USA > Pennsylvania > Luzerne County > Wilkes-Barre > A history of Wilkes-Barre, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania : from its first beginnings to the present time, including chapters of newly-discovered early Wyoming Valley history, together with many biographical sketches and much genealogical material. Volume II > Part 55
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118
* Tioga Point.
t Toby was an Indian who, from about 1765 till 1771, lived in Wyoming Valley, in what is now Kings- ton Township. See pages 53 and 444, Vol. I, and page 890, post.
# The British.
¿ In 1758 there was a Cayugan chief named "Last Night," whose home was in southern-central New York (see page 379, Vol. I), and in 1761 and 1769 there wasa Nanticoke-Conoy chief, or king, named "Last Night" (see note on page 219, Vol. I, and also pages 369 and 397, Vol. I), who lived at Chenango, New York. In all probability it was this last-mentioned "King" whose name appears attached to the above letter.
| The Indian village of Chenango, or Otsiningo, mentioned in the notes on pages 219 and 239, Vol. I.
{ One of the chiefs who was at Wilkes-Barre in August, 1775. See page 828.
** Oghwaga, mentioned in the note on page 257, Vol. I.
tt These "Chocinote chiefs" were undoubtedly head-men of the Nanticoke-Conoys located at Chaght- net, Chugnuts, or Choconut (the "place of tamaracks"), an Indian town on the south side of the Sus- quehanna, where now stands the village of Vestal, Broome County, New York. According to the "Docu- mentary History of New York" (VII :50) some Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Skaniadarighroonas, Chugnuts and Shawanese settled at Chugnuts in 1756. When this town was destroyed at the time (August, 1779) of the Sullivan Expedition-q. v .- it contained fifty houses.
## See page 117, Vol. I.
890
"'Well, Brothers, our fire-place is almost lost, and our fire almost out. We think it hard, and desire it may be renewed, and the fire-place fixed here, that our mutual fire may give light from one end of this river to the other.
"'Brothers, we are unwilling to have forts built up the river, but wish you would be content to build forts here among the lower settlers. A fort at Wyalusing will block up our new made, wide and smooth road, and again make us strangers to one another.'
"Three other paragraphs urgently desire that a 'Fire' may be kindled at Wyoming, 'so that the flame and smoke may arise to the clouds,' etc." After complaining of some wrong done by a white man to the Indian "Toby " (previously mentioned), in connection with an exchange of cows, and demanding satisfaction, they asked for a new flag and some flour to take home with them; and requested that, as they were in favor of peace, their guns and tomahawks might be put in order. In conclusion they said : "Well, Brother Colonel Butler, you must have an Indian name. Karondegwanah [signifying "a great tree "] we will henceforth call you."
The foregoing "talk " was delivered by the Indian deputies at a formal conference, held with Colonel Butler and the other civil and inilitary authorities of Westmoreland, at Wilkes-Barré, Monday, Sep- tember 23d. Two days later a reply, having been duly formulated, was delivered by Colonel Butler at a public conference held with the Indians. A contemporary manuscript copy of this reply, apparently in the handwriting of Uriah Chapman, and endorsed by Colonel Butler "Answer to Indian message, 25 Sept! , 1776," is now in the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. It reads as fol- lows, and is now published for the first time.
" Brothers, we rejoice at this interview to find your hearts are the same you here- tofore declared them to be toward us. We feel the warmest affection towards our broth- ers. Our eyes are cleansed from all filth and dust, and we see clearly who are our friends, and rejoice at it. Our hearts are good and honest, tho as you say the devil is always putting something between us. Yet we know who those evil-minded persons are that daily spread false intelligence and endeavor to stir up jealousies in our minds towards you, and in your minds towards us. We avoid them and mind nothing what they say, and hope you will do the same. [ Three strings of wampum presented. ]
" Brothers, we are involved in trouble by the evil representations of our enemies, but we trust the Great Spirit will bless and prosper us in our opposition to the bloody minded enemies of this our great Island. You say you do not incline to take up the hatchet on either side. We rejoice at it. We do not want you to meddle in the matter, one side nor the other, but be still and quiet and keep the old chain of Friendship bright between us. The road is still open between us, and so wide and clear that any one may pass and repass unmolested. We remember the peace settled by our fathers, and mean to keep it inviolate on our part.
"Brothers, we are sorry our fire was so near out when you came among us; but it now burns bright as the noon-day sun, and our friendship is growing warmer at every interview, and we will do our part in keeping the flame alive, and are still willing you should hunt among us. [A belt of wampum presented.]
"Brothers, we hope you are not surprised at our building forts. It is not for fear of you and the Six Nations, our brothers, but for fear of Johnson and Butler from Niagara. That fort we think of building at Wyalusing is for your defense as well as ours; for if Butler and Johnson do come down the River we think they will likely fall upon you -- in which case you can flee to Wyalusing and be safe with our people, your brothers. Therefore we hope your minds will be easy on that account, as we design your good as well as our own.
"Brothers, we are willing to have a fire-place made at this place, and will send your desire to our head-men and desire them to consent to it.
" Brothers, the case of Toby is a private matter. We will do all in our power to see him righted about the cow. The cattle taken from him when he lived at this place were taken by Ogden and his people, and we can do nothing about it. The horses were also taken by strangers to us, and the rogues are not in our power. Whatever mischief is done you by our people we will do our best to have righted, when you mention it to us; and if any evil-minded persons come among you, do not mind them, but depend upon what we write to you and say in Council, and nothing else. If Johnson or Butler or any
891
of their party should come among you, let us know it quick; or, if you know any mischief determined against us, send us word immediately, and we will do the same by you.
" Brothers, Karondegwanah (alias Col. Zebulon Butler) is soon going to the Great Council in Connecticut, and he will get a flag such as is used by your brothers on the great Island here. [Three strings of wampum presented.]
"Brothers, we will endeavor that Mr. Jones shall go and live among you, and he will make you hoes and tomahawks and mend your guns and do all other matters for you.
"Brothers, we will do something for your support in flour and other neces- saries, &c."
Under the date of October 1, 1776, Colonel Butler sent from Wilkes-Barré to the Hon. Roger Sherman at Philadelphia a copy of the Indian message received on September 16th, and a full report of the conference held on September 23d and 25th. Colonel Butler's letter transmitting the same read as follows *:
" Honoured Sir: In some of my last letters, you will recollect, I informed you I had sent a messenger among the Indians upon the head waters of the Susquehannah, and thereby informed them of an assault made upon one of our people, whose testimony has some time since been sent to you. The Indians, you will see by the enclosed messages, are disposed for peace, and think it necessary that this place be appointed to hold their council at, and, as they express it, to have a fire-place here. Their importunity was so pressing on that account that I promised them to inform the Congress and our Assembly of their request, and would beg the opinion of yourself and our other Delegates whether it is best to lay it before the Congress; and that you would be pleased to inform his Honour, our Governour, immediately what you apprehend will be best for the Colony to do, if anything, in that matter.
" The Indians, when they come here, expect presents, or at least to be supported while among us, and no one is appointed to treat with them. They come to me, and I have frequently given them, but find the burthen too great for one man to bear. They also insist upon a new flag, such as is used by the army of the United States .; They say their old flag came over the great water, and they now want a new one, as a token of their friendship to the United States. By the last papers we find that the report of Colonel Butlerf, etc., with Indians and Canadians being at Oswego, is disbelieved. By the accounts we had before received of that matter, some were much agitated here, but seem more easy at present. I expect to be at the Assembly, and shall gladly receive any information you shall think proper to send me. The Indians deny having any hand in the attack made upon Wilson, and have engaged to let us know if they make any dis- covery of that matter."
News of the action taken by Congress relative to the raising in Westmoreland of two military companies "on the Continental establishment " reached Wilkes- Barré about September 1, 1776, together with the commissions of the men who had been appointed to be officers of the proposed companies. Miner says that places of rendezvous, " for the enlistment of men on the terms prescribed," were immediately estab- lished in Wyoming Valley, by Captain Durkee on the east side of the Susquehanna and by Captain Ransom on the west side. Soon the peaceful vale resounded with the shrill music of martial fifes and the brisk beating of drums. The first day thirty-one mnen pre- sented themselves for enlistment, and in less than six- teen days each company was recruited to the maxi- mum fixed by the army regulations, to wit: eighty- six enlisted men. The enlistment-paper which was signed by each recruit was in the following form :
"I, have this day voluntarily inlisted myself as a soldier in the armny of the United States of America, in the companies ordered to be raised in the town of Westmoreland, to serve during the present war, unless sooner discharged. And I do
* See "American Archives," Fifth Series, II : 824.
The national flag-the "Stars and Stripes"-had not yet been adopted by Congress. See note "*", page 448, Vol. I.
# JOHN BUTLER, mentioned at length in Chapter XIV.
892
bind myself to conform in all instances to such rules and regulations as are or shall be for the government of said army. Witness my hand the - day of -, 1776."
In the meantime the Congress had resolved (on September 10, 1776) " that 4,000 dollars be sent to Zebulon Butler, Esq., for the use of the two companies ordered to be raised in the town of Westmoreland; he to be accountable for the same, and that the money be delivered to and for- warded by the Connecticut Delegates." The same day the Congress voted that Maj. William Judd of the 24th Regiment, Connecticut Militia, be authorized and directed to muster the two Westmoreland companies .* Upon receiving the orders of Congress Major Judd proceeded at once to muster the companies, which was done at Wilkes- Barré September 17,1776. Each company, as duly organized, consisted of one Captain, two Lieutenants, one Ensign, four Ser- geants, four Corporals, one Drummer, one Fifer and seventy-six private soldiers.
Neither the original muster-rolls of these companies nor copies of them are in exist- ence, so far as is known. The earliest and most authentic roll of Captain Durkee's company is printed in Pearce's "Annals of Luzerne County," page 537. As stated in the "Annals," and as shown by the orig- inal notes and manuscripts of Mr. Pearce now in the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological Society, that roll is a copy of an original muster-roll covering the period from March 18 to May 20, 1777, and "sworn to and subscribed by Captain Durkee and Lieutenant Wells before Samuel Tuttle, Esq., at Morristown, New Jer- sey, August 8, 1777." The same roll is reprinted, with some erro- neous additions, in "Pennsylvania Archives," Second Series, XI : 112. Another roll of this company-made up, evidently from memory, at some time subsequently to July 3, 1778-is printed in "Connecticut in the Revolution," page 263. Owing to its incompleteness and to other imperfections-fully discussed by the present writer in "The Harvey Book," pages 85-87-this last-mentioned roll cannot be looked upon as a very reliable record.
From the above-mentioned rolls, and certain original and reliable data in the collections of The Wyoming Historical and Geological So- ciety, the present writer has prepared with considerable care the fol- lowing roll of the " First Westmoreland Independent Company."
Captain, Robert Durkeet; First Lieutenant, James Wells, Sr.}; Second Lieutenant, Asahel Buck; Ensign, Heman Swift; First Ser- geant, Thomas McClure; Second Sergeant, Peregrine Gardner; Third Sergeant, Thomas Baldwin; Fourth Sergeant, John Hutchinson; Cor- porals, Edward Lester, Azel Hyde, Jeremiah Coleman, Jr., Benjamin
* See "The Journals of Congress," II : 329.
ROBERT DURKEE was born November 26, 1733, at Brimfield, Massachusetts. He was the third child of Stephen Durkee (born at Gloucester, Massachusetts, June 9, 1706; died at Windham, Con- necticut, August 18, 1769) and his wife Lois Moulton of Brimfield, who were married March 19, 1730, and became the parents of nine children. Stephen Durkee was the eighth child of "Deacon" John Durkee, Sr., mentioned in the last paragraph of the note on page 480, Vol. I. and therefore Capt. Robert Durkee was a first cousin of Col. John Durkee, the "founder and namer of Wilkes-Barre." Since page 480 was printed the writer has ascertained that "Deacon" John Durkee, Sr., was born in
893
1665 and not in 1664, as stated, and was the son of William and Martha (Cross) Durkee. William Durkee, who was born in 1630-presumably in England-was a mariner, and came by way of the West Indies to Ipswich, where he settled, and was married December 20, 1664, to Martha Cross.
At an early age Robert Durkee removed with his parents to Windham, Connecticut, where he con- tinued to reside until he settled in Wilkes-Barre. As noted on page 481, Vol. I, he was married at Canada Parish, in the town of Windham, November 22, 1754, to Sarah Durkee (born August 27, 1739), a half-sister of Col. John Durkee. At that time the French and Indian War was well under way (as noted on page 297, Vol. I), and the next year (1755), in July, Robert Durkee, then in the twenty- second year of his life, enlisted as a private in the company of Capt. John Slapp of Mansfield, Con- necticut, "in ye pay of New York, to be employed in conjunction with ye forces of the other Govern- ments in building forts to ye northward of Albany." This company, including Robert Durkee, con- tinued in service until December, 1755. In the campaign of 1756 Robert Durkee served from October till December as Second Lieutenant of the 4th Company (John Slapp, Captain) in the 3d Connecticut Regiment, commanded by Col. Nathan Whiting; and throughout the entire campaign of 1757 John Slapp served as Captain, and Robert Durkee as Second Lieutenant, of the 8th Company in the regiment com- manded by Col. Phineas Lyman, mentioned on page 481, Vol. I. (See "Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society," IX : 70, 71, 133, 183.)
In the campaign of 1758 Robert Durkee served as Second Lieutenant of the 3d Company in the 3d Connecticut Regiment, mentioned in the three last paragraphs on page 481. Israel Putnam, Major of the regiment, was Captain of the 3d Company. When the company was mustered at Fort Edward, October 19, 1758, Lieutenant Durkec was "sick in hospital." In the campaign of 1759 Robert Durkee was Captain-Lieutenant of the 1st Company, 4th Connecticut Regiment, which company and regiment were each commanded by Col. Eleazar Fitch. Israel Putnam was Lieutenant Colonel and John Durkee was Major of this regiment. (See page 482.) At the beginning of the campaign of 1760 Captain Dur- kee was again in active command of the 1st Company, 4th Regiment, which numbered eighty enlisted men; but he was soon promoted to a full captaincy and given command of the 12th Company of the same regiment. This company was composed of four commissioned officers, four sergeants, six cor- porals and twenty-nine privates who had served in some previous campaign, and twenty-five privates who were serving for the first time. In the campaign of 1761 Captain Durkee served from April 1 till December 4 in command of the 10th Company, 1st Connecticut Regiment, the field-officers of which regiment were: Maj. Gen. Phineas Lyman, Colonel; Israel Putnam, Lieutenant Colonel; John Durkee, Major. The Rev. George Beckwith (previously mentioned) was Chaplain of this regiment, and Thomas Knowlton (mentioned on pages 481, 484 and 485, Vol. I) was Ensign of Captain Durkee's company, which numbered seventy-two veterans and twenty new men. Captain Durkee served from March 15 till December 15, 1762, in command of the 9th Company, 1st Connecticut Regiment, and was at the siege of Havana, Cuba, described on page 482, Vol. I. John Durkee was Major of the 1st Regiment, and Zebulon Butler was Captain of the 8th Company, in the campaign of 1762, while James Wells (see page 892) was First Lieutenant of Captain Durkee's company. (See "Collections of the Connecticut Historical Society," X : 57, 163, 215, 221, 252, 313.)
It will be seen, from the foregoing record of Robert Durkee's military services during seven years of the French and Indian War, that he was well fitted to command a company, or cven a larger body, of undisciplined and inexperienced Continental soldiers in 1776. He was, at the time he was commis- sioned Captain by Congress, in the forty-third year of his life.
Captain Durkee was an original member of "The Company of Military Adventurers," organized at Hartford, Connecticut, in 1763, and described on page 458, Vol. I. At Canterbury, Windham County, Connecticut, January 5, 1774, Frederick Curtis of that town, "lately resident in Wilkesbarre in ye Sus- quehannah Purchase," conveyed to Capt. Robert Durkee of Windham, for £75, one right in the Sus- quehanna Purchase which he had derived from Elisha Swift of Kingston, and which comprised "House Lot No. 26, Meadow Lot No. 16, Back Lot No. 31, together with all the other divisions that shall be allotted, in Wilkesbarre." As noted on page 728, ante, thesc lots had been drawn in 1772 by John Staples, who subsequently conveyed them to Elisha Swift.
At Hartford, Connecticut, under the date of January 19, 1774, Captain Durkee wrote to Zebulon Butler at Wilkes-Barre: "I have bought a settling right in your town of Wilkesbarre and intend to be up in the Spring, as soon as the season will admit, with a team and some hands." He arrived here about the first of the following March, presumably with his wife and children, and took up his residence in a house which already stood on Back Lot No. 31. Miner, writing about 1839 of Captain Durkee, said (see "History of Wyoming," Appendix, page 49) : "His residence was in Wilkesbarre on the main avenue, below General Ross' farm. The ancient house is still standing-the property including the old stone wall near where the State road turns off." In other words, Captain Durkee's home was on the south-east side of South Main Street, opposite the armory of the 9th Regiment, N. G. P., a short dis- tance south-west of the junction of the present Hazle Avenue and Ross Street. Back Lot No. 31 ex- tended from Main Street to the easternmost boundary of' the original town, or township, of Wilkes- Barré, and contained in the neighborhood of 200 acres. The course of the present Le Grand Avenue is coincident with the north line of Back Lot No. 31.
April 1, 1774, Captain Durkee bought an additional half-right in the Susquehanna Purchase, which he sold in the following October to Jonathan Downing, Jr., of Canterbury, Connecticut, for £24, and subsequently acquired the title to Back Lot No. 36, in the town, or district, of Wilkes-Barre. This lot contained about 250 acres, and April 23, 1778, being then at Wilkes-Barre on leave of absence from the army, Captain Durkee conveyed the said lot to his eldest child, Sarah Durkee. About 1777 Captain Durkee became the owner, also, of Back Lot No. 30 in Wilkes-Barre, and this lot and No. 31 became by inheritance, in 1803, the property of Amelia Durkee, who, a few years later, disposed of 124 acres of the same to John P. Arndt of Wilkes-Barre.
Captain Durkee resigned from the Continental army in June, 1778, and hastened to his home to assist in repelling the British and Indians, by whom the inhabitants of Westmoreland were menaced. As explained in Chapter XV he reached Wyoming in time to take part in the battle of July 3d. He was wounded early in the action (see the last paragraph on page 835), and a little later was killed in cold blood by one of the enemy. Letters of administration upon the estate of Captain Durkee were granted to his widow by the Probate Court of Westmoreland June 27, 1780; Captain John Franklin being surety on a bond of £500. Some time later Mrs. Sarah Durkee became the wife of Capt. Na- thaniel Landon of Kingston, an early Wyoming settler, and a land-surveyor by occupation. She died at Kingston September 3, 1803, six days after her sixty-fourth birthday, and was buried in the Wilkes- Barré burial-ground. She was survived by her husband, Captain Landon, and by her daughter Amelia Durkee.
The children of Capt. Robert and Sarah (Durkee) Durkee were as follows: (i) Sarah, born March 5, 1755; married subsequently to April, 1778, to William Young; died before 1790. (ii) Robert, born August 6, 1766; died at Wilkes-Barre in 1781 from nosebleed. (iii) Amherst, born August 20, 1768; died prior to 1790. (iv) Amelia, born August 3, 1772; married at Wilkes-Barre in August, 1804, to Philip Weeks of Wilkes-Barre, and some years later, says Miner, "they removed to Oquago" [Oghwaga, Broome County, New York].
¿ He was First Lieutenant under Captain Durkee in the campaign of 1762. See page 892.
894
Clark; Privates, Walter Baldwin, James Bagley, Eleazar Butler, Moses Brown, Charles Bennett, William Buck, Jr., Asa Brown, James Brown, Jr., David Brown, Waterman Baldwin (enlisted January 7, 1777), John Carey, Jesse Coleman, William Cornelius, Samuel Cole, William David- son, Douglass Davidson, William Dunn, Jr., Daniel Denton, Samuel Ensign, Nathaniel Evans, John Foster (died January 1, 1778), Frederick Follett, Nathaniel Fry (died February 10, 1777), James Frisbie, James Frisbie, Jr. (died July 22, 1777), Elisha Garrett, Titus Garrett, James Gould, Mumford Gardner (died June 12, 1777), Abraham Hamester, Israel Harding, Henry Harding, Stephen Harding, Jr., Oliver Harding, Thomas Horsfall, Richard Halstead, John Halstead, Thomas Hill (deserted April 17, 1777), Benjamin Harvey, Jr., (died in February, 1777), Solomon Johnson (employed by the Commissary), Asahel Jearoms (died July 31, 1777), Job Kelly (died October 26, 1777), Stephen Munson (discharged May 24, 1778), Seth Marvin, Martin Nelson (deserted April 9, 1777), Stephen Pettebone, Stephen Preston, Thomas Porter, Aaron Perkins (discharged July 10, 1777), John Perkins, Jr. (died July 6, 1777), Ebenezer Phillips (discharged July 5, 1777), Ashbel Robinson (died September 25, 1777), Ira Stephens, Ebenezer Skinner, Asa Smith, Adaın Showers (deserted January 18, 1777), Robert Sharar (discharged July 5, 1777), Isaac Smith, Jr., Luke Swetland (discharged January 8, 1778), Elisha Noyes Sill, Shadrack Sill, William Terry, Parshall Terry, Jr. (deserted January 11, 1777), John Tubbs, Samuel Tubbs, Ephraim Tyler, Edward Walker, Obadiah Walker, James Wells, Jr., Nathaniel Williams, Thomas Wilson.
So far as can be learned the only roll of Captain Ransom's company that has been preserved is printed on page 538 of Pearce's "Annals of Luzerne County," previously mentioned. This roll purports to be a " copy of a pay-roll of the Second Independent Company, commanded by Capt. Samuel Ransom." It bears no date, but was evidently made up in 1778, or even later, and is by no means either a complete or a satisfactory roster. However, it has been accepted as authentic, and is reprinted in "Pennsylvania Archives," Second Series, XI : 114, and also in "Connecticut in the Revolution," previously mentioned. With some emendations by the present writer-based on the Journals of Congress and on original, authentic data in the collections of The Wyoming His- torical and Geological Society-the following is the roll in question.
Captain, Samuel Ransom *; First Lieutenant, Peren Ross (resigned in December, 1777); Second Lieutenant, Simon Spalding (promoted First Lieutenant in January, 1778); Ensign, Matthias Hollenback (resigned in December, 1777); Sergeants, Timothy Peirce (promoted Ensign, December 3, 1777; promoted Second Lieutenant, January 17, 1778), Parker Wilson, Josiah Pascoe; Privates, Mason F. Alden, Amos Ames- bury, Caleb Atherton, - Austin, Samuel Billings, Jehiel Billings, Jesse Bissell, Isaac Benjamin, Oliver Bennet, Rufus Bennet, Asa Burn- ham, - Colton, Gideon Church, Nathaniel Church, Price Cooper,
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.