Greetings, am in a quandary, in that I live in Washington state, so cannot do my own offline legwork.

I'm seeking birth records from Winslow, NJ, in 1849 ... have already dug around extensively in ancestry.com's website, but the particular person I'm seeking was given up for adoption in 1850 and so we have *no* records of his birth parents. His adoptive family more or less died off without successive generations I can contact for assistance.

I am trying to trace the birth parents of Jerome A. Albertson, born in Winslow NJ in 1849, and adopted by the Eldridges of Haddonfield, NJ, between 1850 and 1860. There is *another* Jerome Albertson enumerated in Winslow NJ in 1850, daughter of Samuel and ? Rachel? Albertson - this is definitely *not* the Jerome we seek.

I have a tentative birthdate for Jerome A. Albertson of April 1849, but there's been too much scrambling of the records by false assumptions to be sure of this.

Can anyone please tell me whether there were any township birth/baptism records kept for Winslow in 1849, and if so, where they might reside now? Unfortunately, I cannot determine whether Jerome was actually born in Winslow, or just somewhere in the 58 sq mi of "Winslow Township".

I'm also looking for anything that helps explain Jerome's being adopted out to the Eldridges... there are two women living very near the Eldridges in 1850, Ann Albertson, age 74, and Mary Albertson, age 41, in a household of two, no men. I surmise these *might* be Jerome's mother and grandmother, but there is of course no certainty.

Jerome might have been illegitimate, or might have been left fatherless sometime between 1849 and 1850, or might have been orphaned. Ann and Mary might be his great grandmother and grandmother, for Mary is old enough to have had a daughter or son old enough to have a child, or they might be just female relatives, or completely unrelated.

So: what we know definitively is: full name Jerome A. Albertson, born 1849, in Winslow, NJ; adopted by Thomas and Sarah Eldridge of Haddonfield, NJ; definitely not the female Jerome listed in Winslow in 1850 census.

(Female Jerome's parents appear to be Samuel and Rachel? Albertson, who also had sons Alford/Alfred, Carlton, and daughter Angeline - again, we are certain this is *not* the correct Jerome).

Any help gratefully accepted; research costs can be compensated if arranged in advance, please contact me.