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Family Blog Posts

The Osborn’s of Brooklyn

Another family with Brooklyn roots has written a family history for us to display on the site.  Anybody related that finds this page should contact the author directly.

England to New York

Robert and Sophia Osborn were both born in 1799 or 1800. They were both from England. They moved to Wales, had a daughter Mary Ann Osborn on August 21, 1830. The family immigrated to America in 1837. They went to Brooklyn to set up house. When they got to America Sophia had another daughter and they named her Anna Maria. I found Mary Ann living in a boarding house in 1850, she was 18. Soon after this she met and married a Mr. Rupert, I have never found anything about him. On September 18, 1858 Robert Osborn Rupert was born in Brooklyn, NY. Shortly after a sister, Elizabeth Rupert was born. I do not have any information about other than her nickname was Libby. She married a man with the last name of Cox they had 2 children, Rupert(whom they called Purty) and Lewis.

Robert Osborn Rupert married Kathryn Leighton Phillips born in Jersey City, NJ on June 3rd, 1859, on June 3, 1884 in Brooklyn, NY. Robert was born at 158 High Street in Brooklyn.

They had a son, Robert Osborn Rupert, Jr on August 6, 1885. Sometime after this the family moved to Indianapolis, IN. Robert married my Great Grandmother, Hazel Fern Trees b. in Warrington, In October 25, 1889 on March 6, 1909 in Indianapolis, IN. They had 2 children. Winifred Jeanette Rupert was born January 16, 1910 and Robert Theodore “Ted” Rupert born June 6, 1911.

The original Robert Osborn that came from England died September 21, 1854, he is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn NY. he was living at 266 8th Avenue, New York He died of Bilious Fever.

Sophia married a Tunstill sometime after Robert died. She was living at 70 Jackson Street, Brooklyn, NY. She died July 4th 1888 and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, NY.

Mary Ann Osborn Rupert ended up marrying a Ewing. She died December 15, 1886 and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Her last known address was 268 Nostrand Ave., Brooklyn, NY.

The rest of the family all lived out their lives and died in Indianapolis. Except for Anna Maria, she married a Leonard Huking. They are both buried in Greenwood Cemetery. Anna had all her Osborn Family buried in her mother-in-law’s lot.

Ginger Hipszky,

Brooklyn

Red Hook History

Audio

If you have ancestors living in Brooklyn in the 1800’s there is a good chance they are living in Red Hook.  This ship building and dock community provided jobs to many poor Irish immigrants including my own ancestors.

The name of Red Hook originates from the Dutch “Roode Hoek” meaning “Red Point” for the Red clay that covered the area.

Street Names

Beard St.

– Irish Immigrant William Beard lived 1806-1886 and created the Erie Basin. The Beard St Warehouse built in 1869 still stands today. Beards son was Colonel William Beard (1839-1893) was one of the wealthiest men in Brooklyn and a big supporter of the republican party.

Coffey St.

– Named after Michael Joseph Coffey (1839- 1907). District leader of the 12th Ward, later became alderman and state senator. Coffey was so popular that supporters called the Twelfth Ward “Coffeyville” an Partition St was renamed Coffey St. in his honor.

Conover St.

– John Conover was an 18th century land owner

Dikeman St.

– One of earliest families to settle in the Hook. Judge John Dikeman (1794-1879) was author of the 1870 manuscript “The Brooklyn Compendium” and the long time oldest surviving member of the Kings county Bar.

Luquer St.

– The “Luqueer” family were a major landowners. Abraham Luqueer (1739-1823) and his son Nicholas was a wealthy Mill owner whose mill stood at Huntington and Hicks streets. They, along with the Van Dyke Brothers controlled good portion of Twelfth Ward.

Richards St.

– Col. Daniel Richards was a leading developer in south Brooklyn in mid 18th century, developed Atlantic Docks and Atlantic Basin as well as Warehouses, factories and first grain elevator in the area.

Van Brunt St.

– The Van Brunt name in Brooklyn extends back to Dutch Slave holding family headed by Rutgert Joesten Van Brunt.  A Century later his descendent, another Rutgert Van Brunt was a member of the New York State Assembly for the years 1783 – 1784.

Van Dyke St.

– Jan Thomasse Van Dyke was an Dutch Settler who settled in Brooklyn in 1640. His descendents Thomas and Nicholas Van Dyke were major property owners until they were both dead in 1834.

Wolcott St.

– Oliver Wolcott, lived from 1726 -1797, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Delegate to Continental Congress, Brigadier General and Governor of Connecticut. His son, Oliver Walcott Jr. succeeded Alexander Hamilton as secretary of the Treasury.

The Bowery Boys

A great podcast by The Bowery Boys outlines much of Red Hook’s history in this fantastic audio presentation.

Blog, Family Blog Posts

Old Family Photo’s

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The Coney Island Express
A photo from an unknown year on the “Coney Island Express”

 

The “Coney Island Express” Family Photo Mystery

A few year’s ago I was able to locate surviving family members of a recently discovered branch of my grandfathers side of the family. From that came the above photo, with names written on the back, passed down to a distant cousin from a cousin of my grandfather to her daughter.

Attempting To Date An Old Photo

First off, this photo is a goldmine for me as it is the one and only photo I have ever seen of my great grandfather William “Billy Murray”, the shorter man on the left side of this photo. When trying to place a date on this photo I had several clues, mostly surrounding the apparent age of the people in the photo.

First we have William Murray born 1883. Next, his brothers widow Margaret, born 1884, Margaret’s sister, Pauline, born 1882 and Pauline’s husband, John, born 1878.

Next, I need to know the years this subway car would be in service and available to have a photo taken on it. That is when I found this incredible photography blog, from which I learned that this train was subway car #983, built by The American Car & Foundry Co in 1935.

Clue #3 in this case is that fact that my great grandfather passed away in September of 1937. Assuming the car was not in service during a summer until 1936, that gives me the window of 1936 or 1937.  This make the approximate ages of these folks to be 53, 52, 54 and 58.  They somehow all look younger then that to me.

Coney Island History

Although I do not believe the photo is taken upon the actual train car, I do imagine that the new car to Coney Island would have been a big deal, and I have to assume this canvas backdrop behind a railing would have been the type of thing that families would get a photo on the same way families might have a photo taken at a staged setting in a modern amusement park. This type of thing would probably be staged by some local photo studio, so if anybody happens to have any info on that, I would be interested in hearing it.

 

Cone Island History
Walter Arnold Photography
www.thedigitalmirage.com
Blog

Graphology – Deciphering Old Timey Handwriting

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Graphology
The Marriage Certificate of Garner Mayes and Judith Morris in Amelia County, Virginia, 1789.

Translating Handwriting

There comes a time in every genealogy case in which a researcher will  need to translate, or decipher some unrecognizable handwriting on a document.  The first time is a shock – you go through all the trouble and the time it takes to track down that marriage certificate, or that death certificate that you desperately need.  When it shows up in the mail after a long wait, you open the envelope and when you finally lay eyes on the document, it appears to be written in hieroglyphics.

Closing in on 10,000 followers to our @BklynAncestry twitter account gives us a lot of help when we have a problem like this.  10,000 sets of eyes are better than 1.  This document needs some of those eyes to decipher it.  I am going to fill in the words I believe the document says.  Garner Mayes and Judith Morris are definitely the names of those involved. unfortunately the right side of the document is not part of the photo.

 

  1. Know all men by these presents that — Garner Mayes
  2. John Gill Craddock______– — ————
  3. —– —– Beverly ——- Governor of Virginia
  4. the sum of fifty pounds —– money of Virginia
  5. the which payment will and   —- to be ———
  6. our ————————————————–
  7. then ——— sealed with our seal and dated this 5 day
  8. July_____1789
  9. Whereas a marriage is shortly intended to be  ——–
  10. —– between Garner Mayes and Judith
  11. Morris
  12. The condition of the above obligation is such that if
  13. —- ——- —- to obstruct the —- Marriage then
  14. the above obligation to be void otherwise to remain in —
  15. — and —-
  16. Sealed and Delivered__________________Garner Mayes
  17. In Presence of _______________________ John Craddock

At this time the mystery has been solved in the comments.

 

 

1917 Marriage Certificate from NY

In the next document is an example of the exact opposite.  In this certificate I know everything except for the names or the grooms Parents.  I know the groom is a Toy Maker from Cadiz, Spain.  The name of his father and mother are not so clear cut.  What do you all think?

 

1917 New York Marriage Certificate
Graphology expert needed
Blog

Hand Painted Family Trees – From Root to Branch With Love!

Are you one of those people who have spent hours on end looking for your ancestors? Or are you just close to your family?

Swedish artist and illustrator Anna Murgia
Swedish artist and illustrator Anna Murgia

Swedish artist and illustrator Anna Murgia at Genea Murgia can help you put together your family information into a beautiful family tree to hang on your wall. Imagine a gorgeous, hand-painted tree, printed on high quality canvas or artist paper, with illustrations and photographs from your family’s history. Preserve your history and turn your family saga into a beautiful tree! The painting will become a lovely complement to your family saga, and is made uniquely for your family. It’s a magnificent gift, a family heirloom for yourself and/or someone you hold dear – you can order more than one copy of your family tree. It will also be a living tree, as it is easily updated when your family grows, or you find new ancestors.

Hand Painted Family Tree
Hand Painted Family Tree

There are also smaller, standarized trees that you can fill out yourself. Please take a closer look at examples of trees already made under the following links: Unique large Family Tree, Medium-sized Tree, Small Tree, or take a peak in the Gallery to see more.

Anna Murgias Hand Painted Family Tree
Anna Murgias Hand Painted Family Tree

If you want to know more, please don’t hesitate to contact Anna on anna@geneamurgia.com. You are also welcome to follow her on Facebook, Twitter or Youtube.

Birth Records, Marriage Records

Italian Genealogy

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We are working to provide more Italian and Sicilian genealogy records to the site as time goes on.  We Hope you find the lists and links useful.

Hire an Italian Genealogist

Palermo City Marriage Records 1820-1895

A & B – Palermo Marriages

C Palermo – Marriages

D & E – Palermo Marriages

F & G – Palermo Marriages

H,I,J,K,L – Palermo Marriages

M – Palermo Marriages

N,O,P – Palermo Marriages

Q, R & S – Palermo Marriages

T,U,V,W,X,Y & Z Palermo Marriages

Palermo City Birth Records 1896-1905

A & B – Palermo Births

C – Palermo Births

D & E – Palermo Births

F & G – Palermo Births

H,I,J,K,L – Palermo Births 

M – Palermo Births 

N,O,P,Q – Palermo Births

R,S – Palermo Births

T,U,V,W,Z – Palermo Births

New York Cemeteries

New York Crematory Listing

This page is also part of the New York Cemeteries page

 

New York Crematory Listings

Alphabetical, by county.

  • Albany
    Albany Rural Cemetery
    Cemetery Ave,
    Albany NY, 12204
  • Bronx
    Woodlawn Cemetery
    Webster at E. 233rd St,
    Bronx NY, 10470
  • Broome County
    Twin Tiers Cremation Serv
    511 E. Main St,
    Endicott NY, 13760
  • Broome
    City Cremations Inc
    273 Chenango St
    Binghamton NY, 13901
  • Cattaraugus
    Olean Cremation Co
    100 Homer St
    Olean NY, 14760
  • Chautauqua
    Southern Tier Mem Crem
    46 E. Falconer St.
    Falconer NY, 14733
  • Chemung
    Southport Crematorium,Inc
    PO Box 136
    Pine City NY, 14871
  • Clinton
    Whispering Maples Mem Gd
    5055 Rt. 11
    Ellenburg NY, 12935
  • Cortland
    Central Crematory Inc
    11 Salisbury St
    Cortland NY, 13045

    • Dutchess

    Poughkeepsie Rural Cem.
    342 South Ave.
    Poughkeepsie NY, 12602

    • Erie

    Elmlawn Cemetery
    3939 Delaware Ave.
    Kenmore NY, 14217

    • Erie

    Forest Lawn Cemetery
    1411 Delaware Ave.
    Buffalo NY, 14209

    • Erie

    Mt. Calvary Cemetery
    Pine Ridge & Maryvale
    Cheektowaga NY, 14225

    • Erie

    Buffalo Cremation Co.
    901 W. Delevan Ave.
    Buffalo NY, 14209

    • Erie

    Cutler Cremation Co.
    1800 Broadway Bldg 7A
    Buffalo NY, 14212

    • Erie

    D. Tonken Corp.
    417 Kenmore Ave.
    Buffalo NY, 14223

    • Erie

    Sheridan Crematory
    2600 Sheridan Drive
    Tonowanda NY, 14150

    • Jefferson

    Brookside Cemetery
    19000 Watertown Ctr Loop
    Watertown NY, 13601

    • Jefferson

    Frederick Brothers Cremat
    Rt.7,Box 46A
    Theresa NY, 13691

    • Kings

    Green Wood Cemetery
    1 Hanson Place
    Brooklyn NY, 11243

    • Livingston

    Finger Lakes Crematory
    21 Big Tree Rd.
    Livonia NY, 14487

    • Madison

    Chenango Valley Crematory
    3 Preston St.-Box 92
    Earlville NY, 13332

    • Monroe

    White Haven Memorial Park
    210 Marsh Rd.
    Pittsford NY, 14534

    • Monroe

    Rochester Crematory,Inc.
    72 O’Connor Rd.
    Fairport NY, 14450

    • Monroe

    Mt Hope Crem of Rochester

    1133 Mt Hope Ave
    Rochester NY, 14620

    • Niagara

    Niagara Falls Mem. Park
    5871 Military Rd.
    Niagara Falls NY, 14092

    • Niagara

    Oakwood Cemetery & Cremat
    763 Portage
    Niagara Falls NY, 14301

    • Oneida

    Waterville Cemetery
    Osborne Ave, P O Box 305.
    Waterville NY, 13480

    • Onondaga

    Oakwood Cem of Syracuse
    940 Comstock Ave
    Syracuse NY, 13142

    • Orange

    Cedar HIll Cemetery
    5468 Rt. 9W
    Newburgh NY, 12550

    • Orange

    Oxford Hills Crematory
    139 Stage Rd.
    Monroe NY, 10950

    • Oswego

    Traub Crematorium
    11 North Main St.
    Central Square NY, 13036

    • Otsego

    Leatherstocking Crematory
    22 Church St. Box 116
    Cherry Valley NY, 13320

    • Otsego

    Hillington Crem, Inc
    106 Card St
    Morris NY, 13808

    • Queens

    US Cremation Co. LTD
    61-40 Mt. Olivet Crescent
    Middle Village NY, 11379

    • Queens

    St Michaels Cemetery
    72-02 Astoria Blvd
    East Elmhurst NY, 11370

    • Rensselaer

    Troy Cemetery
    Head of 101st St.
    Troy NY, 12180

    • Schenectady

    Park View
    P O Box 9154
    Schenectady NY, 12309

    • Schenectady

    Vale Cemetery
    907 State Street
    Schenectady NY, 12307

    • Steuben

    Rural CA of Hornellsville
    PO Box 177
    Hornell NY, 14843

    • Suffolk

    Cemetery Gardens,Inc.
    Canal Rd.
    Coram NY, 11727

    • Suffolk

    Mt Pleasant Cem Assoc
    Old Cemetery Road
    Center Moriches NY, 11934

    • Suffolk

    Long Island Cremation Co
    91 Eads St.
    West Babylon NY, 11704

    • Suffolk

    Nassau-Suffolk Crem
    132 Ronkonkoma Ave
    Ronkonkoma NY, 11779

    • Tompkins

    Cayuga Crematory, Inc.
    15 Evergreen St.
    Dryden NY, 13053

    • Ulster

    Wiltwyck Rural Cemetery
    145 Pine Grove Ave.
    Kingston NY

    • Warren

    Pineview Crematory
    21 Quaker Road
    Queensbury NY, 12804

    • Westchester

    Ferncliff Cemetery
    PO Box 217
    Hartsdale NY, 10530

New York State Census

New York Census

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1915 New York State Census
1915 New York State Census

This NY Census collection is intended to give a beginning genealogist an idea of the information contained in these records.

If you are having a hard time finding your ancestors, or simply do not want to spend the time to build your family tree, you can hire a genealogist to build your entire family tree

List of NY Census years

New York Cemeteries

Trinity Church Cemetery, Manhattan, NY

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Trinity Church Cemetery, the only remaining active cemetery in Manhattan.
Trinity Church Cemetery, the only remaining active cemetery in Manhattan.

Manhattan’s historic Trinity Church Cemetery was founded in 1697.

Trinity Church Cemetery is the only active cemetery on the island of Manhattan.

Visit Trinity Church Cemetery

The Cemetery spans three different locations

Trinity Church
74 Trinity Pl.

Church of the Intercession
550 W 155th St

St Pauls Church
315 W 22nd St

Call Trinity Church Cemetery for information on your ancestors grave. 212-285-0836

You can locate the cemetery your ancestor is buried in from their Death Certificate. Contact our genealogist if you have decided you need our help, or if you just don’t want to waste time trying to put all the pieces together.

Return to New York Cemeteries

Blog

Brooklyn Links

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In an effort to organize the Genealogy blog, we are creating this list of Brooklyn and New York specific links. We also have this page of Genealogy links.

We also have lists of New York Cemeteries, New York Death Records, New York Marriage Records, New York Church Records and Surnames Databases.

Brooklyn