Barecolt surname

This surname does not exist, as far as I can tell.  And, yet, it's the maternal surname written on Joseph Wormuth's death certificate.  Father:  Peter Wormuth, Mother:  Harriet Barecolt.

And, we know nothing more about Harriet than that.  Peter's wife is most often listed as Grace.  We don't know what happened to Harriet. 

I assume the name was written down as heard (clearly there was some issue with asking people to spell their names on many records).  I've done searches and have found nothing on the name.  Sounding it out, the name might have been any of the following: Burckhart, Burkhardt, Buckholtz, etc., so many possibilities.  And, was Joseph, in fact born in the US or did he and his parents immigrate and, if so, when?  If they immigrated, did Harriet make it to the US or was she gone before they arrived?

I have tried to find death certificates for Joseph's siblings and have not been able to do so, thinking that, if I could, we might find out her actual surname.

Another mystery.

Beismer surname

My maternal grandfather's surname was Beismer.  It's been a difficult surname to research.  I current have about 2 dozen possible variant spellings including:  Beesimer, Beesmer, Beasmer, Beasimer, Biesemiere.

My grandfather said his family was Swiss and German Dutch (German).  I have never found the Swiss connection although there is a town in Belgium with a similar spelling to Beisemiere, right near the Swiss border.  I don't know where they came from.  I  can't make a connection between the Beesimers in Ulster County and those in Sullivan County.  They have been one of the most difficult families to research.  There are many gaps in records. 

Introduction

I started this blog in order to comment on another blog so I don't know how much I'll use this but here it is.

I've been a family historian (not a professional genealogist) for many years.  I am a professional librarian which is helpful in knowing resources and getting access to them.

I'm researching ALL my family trees, maternal and paternal, most which started in New York State.  I've reached brick walls on just about all of them but I haven't been able to get to various records that might get me a little farther in my research.  Only one of my families has been traced back to its origin in Germany, by someone else.

My primary families are:
Beismer, Beesimer, Debeck, Flower(s), Hogancamp, Hulse, Hendricks(on), Mattice, Odell, Oliver, Platner, Vande(r)mark, and Wormuth.

My primary locations are:
Greene County, Ulster County, Sullivan County and Delaware County.

I am currently, methodically, going through the censuses, federal and state, tracing each individual from near birth to near death.  I find a lot of gaps. confusion and problems.