Lately, I've been researching my mother's side of the
family that lived in Schenectady, New York. Years ago, before I knew how to
organize my thoughts, my husband and I traveled up to Schenectady to search the
records at the Historical Society, and to find and photograph headstones of those
family members buried at St. Joseph's Cemetery. Though I found a few
records at the Historical Society, my luck ran out when it came to the
cemetery. I hadn't made a list of potential surnames of the families that lived
and died in the area. This was a crucial mistake that caused me to have a less
than successful trip.
It's time for me to make a second trip to Schenectady and
this time I vow to be prepared. With the help of GenDetective® software I’ll be
able to make a list of ALL the families that lived and died in the county. It
won’t be necessary for me to remember who and when because the trip report will do it
for me! Thank you so much, Sandra Rumble.
But I also wanted to be able to find my way around the cemetery
more efficiently. So I made a phone call to St. Joseph’s Church to inquire
about the cemetery and plot locations. This was the best phone call I have had
in a long time! The Secretary was extremely nice and she cheerfully gave me the
name of the gentleman who runs the cemetery. She then asked me what names I was
looking for, so I gave her the names of Sauerborn and Singsheim. Her voice lit
up and she proceeded to tell me that she was familiar with those names. In fact
she knew this one couple, the Singsheims who had been members of the parish for
years. Well, to make my story short, I asked her to pass my phone number on to
this couple. Which she did and to my surprise Mr. Singsheim called me that very
afternoon!
We had a wonderful conversation and though it is unclear at
this point in time if we are cousins, I love it that I have made a connection with this delightful man. He proceeded to tell me what he knew about is father
Leroy, Grandfather Nicholas and his Grandmother Esther. It turned out he really
knew very little, his father died when he was 27 years old and his grandfather
supposedly deserted the family just after his father was born back in 1912. His
grandmother eventually remarried and he did know that name which was Strout. He also
knew the name of another man, Andrew Singsheim. He didn’t know how he was
connected to the family, however. WELL! This was more than I could stand. As any
red-blooded-hound-dog genealogist I had to try and find something about his
grandfather.
With the sparse information I had, the hunt was on. My
first find was in the 1910 census and that led to the 1905 New York Census.
Searching more broadly, I also was able to find Nicholas in the 1900 census
when he was only 19 years old. Knowing the name of his Grandmother’s second
husband led me to her Social Security Application which gave the names of her
parents. This allowed me to find her family in the 1892 New York Census which
supplied the names of her siblings at the time.
But it was frustrating that Nicholas could not be located
beyond 1910. Where was he? Going back to search the census records I decided to
look outside of Schenectady. Low and
behold, I find in the 1910 census for Albany, New York a prisoner in the Albany
City Penitentiary named Nick Singsheim, 29 years old. Esther must have lied!
But where did he go after prison? Is there a surviving criminal record? Did he
die in prison? And who is this Andrew? And did he know anything about Nicholas? Who was Nicholas's father? Is he connected to my Singsheims?
My trip to Schenectady just got more involved!
Oh, how exciting! I think I need to make more phone calls. :)
ReplyDeleteBest wishes on your trip. I hope you have some wonderful discoveries. Will you plan on meeting Mr. Singsheim? I hope you find a connection!
Thanks Dana, it was a great phone call. I do hope to meet up with Mr. Singsheim, though it may have to wait until Spring. When I called him back to tell him what I found he was just as curious as I am. I told him we could search the courthouse together. He liked that idea :)
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