Relics: Genealogy, family stories, history & other curiosities.

  I have been focusing some of my time lately on my paternal grandmother's maternal family.  Mainly the Bell and Brown families of Haverstraw and Garnerville, NY.   Mary, or in some documents, Barbara Brown was born about 1833 or 1834.  She married William Brown. They had nine children over the course of 16 years, at least seven surviving to adulthood.  I know so little about Mary/ Barbara. Her first name seems to interchange in each record I find. Her maiden name, while I have several clues, it remains a mystery for now. I was able to find a small death notice for William, who died in 1883, but until recently I had no death information for Mary.  According to the 1870 Census, William and two of his oldest sons work at the Calico Factory, a major part of the economy of the Garnerville area in the 1800's in a building that still stands today.   Two doors down from the Browns, live the Bells. In 1888, Henry Bell marries a daughter of William an...

One of my lofty genealogy goals for this year is, after years of neglect, to spend time focused on my paternal lines.  It was my mother's family that first piqued my curiosity in genealogy and so for years, they captured most of my attention.   Elizabeth Cassidy Schuler is my two times great grandmother.  That is reasonably close, I should know something, or at least more than I do about her.  I find her to be mysterious and intriguing and I am determined to learn more.   The earliest documentation I can find for Elizabeth Cassidy is the 1855 New York State Census.  She is 5 years old, referred to as Betsy Ann, the daughter of George and Mary Cassidy.  She is their second child of eight and the oldest girl.  From 1855 to 1870, the Cassidy's live in Ward 14 in lower Manhattan, spanning 15 years they move from Election District 1, to 3, to 4 where I have discovered they lived at 130 Prince Street .  An interesting neighborhood now, for su...