hold the offices of Vice-President and Chairman of the Finance and Auditing Committee, respectively, of the New York State chapter of Palatines to America. Anne Rehback is the Historian. The chapter is planning a May meeting at West Camp in the Hudson Valley.
Robert Gustafson recently issued his first annual report as Genealogical Consultant to the Town of Irondequoit. His activities include ongoing efforts to restore the Hooker Cemetery; indexing of burials in Irondequoit Cemetery; and acquiring and indexing genealogical information about families with Irondequoit roots. His collection of Irondequoit material now includes 650 surnames and 1200 family group sheets is addition to cemetery records. He also has significant portions of the International Genealogical Index from the LDS.
The Society extends condolences to the friends and family of Arlene Romano, who passed away in November.
Friends of Jean Burr and Doris Andrus will be pleased to know that they continue to be active in genealogy after moving to Florida. At last report, Jean was getting involved in at least one genealogical society in Florida (and mopping up after hurricanes). Doris is planning to spend two months this summer in the Salt Lake City area, where she intends to make ample use of the LDS Library. We hope both of them will be returning soon to Rochester for a visit.
James Roome is working on compiling a computer general index for the surname Esty. The family came from England in the early l630s. Jim has about 7000 names in the index so far which gives three pieces of information about each person listed. When an inquiry comes in asking for information about Isaac Esty, for example, the computer comes out with a list of 68 people with that name along with information about that person and where it came from. He expects eventually to have 10,000 to 15,000 names in the index. Jim is historian and president of the Estey Family Reunion Association which has been meeting in Ontario County, NY since 1907. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Towne Family Association of Asheville, NC and writes a column, The Esty File, for their quarterly newsletter, About Towne. A Towne daughter married Isaac Easty before 1656. She and her two sisters were victims of the terrible Salem witchcraft delusion of 1692.
QUESTIONS
by Dick Halsey
In the absence of questions since the last issue, the following is an expansion of information given in past issues.
In the Hear Ye Spring 1985 issue, C.A. Wilson asked about passenger lists from Canada to Rochester. Since that time I have seen a copy of the only available list. That being for the Port of the Genesee (River) for July to September 1866. Many times all that is on the list, is something like "Mr. Bugg" or "Mrs. Butts and servant" and the list is disappointing.
Also, by accident while looking for something else I found that the weekly Rochester Telegraph published a list of the arrivals and departures of ships at the Port of the Genesee for the year 1821. The population of Rochester in 1821 was less than 2000 people but there were 52 different ships which visited the Port from April to December of 1821, with most arriving many times. The ports of call for these ships are from Ogdensburg to Youngstown in New York State and Prescott, Toronto and Queenston (near Niagara Falls) in Ontario, Canada. One of the ships calling at the Port of the Genesee in 1821. was the steamboat, ONTARIO, that kept a regular schedule from May to October, It left the Port of the Genesee, Saturday at 3PM for Lewiston; left Lewiston Monday at 3PM; left Port of the Genesee, Tuesday at 3PM; left Sacketts Harbor, Wednesday at 3PM, left Ogdensburg, Thursday at 3PM and left Sacketts Harbor for Port of the Genesee, Friday at 3PM. Thus, even at this early date it was much easier for people to move from Canada to Rochester than you would suspect.
In the Winter 1985 issue, B. Raftery asked about obtaining vital records for the last 50 years. Peter Bush recently told me that births and deaths are currently being listed in The Daily Record. The Daily Record is a newspaper that publishes court dockets, land transactions and news of the legal community. This brought about the question of how long have they been publishing vital records. The oldest Record that I could find was for August 1926 which included a list of marriage licenses issued. Not the marriage date but only the names, their residences and the date the license was issued. These marriage license lists were discontinued in 1974. Birth records began in 1944, but they may not be of much help as they are listed as "a boy born January 5 to Mr. & Mrs. Brown." Death records began being listed in October 1944 with name, date of death and: residence. None of these records are published on any set schedule. it appears they used to fill the newspaper space. Several issues may have to be researched to find information. Although there is not as much information as in the regular newspaper, The Daily Record obtained their information directly from the Monroe County office of vital records, so there probably are some records that may not be in the regular papers.
Do you have question related to the Rochester or Finger Lakes area of New York State for the next issue? Send your question to Dick Halsey at Rochester Genealogical Society.
Feature Article
by Peter Bush
WHATS IN A NAME?
How would you explain to a foreigner the rules for surname use in the United States? Probably by saying that a man uses his parents surname for his entire life, and a woman uses her parents surname (or maiden name) until she marries, at which time she adopts her husbands surname.
The rules used to be that simple. As genealogists, we could make certain assumptions about American family relationship, based on the surnames that people used, because exceptions to the rules were few and far between.
In case you havent noticed, the rules are changing fast. Hyphenated surnames, dual surnames (for personal and professional use), use of wives surnames by husbands and children - these are some examples of modern practices that will bedevil genealogical researchers in the next century.
As if things were not already confused enough, the New York State legislature recently entered the picture. In a law effective September 1, 1985, the legislature amended the Domestic Relations Law and Civil Rights Law to "clarify" the use of surnames after marriage, divorce or annulment.
Basically, anything goes for married persons. Under the new law, a person who marries in New York State may retain his or her "premarriage surname" or use any of the following:
If you think about it, the possibilities are almost endless. Young marrieds with a creative bent or rebellious streak will probably make up surnames that sound more like names for cabin cruisers. And engaged couples will probably argue over their surnames much as they now do over wedding music, invitation lists and reception menus.
How will people find out about their options? The new law requires that applications for marriage licenses include a notice with the following statements:
Options are more limited after divorce or annulment. Each person may retain his existing surname or resume the use of his premarriage surname or any other former surname.
Actually, under common law, New Yorkers already had the right, whether married or single, to retain their existing surname or adopt a new surname, so long as the new surname was used consistently and without intent to defraud. The new law doesn't change that. The principal significance is that it publicizes the right of married people to deviate from the usual rules, and even encourages them to do so. All some people need is a little encouragement.
While the new term is gender-neutral and appropriate for a society where multiple marriages are common, many will lament the disappearance of the term "maiden name." Perhaps its symbolic of the passing of an era.
(Co-Editors note: The kid will say in answer to a genealogists question as to who his parents are; My parents are John Tim-buck-too and Jane Who-done-it and my name is How-could-it-happen, How for short. JR)
PROGRAMS RECAP
by Judy Markham
September - Knowing Your History - Dr. Jonathan Garlock
The former director of the Rochester and Genesee Valley Local History Project offered some creative exercises that present a useful shift in perspective in the study of personal history.
- List the significant events in your life, first chronologically, then by significance. Analyze what it says about you. Then check to see if the dates are right.
- Ask a close friend to make their list about you and compare.
- Write an essay in the third person about yourself based on your list and any personal papers you normally carry.
- Look yourself up in the public records. Compare the picture these present with your essay.
- Ask how your sex, race, employment, religion and major events such as war have shaped your life.
- Ask how you have shaped your family and what effect youve had on your community.
- Through the generations, compare family size, mothers age at first birth, months between births, average live span. How does the fami1y & the American dream (employee to employer)?
How is it shaped by things outside it? Examine moves within the community.
January - Bring an Ancestor Back to Life
Members told of remembrances and of research into the lives of both close and distant ancestors.
November - Genealogical Reminiscences - Charles Shepard
"Its around 1400 that we discover the first real interest in genealogy," Mr. Shepard tells us. And that was the result of two events: a dispute over a coat of arms that wound up in court and the War of Roses with its concern over who was entitled to the British throne.
Still, most of the earliest records were devoted to the gentry and the majority of the first settlers who arrived in this country not only didn't bring records, they mostly didn't care about them. It wasn't until the late 1700s that people began to be interested and not until the mid 1800s, about the time of The New England Historic Genealogical Society was organized and the first of the great reference books began to be published, that genealogy truly began to flourish.
James Savages Genealogical Dictionary was a "monumental undertaking" by the author going from town to town copying records in long hand. Many decades later when Mr. Shepard recalled his early days, it still was not easy. He might travel by trolley or "hoof it" to search out records and a trip to New England was a hard two-day drive in a Model T.
"My grandchildren will never realize what genealogy was like before the automobile... before the computer... before the microfiche and cross referencing and the wonderful Mormon church records," he said. "People who are engaged in genealogy these days have mostly forgotten that we are all debtors to those who have proceeded us, indexing and making records accessible."
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GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH Those of you who would like to do genealogical research for others please send a post card to our Corresponding Secretary stating what kind of research you can do and in what area of the country and/or New York State you could cover. If there is a charge please state. Also would any out-of-town members like to do research in your area of the country in exchange of research done here in up-state New York and are there in-town members who would like to do New York research in exchange for research done by members in other parts of the country? Please let Charlene know. |
LITTLE KNOWN TREASURES One of our treasures available here in Monroe Co. Is the state census. Almost everyone knows that the federal government provided a federal census every ten years beginning in 1790 and continuing up to 1980. Access is available only to 1910 and the 1890 federal census was destroyed by fire. The State of New York conducted its own census beginning in 1825 and continued every ten years until 1925 when it was discontinued. An exception is that the 1885 and 1895 state census was not taken. However there was a census taken in 1892. The early state census for 1825, 1835 and 1845 were very similar to the federal census in that they recorded only the head of the family and the age groupings for the other members of the family. These early census are not available here in Rochester or in Albany either. (The 1845 state census of Monroe County is available on film from the LDS library, the availability of the 1825 and 1835 census is unknown.) In 1855, and later, the census listed everyone in the household. This 1855 census is important because they asked a question that the federal census didn't: "If you were born in New York State, which county?" If you are searching for someone born in New York who was living in 1855 and you can find them in that census it could help limit your area of search. There is a card index of the 1855 census at the Rochester Public Library in the Local History Section for all the towns in Monroe County excluding the City of Rochester. If your ancestor was in Monroe County in 1855 dont overlook this valuable research tool. |
TIDBIT
by Dick Halsey
The French now have access to all 23 million telephone listings In the country by using a home computer with a telephone hook-up. The system is always up-to-date because address changes and new numbers are entered every 24 hours. This directory could also be used by the genealogist to find a unique surname or everyone in the country with a surname of interest. Now all you have to do is find someone in France with a connection to the system.
by Jack Wilson
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LEWIS |
Information is needed pertaining to Darius LEWIS, b. 1808, in Rochester and his brother, Calvin. I am interested in the KEWIS family migration to New Berlin, Wisconsin after 1835. How many LEWIS families were there in Rochester in 1808 and ate ther Rochester marriage records for 1831? |
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Mrs. D.H. Vick, 5163 102nd St. N , St. Petersburg, FL 337O8 |
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DUDLEY |
Searching for descendants of Emma DUDLEY and James DUNNE who married c. 1855, NY. They are in the Rochester 1860 census with Emmas younger sister, Sarah, age 19. There was also an older sister Elizabeth, baptized 14 Oct. 1821 in Oundle, England. Emma baptized 5 Oct. 1834, Oundle, England. Sarah was born in Oneida County c.1840. Who did Sarah and Elizabeth marry? The brother, John Eason DUDLEY, was my great-grandfather and I have his ancestry back to 1720 in Northamptonshire, England. |
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Mrs. M. Higham, 5272 Williams Rd., Suisun, CA 94585 |
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BENNETT |
Desire information on ancestors of the following people. Winthrop BENNETT, b. 18 Oct. 1803, Washington Co., NY, son of Daniel and Sarah. FITCH. He married, 1st, Laura YOUNG, 22 Apr. 1830, Ticonderoga, Essex Co., NY. She was b. 23 Aug. 1807, .Weathersfield, VT and d. 25 Sep. 1847 (probably in Brighton). They had ten children. He married, 2nd, Sarah McQATTERS HURSH, b. c.1813, in Ireland. She married John. HURSE, 15 Sep. 1831 at Rochester, NY and Winthrop about 1848. She died after 1862 and had four children from her first marriage and two with Winthrop. Winthrop died in 1862 in Rochester, NY and, either he or his first wife is buried in West Brighton Cemetery. |
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Mrs. E. Reeves, 5332 South 6700 West, Hooper, UT 84315 |
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FLAHERTY |
Seeking information on Patrick Bernard FLAHERTY, b. 12 Oct. 1841, C]are, Ireland. Parents (unknown) emigrated 1842. to Montreal,, Canada, and moved to Rochester, NY, in 1847. Patrick Bernard married, 1866, Elizabeth DOLAN of Lachine, Canada. Children were John, Edward, Joseph C. (Chicago banker), Patrick Henry, Thomas, Lillian b. 2 Sep. 1869, Mair Haven, St. C]air County, Michigan, entered the "Nazarath order" in 1890 at Rochester, NY; Sister Ambrosia d. 1947. Is Edward M. FLAHERTY a brother of Patrick Bernard FLAHERTY? Edward M. FLAHERTY was b. 1829 in Ireland. He was the son of John FLAHERTY and Kate RAFTER and married Jane D. DEVINE, b. in England. Both Edward M. and Jane D. FLAHERTY buried at Mt. Clemens, Macomb County, Michigan. Children were Julia, b. 1854, Rochester married Isador GAGNIER; Theresa married Christopher REILLY; John C. b. 1864; and Edward Jr. Would like to correspond with any descendants. |
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Catherine I. Rhodes, 20076 Seminole, Redford, Michigan 48240. |
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