ALBANY HILLTOWNS website

"The Hilltowns" is a colloquial term for the four Towns in western Albany County, New York above the Helderberg Escarpment. The four Towns are Berne, Knox, Westerlo, and Rensselaerville. They are called Hilltowns because they are in the "hills" above the Hudson Valley in eastern Albany County.

About two weeks ago I joined Facebook and started Albany County Hilltowns History and Genealogy group where members can post and exchange information on the history of the hilltowns of western Albany County and the genealogy of the people who lived there. We already have fifty members. Right off we decided to work on two big projects:

• A series of books on the history of each of the hilltowns and the families that lived there.
• A web site focused on the history of the four hilltowns and the families that lived. The idea is to have detailed information about the families, their farms, and their homes. It will also have information on the history of the schools, churches, cemeteries and businesses.
  

The web site is already up at Albanyhilltowns.com. It is a Wiki site. That means anyone can add information on their ancestors. There are web pages for individual farms, houses, and families. Under families there are pages for biographies, family stories, family history, and genealogical charts. All of these pages are to be created and edited by family researchers.

Here are some sample pages:

• Farm on Berne Lot 510.
• Historic home The Joannes Fisher House.
• Biography of Corporal Harold C. Mattice.
• Dutch barn Jacob Post Barn. Follow links from that page to other Dutch barns.
• A business Warner's Sawmill
  

ALBANY HILLTOWNS GROUP

I have started a new group in facepages called Albany County hilltowns history and genealogy. The stated purpose:

A JOINT EFFORT OF RESEARCHERS WANTING TO SHARE THEIR EXPERTISE ON THEIR FAMILIES AND THE HISTORY OF THE HILLTOWNS OF WESTERN ALBANY COUNTY: BERNE, KNOX, WESTERLO, AND RENSSELAERVILLE.

We are just about a week old and we already have about 30 members. Some of the projects under discussion are

• a series of books, one for each town, with the history of the families that lived there in 1866 and earlier (based on the 1866 Beers map and early census records). the family chapters will be written by family researchers. There will be an editor for each one to provide direction and uniformity.
  
• a web site that we can all update that will have the history of each farm, house, and business. The domain name is albanyhilltowns.com. We will be entering content shortly.

Right now one has to join facebook to participate. I just joined last week and found about 40 people I know were using it. It is fun.

I anticipate that once we get the new domain up and running there will no longer be a need to join facebook.




Here is a section of Wm. Cockburn's 1787 survey map for Van Rensselaer. In the center is the cross roads which where the hamlet of Knox is now located. In 1787 it was the farm of J. Thompson, whom I believe was John Thompson Sr. More on the family in a forthcoming post.