19 December 2011

Mappy Monday - Hidden in Plain Sight

One of the wonderful documents I was able to see while visiting my cousins, the Strubbe's, last weekend was a map of Cincinnati that Kim proudly owns. I don't know if she knows when it was published, and when I looked at it, it didn't seem to have a date anywhere. However, based on a few facts, I'd date it to the 1820 - 1830s:




She had made photocopies of the map, and although I got a decent digital picture of it (above), I took the copy as well.


As I was on about my 14th hour of research and data entry last night, I wanted to verify a location, so I grabbed the map to take a look. I suddenly remembered that Kim had mentioned something to me about a family name being labeled on the map. As I turned it around in my hand, I saw it:



Just below the word 'Pearl' is the name Burrows. For years I've wondered where my Burrows settled and/or worked in Cincinnati. Of course, the digital age has truly uncovered so many wonderful resources; having only just gotten to Cincinnati for the first time in my adult life this last weekend, my research had often been stymied by lack of access to original documents. 


Naturally, the name 'Burrows' is very common; it could be anyone! A quick check on Ancestry.com though, and I located this 1834 Cincinnati City Directory listing: 



Stephen, and his son Theodore, are listed on Second Street. It's nothing earth-shattering, but it's great to have another piece to add to our remarkable puzzle. Stephen Burrows is the son of my DAR Patriot, Waters Burrows. Stephen left the east coast along with his sister, the year their father died (1815), for the west. Cincinnati is where they settled, and my family has been there now, for nearly 200 years. 

3 comments:

  1. Laura,
    I MUST go to the post office, but I hope to come back here and give you some tips about finding Cincinnati maps online. Are you aware that most of the Cincinnati City Directories are online, too? I'll be back.

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  2. Laura,
    I can't remember if you live in Ohio. If you do, all of the Sanborn maps are available online. You can go to this post, scroll to the bottom and see how to access them online. http://hcgsohio.blogspot.com/2011/09/mappy-monday-mapping-morehouses-in.html#uds-search-results They are a little tricky to figure out. If I can help you with this or how to access the digital copies of the City Directories through the library site, let me know.

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  3. Kathy, thank you so much! I don't live in Ohio...my trip last weekend was my first (as an adult) to Cincinnati and 15 years in the making. Since this post, my cousin pointed out that the Observatory was on the map, which means it was most likely much later than I surmised...somewhere around 1850. I do have access to the City Directories online and appreciate the link the the Sanborn maps very much. I am bounding ahead in my long standing research with the help of people like you, so THANK YOU!!

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