Friday, June 27, 2014

Finding Annie in New York

From census records and her death certificate I knew my 2nd great-grandmother was from New York.  My burning question was how she got from New York to Savannah in the 1860s??  I knew I needed more details about where she was from but wasn’t finding anything definitive until I was able to discover her father’s name “Albert Graham” on her 1910 Montgomery, Alabama death certificate.  I combined Albert’s name with Annie when searching on FamilySearch one day and hit pay dirt!  An index of New York births and christenings revealed a record from the First Dutch Reformed Church in Rochester, Ulster, New York with Albert Graham as the father and Anna Rebekkah Graham as the child.  It lists the birthday as March 13, 1832 which is two days off from the March 15 listing in the family bible, but the year does match.  And it revealed a potential name for Annie’s mother: Rachel Cole.

I still need to find more documentation, but it’s pretty exciting to narrow down the possibilities from a whole state to a county and town AND to find a possibility for her mother’s name. Census records showed Albert in 1850, in Ulster County, but not Annie, when she would have been 18.  Perhaps she moved out to work elsewhere??

Sources:
New York, Births and Christenings, 1640-1962, index, 13 March 1832, First Dutch Reformed church, FIRST DUTCH REFORMED CHURCH,ROCHESTER,ULSTER,NEW YORK, FHL microfilm 823668.; https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/FDRT-2PL : accessed 10 May 2014.

"Alabama, Deaths, 1908-1974," index, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/JDD7-1PF : accessed 14 Apr 2013), Annie Rebecca Davis, 17 Jun 1910; citing reference cn 289, Department of Health, Montgomery; FHL microfilm 1894077.


2 comments:

  1. Margaret, I believe we are cousins. My 2nd gt grandmother was Lydia Marie Graham, daughter of Albert and Rachel Cool Graham. Lydia was born 13 Nov 1835 in Ulster county, New York. I love the picture of Annie Rebecca. I do not have any pictures of my ancestor. I believe the parents of Albert Graham were John T. Graham and Elizabeth Constable. The birth record for Albert is in the same Dutch Reformed Church records on Family Search.

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  2. Hi, cousin!
    You may have seen in a previous post ( http://familyalbumjourney.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-graham-women-finally-get-some.html ) some photos that are identified as Annie's sister (no name) and her mother, only identified as "Grandmother Graham." So now you have a picture of one of your ancestors. The "sister" photo could possibly be Lydia. Thanks for the hint about Albert's parents. Those Dutch Reformed Church records are a great find that I plan to use to create a family record. I have a contact in Ulster County who could help with more research once I've exhausted my other resources. Thanks for getting in touch!!!

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