Genealogy

Although my cousins David Sisson and Laura Denke already did much of the background work for discovering my ancestors, and interesting stories about them, I needed to do my own paper work to find the actual proof that was acceptable to the Mayflower Association, Daughters of the American Revolution, and Daughters of Unions Veterans of the American Civil War. Most genealogy societies require photocopies of birth/death/marriage certificates, showing how the person is linked to the next generation. Published genealogy books, census records, newspaper clippings and wills also meet their requirements. To learn more about your ancestors, visit your local library. The information desk will be able to search other libraries and may also tell you that they belong to a genealogy service that you may use for free.

Free online genealogy searches and time travel through old newspapers.

What you'll get: Could you have a legitimate claim to a royal throne? Or ancestors who have made their mark in history? Rocklanders don’t need to pay for access to genealogical databases to find out. Just log into your library’s computer, find databases, and then click into History/Genealogy. Libraries fund different databases, so check each library. Some databases available at your local library can be accessed from home like HeritageQuest, which allows you to see copies of census records from 1790 and Revolutionary War pension applications, while other databases need to be accessed from the library that funds it, like Proquest Obituaries available in Suffern, Jewish Data available in New City, and Ancestry Plus available in Haverstraw. All Ramapo Catskill libraries have NewspaperArchive.com, showing full-page newspapers from across the U.S. (except New York State) from 1759-1977. Rockland Community College has the Historical New York Times database that covers issues from 1851 - 2003.

Start saving: www.rocklandlibraries.org or visit your local library.

An excellent start to the process is to check out the following website run by the Church of the Latter Day Saints (they are very interested in genealogy and have data can you can download for free.) They will tell you exactly how to begin your search.

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Home/Welcome/frameset_information.asp

To download their free software, click on Personal Ancestral File.

A good genealogy newsletter:

http://www.eogn.com.

I found relatives I never knew I had when contacting county historian offices--I discovered that one of the researchers helping me was a descendent of Richard Warren of the Mayflower, same as I. County historians also often have letters and documents relating to families who once resided in their area--their descendants may have donated these documents after their deaths. The County Historian can photocopy portions of out-of-print books that mention your ancestor's names. These books may also tell you interesting facts about your relatives. One of mine liked having his political opponents arrested for swearing in the street.Through a will that was filled at a county court house, I learned that another was so angry at his wife's misbehavior that the only thing he left her was their feather bed. A death certificate on another relative showed that he died of spinal meningitis--complicated by heavy alcohol and morphine use. You never know what your relatives were really like until you start digging around. (Maybe you don't want to know!)

The National Archives, the Library of Congress, Ellis Island, Daughters of the American Revolution and the U.S. Army Military History Institute have websites and may have records of your ancestor's service in a war or immigration to America. They may even have their photographs or pictures of their portraits.

To research your military ancestors, visit:

http://www.genealogyforum.rootsweb.com/gfaol/resource/Military/

Daughters of the American Revolution

http://www.dar.org/library/default.cfm The Shatemuc Chapter of DAR meets at the RHO Cottage, Letchworth Village, Stony Point. Directions: EXIT 14 off PALISADES PKWY (NORTHBOUND). AT EXIT (WILLOW GROVE RD) MAKE RIGHT...GO TO TRAFFIC LIGHT MAKE LEFT AT TRAFFIC LIGHT STAY STRAIGHT UNTIL ROAD MERGES TO THE LEFT AT CORNELL COOPERATIVE EXTENSION. YOU WILL COME TO A ROAD ON LEFT HAND SIDE, YOU WILL SEE A BUILDING WITH A WOOD FENCE. MAKE THE LEFT...THEN YOU COME TO A PARKING LOT. RHO CORRAGE IS THE BUILDING TO LEFT SIDE. IT IS SHAPED AS A (U). IT IS KNOWN AS THE SENIOR/REC BUILDING.

The Library of Congress:

http://www.loc.gov/

The National Archives:

http://www.archives.gov/

Ellis Island:

http://www.ellisisland.org/

U.S. Army Military History Institute

http://carlisle-www.army.mil/usamhi/

www.findmypast.com

My cousin David Sisson, an avid genealogist, sent me the following list websites to check:

http://www.cyndislist.com/
Cyndi's List is a huge index to every genealogy site online. Those that aren't in this index will be soon. It is so all-inclusive that it can be intimidating to first-time visitors. But if you think that a certain piece of information can be found online, using Cyndi's List can give you its address, and a click on its name can take you directly to the site. Cyndi is the queen of indexes for online researchers.

http://www.linkpendium.com/
Linkpendium is a new site recently designed by the originators of RootsWeb. I seems to be an alternative to Cyndi's List in that it gives access to a wide variety of genealogical sites, but in some ways it is simpler to navigate than Cyndi's List is. It may be easier for many to use. Lindpendium is so new that many of the items are "in progress."

http://www.ancestry.com/
Ancestry.com costs about $75 a year for the basic membership, but its census and other records are very good. It also gives access to old newspapers and their obits and "people news."

http://www.nehgs.org/
The New England Historic and Genealogical Society
Membership is about $75 a year, well worth it for research into New England ancestry

http://www.treezy.com/
This is a genealogical search engine, not unlike Google and other general search engines, but designed especially for genealogy fans.

http://www.heritagequestonline.com/
Heritage Quest Online is an excellent source. There is a membership fee. I have never paid it because Heritage Quest makes its valuable information (censuses and books) available through many public libraries. Check to see if your public library gives access to Heritage Quest.

http://www.ancestry.com/
Ancestry.com is another excellent source for many different kinds of genealogical research, and it also charges a fee of about $75 a year, for their excellent microfilmed census records and many other kinds of genealogical research. Public libraries do not feature this source however.

http://rootsweb.com/
Rootsweb is a site where many experienced genealogists share their data and how-to knowledge with beginning and professional genealogists alike. A great deal of help is available here, and everybody doing genealogy should visit frequently to see what's going on. One of the greatest features of Rootsweb is its index to thousands of web sites devoted to research in particular families. Search it for your surnames of interest. And then browse around for its many other features.

http://www.familysearch.org/
I put this site last because it is so good. This is the site operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons). They have been collecting vital records from churches and government offices since the 1890s, and have been microfilming and indexing them, name by name, for decades now. Their IGI (International Genealogical Index) is a wonderful index to the actual records. The IGI does not give direct access to the records, but instead simply indexes them. You can order the actual microfilm from the Family History Library in Salt Lake City. Lineage societies (Mayflower, DAR, SAR, etc.) do not accept the index entry, even though those entries give relationships (husband and wife, parent and child). But they do accept the print-outs from the microfilmed records. And the microfilmed records usually give more than the names and relationships and are well worth the minimal cost involved.

Other material is available from the Family Search site --
* the catalog of the books and manuscripts held by the Family History Library, the world's largest genealogical collection
* census records
* Social Security Death Index
* vital records index
* research guidance - articles about how to get started in research in unfamiliar places
* Ancestral File, a collection of family trees submitted by researchers (some quite amateur and not reliably researched, and therefore not to be trusted)

Family Search site also makes available its free computer program, Personal Ancestral File. Using that program, people can keep track of what they know about their ancestors, linking them together in families, husband to wife, parent to child, so that a person can appear as a child in a "birth family," and as a spouse and a parent in his/her own family. There are of course many other computer programs, for PCs and for Macs, ranging in price from free to $100 or so. Most of them have web sites which can be found through Cyndi's List.

When reading wills, you will wonder the value of the property mentioned. I have heard you can learn this by visiting:

http://www.westegg.com/inflation/

If on your genealogical journey you find a website that you would like to post, please email me at saundersbooks@aol.com

Another that was recommended to me:

http://www.usgenweb.org/

Click here: Mcdowell Family Genealogy Forum

http://www.newenglandancestors.org/store/browse/product.asp?sku=958657488

This is for those of you who are related to me and wonder of your ancestor's involvement in the Revolutionary War:

Abraham Gale IV (brother of Henry Gale)
Abraham and his wife Abigail Rice removed to Princeton, Massachusetts, about 1774. He served in the Revolutionary War and later took part in Shays' Rebellion, then removed to Clarkesville, New Hampshire. See page 119 of Szatmary's "Shays' Rebellion."

Anan Harmon (Sarah Harmon Smith's brother. Sarah was Mary Jane Smith Leach's mother. Mary Jane was Emma Leach Sisson's mother.)
"The Family of Ebenezer Chadwick" in the New England Historic Genealogical Register for January 1970 says (page 9) that "Sarah [Rawson], b. 10 May 1747; married Anan Harmon about 1762. He was a soldier in the Revolution (according to Mass. Soldiers and Sailors of the Revolutionary War, Vol. 7, page 300).

Richard Leach III (Richard was Jacob Leach's father. Jacob was Augustus M. Leach's father, and Augustus was Emma Leach Sisson's father, and Emma was Mary Arne Sisson McDowell's father.)
Richard was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. The DAR confirms that he was born in Connecticut and baptized on 29 Sep 1754, served in the Revolution from Connecticut as a private, and died in New York State on 6 July 1827. He was not pensioned, nor was his widow Elizabeth Lyman, nor his heirs. (His first wife Mary Strong was our ancestor.) After the war he studied theology and was ordained to the ministry in the Baptist church. He came to Lyons in the spring of 1821, fourteen years after the arrival (in 1807) of his son Jacob.

Nathan Munro (Nathan was Squier Munro's father. Squier was Polly Munro Arne's father. Polly was Harriet Arne Sisson's mother. Harriet was Frank Munro Sisson's mother. Frank was Mary Arne Sisson's father.)
Nathan appears in The Monroe Book, page 293, with his wife Hannah Allen and their children. Ruth V. Tanner's Munro genealogy, page 2, reports that "Nathan Munro was on the sloop "Providence" commanded by Captain Paul Jones in 1777, & also in a Rhode Island regiment.... His rank was a Major. During the Revolutionary War he had charge of a Flotilla."

Hon. Dea Squire Manro [Munro], born Rehoboth Mass. June 27, 1757,
died March 31, 1835 in his 78. y'r. A respected Citizen; a kind
Husband; an affectionate Parent; an unwavering Christian. As a
steward for God Benevolent - The Christian companion, & the poor
man's friend. Onon. Cent. styles Squire Manro "a veteran of the
Revolution," who settled on lot 31 in 1799. Chase also called him
"the Revolutionary soldier, Squire Manro," and Clayton used similar
words. That his name does not appear on the rolls, notoriously
defective, will not militate against the claim when his military
tastes are considered. It is scarcely conceivable that he had no
part in the conflict. In 1790 he was in Lanesborough, Mass. and in
the S. A. R. membership of Henry M. LeRoy he is called a corporal.
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Squire Munro's name is present on a list of "Barrington Soldiers -
Captain Viall Allen's Company, 1780"
Barrington, RI is just south of East Providence, RI - MCM
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He was a private in Capt. Jabez Gregory's Co. and Col. John Mead's
Regt. He marched Aug 12th. Discharged Sept 24, 1776. Was in 9th
Conn Militia. He lived at Cheshire, Massachusetts until 1799 when he
moved to Camillus, Onondaga County, New York.
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Squire.Private, Capt. John Perry's co., Col. Abiel Mitchel's regt.;
enlisted July 27, 1780; discharged Oct. 30, 1780; service, 3 mos. 5
days; regiment raised to reinforce the Continental Army at Rhodo
Island for 3 months.
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Comfort Smith (Comfort was Horace Prout Smith's father. Horace was Mary Jane Smith Leach's father. Mary Jane was Emma Leach Sisson's mother. Emma was Mary Arne Sisson McDowell's mother.)
Comfort was in the Revolutionary War for 7 months. "It is said he took the place of an older brother who was ill, and served under his name. He operated a mill in Clifton, NY, & lived in the Harmon house in Wheatland, Monroe County, NY. As an old man, he lived with his daughter Abbie and husband William Welsh in Hanford house, Scottsville, Monroe County, NY."

Timothy Smith (Timothy was Comfort's brother, the one Comfort said he substituted for in the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, commanded by Colonel Calvin Smith, in the Seventh company commanded by Captain Chambers, while Timothy was ill.)
"I, Timothy Smith, a citizen of the United States, residing at Vernon in the County of Oneida and State of New York being duly sworn, deposeth and says that he has no written memoranda to which he can refer for the [illegible] of the following dates, but believes them to be strictly true. This deponent enlisted at Sandisfield in the County of Berkshire and State of Massachusetts, the first day of April 1782, for three years and was mustered in the month of April at Springfield, Massachusetts, by Captain Seth Bannister. From Springfield the company marched to Budds Heights near West Point in the State of New York, attached to the Sixth Massachusetts Regiment, commanded by Colonel Calvin Smith, and to the Seventh company commanded by Captain Chambers. This deponent remained in this Regiment until the Soldiers who enlisted during the war were discharged in 1783, and the sixth Regiment was joined with the Second, commanded by Colonel Sprout and was attached to a company commanded by a Captain Main. In the month of November 1783 this deponent was discharged on hiring a Substitute. This Deponent received a written discharge signed by Captain Main & Colonel Sprout. This discharge this Deponent gave to one Colonel Taylor for the purpose of obtaining this deponent's pay due to him, and this deponent has never received his discharge from said Colonel Taylor. It was given him about three years after this deponent was discharged. And further this deponent says that from his reduced circumstances, he stands in need of his country's assistance for support."

The Squire Munro Project

http://www.markconwaymunro.com/content/genealogy/munro_squire/

Newsletter

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Issue #3 Winter 2007

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Welcome to the third newsletter for The Squire Munro Project.

As you know, I have undertaken the task of compiling a list of Squire Munro's descendants.

Descendant Update

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It was a year ago this month that I started this project with a list of about 500 names. Today the count of descendants on my list has reached more than 1,700 names. But, there are still many dead ends - branches for which my data ceases in the late 1800s. Almost 200 individuals from 60 different surnames make up this dead end list which can be found on my project website here:

http://www.markconwaymunro.com/content/genealogy/munro_squire/names.html

I will be researching each of these names in an effort to discover any available data about their lives and their descendants. As always, I am eager to locate any new family history records that may be available, especially those that are not readily available in print. If you or anyone in your family has access to old records, photos, letters, or additional genealogical information that you have not already communicated to me, feel free to email me and let me know what you have.

Artifacts Located!

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In the last newsletter I asked about some oil paintings that are mentioned in the historical record. Two of these - paintings of David Munro and his wife Abigail Carpenter - have now been FOUND to be in the possession of a distant cousin. I am still pursuing leads for the paintings of David Allen Munro and his wife and I am always interested to hear about any other family paintings or photographs of our ancestors that might be floating around out there.

Nathan Munro's Gravestone & Family Bible

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This spring I plan to find and photograph the grave of Squire's father - Nathan Munro - who is reportedly buried in Newman Cemetery located in East Providence, Rhode Island. What a treat it will be to see the burial site of my SIXTH great grandfather...! Also, I am hoping to make contact with the owner of Nathan Munro's Family Bible which includes the birth dates and times of many of his children, including Squire! This was last mentioned to be in the possession of a person residing in New Jersey.

I will be sure to share news and photographs of these with everyone through this newsletter and/or my website.

Genealogically Yours,

Mark Conway Munro

[Philip Conway(8), Conway(7), Philip Allen(6), Isaac Hill(5), David Allen(4), David(3), Squire(2), Nathan(1)]