Below is April's Our Towne article. At the end you can find a bunch of links to useful websites. Enjoy!
House Histories: Slingerland to Dickson to Miner to Lynch
Last month I wrote about James and Sarah Dickson of
Slingerlands. As part of that research, I went on the hunt for exactly where
their home was located. This article explores that process, one you can follow
if you would like to research your own home’s history.
For this project, I started with the fact that John I.
Slingerland bequeathed land to Dickson in his will dated October 22, 1861. It gives a specific (ish) location, “the house
and lot, lying on the North west corner of my farm, which is hereinafter
bequeathed to James Dixon.” The lot is
bounded on the west by Oliver Road (modern day Font Grove Road) and on the
north by lands of James B. Wands. (The history of Wands’ large estate, Font
Grove, is a story for another article.)
From there I turned to the old maps, specifically, the 1866
Beers map. Locating the railroad and New Scotland Road, one can easily find Font
Grove Road and just at the bend after crossing the tracks is the name James
Dickerson. Aha, there’s our man, albeit with his name spelled wrong. You’ll
also see J.B. Wands and several Slingerlands. While you have to take these maps
with a grain of salt, this was looking promising.
Next, I took a scenic drive through Slingerlands and along
Font Grove Road and noted the old house just at the bend of Font Grove on the
right from New Scotland Road. It has a simple farmhouse style which could
easily date from the 1800s. It has several additions, and is currently clad in
pinkish-orangish siding. There is also an old looking barn/carriage house in
the back. It is just the kind of house I imagine the Dicksons living in, not a
high style Victorian, but a homey house with comfortable porches for rocking.
With a potential house in mind, it was off to the town’s
on-line assessment roll. On OARS, I searched under 85 Font Grove Road, and
found the names of the current owners as well as a description of the house “old
style” with a date of 1900. Always be somewhat skeptical of OARS dates. In my
experience, before the 1920s or so, the dates are in the ballpark but not
necessarily exact. Look for collaborating information. In this case, the
architecture of the house itself speaks to a date earlier than 1900.
With the names of the current owners, Steven and Linda
Lynch, I hopped over to Albany County’s website to see if I could find some
interesting deed information. The caveat here is that land records are only digitized
back to the early 1980s. If you are lucky, the modern era deed will directly
import the land descriptions from the old deeds (i.e. those links and chains
descriptions that include the old oak tree you have heard me mention before.)
But what you are really looking for are the names of previous owners. This
ownership chain is what I was trying to trace back from the Lynches to the
Dicksons for this specific piece of property.
Now, because I am lazy (true confession – and nosy too given
all the time I spend looking up houses on OARS), I will often quit following
the chain of names at what is available online instead of making the trek to
the Albany County Hall of Records. This time I was especially motivated to get
off my couch. James Dickson intrigues me! Off to Tovoli Street in Albany I went.
A side note, Albany County holds all the land records for
the Town of Bethlehem. The town historian’s archive does have many old land
deeds, or indentures as they were called, that have been donated over the
years. These are more easily accessible via a last name search. Gathering names
will greatly personalize your research and allow you to look in old newspapers
and other records for information about the families who have lived in your
house.
Another side note, if you just want to trace the previous
owners of your house, a trip to the Albany County Clerk’s office on Eagle
Street is in order. There you will find many real estate title clerks hard at
work documenting the chain of deed book and page numbers.
Personally, I like the old stuff, and the Hall of Records is
the place for that. They’ve got naturalization records, census records and all
kinds of cool stuff like Albany County jail records from 1825 to 1976. When I
was there, two scholars were researching Albany mayor-for-life Erastus Corning.
They had a trolley of 10 or 12 boxes and were going methodically through each
one. Who knows how many days they had been at it. But I digress.
The main item I was interested in at the Hall of Records was
the grantor/grantee index. It is on microfilm and includes dates between 1630
and 1940. The index is fun because it allows you to fish around for historical
information, as long as you have a name to go by. With the assistance of a very
helpful clerk, I looked up the names Dickson (also Dixon) and of course
Slingerland, spinning the microfilm tape back and forth, and finding all kinds
of interesting tidbits.
Most importantly, I found several deeds related to James
Dickinson, his wife Sarah and son George. One, handwritten in 1875, was on
microfilm, the other two had to be called up from the back. I was presented
with two large and very heavy books carefully wrapped in acid free paper and
tied up with string. “Just open them with my bare hands?” I asked. “No one is
going to do it for you” was the reply. Shedding my fear of smudging these
originals documents, I perused the brittle typewritten pages.
A deed from January 29, 1918 contained the most interesting
bits. It details the sale between Sarah Ann Dickson and William H. S. Miner.
“Being the premises which were acquired by devise by James Dixon also known as
James H. Dickson now deceased, the husband of the grantor in this deed under
the last will and testament of John I. Slingerland, deceased, proved in the
Surrogate’s court of the County of Albany on the 23rd December
1861.” At the end of the document, it concludes with an agreement that the
party of the second part, that is W. H. S. Miner, shall “quietly enjoy the said
premises” and that the party of the first part, that is Sarah Ann, shall
“forever warrant the title to said premises.” And then Sarah Ann “set her hand
and seal” and William A. Glenn “witnessed her mark.” There literally is a typed
X. In 1918, Sarah Ann Dickson used an X instead of signature. Wow.
William H. S. Miner died in 1955 and the property
transferred to his daughter Ruth Miner. Her heirs transferred it to Steven and
Linda Lynch in 1987. (Ruth Miner’s fascinating story is also for another
article. You know that big white Victorian with the red tile roof at the corner
of New Scotland and Font Grove Roads? That’s the Miner house.)
Because this is a historian’s journey, not a title
search, I reached out to the current owners of 85 Font Grove Road to see what
they could tell me. I had a nice conversation with Steve Lynch who confirmed
they purchased the property from the Miners. He told the story of how back in
the early 1980s, he was interested in the property and knocked on the door. An
old woman answered the door and it turned out she was Granny Weed who had been
taking care of an elderly Ruth Miner. Granny Weed had a life tenancy in the
house and it wasn’t until she passed away that Steve was able to buy the
property.
In conclusion, I can fairly say that 85 Font Grove is the
former Dickson property. It is very likely the actual house they lived in. An
architectural historian would be able to confirm the age of the house by
inspecting its building components.
Researching the home of James and Sarah Ann Dickson turned
up interesting connections to prominent members of the Slingerland community. Did
you catch the steps you can use to research the story of your own house?
