This is a follow up to the post of October 10, 2013, which features a file from the William B. Bogardus Collection. I'm in the process of reorganizing my own files and as I'm finding items that I haven't looked at for some years now, I think there is an opportunity to bring attention to some of them again. Should I come across any that were overlooked, I will add them as well in future posts.
The original 2013 post provided a link to a PDF of this file uploaded to RootsWeb. That link is still good, here it is again, but in the event that the link should fail at some point in the future, here is a second link to the PDF on Google Drive.
This file is an extraction of BREWERs and BROWERs found in the records of the Court of General Sessions and Common Pleas in Dutchess County, New York. As mentioned seven years ago, the Family History Library has filmed these records, they are on microfilm and are cataloged here online, however, as was the case back in 2013, the FHL has not yet digitized the microfilms for online use. As the FHL is no longer in the business of lending microfilms out to local Library Centers, the only way in which one might access the records is to visit the main library in Salt Lake City. Alternatively, one might be able to access the originals with a visit to the Dutchess County Clerk's Office in Poughkeepsie, New York. Some of the cases are, apparently, also found in the Dutchess County, "Ancient Documents," and can be accessed rather easily online, from home. I'll give an example, but first here is a list of the BREWERs and BROWERs found in the file (the file also includes some with the BOGARDUS surname which are not included below).
- Vol. A, p. 156; May 15, 1744; John Sackett vs. Mathew BREWER
- Vol. A, p. 244; Oct. 17, 1749; Peter Colwell vs. Hendrick BREWER (bail to Samuel BREWER)
- Vol. B, p. 10; May 21, 1751: Jury verdict against Nicholas BREWER
- Vol. B, p. 26; May 21, 1751; Samuel Dusenbury vs. Hendrick BREWER
- Vol. B, p. 283; Oct. 18, 1757; Nicholas BREWER vs. John Bookhout and Ann his wife
After this the volume isn't given but a date and page number is provided. I would guess that the records are likely found in FHL film #0565228 in volumes C or D (the film covers volumes B-D). The date would be the date of the Court session.
- Oct. 16, 1759, p. 1; John Bookhout and Ann his wife vs. Nicholas BREWER
- May 20, 1760, p. 1; Nicholas BREWER vs. John Bookhout; p. 2 Dolf BREWER witness for plaintiff (note: Dolf would be a variation of Adolph or Adolphus).
- May 17, 1763, p. 22; Nicholas BROWER vs. Robert Soul Butcher
- May 17, 1763, p. 23; Michael Surfelt by William Surfelt vs. Jacobus BROWER
- Oct. 18, 1763, p. 13; Michael Surfelt vs. Jacobus BROWER
- Oct. 18, 1763, p. 15; Nicholas BREWER vs. Robert Soul Butcher
- Oct. 1, 1765, p. 2; Henry Chase vs. Isaac BREWER
- Oct. 1, 1765, p. 20; Isaac BREWER vs. Henry Chase
To the Ancient Documents available online at the Dutchess County Government website. Go to the Search page and enter a name. I'm going to try Hendrick Brewer and when I do I get this result. And when I click on Document Number 2561 (highlighted in blue) this image appears. It's a PDF and can be easily downloaded. This is actually a lot easier then searching through the digitized microfilms of the Ancient Documents of Dutchess County found on the FamilySearch website. However, it appears that not all of the documents mentioned above are found in the Ancient Documents files.
BGB 693
Chris,
ReplyDeleteI have made extensive use of the Dutchess County Ancient Documents. In your last paragraph are you suggesting that some items are not in the Ancient Documents but are in the individual volumes in the courthouse? Or are you suggesting that the search tool for the Ancient Documents don't capture all the documents in the Ancient Documents?
In general to get the best results I have gone to the MacCraken Index at the top of the page of the "search" link you included. Once I have the document number from that index, I search on the number, which is much more reliable than a name, since names are often spelled differently in reality or through transcriptions (as we all know).
This is a great resource for research and I have been able to unravel many family facts and relationships for Duryea research I have done in Dutchess County.
Thank you for posting details of this resource!
Steve, Both might be the case. For example: I have two entries in Bill's list for Isaac Brewer and Henry Chase. When I use the Search engine, entering Isaac Brewer, I get one hit and that is simply for a list of the case summaries for October 1765 (also Henry's surname is mis-transcribed as "Chapp").
DeleteWhen I look through McCracken's Index, I find no entries for Isaac Brewer.
I do find entries for an Isaac Adolphus (which would be Isaac Brewer's patronymic he being a son of Adolphus Brouwer and Jannetje Verdon)however, when I search with that name (Isaac Adolphus) I get no hits.
I find Henry Chase in McCracken's Index, but they seem to be for other cases (not one in 1765). At least some of them do come up in the Search when using the name Henry Chase.
So it may be that some of the cases in Bill's list are not in the Ancient Documents, and that some of the cases in McCracken's Index are not in the digitized images and Search engine.