New York City Public Library, New York City -- History and Genealogy Room

New York City Public Library

 Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street

On the most beautiful spring day, I spent several hours at the New York City Public Library. There were three books I absolutely had to look at, and I knew they were there because I had checked their card catalog. Once at the library, I went immediately to the Milstein Division (history and genealogy section), on the first floor. See posts about two previous (interesting visits) I was there, HERE. Photos below show the open stacks and no library card is needed. However, I needed one because I wanted books in the closed stack area. I applied for it and received it almost immediately. For the books I wanted, I had to fill out a request form for each book. An employee retrieved them and I was looking at them within minutes.

Milstein Division (history and genealogy section)

The Rose Reading Room, where non-genealogists go (above and below).

UPDATE 3/5/17: "This timelapse footage of 52,000 books being reshelved is strangely beautiful.

After closing for a two-year renovation, the New York Public Library's historic Rose Main Reading Room has finally reopened."

https://www.facebook.com/qznews/videos/1484476841586013/

Picking up requested books to look at on-site.

If you want to make copies, which I did, (60 at .15 each) you'll need to buy a copy card. I was very fortunate, since I was able to make them all at the same time, no line, and used the only one copy machine. I shudder to think if there were lots of people needing copies.

As indicated in my photos, it was a very quiet afternoon in the genealogy section, and only two people were in the microfilm room, located a few doors away! The next time I go, I intend to visit the Manuscripts and Archive Room, to see if I can find anything about one of the earliest families in Amsterdam / New York City, my Ten Eyck ancestors. That's a real goal of mine.

Not all are Tan (Massachusetts Vital Records Series)

Many genealogists doing early Massachusetts research will probably use the Vital Records, either on microfilm or in book form. The books are often referred to as the "Tan Books." However, as indicated by the photos below, that term may not make much sense in the future. As I've been revisiting the majority of the libraries for my Library series, I've noticed a change. The "Tan Books" are changing color. The orange books are from the Chelmsford, MA library, and the black ones from Lowell, MA. In addition, I've seen blue and green bound books. I'm not sure if the library is deciding on the colors when they are rebound, maybe I'll ask. All I want you to be aware of is the fact that they are not all tan.

From Archive Publishing, their description of the Massachusetts Vital Records to 1850 is below.

PRINTED VITAL RECORDS FOR 2/3 OF STATE

Are you searching for names in Massachusetts? If so, maybe you've already looked through the tan books of the old printed series of vital records to 1850. This series, published nearly a hundred years ago for 210 of the 350 or so Massachusetts towns and cities, lists births, marriages, and deaths for the earliest settlers, and continues through 1849.

 

SOURCE OF DATA

Most of the data come from original records safeguarded in town halls, sometimes supplemented with facts from church, cemetery, court, or family bibles. Because the information comes from such a diverse group of sources, many now missing; these books, compiled years ago as a secondary source, sometimes now serve as the only link to primary-source documents.

 

VALUE OF PRINTED RECORDS

Not only do these volumes contain valuable data, but they are easy to use; being printed, with names arranged alphabetically, cross-referenced to alternate spellings, and placed in categories of births, marriages, and deaths. Further, though not entirely error-free, these records are remarkably accurate. 

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An example of a book is for Dana is below. It gives you an idea of what is included. (Some larger towns, like Salem, MA have six volumes, two for births, for marriages and deaths.) Regarding Dana, Massachusetts, unfortunately, the town (with others) was flooded to make way for the Quabbin Reservoir in 1938. The entire Dana Vital Records book is online, maybe seen HERE.

 

Beads and Things from New York City

I used to visit various stores frequently to buy my Christmas ornament supplies. M. and  J. Design was my favorite store. The beads were used to make my own designed Christmas balls. At one time, I had over 150 ornaments, all different. The hobby began around 1965 when I used kits, but soon after I designed my own. The last one I made was around 2000.

The www.mjtrim.com website on window.

Sights and Flowers of New York City in April

A beautiful and warm day on April 21, 2012, to walk around New York City to see familiar sights.

Radio City.

Inside Trump Towers, on an escalator, opposite mirrors and pink granite.

The NBC studios at Rockefeller Square (above) and inside Saint Patrick's Cathedral (below).

I was here on a very warm April day, everybody was out to enjoy the weather.

Bryant Park with popular Carousel and pink roses.

Skaters at Rockefeller Square, and lots of flowers in the plaza.

 New York Public Library on 5th Avenue.

 Pretty fancy public water fountain.

 Empire State Building as seen from inside the New York Public Library.

 The main reading room is called the Rose Room.

Surname Saturday -- Perkins of Connecticut

The Perkins line is another old family of mine in Connecticut. My direct lines are in green and if you would like sources or information, please contact me.

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Generation No. 1

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1.	EDWARD PERKINS was born ABT 1625 in Thaxstead, Essex, England, and died AFT 1688 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married ELIZABETH BUTCHER 20 MAR 1649 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She was born ABT 1625 in England, and died in Prob. New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut.
	Children of EDWARD PERKINS and ELIZABETH BUTCHER were: + 2   i. JOHN PERKINS was born 18 AUG 1651 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died AFT 1727 in (Prob.) New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 3   ii. Mehitable PERKINS was born 21 SEP 1652 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. + 4   iii. Jonathan PERKINS was born 12 NOV 1653 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died AFT 13 JUN 1730. + 5   iv. David PERKINS was born 3 OCT 1656 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 27 OCT 1732 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut.

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Generation No. 2

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2.	JOHN PERKINS (EDWARD PERKINS1) was born 18 AUG 1651 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died AFT 1727 in (Prob.) New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married MARY 16 MAY 1677 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She was born 16 MAR 1653 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died BEF 1703 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married Rebecca THOMPSON. She was born 26 JAN 1651, and died AFT 1727.
	Children of JOHN PERKINS and MARY were: + 6   i. JOHN PERKINS was born 3 JUN 1678 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died OCT 1749 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. + 7   ii. STEPHEN PERKINS was born 7 APR 1680 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died AFT 1755 in Of Roundhill, New Haven, Connecticut. 8   iii. Peter PERKINS was born 18 MAY 1682 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 14 FEB 1738 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married Hannah Hipkins \ FORD BEF 1705 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, daughter of Samuel FORD and Elizabeth HIPKINS. 9   iv. James PERKINS was born 23 AUG 1684 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died BEF 1689 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 10   v. Elisha PERKINS was born 8 JUL 1688 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died ABT 1720. He married Sarah SMITH 27 FEB 1713 in Hadley, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. 11   vi. Mary PERKINS was born 9 OCT 1689 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 1748. She married Abraham TOMLINSON BEF 1715 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 12   vii. Nathan PERKINS was born 9 SEP 1694 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 1748. He married Abigail HILL 23 MAY 1718 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 13   viii. Aaron PERKINS was born 29 NOV 1700 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 1763. He married Mary HOLMES 18 DEC 1723, daughter of JOHN HOLMES and ELIZABETH GATES. She was born 1698 in Stow, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. He married Silence HUMBERSTON\HUMISTON 2 OCT 1719 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut.

4.	Jonathan PERKINS (EDWARD PERKINS1) was born 12 NOV 1653 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died AFT 13 JUN 1730. He married Mary ELCOCK\ALCOCK 14 JUN 1682 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She was born 22 JUL 1661, and died 9 NOV 1718.
	Children of Jonathan PERKINS and Mary ELCOCK\ALCOCK were: 14   i. Seth PERKINS was born 4 SEP 1685. 15   ii. Anne PERKINS was born 9 NOV 1690. She married Ebenezer HITCHCOCK 25 JUN 1711. He was born 9 APR 1689 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 16   iii. Jonathan PERKINS was born 6 MAY 1694, and died BEF 1730. 17   iv. Sarah PERKINS was born 6 DEC 1696. She married John SPERRY 4 JAN 1721. 18   v. Thomas PERKINS was born 11 AUG 1699, and died BEF 1730. + 19   vi. Eleanor PERKINS was born 7 MAR 1702 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 11 MAY 1769.

5.	David PERKINS (EDWARD PERKINS1) was born 3 OCT 1656 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 27 OCT 1732 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married Deliverance BLISS 8 JUN 1682 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut.
	Children of David PERKINS and Deliverance BLISS were: 20   i. David PERKINS was born 14 MAY 1683, and died 25 NOV 1684. 21   ii. Elizabeth PERKINS was born 23 JAN 1685, and died 27 NOV 1686. 22   iii. Rebecca PERKINS was born 9 JAN 1687, and died 9 MAR 1693. 23   iv. Daniel PERKINS was born 4 APR 1689, and died 1760. 24   v. Experience PERKINS was born 31 JAN 1691, and died 24 APR 1691. 25   vi. Mehitable PERKINS was born 29 OCT 1692, and died 1751. She married William PUNCHARD 23 MAY 1717. 26   vii. Rebecca PERKINS was born 28 NOV 1694. She married Caleb THOMAS. 27   viii. Samuel PERKINS was born 16 MAY 1698, and died BEF 1723. 28   ix. Experience PERKINS was born 5 DEC 1699. She married David GILBERT 28 MAY 1724. He was born 4 JUL 1700.

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Generation No. 3

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6.	JOHN PERKINS (JOHN PERKINS2, EDWARD PERKINS1) was born 3 JUN 1678 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died OCT 1749 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married ELIZABETH HOWARD 5 FEB 1707 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, daughter of THOMAS HOWARD and RUTH JONES. She was born ABT 1682 in Salem, Essex Co., Massachusetts (Prob.) or Enfield, Connecticut. He married Sarah WARNER 15 MAY 1701 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She was born ABT 1679 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 11 MAR 1706 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut.
	Children of JOHN PERKINS and ELIZABETH HOWARD were: 29   i. Elisha PERKINS died 1757. 30   ii. Miriam PERKINS was born 2 NOV 1708 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 22 AUG 1794. She married Jay BISHOP 5 FEB 1735 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He was born 28 MAY 1711 in North Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 31   iii. John PERKINS was born 21 JUN 1710 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 9 MAY 1801. He married Thankful CHAMBERLIN 3 DEC 1744 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married Ruth BISHOP 17 MAY 1739 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 32   iv. Anna PERKINS was born 12 NOV 1711 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 5 DEC 1774 in North Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 33   v. Elizabeth PERKINS was born 12 AUG 1713 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 2 FEB 1806 in Southington, Hartford Co., Connecticut. She married Samuel MERRIAM 21 MAR 1739 in Wallingford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. + 34   vi. LOIS PERKINS was born 1 MAY 1715 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 11 JAN 1804 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 35   vii. Azariah PERKINS was born 2 APR 1718 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 14 JUN 1794 in Bethany, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married Anna JOHNSON 12 OCT 1743 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 36   viii. Phineas PERKINS was born 7 FEB 1720 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 5 SEP 1793 in Hartland, Hartford Co., Connecticut. He married Susanna BRADLEY 13 DEC 1744 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She was born 21 JAN 1722 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 37   ix. Eunice PERKINS was born 5 MAR 1721 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 7 OCT 1744 in Hadley, Hampden Co., Massachusetts. She married Elisha PERKINS. + 38   x. Benjamin PERKINS was born 26 OCT 1724 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 1750. 39   xi. Ruth PERKINS was born 30 MAY 1726 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 31 OCT 1762 in Bethany, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She married John LOUNSBURY 4 APR 1751 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Children of JOHN PERKINS and Sarah WARNER were: 40   i. Phineas PERKINS was born 25 FEB 1702 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died OCT 1705 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 41   ii. Roger PERKINS was born 25 MAR 1704 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 1751 in Derby?, Connecticut. He married Anna WOOSTER. He married Mary. 42   iii. Sarah PERKINS was born 27 NOV 1705 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She married John CRAWFORD.

7.	STEPHEN PERKINS (JOHN PERKINS2, EDWARD PERKINS1) was born 7 APR 1680 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died AFT 1755 in Of Roundhill, New Haven, Connecticut. He married ELIZABETH FORD 27 AUG 1700 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, daughter of SAMUEL FORD and ELIZABETH HIPKINS. She was born 19 FEB 1679 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died ABT 1729. He married Anna HOW 12 NOV 1729, daughter of Elijah HOW and Mary BELLAMY. She was born 28 OCT 1704 in Wallingford, New Haven, Connecticut, and died AFT 1755.
	Children of STEPHEN PERKINS and ELIZABETH FORD were: 43   i. Joseph PERKINS was born 18 SEP 1701 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 1776 in Wilkes, North Carolina. He married Phebe MOULTHROP 23 FEB 1727 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She was born 15 OCT 1711. + 44   ii. ELIZABETH PERKINS was born 10 NOV 1703 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 22 MAY 1760 in North Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 45   iii. Lydia PERKINS was born 24 NOV 1705 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 22 DEC 1767 in Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She married William WILMOT 23 DEC 1725 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 46   iv. Thankful PERKINS was born 17 APR 1708 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 23 DEC 1788 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 47   v. Mary PERKINS was born 31 MAR 1712 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She married Daniel FORD 13 MAY 1736 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 48   vi. Stephen PERKINS was born 14 JUN 1716 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Children of STEPHEN PERKINS and Anna HOW were: 49   i. Anna PERKINS was born 26 MAR 1731 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She married Thomas BERRY 3 JUN 1752 in Wallingford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. She married Abijah MITCHELL 15 MAY 1759 in Bethlehem, Connecticut. 50   ii. Stephen PERKINS was born 6 JUL 1732 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 1815. He married Susanna CURTIS 12 MAY 1756 in Wallingford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 51   iii. Sybil PERKINS was born 28 MAY 1734 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 52   iv. Tabitha \ Tabathy PERKINS was born 12 APR 1736 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 24 APR 1755 in Meridan, Connecticut. She married Eldad CURTIS 6 FEB 1754 in Wallingford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 53   v. Elisha PERKINS was born 8 OCT 1739 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. He married Mehitable MERRIAM 9 JUN 1768 in Wallingford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 54   vi. Keran PERKINS was born 8 OCT 1740 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut. 55   vii. Content PERKINS was born 31 JUL 1745 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut.

19.	Eleanor PERKINS (Jonathan PERKINS2, EDWARD PERKINS1) was born 7 MAR 1702 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 11 MAY 1769. She married Abraham DICKERMAN 15 DEC 1726 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, son of ABRAHAM DICKERMAN and ELIZABETH GLOVER. He was born 19 OCT 1698 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut, and died 1743 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut.
	Child of Eleanor PERKINS and Abraham DICKERMAN was: 56   i. John DICKERMAN was born 2 OCT 1727 in New Haven, New Haven Co., Connecticut.

How Did I get Over 5,600 Hits in a Week?

Merrimack River, Lowell, MA

Last week was quite interesting; I was on a roll with my blog. How did this happen, what can you learn from this, and what did I learn from it?

How Did This Happen?

The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) has a free The Weekly Genealogist magazine. One of their features has been the weekly survey, In Nov. the question was how many genealogical blogs do you follow? The response was 60% don't follow any. I wrote about this in a post, A Surprising Survey.

As a result of this, Randy Seaver submitted to NEHGS a list of New England Bloggers and suggested they highlight our blogs. But first, we had to write our own introduction. Mine was the fourth to be highlighted, and I was at the NEHGS last Wednesday when I was told it had been posted. When I got home, I already had 1,855 hits, and that total went up through the evening. There were times I was downright scared, and almost took the blog off.

What Can You Learn From This?

As the days went by, and I was still getting a lot of hits, I realized there probably weren't a huge number of readers, but that the ones I had were reading a large number of my individual posts. I'm basing that on the emails that I received; they were all about the surnames, and the posts that were read. The surnames I have, the ones they have and the ones we share. They also enjoyed reading about murder. It is apparent, to me, that the readers looked at the labels I provided. I then spent time looking at some of the 250 blogs I follow, to gain clues as to why I was getting these hits, and compared my blog to theirs. I discovered there are a lot of bloggers who:

• don't use labels
• don't provide a search bar
• don't allow you to subscribe via email. Only two months ago, I set up the email subscription, and because of that, in less than a week, I received 28 new subscribers, and 9 who used the "Follow" option, with their picture.

What Did I learn?

I should have reviewed my own blog before it went public. The tabs at the top of the blog should be expanded or eliminated. They are the worst of any tabs I've ever seen. A lot of things in my blog are not consistent with other postings of mine. For example, sometimes I bold the entire post, sometimes not. There are other improvements I'd like to make as well. Some of you might already receive these high hit numbers, but for me, I average between 700-850 a week, not 5,600!

My blog is not the best out there, that being said, I plan on providing a list soon, of what I consider to be among the very best of the genealogy blogs. Keep posted.