The July issue of The New York Genealogical and Biographical Record is out and available for NYG&B members to read online.
The latest issue in Volume 151 is packed with useful and fascinating articles. This blog will preview each article in the issue and contains the full "Editor's View" column—a wonderful introduction to each issue written by Editor of The Record, Laura Murphy DeGrazia, CG, FGBS. Enjoy!
The Editor's View
Names lie at the core of genealogical research. We strive to discover names of parents, spouses, and children. We use names to search indexes and databases, and we pore over documents in search of them. But a name is only one small part of a person’s identity. To learn about an individual, we must dig below the surface and examine what lies beneath, as illustrated by articles in this issue of The Record.
When Stephen Pruyn began studying his ancestor Levinus Pruyn, he had two things in his favor: Levinus Pruyn is an unusual name, and a lengthy article about the Pruyn family had been published in The Record years ago. Sure enough, the article includes a sketch of a man named Levinus Pruyn of the correct age, but his place of residence, spouse, and children differed from what Stephen knew of his ancestor. Undeterred, he eventually found an update to the article published in The Netherlands. Levinus was again mentioned, this time with information that opened a door to new research possibilities. In Stephen’s quest to learn about his ancestor, he used many of the expected records, but he also had to consider the period’s social norms that excluded some subjects from polite conversation.
Author Michael Rudy noticed a problem with published assertions about the parents of Hester Rycke, wife of Gysbert Bos/Bosch. Although the earliest publication presented the identification of Hester’s father as tentative, later works omitted that degree of uncertainty. In evaluating the proposed relationship, Michael considered Dutch naming practices. He disproved the original assertion and arrived at a different conclusion.
Visitors to the 1867 Parkview Inn in Owego, Tioga County, New York, might not give much thought to the name of its eatery, Dugan Restaurant, but the name has great significance to the establishment. Author Pam Pracser Anderson’s affinity for Owego and its people led her to study and write about the Irish immigrant who owned and operated the hotel in the nineteenth century. Merging information from vital and land records, newspapers, local histories, and more, Pam skillfully relates the story of hotelkeeper Hugh Dugan and his family, for whom the restaurant is named.
Pruyn, Rudy, and Anderson demonstrate that names, although at the core of our work, are only part of a person’s story. Behind those names are people who lived and died, members of societies that influenced their choices, movements, relationships, and the records each of them left behind.
Laura Murphy DeGrazia, CG, FGBS Editor
Levinus Pruyn of Albany and New York City: One Man or Two?
This article focuses on a Levinus Pruyn, who was covered in John Van Shaick Lansing Pruyn Jr.'s article in The Record "The Pruyn Family, American Branch" which began in 1882 and continued for many installments. The installment focusing on Levinus can be found in the January 1883 issue. In the recent article, Stephen C. Pruyn, MD, investigates whether this Levinus Pruyn of Albany might be the same Levinus Pruyn found in New York City as early as 1823.
- Time period: 1800s
- Locations: Albany, New York City
- Sources: City directories, wills & probate, religious records, among others
Hester Rycke (1735–about 1790) of New Jersey and Albany County, New York, Wife of Gysbert Bos/Bosch
In genealogical literature, it is assumed that Hester Rycke is the daughter of Ryckert Van Vracken because of a book written on the early settlers of Albany County. Michael Rudy wrote this article with the goal of dispelling the doubts that surround Hester Rycke’s life through rigorous research. A genealogical summary is available in this article.
- Time period: 1700s
- Locations: Albany, New Jersey
- Sources: Church records, death notices, Revolutionary War Rolls (among others)
Hugh Dugan (1826–1885) of Ireland, Pennsylvania, and Owego, Tioga County, New York
Pam Pracser Anderson gives us the story of Hugh Dugan, “an industrious” and “shrewd businessman” from Ireland. Like many Irish citizens of his time, Dugan moved to the United States when the potato famine ravished Ireland. Sources of Hugh Dugan’s life in Ireland are light, but there is plenty of documentation of his life in Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania and Tioga County, New York. Hugh Dugan’s children are also mentioned in the context of managing his business when he died.
- Time period: 1800s
- Locations: Pennsylvania, Oswego County, Tioga County
- Sources: Death certificates, passenger lists, church records, censuses (among others)
Revisiting the Stamford Pioneers of Halifax Parish, Yorkshire West Riding, England (continued)
Louis G. Ogden and Brent M. Owen expand upon Matthew Wood’s 1989 Record article “English Origins of the Mitchell, Wood, Lum and Halstead Families,” which explored several of the pioneer families of Stamford. The two authors focus on Matthew Mitchell and Edmond Wood, two individuals from the group of families that originated in Halifax Parish. This installment is part two of a serialized article. Click here to read part 1.
The portion in this article continues by discussing Thomas Butterfield and the Butterfield family of Morton township. A genealogical summary is provided in this article as well.
- Time Period: 1500s, 1600s
- Locations: Thornton and Ovenden townships (Yorkshire West Riding, England), Morton township
- Sources: Parish registers, deeds, wills (among others)
William Hill (1751–1823) of Ireland and New York City (continued)
Jim Boulden details the life of Irish-born New York City merchant William Hill. Using Hill's personal papers and correspondence, Boulden tells a fascinating story of colonial and early-American business success and failure. This installment is part two of a serialized article. Click here to read part 1.
The portion in this article continues the genealogical summary.
- Time Period: 1700s, 1800s
- Locations: New York City, Westchester County, New Jersey, Pennsylvania
- Sources: Cemetery and church records, censuses, leases, Civil War draft registrations, probate records (among others)
Early Sicard–Secor Families of New York (concluded)
R. Kirk Moulton traces all known members of the well-known Sicard-Secor family in colonial New York to a single ancestor—a Huguenot who fled France due to religious persecution. This installment is part seven of a serialized article. Links to previous installmenets can be found in our blog about Volume 151, issue 2.
The portion in this article continues the genealogical summary.
- Time Period: 1700s, 1800s
- Locations: Rockland County, Westchester County, Orange County (among others)
- Sources: A wide variety of original records