WEDDING WEDNESDAY ~ My 5th great grandparents–Obadiah F. Cooper & Lena Albrecht–1781 in New York

Today I present the marriage record of my paternal 5th great grandparents, Obadiah F. Cooper and Lena Albrecht.   They married on 8 Jun 1781 in Albany, New York.

I located their marriage record in the U.S. Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-2000.  I have found many of my ancestor’s records in this record set.

Here is the index

Name:    Lena Albrecht
Event Type:    Marriage
Gender:    Female
Spouse:    Obadia Cooper
Spouse Gender:    Male
Marriage Date:    8 Jun 1781
Marriage Place:    Albany, Albany, New York, USA

Here is the image of their marriage

Notice in the image, there is another Obadiah Cooper (5 lines down) who marries Lena Helburg.  We know that we run across people with the same names, frequently, in our research.  It's the sum total of what we find for each individual or couple, that gives us the evidence we need to conclude we have the correct person.

I have little information about Obadiah and Lena.  I do have church records indicating they had 2 daughters, both named Cornelia. I believe the first Cornelia born 22 May1786 may have died young.  The second Cornelia was born 16 Nov 1787. There was then a son born 25 Dec 1793 named Jacob.  He sadly died from exposure while intoxicated, at the age of 33.  I wrote about his death here ANCESTORS IN THE NEWS ~ Jacob Cooper found dead from exposure–Dec 1827, New York

I am connected to this couple as follows

Obadiah Cooper & Lena Albecht – 5th great grandparents

Jacob Cooper & Mary Polly Byrne/O’Brian – 4th great grandparents

Lany Cooper & Monson Thorp, Sr. – 3rd great grandparents

Horace Henry Thorp, Sr. & Catherine Dorsey – 2nd great grandparents

Mae Eve Thorp & William Vivaldo Gould – great grandparents

Harry Whipple Gould & Marie Wallace Lindsay – grandparents

Harry Norman Gould & Patricia Anne Milne – parents

If someone mentioned in this blog post is also connected to you, please get in touch.  I’d love to hear from you.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2021   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

CHURCH RECORD SUNDAY ~ Susan Rosette (abt 1783–1847) –my husband’s 3rd great grandmother

Susan Boylston Rosette is my husband’s paternal 3rd great grandmother.  I don’t have a lot of information about her.  I know she was born about 1783, she married Dr. Abraham Rosette on 30 May 1804 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  They had four known children: Almira (1806-1858), Eliza (1809-1876), Francis Peter (1811-1812) and Louisa (1813 died at age 7 months).

 

Abraham, sadly, died on 8 Apr 1815 at the age of only 34 years.  This left 32 year old Susan a widow with 2 daughters, ages 6 and 9. The couple had already lost two young children.  What a very sad few years this must have been for Susan.

 

Her two daughters, Almira and Eliza lived to adulthood and married.  It is Almira from whom my husband descends.

I have no record of Susan marrying after Abraham’s death, although she lived for 32 years beyond him.

The church record I’ve show above is a register of members in the First Presbyterian Church in New Jersey.  Susan is entry 258, she was received in the church on 5 Dec 1813.  This record lists her as the “wid. of Abr” and gives his correct date of death.  There is a column on the register that says “How Rec’d”.  Susan’s entry for that column says Hope.  I wonder if that meant she was hoping to be a member and had not yet been admitted?  Under Remarks we see “1834 Nov 30 dismis.”  There is also a death date of Sept. 23, 1866, but it is scratched out.

 

I have written a previous post about Susan and Abraham, citing their burial location and pictures of their headstones.  You can read that post here TOMBSTONE TUESDAY–Abraham & Susan Rosette - died 1815 & 1847

Here are some questions that I have.

• Where was Susan born and can I locate an exact date of birth?
• What was her father’s name?
• What was her mother’s maiden name?
• Where did Susan die and what was the cause of her death?
• Am I certain that Susan never remarried?  It would have been quite difficult for her to raise two young daughters by herself. 
• Did Abraham leave her money that allowed her to survive by herself?

Thankfully, I will be at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, later this month when I attend Rootstech.  I am currently making a list of all the individuals and families for whom I have questions.  Can I find the answers there?  Time will tell.  I’ve usually been pretty fortunate when I’ve gone to the FHL and find at least some of the things I’m looking for.

If you are connected with anyone mentioned in this post, I’d love to hear from you.

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2020   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

CHURCH RECORD SUNDAY ~ The confirmation of Elwood, Dorothy & Delphine Fink–1926 & 1933 in Buffalo, Yew York

Front of confirmation program - Elwood Fink & Dorothy B. Fink

Church confirmations.  We don’t hear as much about this subject today as we did when I was young.  Of course it depends on the denomination or religious group your family was associated with.  Different groups, different traditions.

The confirmation record I have featured today is for my husband’s mother, Dorothy B. Fink and her oldest brother, Elwood “Al” Fink.  The two names were already circled when we located this record among Dorothy's belongings, after her death. 

The two siblings, who were one year apart in age, Al being the oldest, were confirmed on 28 March 1926.  That would have made them 13 and 12 at the time of their confirmation.  The confirmation program states that Rev. Paul Langhorst was the Pastor of the church.

I have a lovely picture Al & Dorothy on the day of their confirmation.

 

I don’t have any record of the confirmation of the two younger Fink siblings, Willard & Delphine.  I should ask cousins Tammy or Tracy if they have those records.

UPDATE - After I had already finished this post, I did hear from cousins Tracy and Tammy.  Tracy was able to provide the confirmation program and certificate for Dorothy & Al's little sister, Delphine "Honey" Fink.  She was confirmed at the same church, by the same Pastor on Palm Sunday, 9 Apr 1933. 

Of note: There are two other family names on the list of children being confirmed on the same day as Delphine.  Elmer Ernst & Robert Henry Doller.  These boys were 1st cousins to Al, Dorothy & Delphine.

Here is the program front & list of names

And, here is the certificate for Delphine

I do know that Uncle Al, whom I met in his later years, was a Christian man, who followed his faith.  Dorothy and her husband, Gordon, joined a Methodist church in San Diego in 1956.  I have Dorothy’s Bible here at our house.  Delphine's Bible resides with her family.

 

A little bit about Rev. Paul H. Langhorst.  He was born 27 Jul 1881 in Ohio.  His parents are both stated to be born in Germany (several census records give that place).  According to his World War I draft registration card he was tall, with a slender build, brown hair and eyes.  He married a woman named Emma before 1910 and they had several children.  He was President of the New York District of the Evangelical Synod of North America.  He was installed as the Pastor of the Bethlehem United Evangelical Church in Buffalo, New York on 22 Jun 1925.  He died, according to a death notice published in The Newark Advocate, on 22 Feb 1945.

• Do you have church records for your ancestors?  What do they tell you about their lives? 
• I wonder, did the whole Fink family go to church every Sunday? 
• As members of a church, would their be baptismal records available for all of the Fink children?  I need to follow up on this.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST

CHURCH RECORDS - How they can help you with your research

Treasure Chest Thursday - The 1748 church record for the marriage of Jeremiah Hall & Elizabeth Bailey

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2010-2018   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

TUESDAY’S TIP–U.S. Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-2000

We all know that church records are a valuable source of information about our ancestors.  They are likely the only records in existence for births, baptisms, marriages and deaths, in the 17th, 18th and part of the 19th century.  I have quite a few of those records, from both the U.S. and over in Scotland.
 
However, I’ve recently discovered a new branch of the family, the Cooper’s, who were members of the Dutch Reformed Church in New York.  Apparently, for several generations.  With that came the discovery of a database on Ancestry.com for the U.S. Dutch Reformed Church Records, 1639-2000.

I’ve been able to find baptisms for whole families and marriages.  These records go back as far as 1691, so far, for my family.  And the best thing……….THEY ARE ALL WRITTEN IN LEGIBLE HANDWRITING.  At least that has been my experience so far.

Here are a couple of examples.  I haven’t changed the color of the pages.  I would normally make them black & white, but wanted you to see them just as they look on the database.

(PLEASE CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT)

1726 BAPTISMAL RECORD FOR MY 6TH GREAT GRANDFATHER - JACOB COOPER

1752 MARRIAGE RECORD FOR MY 6TH GREAT GRANDUNCLE ABRAHAM COOPER TO CATARINA OSTRANDER

This is the explanation from Ancestry.com about this database and it’s contents.

About U.S., Dutch Reformed Church Records in Selected States, 1639-2000

This database will be comprised of records from the Reformed Church in America. This database will be updated with content from other states, and currently includes records from New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Founded in New York City in 1885, the Holland Society is home to collections relevant to the settlement and history of Dutch colonies in America, with an emphasis on New Amsterdam and Hudson River settlements. This Holland Society collection includes records of the Dutch Reformed Church dating back to 1642. Within the collections are records of baptisms, marriages, and burials, primarily from New York, with some from New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
For more information see the Holland Society.
Historical Background Henry Hudson’s exploration of the Hudson River Valley in 1609 paved the way for a wave of Dutch immigration that began in 1624 with the settlement of New Amsterdam, in what is now Manhattan. From there the Dutch settlements expanded into upstate New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. While the area was in Dutch control, the Dutch Reformed Church was the state church, although the Dutch were tolerant of other religions. The Dutch lost control of New York in the late 17th century, but many Dutch settlers remained in the area formerly known as New Netherlands and continued to leave their mark on the region.
Many early Dutch used the naming convention known as patronymics. Patronymics make an identifier out of the father’s name with an attached suffix, such as -s, -z, -sen, -zen, -sse, or -sz. Peter who was the son of Jan might be known as Peter Jansen, and his son Jacob might be Jacob Peters. Other names may have reflected the place that person was from, such as Vander Poel, which means “from the pool.” Occupations were sometimes used as well. Be aware that sometimes parts of a family kept to one naming convention, while another branch would use a different one.
Since suffixes could vary, you may want to search this collection by using the root of the surname with the * wildcard for an ending. For example, a search for Cornelis* would pick up both Cornelis and Cornelisse. Similarly, the * can be used for names where a prefix may or may not be present. *Groot would find both De Groot and Groot, among other variations. Note: Either the first or last letter of the name must be a non-wildcard character.

Here is a link with more of an explanation about these records from familysearch.org.  This article contains many helpful links.
https://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Dutch_Reformed_Church_in_the_United_States

I checked on familysearch.org to see if I could locate these records, since they are free and not everyone has a subscription to Ancestry.com.

The answer was YES, they are available, but only with an index, NO image.

Here is Abraham Cooper’s christening record from familysearch.org.


Would this still be helpful information. Absolutely!

My plan is to use both of these websites to gather as much information as I can on this family.  We know that sometimes different sites have varying indexes and I don’t want to miss any records.

I Googled “Dutch Reformed Church Records” and came up with more lists of records:  https://www.google.com/search?q=images+with+the+word+church+records&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=dutch+reformed+church+records

I hope this has been helpful to you.  Until I discovered this family I had no idea we had any Dutch Reformed Church members in my lineage. 

Here is my post about finding this branch in my tree, thanks to a generous member of a Facebook group I belong to.

SURNAME SATURDAY - COOPER - Have I really gone back 3 more generations?

Here is a post I wrote about how Facebook can help us with our research.
 
FACEBOOK - How it can be very useful in your research

Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

CHURCH RECORD SUNDAY–Gordon & Dorothy Hall

Dorothy & Gordon Hall were my husband’s parents.  They joined the Rolando Methodist Church in San Diego, California on 25 May 1956, “publicly confessing Jesus Christ as Lord & Saviour.”  Signed by George M. Hayle, Pastor

Dorothy & Gordon Hall with their son, Ron in Niagara Falls - 1955

Happy hunting,

Copyright ©  2010-2015   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

CHURCH RECORDS - How they can help you with your research.

Were any of  your ancestors Reverends or Ministers or some kind of clergy? Or were they married to someone who was?

I’ve found quite a few in my family.  This has led to some great discoveries in various publications.  

These records can give dates of birth & death and locations, family member’s names, places an ancestor lived and sometimes even physical descriptions.

Probably my first discovery was for my 3rd Great Grandfather, Rev. Isaac C. Hunter.  He was born in 1798 in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania and died 27 Jun 1842 in Gallia County, Ohio.  Certainly a time when there weren’t very many vital records we could try to locate.

I was able to find records about him by using a search engine (such as Google or Bing).  This is a method I use frequently when I am searching for information about an ancestor.  Let’s try this method and see what I come up with.

I entered “Isaac C. Hunter” + reverend into the Google search box.  I got several hits on the first page and continued to check on the following pages.  In fact, today as I was writing this I found some articles that I had not previously seen.  

Examples of what I found:


1837
Isaac C. Hunter and Harvey Camp
1838
Isaac C. Hunter and P. Nation

Google Books - Foot Prints of an Itinerant – Here is an excerpt from the book.  This article in the book about Rev. Isaac C. Hunter goes from page 301-308.



From the Western Christian Advocate 15 Jul 1842:



From the Minutes of the Annual Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church for the years 1839-1845, Volume III, page 349.



Now, let’s find more information about another ancestor.

My husband’s 2nd Great Grandfather – Rev. George Hall born 4 Jun 1804 in Keene, Cheshire, New Hampshire, died 4 Sep 1878 in Port Gibson, Claiborne, Mississippi.  He is listed as a Minister of the Gospel in the 1870 census in Fayette, Jefferson Mississippi.
 
I found this online in the Encyclopedia of the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America, page 289.  I only wish the picture on this page was the Rev. George Hall.



Let’s try one more ancestor.  William Gillen.  He wasn’t a Reverend or Minister, but it was his daughter who married the Rev. Isaac C. Hunter, mentioned at the beginning of this post. 

I located his obituary in the Western Christian Advocate. 




NOTE:  I cannot find the excerpt (above) from the Western Christian Advocate online today.  That is why it is imperative that you save the items, pictures, documents etc. that you find, when you find them.  They may not be there later.  Even if you save them to a generic folder on your computer, just save them.

These are just some of the records available to you.  If you find out which denomination your ancestor was in service to, you can find pages online for their historical societies.  I have also made phone calls & written letters with inquiries about my ancestors. 

Here’s a couple of sites I found today:

The Historical Society of the United Methodist Church
Presbyterian Historical Society

I began writing this post yesterday afternoon.  Coincidentally, I received an email from Ancestry.com late last night.  The subject of that email was how to use religious records in your research.   Click on the link below and learn even more about how to use religious records to help you find information about your ancestors.  There are many good tips in the article.

“How to Use Religious Records in Family History Research”

So go and see what you can find.  I would love to hear from you if you make some good discoveries.

OTHER POSTS THAT MAY BE OF INTEREST
A Great Discovery - Ask for Help and You May Get it
Name Lists - How to Use Them (including church records)


Happy hunting,

Michigan Girl

Copyright ©  2014   Diane Gould Hall

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.  NO USE WITHOUT PERMISSION

SURNAME SATURDAY - WHO WAS DAISY BRIGHT?

SURNAME SATURDAY

TODAY'S FEATURED SURNAME

BRIGHT

•  Who was Daisy BRIGHT?
•  Who were her parents?
•  Who were her siblings, if any?

These are the questions I asked when I first began doing genealogy research, back in 2003.  

Here is what I knew about her:

1. She is my husband's grandmother on his paternal side.  She died when he was only 3 yrs. old, as did her husband, so my husband knew nothing at all about them.
2. According to the obituary & a large newspaper article about Charles S. Hall, she was his wife.  
3. Her name was also listed as "spouse" on his death certificate.
4. According to the 1910, 1920 & 1930 census records, she was born about 1882 in PA.

That was about it for information.   I did some poking around, but wasn't able to locate much.  We've got that HUGE gap in information between the 1880 census and the 1900 census. NOTE: A fire destroyed all but about 6,000 records for the 1890 census.

 If she was born in 1882, she wouldn't be on the 1880 census.  By the time the 1900 census rolls around, she's 18 and could be out of the house.  Living where?  With whom?

I found a few more clues.  A likely candidate was Daisy BRIGHT living with the HUNT family.  

Could this be her?

Daisy Bright listed in the 1900 census living with Thomas & Edith Hunt

If so, then who are the Hunt's?  Notice that Thomas Hunt is a glassblower.  That's not a common profession.   

Now I have a little something to go on.  I went to the 1880 census records and typed in Bright, living in Pennsylvania.  Hunting through those records I located an Ellmer Bright in Allegheny County, which is the right location.  Guess what his profession was?  Glassblower!!  OK, maybe I'm on to something now.  But, I'm new to researching back then and I didn't know how to prove the connection.

So, I hired a professional genealogist (she is no longer in business).  It was a huge risk, as I didn't really know her, but she had good reviews and her price was reasonable.  

NOTE: I've only used two other professionals to help me during this time and the results were not as rewarding.  But, sometimes when you have a brick wall you have to try everything.

Within 2 weeks I had my answers.  She called me and then sent me a really detailed step by step report of what she had found.  OH BOY!!!  Was I ever excited.

How correct were my assumptions? 

Well, I'm happy to tell you, they were right on!  Ellmer Bright, the glassblower in the 1880 census is her father.  And, Thomas Hunt, glassblower from the 1900 census is her Uncle.  Here are the facts about Daisy Bright's family.  This turned out to be very sad, as she lost everyone by the time she was 10 years old.

• Daisy Bright was born 19 Apr 1882 in Tarentum, Allegheny, Pennsylvania

• Her parents were Ellmer Bright & Malissa Hunt

• She was a twin (the twin died at birth)

• She had a younger sister named Mabel, born in 1887 and died in 1888, age 1

• Her father, Ellmer died of Consumption in 1889, age 29

• Her mother, Malissa died of possible heart failure in 1892, age 31

Church records for the Bright family of Tarentum, Pennsylvania

Tarentum Methodist Episcopal Church Membership list 1887 with E.E. Bright and Meliss Bright lower left column

 The mystery of Daisy Bright's life was solved.  I located her marriage record to Charles S. Hall, several census records, her death certificate, her burial location (right here in my own city) and the bonus was tracking down my husband's first cousin, Tom (now deceased).  

BONUS FIND -   I have become friends with Tom's daughter, Lynn.  She and I have shared family information and she had several pictures of Daisy and Charles in their younger years.

I almost forgot to include a picture of Daisy.  Here she is as a young woman and then with her husband Charles, holding my husband on his first birthday, 1951.

Daisy Bright Hall - year unknown

 

Daisy Bright Hall & her husband Charles S. Hall with their grandson - 1951

Happy Hunting,

Michigan Girl