Searching

for a

Baptismal Record

for a man reputedly born in

Picton, Ontario, Canada

circa 1839

The facts as presented:

I was contacted by an elderly woman in Connecticut, who wished me to investigate her husband's grandfather. The grandfather was believed to have come from the area around Picton, Ontario, Canada. It was believed that he had been born around 1839. The grandfather was known to have surfaced in mid-state New York, aged about sixteen years. Some elements of his history were known from New York City and places up the Hudson River. And some work had been done which seemed to suggest a link to a man with the same surname, who lived in the area where the grandfather ultimately settled. The names of this other man's parents were known, but the names of the grandfather's parents were not. Two other siblings were presumed. But no solid evidence linked any of them together. A vast array of documents, letters, emails and other items were provided to me, which covered all of the work that had been done up to that point in time.

The challenge:

Could I find a baptismal record for the grandfather, and could I find anything else that would link the grandfather to his parents and positively identify his siblings?

The results:

This project utilized the foundational aspects of 'forensic genealogy' and 'family reconstruction', as I understand them. Intensive investigations undertaken broadly in Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada, and later in Hastings County, along with pointed investigations undertaken in records from Iowa; Manhattan, and elsewhere in New York City; neighbouring Duchess County; and Connecticut, produced a baptismal record for the grandfather which confirmed his birth in 1839, yielded the names of his parents, and expanded on his full life time history. An index entry associated with a series of county level Naturalization Applications and Petitions was found, and forwarded. My work also detailed the full life history and events for three siblings, and several records tied some of them together at different moments in time. The mother's maiden surname was found in a variety of phonetic spellings in various records. A 'most likely' surname spelling version was suggested. My research report ran to thirty-eight pages.

An encore request:

While the above work was progressing, the elderly woman's son had submitted a sample for Y-DNA testing. I was asked if I could assess the 'matches' details associtated with the sample?