After months of crazy weather and other distractions, I finally drove up to visit my cousin, Michele.
The plan was to make a couple of stops along the way to get a couple of family history research things done.
I had stumbled onto a Findagrave memorial that I hadn't seen before and a cemetery I had never heard of: The Old Liberty Cemetery, also called Liberty Soldiers Cemetery, maybe. The graves identified are of some of my Odell ancestors, particularly Joseph Odell. Joseph is the furthest back ancestor I've found in that branch.
I wasn't sure what the weather would be. I wasn't sure if I would want to walk around in a wet cemetery so the cemetery stop was iffy.
The other quest for this trip was to see the actual death record for Joseph Wormuth. I have a transcription of it but, as many of you know, the name of his mother, Harriet Barecolt, is problematic. That surname can't be found -- anywhere. I'm guessing that, since the majority of people, of that era, could neither read nor write, and their names were written by people who could, the name was written as it was heard.
I could be wrong but, no, I do not believe it's a Native American name. I believe it's most likely a German name like Burkholtz or Baraclough or Berkholdt or something very similar; there are way too many possibilities to spend time trying to figure that out.
However, I had hoped that, because what I have is a transcription, if I could see the original, which would, undoubtedly, be hand-written, I might have a different idea of what the actual surname was.
There it is, clear as day. There's nothing to figure out. It's still not a surname that can be researched. It had to be something else. But, now we know that's how it was written in the actual record. BTW, Joseph is recorded to have been born in PA.
I decided to stop at the Liberty cemetery on the way home, if I felt like it. I did. The old section of the cemetery had not been mowed in a while and the grass was still wet. Headstones were over-turned everywhere. It's a mess. You can't really fault anybody; cemeteries are a lot of work and don't have very good budgets. I didn't find the graves. I was actually a little worried about ticks, etc. so I left and came home.
I did discover a blog about the cemetery and sent an email. The blog posts are old so I don't know yet if the group is still functioning. I hope so.
I'm hoping to drive up again in a couple of weeks. This is the season to do get in-person research done. I will get in touch with whoever takes care of the cemetery in Liberty and see if they have a map so I don't have to spend too much time trying to find the graves.
I have heard from the Town Clerk in Callicoon, about the Wormuth cemetery. I will be calling her on Monday to hear what she has to tell me. Elyssa Olsen will show me where the cemetery is and we'll work out a time when she can do that. I'll keep you all posted through these blogs.
In the meantime, it's also the season, for me, to have a bunch of medical checkups that are scheduled and coming up.
That's it for now. Check my other blogs as well. Leave a comment. Thank you.
