Genealogy: Brick Walls, Problems, and Questions

Brick Walls, Problems, Questions & Uncertainties

• Christopher Columbus SPENCER (b. 21-Apr-1836, d. 12-Sep-1864)
  Christopher was recruited into the 114th New York Volunteers, Company K is Cazenovia, NY. He died in the battle of Opequan Creek during the Civil War at age 26. Was he married? Would he have left a pension?

  I have the service record for Christopher C. SPENCER from the National Archives, but there is no mention of other family. He was listed as without posessions upon his death (shot in battle).
  From the lack of a pension application, I'm kind of assuming he was unmarried. His parents were elderly at the time and perhaps in poor health and may not have thought to submit a pension application.

  I visited the National Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia where he is buried (in an unmarked grave in a large space in the middle of the cemetery). But didn't find records on him at the Shandandoah Museum (and the cemetery offices were closed that day).
  

• Christopher SPENCER (b. 9-May-1792, d. 2-Jul-1869)
  Christopher SPENCER was born in Rhode Island according to a Census Record. From a land purchase record from Wampsville, NY, I found that he is from North Kingstown. Other family genealogies have William SPENCER listed as his father. Based on the fact that this connection also exists in the records of genealogist Violet Kettelle (at the Rhode Island Historical Society Library in Providence), I'm inclined to believe it. But I haven't seen a primary source which proves this connection. Many of the records from North Kingstown were lost to a fire (some of which exist as fragments on microfilm at the LDS Family History Center)
  
  
• Lydia Matilda QUACKENBUSH POTTS SPENCER (b. 30-Jul-1830, d. 6-Apr-1906) We are uncertain as to the birthplace of Lydia or her name before marriage. Some family history has her listed with the surname "QUACKENBUSH". She is listed as "QUACKENBUSH" on Allen Spencer's death certificate which I think is our strongest evidence. Others have her listed with the surname "POTTS". In one case, a family member crossed out "Quackenbush" on a document and wrote "Potts" instead. A marriage record of son Allen Spencer shows the middle name as "POTTS". We know she is from New York state but don't know the town. Based on a lead from R. Tomlinson, I listed a family of "Thomas POTTS" in Half Moon (later called "Orange" and then called "Halfmoon" after 1820), Saratoga County (or Albany county), NY. The leaded sounded good because there are POTTS and QUACKENBUSH families living in the same town. This would also have been near Albany where one of the two brothers immigrated from the Netherlands who took the Americanized name "Quackenbush". Family history which I have heard labels Lydia as "Pennsylvania Dutch". So, where do the surnames come from? Is this her parent's family? Was she born a "POTTS" and then adopted to be a "QUACKENBUSH"? Or vice-versa? Or did she marry someone prior to Allen SPENCER. Could "Potts" really be a middle name. The connection to Thomas POTTS in my data is unverified at this point in time.
  
  And to further compound the mystery, there are Lydia Quackenbush's in the census which come close to the date of birth as well as the locale (Cazenovia, NY, or Madison County) of the Spencers in my family.
  
  
• Herman A. FREDRICK: We were able to find out from the Ellis Island Project that Herman FREDRICK is from Debenke, Prussia, immigrating around the turn of the 20th century. We also know that his mother's name was Justine. How can we find out more information on the FREDRICK family origins in Debenke? Herman married Wilhelmina (also known as "Mina") DIETRICH who is also from Debenke. Together they settled in Holyoke, MN and started their family. I am interested in the origins of both the FREDRICK and DIETRICH families in Debenke.