There was not enough time to do proper research in '92, so I decided on the return trip in '93. I waded through the card files on the Pralls and other related families and examined books and other sources. I also stopped at the State Archives in Trenton. I also spent an afternoon at the Staten Island Historical Society at Historic Richmondtown. [The historic park has many colonial era, and later, buildings.]
Finding the State Archives was an adventure. I had a rough idea [street] on it's location, but wasn't having much luck. I finally pulled into a metered parking spot and asked a passerby for direction. The individual pointed to a tall building nearby and said, "That's it." I thanked him/her, grabbed my research materials, fed the meter and walked to the Archives.
The breakthroughs were numerous. I was able to expand on the Prall line and add to several allied families, primarily from Staten Island. Thanks to a letter on file at the SIHS, I was able to make contact with Betty Harrell [now Gerlack] and shortly thereafter, Berniece Cowan. The ladies became my "research buddies" and together we unraveled the confusion over the lineage of Aaron Prall, his wife [Mary Whittaker] and children [James, Cornelius, Edward, Benjamin, Elizabeth & Jemima] over the next five years. The research to that time had been a mass of inaccuracies and misassumptions. With letters, on-site research, and phone calls we were able to sort it all out. [Internet was not yet an option.]
The sights to be seen? Prallsville Mills [different line], Woolverton Inn, [NJ] the Billiou-Perrine-Stillwell House, Historic Richmondtown, & Huguenot Memorial Church, [SI]
Pictures:
Top left: Christopher House [Hist. Rich.]; right: Prallsville Mills [Hunt. Co.]
Bottom: left: Huguent Memorial Church [S.I.]; right: Prallsville Mills plaque [Hunt. Co.]
Below: Billiou-Perrine-Stillwell House on Staten Island
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