A number of people have asked me, “What are you going to do now?”
Well, the major goal is to reorganize my neglected house, including my office—both the massive paper and computer files.
While reorganizing, I am also researching (my preferred goal) the siblings and father of my great-great-grandfather Ralph Austin and Gary’s great-grandfather John W. Smith.
Ralph Austin’s father (according to my family story) was Joshua Austin, born 1748 in Suffield, CT. Those of you who have researched your family understand the challenges of locating recorded information and figuring out what to do with conflicting reports from different sources.
What does Ralph Austin’s father Joshua have to do with Halfway Brook? As many of you know, there were two Austin families who stayed in the Town of Lumberland, now the Town of Highland. It would be interesting to find out if Ralph Austin was the uncle of Benjamin C. Austin, father of Ira Austin, grandfather of Austin Smith (not me), the Town of Highland historian for many years.
And wouldn’t it be “icing on the cake” to find out that John W. Smith (who first shows up in an 1870 census as a boarder in Illinois) but family information indicates he was from Livingston County, NY, had some connection with Halfway Brook, Town of Lumberland/Highland.
It would be very interesting indeed.
Ralph Austin and John Smith resemble each other somewhat. John Smith also resembles my Dad I think, especially the square face and nose.
You may turn out to be “your own grandma.”(:
Here is a kicker for you, my grandmother Anna Parker was a Smith, LOL. She was born and raised in Jersey City, NJ but I have no idea who her parents were or where they were from. Smith is such a hard name to research, not only because it is so common but because so many had changed it from Schmidt or many other German variations. I wish you luck in your endeavors. And I will keep my eyes open as I do my own research, you never know!! Alice
Thanks Alice! Louise